Depopulation of the lower active level of a CO2 gasdynamic laser under conditions of a chemically nonequilibrium medium

It was shown experimentally that in the active medium of a CO₂ gasdynamic laser utilizing combustion products of mixtures with an atomic composition C, O, and N, the lower active level is effectively depopulated by collisions between CO₂ molecules and NO molecules formed by dissociation of the starting materials. Collisions with carbon monoxide molecules do not effectively depopulate the lower active level.