Title :
On the presence of rotational nonequilibrium in a supersonic hydrogen-fluoride laser
Author :
Manke, Gerald C., II ; Hewett, Kevin B. ; Wisniewski, Charles F. ; Truman, C. Randall ; Hager, Gordon D.
Author_Institution :
Air Force Res. Lab., Kirtland AFB, NM, USA
Abstract :
Overtone small-signal gain data measured while operating a small-scale hydrogen-fluoride (HF) laser saturated on the fundamental transitions are compared with fundamental lasing output spectra and spontaneous overtone emission spectra measured orthogonal to the lasing axis. In all cases, the data are consistent with an equilibrium rotational distribution. These results are discussed in terms of their applicability to the question of rotational nonequilibrium in continuous wave HF lasers.
Keywords :
chemical lasers; hydrogen compounds; infrared spectra; laser transitions; supersonic flow; HF; chemical lasers; continuous wave HF lasers; equilibrium rotational distribution; fundamental lasing output spectra; fundamental transitions; lasing axis; rotational nonequilibrium; small-scale hydrogen-fluoride laser; small-signal gain data; spontaneous overtone emission spectra; supersonic hydrogen-fluoride laser; Chemical analysis; Chemical lasers; Computational fluid dynamics; Gain measurement; Hafnium; Kinetic theory; Laser modes; Laser theory; Laser transitions; Power lasers;
Journal_Title :
Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of
DOI :
10.1109/JQE.2003.819556