WB4--A spectroscopic study of CW chemical lasers

A subsonic transverse-flow chemical laser has been instrumented to permit measurements of vibration-rotation state populations and laser output spectra under flow conditions typical of present CW hydrogen halide laser operation. Measurements are presented for the F + HI, F + HBr, F + CH4, F + HCl, F + H2, Cl + HI, and Cl + HBr atom-exchange reaction systems. CW operation was found to be characterized by relatively modest departures from Maxwell-Boltzmann vibrational energy distributions at all stages of reaction in contrast to pulsed operation based on similar reactions. The distributions of vibrational energy are controlled primarily by energy transfer and deactivation processes, rather than by specific reaction mechanisms, under these conditions.