Visible Chemical Laser Development.
Abstract
Experimental data are presented relative to attempts to induce laser oscillations in the vicinity of 5578 A in a chemically prepared tin oxide medium. Atomic tin was first prepared by shock-heating mixtures of SnCl4 in Argon. The plenum gases were accelerated through a nozzle bank and molecular N2O was injected into the supersonic flow stream. Medium diagnostics were conducted in a windowed section downstream of the nozzle exit plane. During the course of these studies, it was found that atomic chlorine, a fragament of SnCl4 dissociation, proved very deleteriuos to the retention of SnO (a3 Sigma(+)) excited molecules within the medium. To overcome this difficulty, the tin vapor was prepared by entraining within the oncoming shock wave the products of an exploding tin wire. This permitted over a 100 fold increase in the concentration of excited species. To date, all attempts to induce laser oscillations within the chemically prepared medium have been unsuccessful. Computer modeling of the system indicates that the major reasons for this failure were that the medium temperature was far too high, and that the density of tin vapor must be increased about three fold. Data are presented relative to number density measurements for SnO(a3 Sigma(+)) under a variety of experimental conditions and to the several attempts to induce laser oscillations within the seemingly optimized medium.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1979
- Accession Number
- ADA069284
Entities
People
- Jay A. Blauer
- Warren F. Brandkamp
- Wayne C. Solomon
Organizations
- Bell Aircraft Corporation