Initiator Duration Effect on Pulsed Chain Reaction Chemical Laser Scaling Laws.

Abstract

The effect of initiator pulse duration on the performance of a pulsed chain reaction chemical laser is investigated using a two-level vibrational model. Analytic results are presented for a saturated laser in the limits of weak and strong initiation. The initiator is assumed to provide a uniform (e.g., electron beam), parabolic (e.g., flash lamp), or power law variation of F-atom production rte F sub B with time. Laser performance is presented as a function of t sub b/t sub e where t sub B and t sub e are initiator and laser pulse times, respectively. In the weak initiation regime, an increase of t sub B/t sub e from zero to one results in a decrement in laser output energy of 20 and 33-1/3% for a flash lamp and electron-beam initiator, respectively. In the strong initiation regime, an increase of t sub B/t sub e fom zero to one results in an energy decrement of only 5 and 10% for a flash lamp and electron-beam initiator, respectively. In each case, the laser pulse time t sub e is increased by a factor of two as t sub B/t sub e increases from zero to one. Keywords: Scaling, laws, and Pulsed chemical lasers.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 15, 1985
Accession Number
ADA163387

Entities

People

  • Harold Mirels

Organizations

  • The Aerospace Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Chain Reactions
  • Chemical Lasers
  • Chemical Reactions
  • Chemistry
  • Electron Beams
  • Electrons
  • Energy
  • Flash Lamps
  • Lamps
  • Laser Pulses
  • Lasers
  • Materials
  • Materials Science
  • Physics Laboratories
  • Radiation
  • Scaling Laws
  • Space Systems

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Combustion science or combustion engineering.
  • Pulsed Power and Plasma Physics.

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Directed Energy - Lasers
  • Microelectronics