Scale Effects in a cw HF Chemical Laser
Abstract
Scale effects when the size of a cw HF chemical laser was reduced by a factor of two were studied experimentally and theoretically. When the saturated gains of the single channel CL I laser and the two channel CL II laser were the same, the CL I power was 70-80% of the CL II power. This suggests that for only a 25% performance penalty, the size, weight and gas requirements of a laser can be reduced by a factor of two. The power spectral distributions of the CL I and CL II lasers when the saturated gains were the same were nearly identical. When the two lasers had the same cavity losses, the CL I power was an average of 45% of the CL II power. The Blaze II and MNORO3SR laser computer simulations gave good agreement with data as a function of mass flow rate, cavity losses, pressure and size of the laser. Time-dependent oscillations on lines whose saturated gain did not fill the unstable resonator had a period of 47 ns. These oscillations did not occur for Fresnel numbers less than 3.2 and their amplitudes increased as the fraction of the resonator filled by the saturated gain of the oscillating line decreased. A 7 ns oscillation, which was superimposed on top of the 47 ns oscillation, was probably a mode beat of the laser.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1986
- Accession Number
- ADA172503
Entities
People
- A. Gumus
- David L. Carroll
- L. H. Sentman
- P. Theodoropoulos
Organizations
- University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign