PULSE-PERIODIC CHEMICAL HYDROGEN-FLUORIDE LASER EMITTING PULSES OF 6 KJ ENERGY

An investigation was made of the output characteristics of the radiati on emitted by a chemical hydrogen fluoride laser with an active volume of 45 litres. This laser operated at a pulse repetition frequency of 1 Hz and it was initiated by two counterpropagating electron beams wit h large cross sections. A study was made of the dependence of the lase r output energy on the density of the hydrogen fluoride mixture and on the oxygen impurity content. The maximum energy of the laser pulses w as similar to 6 kJ. The use of an unstable telescopic cavity ensured a radiation divergence of similar to 10(-4) rad at the expense of a sli ght reduction in the output energy.