Influence of the cavity losses on the energy and spectral characteristics of a pulsed chemical chain-reaction HF (DF) laser

The dependences of the energy and spectral characteristics of the radiation of a pulsed photoinitiated chemical chain-reaction HF (DF) laser, operatin g at atmospheric pressure, on the optical cavity parameters were investigat ed. The maximum specific output energies of the HF and DF chain lasers (53 and 43 J litre(-1)) and their fullest spectra (47 and 83 lines, respectivel y) were similar when the unsaturated gain exceeded the threshold by a facto r greater than 50. An analysis was made of how the energy and spectrum of t he radiation of the HF (DF) laser were influenced by the spatiotemporal inh omogeneity of the initiation and of the course of the chemical chain reacti on. There was a marked effect of the CO2 molecules in the active medium and in the air filling part of the volume of the complex cavity of the DF lase r on its efficiency and emission spectrum.