Combustor-driven CO laser

The paper reports on a combustor-driven CO laser which operates as a supersonic flow and mixing system using carbon-monosulfide fuel and oxygen oxidizer. The device has achieved CW power of 0.5 kW near five micrometers for periods of up to two minutes. A computer model of the laser has been used to select operating parameters and to predict scaling performance. In contrast to hydrogen-fluoride and deuterium-fluoride lasers, the CO laser operates at a higher cavity pressure and uses dry air as the oxygen-dilutent. In contrast to high-energy electric-discharge CO2 lasers, the chemical device does not require electrical input and achieves true CW output. These characteristics suggest that the combustor-driven CO laser may have important applications in medium- and high-altitude military applications.