Recyclability issues in XeF lasers

This report describes three experiments designed to assess various aspects of XeF laser operation at elevated temperatures. Measurements of the rate of loss of NF3 and NF2 in contact with metals and quartz were obtained in one experiment. Nickel, quartz and aluminum appear to be less reactive than titanium, stainless steel and copper. The feasibility of using metal-filled reactors to scrub F2 from XeF laser gas mixtures was investigated. Titanium was shown to be a selective F2 scrubber. XeF laser performance was studied as a function of NF3 and NF2 mole fractions. These experiments indicate that the presence of NF2 degrades laser performance using a stainless steel cell. The cell construction material appears to play a significant role in determining the extent of degradation.