Advances in NASA research on nuclear-pumped lasers

NASA has been primarily interested in nuclear-pumped lasers using the He-3 or U-235F6 reaction for lasant excitation. With He-3 excitation, a large volume, multiple-path He-3-Ar nuclear laser has produced an output of 1 kilowatt. Power deposition was shown to be homogeneous over this volume. The CO laser has been pumped for the first time using the He-3 reaction, producing approximately 200 Watts. Using a boron-10 coating to excite N2, nuclear lasing has been achieved in CO2 in a transfer laser configuration. Nuclear lasing of Ar-Xe has been demonstrated using fission fragment excitation from U-235F6. Research on the gas core reactor has resulted in a steady state operational power of 30 kilowatts with flowing U-235F6 in an argon vortex.