Waveguide phenomena in dense relaxing gases and their use in chemical and gas-dynamic lasers

The possibility of forming radiation by exploiting the gasdynamic characteristics of flows within laser cavities is investigated. The periodic compression which occurs in flows can serve as gaseous dielectric waveguides which single out electromagnetic oscillations localized in narrow zones of inverse population. A shock wave in a chemically reacting H2-F2 mixture and the flow of a dissociated diatomic gas about a body with a cooled surface are considered as examples. Localization and amplification of light in the boundary layer during radiation recombination reactions of atoms are analyzed. The examples indicate that the electromagnetic field distribution in laser cavities can be modified by exploiting various gasdynamic characteristics of flows to achieve, inter alia, localization of the radiation in spatially narrow active layers.