Initiator duration effect on pulsed chain reaction chemical laser scaling laws
Abstract
The effect of initiator pulse duration on the performance of a pulsed chain reaction chemical laser is investigated using a two-level vibrational model. Analytic results are presented for a saturated laser in the limits of weak and strong initiation. The initiator is assumed to provide a uniform (e.g., electron beam), parabolic (e.g., flash lamp), or power law variation of F-atom production rate F sub B with time. Laser performance is presented as a function of t sub b/t sub e where t sub B and t sub e are initiator and laser pulse times, respectively. In the weak initiation regime, an increase of t sub B/t sub e from zero to one results in a decrement in laser output energy of 20 and 33-1/3% for a flash lamp and electron-beam initiator, respectively. In the strong initiation regime, an increase of t sub B/t sub e from zero to one results in an energy decrement of only 5 and 10% for a flash lamp and electron-beam initiator, respectively. In each case, the laser pulse time t sub e is increased by a factor of two as t sub B/t sub e increases from zero to one.
- Publication:
-
NASA STI/Recon Technical Report N
- Pub Date:
- November 1985
- Bibcode:
- 1985STIN...8626620M
- Keywords:
-
- Chains;
- Chemical Lasers;
- Electron Beams;
- Electron Pumping;
- Flash Lamps;
- Laser Outputs;
- Models;
- Pulse Duration;
- Pulsed Lasers;
- Scaling Laws;
- Vibration;
- Chemical Energy;
- Time;
- Variations;
- Lasers and Masers