LASERS: Pulse-periodic chemical hydrogen fluoride laser emitting pulses of 6 kJ energy

An investigation was made of the output characteristics of a chemical hydrogen fluoride laser with an active volume of 45 litres. This laser operated at a pulse repetition frequency of 1 Hz and it was initiated by two counterpropagating electron beams with large cross sections. A study was made of the dependence of the laser output energy on the density of the hydrogen fluoride mixture and on the oxygen impurity content. The maximum laser pulse energy was ~6 kJ. An nstable telescopic cavity ensured a radiation divergence of ~10^-4 rad at the expense of a slight reduction in the output energy.