High-power HF laser pumped by an electron-beam-initiated chemical nonchain reaction

The development of a high-power HF laser pumped by a chemical nonchain reaction initiated by a radially converging electron beam is reported. A radiation energy of ∼ 115 J with an efficiency of ∼ 8% in terms of deposited energy has been achieved in a mixture with an active volume of ∼ 30 liters. It is shown that because of the high SF₆ density, the total pressure jump in SF₆–H₂(D₂) mixtures caused by the electron beam injection and the chemical reactions is several times smaller than that in the active mixtures of exciplex lasers for the same input energies. This factor considerably facilitates the development of wide-aperture HF and DF lasers with an SF₆ fluorine donor pumped by an electron-beam-initiated chemical nonchain reaction. Pis’ma Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 23, 58–64 (March 12, 997)