A high efficiency HF(H2/F2) chemical laser initiated with a surface‐spark ultraviolet flash

摘要

As a novel alternative to the conventional Xe flash lamps, a surface‐spark‐discharge ultraviolet (UV) flash with a poly‐tetra‐fluoroethylene (Teflon) resin was utilized to an initiation of a H2/F2 chemical laser. Because we employed a high‐voltage and low‐inductance power supply to drive a surface‐spark flash, a stabilized surface discharge in a high pressure (≃1 atm) laser gas and high efficiency power input to an UV flash have been realized. We have obtained a maximum HF laser output energy of 8.5 J/pulse (14.6 J/ ∂) at an electrical efficiency of 9.7%. A surface‐spark light source is experimentally found to be able to uniformly initiate a large‐volume laser gas mixture.