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Power supply for discharge pulses consists of two capacitors that are made to discharge synchronously with adjustable time intervals. First pulse is switched with hydrogen thyratron, and second by spark gap. Lasing action peaks for appropriate combination of these two parameters.
The objective of this effort was to design a glass CO2 laser tube that could survive the Titan 3 C launch environment and at the same time provide adequate thermal conductivity to maintain the wall of the laser tube below approximately equal to 50 C for efficient lasing. The approach that was taken to satisfy these requirements was to pot the tube in an aluminum heat sink using a space qualified polyurethane potting material. Two configurations of the laser tube successfully passed the complete Titan 3 C qualification level sine and random vibration specification and satisfied the thermal requirements. Fabrication details and test results are presented that indicate this could be a practical solution for laser tubes used in a severe environment and where flowing coolants are impractical or undesirable.
Experiments attempting to achieve laser excitation by direct interaction of nuclear reaction products (fission fragments) with the lasing media are reported. Laser output followed reactor power surge by 50 microsec, the neutron thermalization time. The light output exhibited a threshold for onset and termination of laser action. The observed light output was shown to be caused by stimulated emission, because the signal disappeared when the totally reflecting (flat) mirror at one end of the apparatus was covered. Fission fragments were shown to be responsible for the stimulated emission, because the laser output disappeared when the U-235 liner was covered by an aluminum foil.
Terminal voltage measurements with various cathodes and anodes in a high power, quasi-steady magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) are discussed. The magnitude of the current at the onset of voltage fluctuations is shown to be an increasing function of cathode area and a weaker decreasing function of anode area. Tests with a fluted cathode indicated that the fluctuations originate in the plasma adjacent to the cathode rather than at the cathode surface. Measurements of radiative output from an optical cavity aligned to examine the current-carrying portion of a two-dimensional, 56 kA magnetoplasmadynamic discharge reveal no lasing in that region, consistent with calculations of electron excitation and resonance radiation trapping. A voltage-swept double probe technique allows single-shot determination of electron temperature and electron number density in the recombining MPD exhaust flow. Current distributions within the cavity of MPD hollow cathodes for various static prefills with no injected mass flow are examined.
An optically pumped FIR laser was constructed and tested. Optimum operating conditions were determined with CH3OH as the lasing medium. The laser was found to operate equally well with flowing gas or in a sealed off configuration. The FIR cavity stability and pump laser stability were found to have significant problems. The absorption coefficient per unit pressure of 1-1 difluoroethylene at the P(22) and P(24) lines of the 10.4 micron CO2 band was measured. The FIR line pumped by P(22) occurs at approximately 890 microns, which may be in an atmospheric transmission window. It was found that significant Stark tuning of absorption lines of methanol and 1-1 difluoroethylene can be accomplished, even at the usual 100 to 300 mTorr operating pressures of FIR lasers. This means that the use of Stark tuning may enable more effective use of pump laser output.
A self consistent theoretical model which couples the electron and heavy particle finite rate kinetics with the optical and fluid dynamic processes has been employed to identify the various parameters and explain the mechanism responsible for producing low lying transitions in slow flowing CO lasers. It is found that lasing on low lying transitions can be achieved at low temperatures for low pressures (or low flow rates) together with high partial pressures of the He and N2. The role of N2 has been identified as an additive responsible for reducing the electron temperature to a range where the transfer of electrical power to the lower vibrational modes of CO is optimum.
Utilizing round optical fibers as communication channels in optical communication networks presents the problem of obtaining a high efficiency coupling between the optical fiber and the laser. A laser is made an integral part of the optical fiber channel by either diffusing active material into the optical fiber or surrounding the optical fiber with the active material. Oscillation within the active medium to produce lasing action is established by grating the optical fiber so that distributed feedback occurs.
Helium in the superfluid state emits copious amounts of radiation in the ultraviolet region when excited by an electron stream. Conventional laser action using mirrors is impossible in superfluid helium because there are no mirrors that will reflect VUV radiation. By utilizing the distributed feedback method, the superfluid helium can be made to lase. By setting up a standing wave in superfluid helium that has a wavelength equal to, or harmonically related to, half the wavelength of the photon radiation chosen to be emitted as laser radiation by the superfluid helium, the need for end mirrors to produce reflection of the laser radiation is eliminated and reflection occurs instead at the wavefronts of the standing wave. The photons leave the superfluid helium at right angles to the standing wave as coherent radiation having a very high intensity. The standing wave established in the superfluid helium may be an acoustical standing wave, a thermal standing wave (second sound), or an electric standing wave.
A 20 kW electric-discharge pumped CN laser oscillating on the A(2) Pi-X(2) Sigma molecular system is presented. Excitation is by a simple longitudinal discharge struck through HCN vapor. Twenty kW peak power is generated in a 150 nsec full-width half-maximum pulse. Two lasing bands were observed in the A-X system: the (0,1) and (0,2) bands near 1.42 and 2.0 microns respectively. Both P and Q branches are active in the two bands, with Q bands stronger. Peak laser energy is 3 mJ. Products of UV photolysis of HCN, electron impact excitation of HCN, and other possible excitation mechanisms and laser efficiency are discussed.
Absorption measurements at CO2 laser frequencies were carried out as a function of Stark fields and CH3OH gas pressures to assess the effect of low electric field Stark tuning on methanol absorption at the P(12) 9.4 micron CO2 laser line, in a continuing search for coherent emitters at submillimeter wavelengths (far infrared). The line center absorption coefficient is found to increase five-fold with a 2.3 kV/cm Stark field at the 220 mtorr methanol pressure optimal for methanol far infrared lasing. The low electric field Stark tuning encourages efforts to enhance the pumping efficiency of a methanol far infrared laser at its normal optimum operating pressure, and suggests that significant Stark field induced frequency modulation of the far IR laser output is feasible.
A method of alignment of nuclei for a gamma ray laser and a means of achieving preferential emission of radiation along the crystal axis are discussed. The proposed method of preferential emission of radiation along the aligned needles is to have a symmetric field gradient at the nucleus and a sequence of excited levels of spin and parity 2(+) and C(+). The proposed scheme reduces the density of excited states required for lasing and reduces the linewidth due to inhomogeneous broadening. Mossbauer absorption experiments intended to test these ideas are outlined.
A kinetic model is developed for a plasma generated by fission fragments and the results are employed to study helium plasma generated in a tube coated with fissionable material. Because both the heavy particles and electrons play important roles in creating the plasma, their effects are considered simultaneously. The calculations are carried out for a range of neutron fluxes and pressures. In general, the predictions of the theory are in good agreement with available intensity measurements. Moreover, the theory predicts the experimentally measured inversions. However, the calculated gain coefficients are such that lasing is not expected to take place in a helium plasma generated by fission fragments. The effects of an externally applied electric field are also considered.
The possibility of creating a plasma from fission fragments was investigated, as well as the probability of utilizing the energy of these particles to create population inversion leading to laser action. Eventually, it is hoped that the same medium could be used for both fissioning and lasing, thus avoiding inefficiences in converting one form of energy to the other. A central problem in understanding a fission induced plasma is to obtain an accurate model of the electron behavior; some calculations are presented to this end. The calculations are simple, providing a compendium of processes for reference.
A kinetic model is developed for a plasma generated by fission fragments, and the results are employed to study He plasma generated in a tube coated with fissionable material. Because both the heavy particles and electrons play important roles in creating the plasma, their effects are considered simultaneously. The calculations are carried out for a range of neutron fluxes and pressures. In general, the predictions of the theory are in good agreement with available intensity measurements. Moreover, the theory predicts the experimentally measured inversions. However, the calculated gain coefficients are such that lasing is not expected to take place in a helium plasma generated by fission fragments.
Fast flow can be used to create the population inversion required for lasing action, or can be used to improve laser operation, for example by the removal of waste heat. It is pointed out that at the present time all lasers which are capable of continuous high-average power employ flow as an indispensable aspect of operation. High power laser systems are discussed, taking into account the gasdynamic laser, the HF supersonic diffusion laser, and electric discharge lasers. Aerodynamics and high power lasers are considered, giving attention to flow effects in high-power gas lasers, aerodynamic windows and beam manipulation, and the Venus machine. Applications of high-power laser technology reported are related to laser material working, the employment of the laser in controlled fusion machines, laser isotope separation and photochemistry, and laser power transmission.
The population densities of both the ground and the 2D(5/2) metastable states of copper atoms in a double-pulsed copper-chloride laser are correlated with laser energy as a function of time after the dissociation current pulse. Time-resolved density variations of the ground and excited copper atoms were derived from measurements of optical absorption at 324.7 and 510.6 nm, respectively, over a wide range of operating conditions in laser tubes with diameters of 4 to 40 mm. The minimum delay between the two current pulses at which lasing was observed is shown to be a function of the initial density and subsequent decay of the metastable state. Similarly, the maximum delay is shown to be a function of the initial density and decay of the ground state.
Closed cycle CO2 and CO electric discharge lasers were studied. An analytical investigation assessed scale-up parameters and design features for CO2, closed cycle, continuous wave, unstable resonator, electric discharge lasing systems operating in space and airborne environments. A space based CO system was also examined. The program objectives were the conceptual designs of six CO2 systems and one CO system. Three airborne CO2 designs, with one, five, and ten megawatt outputs, were produced. These designs were based upon five minute run times. Three space based CO2 designs, with the same output levels, were also produced, but based upon one year run times. In addition, a conceptual design for a one megawatt space based CO laser system was also produced. These designs include the flow loop, compressor, and heat exchanger, as well as the laser cavity itself. The designs resulted in a laser loop weight for the space based five megawatt system that is within the space shuttle capacity. For the one megawatt systems, the estimated weight of the entire system including laser loop, solar power generator, and heat radiator is less than the shuttle capacity.
A kinetic model is developed for a plasma generated by fission fragments and the results are employed to study He plasma generated in a tube coated with fissionable material. Because both the heavy particles and electrons play important roles in creating the plasma, their effects are considered simultaneously. The calculations are carried out for a range of neutron fluxes and pressures. In general, the predictions of the theory are in good agreement with available intensity measurements. Moreover, the theory predicts the experimentally measured inversions. However, the calculated gain coefficients are such that lasing is not expected to take place in a helium plasma generated by fission fragments.