EXPERIMENTAL-STUDY OF GAIN AND OUTPUT COUPLING CHARACTERISTICS OF A CW CHEMICAL OXYGEN-IODINE LASER

Gain and output coupling characteristics of the CW chemical oxygen-iodine laser (COIL) are determined experimentally by means of varying the output coupling method. Under the conditions that the Cl2 flow rate is 11.8 mmol/s, the I2 molar flow rate is from 20 to 50-mu-mol/s, and the duct pressure is 200 Pa, the following were obtained from the experimental data: maximum values of output power of 58 W, an optimal output coupling factor of 1.50%, a resonator efficiency of 4.8%, an unsaturated small-signal gain of 1.55 x 10(-3) cm-1, a threshold small-signal gain of 1.31 x 10(-3) cm-1, a saturation intensity of 1150 W/cm2, intraresonator losses of 9%, and an atomic iodine concentration of 2.85 x 10(14) cm-3. A comparison of these results to the published data of other COIL systems is also presented.