Abstract

Since 1980 NASA Langley Research Center has continued experimental and theoretical studies to achieve high cw power from solar-simulator-pumped iodine laser systems. To obtain higher laser output powers, the cw iodine laser system¹ has been improved in the pumping length, the laser-tube diameter, and the gas flow rate. The cw iodine laser system used for this experiment consisted of a 40-kW solar-simulating argon-arc lamp, an elliptical reflector, and a gas-laser cavity arrangement. The laser tube i.d. was 36 mm, and the effective pumping length was 20 cm. Pumping powers of up to 1300 solar constants (1.7 kW/m²) were employed in this experiment. The flow of i-C₃F₇I vapor was driven by an evaporation-and-condensation method. A maximum flow rate (Δm/Δt) of 25,000 SCCM with a pressure of 20 torr of i-C₃F₇I was achieved. A maximum flow velocity v of 16 m/s was determined by using the relation Δm/Δt = ≮vA, where ≮ is the density of i-C₃F₇I, and A is the area of the laser tube cross-section.

© 1992 Optical Society of America