The Pulse-Repetition Operation Regime of a Chemical Oxigen-Iodine Laser

Abstract

A chemical oxygen-iodine laser (COIL) generates the emission of radiation at λ = 1.315 µm from the atomic iodine transition ²P_1/2−²P_3/2. The upper laser level is pumped as a result of a fast quasi-resonant energy transfer from the oxygen molecules in the state O₂(¹Δ) to the iodine atom:

$$\begin{array}{*{20}{c}} {{{\text{O}}_2}\left( {^1\Delta } \right) + {\text{I}}\left( {^2{{\text{P}}_{3/2}}\underrightarrow {{{\text{K}}_1}}{{\text{O}}_2}\left( {^3\sum } \right) + {\text{I}}\left( {^2{{\text{P}}_{1/2}}} \right)} \right),} \\ {{{\text{k}}_1} = 7.7 \times {{10}^{ - 11}}{\text{c}}{{\text{m}}^3}{{\text{s}}^{ - 1}}} \end{array}$$

(1)

The iodine atoms are formed in the mixing of singlet oxygen with molecular iodine during the process

$${\text{n}}{{\text{O}}_2}\left( {^1\Delta } \right) + {{\text{I}}_2} \to {\text{n}}{{\text{O}}_2}\left( {^3\sum \;} \right) + 2\;{\text{I}}$$

(2)