Kinetic Process and Lasing Characteristics of IF Halogen Lasers Pumped by Electron Beams

Kinetic process and lasing characteristics of IF halogen lasers are described for electron-beam pumped Ar/CF3I/NF3gas mixtures. According to individual fluorescence yields of IF (D′-A′), I2 (D′-A′) and Ar F (B-X), it is found that (1) the I (4P) species are confirmed as the common precursor to IF (D′) and I2 (D′), and (2) the formation of I2 (D′) competes with the formation of IF (D′) because the ratio of IF fluorescence yield to the I2 fluorescence yield is nearly equal and the formation of I2 (D′) leads to the reduction of the number of I (4P). We also investigated the performance characteristics of the IF laser., It is found that the lasing is delayed due to the absorption by the I2 (X) that causes the extraction of IF laser energy to be decreased.