Infrared absorption in chemical laser window materials

The optical absorption has been measured at DF and HF wavelengths in a wide variety of transparent materials that show promise for use as windows on high powered chemical lasers. These measurements, which were made using DF-HF chemical laser calorimetric methods, will be discussed in terms of surface and bulk contributions to the total absorption as well as in terms of the total absorption measured for each type of material studied. Materials studied include the alkaline earth fluorides, alkali halides, Ge, Si, ZnSe, MgO, Yttralox, and A1(2)O(3).