Accession Number:

ADA551280

Title:

Kinetics of the Electric Discharge Pumped Oxygen-Iodine Laser

Descriptive Note:

Doctoral thesis

Corporate Author:

AIR FORCE INST OF TECH WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB OH SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT

Personal Author(s):

• Lange, Matthew A.

Report Date:

2011-09-01

Pagination or Media Count:

178.0

Abstract:

A systematic study of microwave discharges at 2.45 GHz has been performed through the pressure range of sustainable electric discharges in pure oxygen flows of 2 to 10 Torr. A corresponding study of 13.56 MHz has also been performed at pressures of 2, 4, and 7 Torr. Optical emissions from O2a 1916, O2b 1931, and O-atoms have been measured from the center of a 956-wave discharge. Discharge residence times from 0.1 to 5 ms have been reported. The O2b 1931 emissions, with a spectral resolution of 0.01 nm, have been used to measure the temperature of the gas, which typically reaches a steady-state of 1,200 K. The interpretation of the measured O2a 1916, yield, using a streamlined, nearly analytic model, cast new light on the kinetics within the electric discharge. The pseudo-first order quenching rate of O2a 1916 ranges from 6,000 s-1 for 956-wave discharges to 600 s-1 for radio frequency RF discharges, independent of gas pressure and flow rate. The observations are consistent with a second order reaction channel that is dependent on both the electron and oxygen ground state concentrations. The role of vibrationally excited ground state oxygen is explored and provides a plausible destruction mechanism.

Descriptors:

• *ELECTRIC DISCHARGES
• *OPTICAL PROPERTIES
• *OXYGEN IODINE LASERS
• CONCENTRATION(CHEMISTRY)
• CONSISTENCY
• DESTRUCTION
• ELECTRONS
• EMISSION
• GROUND STATE
• KINETICS
• MATHEMATICAL MODELS
• MEASUREMENT
• PUMPING
• RADIOFREQUENCY
• SPECTROSCOPY
• STEADY STATE
• TEMPERATURE

Subject Categories:

• Electricity and Magnetism
• Optics

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE