Chemical Generation and Deactivation of Oxygen Singlet Delta (Generation Chimique et Desactivation de l'Oxygene Singulet Delta)

The construction and operation of a chemical generator of O2a1 Delta g are described. This system could be readily modified to drive a purely chemical iodine laser operating at 1.315 micrometer. Optical techniques were developed for estimating the excited oxygen concentration that arrives at a downstream cavity at total O2 pressures from 1 to 6 torr. Mechanisms that explain the deactivation of excited O2 in the gas stream are discussed. A value for the singlet delta energy-pooling rate constant is determined from the measured O2a1 Delta g concentrations.