ROTATIONAL NONEQUILIBRIUM EFFECTS IN CW CHEMICAL LASERS

Abstract
The occurrence of rotational nonequilibrium in cw chemical lasers is reviewed. The influence of this phenomenon on the power spectral output of the laser for both Fabry-Perot and confocal unstable resonators is summarized. The results of an investigation to construct an efficient, rotational nonequilibrium model which will give quantitative predictions of power and power spectral distribution is described. The essential elements of the model and their influence on laser performance are shown by detailed comparison with a model which contains boundary layer flow striations, F atom wall recombination and detailed, finite rate kinetics (typically 21 species and 143 reactions). Rotational equilibrium and nonequilibrium species profiles, saturated gains, intensity distributions, and power spectral distributions are compared for several different cases. Good agreement with experimental power spectral distributions is obtained.