Spatially Resolved Sub-Doppler Overtone Gain Measurements in a Small Scale Supersonic HF Laser

The overtone gain of a small-scale HF laser was measured using a sub- Doppler tunable diode laser system. Two-dimension spatially resolved small signal gain and temperature maps were generated, which show a highly inhomogeneous gain medium: indicating the dominant role that mixing of the fuel and oxidizer streams has in HF laser performance. The measured gain a temperature data were analyzed with the aid of a two-dimensional computational fluid dynamics code. To reduce uncertainty of important modeling input parameters, novel measurements of reactant concentration, flow velocity and gain length were made. Results show that reactant mixing mechanisms such as turbulence and large-scale vortex structures have a large effect on the gain averaged over a vertical profile while kinetic rate mechanisms such as reaction rate constants and reactant concentration have a greater effect on the maximum system gain. Overtone gain data measured while operating the laser saturated on the fundamental transitions are compared with fundamental lasing output spectra. In all cases, the data are consistent with an equilibrium rotational distribution.Air Force Research Lab Kirtland AFB Nmdirected Energy Directorate is the author of 'Spatially Resolved Sub-Doppler Overtone Gain Measurements in a Small Scale Supersonic HF Laser', published 2003 under ISBN 9781423514633 and ISBN 1423514637.