N2O pure chemical cw flame laser

Abstract

We report the first observation of laser amplification and oscillation in a continuously operating flame with N₂O as the optically active species. Outputs have been observed at five wavelengths in the 001–100 vibrational‐rotational band of N₂O when excited by the Na‐catalyzed combustion of N₂O with CO in a coaxial flow laser cavity. At the equivalent wavelengths in CO₂ neither significant gain nor absorption was observed although CO₂ is formed as a reaction product. The performance of the N₂O chemically driven laser is compared to that of an electrical discharge flow laser, where N₂O is mixed with vibrationally excited N₂ in the same laser cavity and flow system. It was found that a large fraction of the chemical heat release is available for N₂O laser pumping.