Atomic iodine production in a gas flow by decomposing methyl iodide in a dc glow discharge

The production of atomic iodine for an oxygen – iodine laser is studied by decomposing methyl iodide in a dc glow discharge in a vortex gas flow. The concentration of iodine atoms in discharge products was measured from the atomic iodine absorption of the radiation of a single-frequency tunable diode laser at a wavelength of 1.315 μm. Atomic iodine concentrations sufficient for the operation of an oxygen – iodine laser were obtained. The concentration of atomic iodine amounted to 3.6 × 10¹⁵ cm^-3 for a pressure of the carrying argon gas of 15 Torr. The discharge stabilisation by a vortex gas flow allowed the glow discharge to be sustained in a strongly electronegative halogen-containing gas mixture for pressures up to 20 Torr.