Analysis of the energetics of chain-reaction chemical lasers allowing for rotational nonequilibrium

A qualitative and quantitative analysis is made of the energetics of chemical lasers utilizing self-supporting chain processes allowing for rotational nonequilibrium. It is found that the finite nature of the rate of rotational relaxation imposes a fundamental constraint on the possible increase in the specific energy output with increasing rotational quantum number J of the emitting states, predicted by the rotational equilibrium model. The optimal values of J are determined for hydrogen halide lasers. An estimate is given of the influence of rotational nonequilibrium on the energetics of a chain-reaction HF laser for various pulse durations in the range 1 nsec–0.1 μ sec. The results of numerical calculations show that the dynamics of the input signal spectrum in a chain-reaction amplifier has an optimum (giving the maximum energy output).