Control of the duration of optical pulses from an oxygen–iodine chemical laser

It is shown that long radiation pulses needed in applications of lasers in technology may be emitted efficiently by an oxygen–iodine chemical laser. Slow photolysis can increase the output pulse duration to approximately 1 ms while retaining a high efficiency. Calculations yield the dependence of the lasing characteristics on all the parameters of interest. It is demonstrated that at high active medium pressures (up to 100 Torr) and low iodine concentrations, the pulse duration may be regulated with a high specific output energy and a high photolysis efficiency.