Pulsed Chemical Oxygen Iodine Lasers Excited by Pulse Gas Discharge with the Assistance of Surface Sliding Discharge Pre-ionization

Continuous-wave chemical oxygen-iodine lasers (COILs) can be operated in a pulsed operation mode to obtain a higher peak power. The key point is to obtain a uniform and stable glow discharge in the mixture of singlet delta oxygen and iodide. We propose using an electrode system with the assistance of surface sliding pre-ionization to solve the problem of the stable glow discharge with a large aperture. The pre-ionization unit is symmetrically fixed on the plane of the cathode surface. A uniform and stable glow discharge is obtained in a mixture of iodide (such as CH₃I) and nitrogen at the specific deposition energy of 4.5 J/L, pressure of 1.99–3.32 kPa, aperture size of 11 cm×10 cm. The electrode system is applied in a pulsed COIL. Laser energy up to 4.4 J is obtained and the specific energy output is 2 J/L.