Vibrational excitation of HF molecules and initiation of an H2 — F2 laser by multiline radiation from a hydrogen fluoride laser

Theoretical and experimental investigations were made of the mechanism of initiation of the H₂ + F₂ reaction by resonant excitation of HF molecules with radiation from a pulsed H₂ – F₂ laser, followed by transfer of the vibrational energy to H₂ molecules which then participate in the energy branching of the reaction chain. It was shown theoretically that a hydrogen fluoride laser pulse of energy density 0.1 — 10 J cm^–2 acting on an HF:H₂:F₂:O₂:He = (0.3 – 1):76:228:23:578 Torr mixture can generate laser radiation after a delay of 10 — 100 μs. A chain H₂ + F₂ reaction was initiated experimentally for the first time by multiline radiation from a pulsed hydrogen fluoride laser and a satisfactory correlation was observed between the calculated and measured chain-reaction development times.