Highly efficient cw chemical oxygen–iodine laser with transsonic iodine injection and a nitrogen buffer gas

Methods of increasing the efficiency of low-pressure chemical oxygen–iodine lasers (COILs) with transsonic injection of molecular iodine, in which nitrogen is used as a buffer gas, are studied. A two-layer gas-dynamic model is used for a parametric analysis of physicochemical processes occurring in the transsonic iodine injector and in the COIL resonator, including mixing and generation of radiation. The 3D-RANS computer simulation software is used to study the flow structures resulting from an injection of iodine-containing flow into the transsonic zone of the oxygen nozzle. Experiments with a 10-kW modified laser have resulted in a chemical efficiency of 31.5% for a lasing power of 13.5 kW. The results of experimental studies of the cryosorption COIL exhaust system are presented.