Influence of an iodine donor on the output energy of a pulsed oxygen-iodine laser

The influence of atomic iodine donors (CH₃I and CF₃I) on the output energy of a pulsed oxygen-iodine laser was investigated. Their influence on the time dependence of the luminescence intensity of I (²P_1/2) iodine atoms formed by laser photolysis of an RI–O₂–M mixture (R = CH₃, CF₃, M is the buffer gas) was also studied. An analysis of the experimental data and of the results of numerical modeling, demonstrated that when CF₃I was used as the iodine donor, CF₃O₂ quenched strongly the O₂(¹Δ) excited oxygen. The proposed kinetic model yielded the rate constant k = (3–5) X 10^–11 cm³/s for the reaction O₂ (¹Δ) + CF₃O₂ → O₂ (³∑) + CF₃O₂.