Energy characteristics of an XeO photochemical laser

A kinetic model of the physicochemical processes in an XeO laser is developed and used as the basis to explain the experimentally observed dependences of the laser output characteristics on the pressure of the active mixture components. An analysis is made of the energy balance in the active medium of an XeO laser. The maximum laser efficiency and the conditions required to achieve this are estimated. An output pulse with an energy of 2.2 J and half-height duration of 8 μsec was obtained in an N₂O:Xe:He =1:75:170 mixture with a total concentration of 3 amagat at a temperature of 160°K. The specific output energy was ~3 J/liter, the gain at the pump pulse maximum was 3.6×10^–3cm^–1, and the absorbed photon quantum efficiency was approximately 10%.