RU2649025C2 - Method for iodine atom production - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: electricity.

SUBSTANCE: method of iodine atom production for active oxygen-iodine laser medium includes a successive passing through an electric discharge generator and transportation node of a gas mixture, consisting of inert gas, iodine containing molecules and iodine atoms. Molecular oxygen is added to the gas mixture at the input of the electric discharge generator in an amount equal to the concentration of iodine-containing molecules.

EFFECT: providing the possibility of eliminating losses of iodine atoms during transportation from an atom generator to an active medium of an oxygen-iodine laser.

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Description

The invention relates to quantum electronics and can be used in the development of oxygen-iodine lasers.

An oxygen-iodine laser uses an atomic iodine transition I ( ² P _1/2 ) → I ( ² P _3/2 ) with a radiation wavelength of 1.315 μm, which is inverted during the transfer of energy from an oxygen molecule in a singlet state O ₂ ( ¹ Δ). Usually, iodine I atoms are formed as a result of the dissociation of I ₂ molecules by singlet oxygen directly in the active medium of the laser (Antonov IO, Azyazov VN, Mezhenin AV, Popkov GN, Ufimtsev NI, "Chemical oxygen-iodine laser with CO ₂ buffer gas", Appl. Phys Lett., Vol. 89, p. 051115 (2006)). This article describes the generation mechanisms of an oxygen-iodine laser, where the electron-excited oxygen molecule in the singlet state of O ₂ ( ¹ Δ) serves as the energy carrier. But when it is obtained by chlorination of an alkaline aqueous solution of hydrogen peroxide in gas-liquid generators, the problem arises of the deactivation of electronic excitation by water vapor present in the oxygen stream. The authors suggest a way to solve this problem by increasing the gain length of the active medium.

Closest to the claimed is a method in which increasing the efficiency of the oxygen-iodine laser, as well as expanding the range of its operating parameters is achieved through the external production of iodine atoms (Bruzzese JR, "Development of an Electric Discharge Oxygen-Iodine Laser", Dissertation, Ohio State University, 2011). Such generation of iodine atoms can be carried out using a generator, to the input of which a mixture of inert gas (Rg) with a small amount (of units of percent) of iodine-containing molecules (XI) is supplied, and iodine-containing molecules dissociate in the glow discharge plasma. But some of the iodine I atoms are lost during their transportation from the generator exit to the place of mixing with the flow of singlet oxygen, in the recombination process:

And also during transportation, during process (1), molecular iodine I _{2 is} produced, which deactivates electronically excited atomic iodine I ² (P _1/2 ) in the active medium of the laser during

The stream coming from the electric discharge generator of singlet oxygen contains atomic oxygen, but it cannot in any way prevent the loss of iodine atoms in the transport path. These drawbacks prevent the efficient extraction of energy stored in the active medium of the oxygen-iodine laser.

The aim of the invention is to eliminate the loss of iodine atoms during transportation from the generator to the active medium of the laser. The achievement of the technical result is due to the fact that the method includes sequential passage through the electric-discharge generator and the transportation unit of the gas mixture consisting of inert gas, iodine-containing molecules and iodine atoms, and molecular oxygen is added to the gas mixture at the inlet of the electric-discharge generator in an amount equal to the concentration of iodine-containing molecules . A diagram of a device for the reaction method is shown in the drawing. The device contains an iodine atom generator 1, a transport path 2, an injector 3, and a resonator 4. In this case, when a gas mixture passes through a transport path 2 (a shaded rectangle), oxygen atoms are formed in the discharge plasma that react with molecular iodine resulting from recombination in the process (1) in the reactions:

In the sequence of these reactions, iodine atoms are regenerated. Reactions (3) and (4) proceed with gas kinetic velocities and are able to maintain the concentration of iodine atoms at pressures characteristic of the iodine transport system in an oxygen-iodine laser for several milliseconds. Subsequently, the gas mixture Rg: I: I ₂ : O: O ₂ is supplied to the singlet oxygen stream O ₂ ( ¹ Δ) through the injector 3. When two gas streams are mixed, an active medium is formed, which enters the resonator 4, where laser radiation is generated. In the prototype, processes (3) and (4) also participate in the dissociation of molecular iodine, but already in the zone of formation of the active medium of the laser. In this case, the loss of electronically excited particles in the process (2) becomes inevitable. In the proposed solution, it is possible to prevent losses in the active medium of the laser.

A small number of oxygen molecules entering the active medium together with iodine does not significantly affect the operation of the laser. The choice of the iodine-containing molecule is carried out in such a way that the products of its dissociation and plasma-chemical reactions are not strong quenchers of the active medium of the oxygen-iodine laser.

Claims (1)

A method of producing iodine atoms for an active medium of an oxygen-iodine laser, comprising sequential passage through an electric-discharge generator and a node for transporting a gas mixture consisting of inert gas, iodine-containing molecules and iodine atoms, characterized in that molecular oxygen is added to the gas mixture at the inlet of the electric-discharge generator amount equal to the concentration of iodine-containing molecules.

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