An analysis is made of a new method of amplifying laser radiation in chemically active media. The fundamental difference compared with conventional methods of amplification is that an inverted medium is produced during a chemical reaction initiated by self-emission from the amplifier. By way of an example, the possibility of obtaining amplification due to HF (DF) and CO2 molecules is studied.

An experimental determination was made of the recombination constant of atomic fluorine. It was found that at 300-500°K the constant representing recombination of fluorine atoms to form the fluorine molecule was KF2 = (1–2)×10–32 cm6/sec. The efficiencies of F, Ar, He, and CO2 (relative to molecular fluorine) acting as third bodies in the recombination reaction was 40, 1.3, 0.7, and 10, respectively. The temperature dependence of the photodissociation cross section of fluorine was determined in the region of maximum absorption.

The results are reported of experiments in which stimulated emission was obtained as a result of vibrationrotational transitions in HF and DF molecules in N2F4+H2 and N2F4+D2 mixtures. The stimulated emission was initiated by CO2 laser pulses of λ = 10.3–10.6 μ wavelength. The peak output power of the HF laser was 0.5×103 W and that of the DF laser was 1.0×103 W for pulses of 1.2 and 0.5 μsec duration, respectively.