While not limited thereto, the present invention is particularly adapted for use with a high-power Chemical Oxygen-Iodine Laser intended for military applications. In chemical lasers, chemical reactions are used to produce exited atoms or molecules in a flow of suitable mixture of rarefied gases. Gas containing excited species is flowed through a laser cavity where optical energy is extracted from the excited species by means of an optical resonator. Required flow throughput and pressure are produced by vacuum pumps which draw the gas mixture through the laser cavity. High-energy chemical lasers for military applications often produce hundreds of kilowatts of optical power. The corresponding gas throughput in the range of 10-100 Torr pressure requires vacuum pumps with pumping speeds on the order of several hundred thousand liters per second. Military applications for high-power chemical lasers include tactical air defense which necessitates deployment of laser weapons in forward positions on the battlefield. Such laser weapons must be transportable and, therefore, of limited size and weight. Forged Steel Valves In addition, the laser weapon should be concealable and undetectable by the enemy.

High-energy chemical lasers can be classified as either 1) hydrogen-halide or 2) Chemical Oxygen-Iodine Laser (COIL). Hydrogen-halide lasers typically involve a reaction of hydrogen and/or deuterium with fluorine, chlorine, bromine or iodine in diluent gases of nitrogen, helium, or alike, to produce hydrogen and/or deuterium halide molecules in excited vibrational states from which laser energy can be extracted. Forged Steel ValvesExhaust from the laser cavity of a hydrogen-halide laser is typically a mixture of gases at high temperature (up to 1000 degrees Centigrade) including HF (and/or DF), N 2 , and possibly small amounts of H 2 (and/or D 2 ), O 2 and H 2 O.

On the other hand, COIL lasers typically involve reaction of chlorine in diluent gases such as nitrogen or helium, with aqueous solution of alkaline hydrogen peroxide to produce intermediate excited specie known as singlet delta oxygen. Singlet delta oxygen is subsequently mixed with iodine vapor to generate iodine atoms in electronically excited state and suitable for extraction of laser energy. WATER POWER CONTROL VALVEExhaust from a COIL laser cavity is typically a mixture of gases at near ambient temperature including nitrogen or helium and oxygen with small amounts of chlorine, iodine, and water.

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2012-01-18

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