A new RF plasma jet generator (DSOG-5) of singlet oxygen has been developed for use in an oxygen-iodine laser. The plasma jet was produced in Al nozzles, which were fed by the radio-frequency (100 MHz) power of up to 200 W. The usual mode of operation was an energy transfer from Ar plasma jet to a neutral O2 gas stream. The yield of singlet delta oxygen was up to 24%. Iodine molecules were dissociated by 200 MHz RF discharge with the power of 60 W prior to injection into the mixing zone of laser. The pre-dissociation enhancement was up to 22% of iodine spontaneous emission intensity. Both the DSOG-5 and the RF iodine pre-dissociation were tested in laser experiments in a transverse flow Discharge Oxygen-Iodine Laser (DOIL). The effluent of DSOG-5 was cooled by liquid nitrogen to temperatures in the range 120-300 K. There was a temperature dependent loss of singlet delta oxygen on the walls. The singlet delta oxygen yield and the atomic iodine luminescence at the wavelength of 1315 nm were measured. The highest luminescence was achieved at pressures of ~1 Torr with the yield of 10-20%. Laser oscillations have not been achieved.
A decade has passed, since Discharge Oxygen Iodine Laser (DOIL) research started in our laboratory. Singlet delta oxygen production tests were carried out using RF discharge singlet oxygen generator of the first version (DSOG-1) in 1993. The maximum yield of 4.2% was achieved by DSOG-1. Efforts for improving RF-DSOG have been continuously carrying on and DSOG-5 is now under operation. The DSOG-5 consists of a jet nozzle having a diameter of 3 mm, an injector quarts nozzle of 2 mm diameter set inside the jet nozzle at coaxial position and a mixing slit nozzle with the height of 0.2 mm set surrounding the jet nozzle exit. High electric field is laid on inside surface of the jet nozzle by 200 W RF power source. The singlet delta oxygen is produced by energy transfer from Argon plasma which is produced in the jet nozzle. It is important for achieving high yield to have a good mixing of oxygen, blown from the slit nozzle and the quarts nozzle, with the Argon plasma. The yield of 24% was recorded when oxygen gas 110 sccm was mixed with 700 sccm Argon gas at the pressure 0.6 torr and the RF power 196 W. With a new laser system reinforced by a discharge iodine dissociation and a laser gas cooling device, oscillation tests were carried out in conjunction with the DSOG-5. Performance of the system was confirmed by an emission from excited iodine atoms which energy was transferred from the singlet delta oxygen. It is obvious that the new system gives a progress for the DOIL oscillation.
A new RF plasma jet generator (DSOG-4) of singlet delta oxygen has been developed for use in an oxygen-iodine laser. Two different modes of operation were studied: (1) chilling of the plasma jet by a neutral gas stream and (2) an energy transfer from plasma jet to a neutral gas stream. The plasma jet was produced in an Al cylindrical nozzle, having the cross section of 3 mm2. The chilling mode used mixtures O2:NO to produce the plasma jet, which was subsequently chilled by He, injected at the nozzle exit. The energy transfer mode used mixtures He:NO to produce the plasma jet, which was mixed with a neutral stream of O2, allowing thus energy transfer to oxygen molecules with enhanced selectivity. The RF frequency was 99.9 MHz and the RF power was up to 200 W. Both the modes of operation were tested in a transverse flow Discharge Oxygen-Iodine Laser (DOIL). The singlet delta oxygen yield and the atomic iodine luminescence at the wavelength 1315 nm were measured. The energy transfer mode proved to be an effective alternative of the classic chilling mode. It enables new generating schemes, which may bypass some of the classic limitations in oxygen discharges.
A face welding technology of a titanium sheet on a steel plate for adding corrosion resistance was investigated. In the welding tests, 1800 W YAG laser beam was irradiated at different locations near a touching line of both plates through f:θ lens and was scanned within 13 mm width along the line at the frequency of 10 Hz, 20 Hz or 40 Hz. Twin rolls were set to load forces on both plates subjected to welding and simultaneously for pulling them out. The tensile shear test was carried out on each piece. Consequently, the highest strength was obtained at the frequency of 40 Hz. SEM observation and EDX analyses revealed that the formation of intermetallic compounds was smallest in this weld.
An RF plasma jet generator of singlet delta oxygen has been developed for use in an oxygen-iodine laser. The plasma jet was produced in an Al cylindrical nozzle, having the inner diameter of 3 mm and the length of 8 mm. The discharge was done in the gas mixture O2:N2:NO=200:20:10 sccm and then it was chilled reactively by the mixture Ar:NO2=200:10 sccm, which was injected into the plasma jet at the nozzle exit. The RF frequency was 99.9 MHz and the RF power was 200 W. The O2(?1Æg) relative yield of 32 % was achieved at the pressure of 0.43 Torr. The current device DSOG-3 was tested in a discharge oxygen-iodine laser (DOlL). The reaction scheme of DOlL is the same as in COIL, except of the generator of singlet delta oxygen. The pressure inside the laser was 0.6-0.9 Torr and the mixtures O2:NO=200: 100 sccm and Ar:NO=2100: 100 sccm were used. The iodine flow rate was 0.3 mmol/min. Both types axial and transverse subsonic flow lasers were examined. The latter had better performance. The CW output power was 3 nW at the laser wavelength of 13 15 nm, when the yield of O2(?1Æg) was 25%. The RF DOlL has been demonstrated experimentally.
The trial for world first oscillation of oxygen iodine laser using high frequency discharge was conducted. Maximum excited oxygen efficiency was recorded up to 21% by the microwave (MW) discharge and 32% by the radio frequency (RF) discharge. The highest efficiency of 32% singlet oxygen was achieved by producing plasma jet through the hollow cathode of RF discharge. Laser oscillation test was carried out connecting with RF discharge singlet oxygen generator (DSOG) to a resonator which was arranged longitudinal to the gas flow. Spontaneous emission of its wavelength 1.315 micrometer from iodine electronic transition was detected by the spectra-analyzer from laser output mirror. The laser oscillation was confirmed by detecting an amplification of the emission when laser mirrors were aligned.
A hybrid oxygen-iodine laser (HOIL) using discharge singlet oxygen generator (DSOG) was studied experimentally. We used a microwave discharge as a plasma source. The microwave frequency was 2450 MHz and the input power for discharging was up to 30 W. Oxygen excitation tests were carried out using the DSOG by changing conditions of input power, oxygen pressure and flow rate, gas-mixing ratio, and so on. Spectrum analyzer was used as a diagnostic device for measuring the singlet oxygen of its wavelength 1.27 micrometer. The best results of excitation efficiency was 21% on condition that oxygen output pressure was 1.4 - 1.9 torr and oxygen flow rate was 30 sccm.
The flow field of a supersonic flow chemical oxygen-iodine laser is simulated solving three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations, and the dependence of the mixing/reacting zone structure and the resulting gain region on the effective velocity ratio of I2 jet to the primary flow is studied. It is assumed that the flow is laminar and the water vapor condensation due to the supersonic cooling is ignored. A chemical kinetic model encompassing 21 chemical reactions and 10 chemical species is used to determine the chemical composition of gas mixture. The I2He ratio and plenum pressure of the secondary flow are varied in order that the amount of iodine injected into the primary flow is kept constant in each effective velocity ratio. The present results demonstrate that a pair of contrarotating vortices generated behind the I2 jet greatly enhances the mixing and the simultaneous chemical reaction of I2 and O2(1$DELTA). It is shown that the optimum condition for the secondary I2 jet momentum exists. The I2 jet which causes the high gain penetrates into the primary flow moderately deeply and does not collide with the counter one.
Having succeeded the oscillation of 6 kW output power by a supersonic flow, the chemical oxygen iodine laser (COIL) is now going to be realized as a new industrial laser by adopting various leading technologies.
Rf oxygen plasma jets were studied experimentally as an alternative source of molecular singlet delta oxygen for an oxygen-iodine laser. The relative yield of singlet delta oxygen was measured under a wide variety of experimental conditions. The rf frequency range was 27.2 - 99.9 MHz and the rf power was up to 200 W. The oxygen output pressure was 0.05 - 0.40 torr and the oxygen flow rate was 195 - 1000 sccm. High purity oxygen or its mixtures with Ar, N2, NO and Hg at the pumping velocity of 250 m3/h were used. The plasma jet was produced in nozzles, having the inner diameter of 1 - 6 mm and the length of 1 - 16 mm. The nozzle materials Al, Ti, Ta and W gave significantly better results than Pt and Ni. The dependence of singlet delta oxygen production on the radiofrequency was increasing monotonously. Other dependencies were not monotonous and exhibited an optimum. The cw mode of operation gave usually better results than a pulsed mode. The most effective admixture was N2, which gave the highest enhancement. This resulted in the relative yield of singlet delta oxygen exceeding 15%.
Chemical oxygen iodine laser (COIL) is the only laser expected to be applied for thick plate cutting, for instance, by high laser power over 5 kW transferred to the processing fields by the optical silica fiber. As a result of the first stage of industrial COIL development, a 1 kW subsonic COIL was delivered as a commercial processing device first in the world in 1992. The supersonic COIL development was carried out at the second stage and the output power of over 5 kW was obtained in 1995. Using this high power beam, superiority of the COIL as an industrial laser was studied by processing metals.
We obtained 12.4 W visible radiation by Intracavity second harmonic generation of continuous wave chemical oxygen-iodine laser. A chemical oxygen-iodine laser with a maximum fundamental wave output power of about 10 W in a concentric cavity composition was used. Experiments were performed for three types of optical cavities using a 1 cm LBO crystal.
A supersonic flow chemical oxygen-iodine laser is developed utilizing a jet-type singlet oxygen generator and the output power of several hundred watts is successfully attained. In the present study, the reaction zone structure of the supersonic flow chemical oxygen-iodine laser is also simulated solving the 2D Navier-Stokes equations. The numerical results clearly show that the enhancement of mixing is indispensable to improve the laser performance.
A hollow electrode fast flow oxygen RF discharge was examined experimentally as an alternative source of molecular singlet delta oxygen. The relative yield of singlet delta oxygen was measured under the following experimental conditions: the RF frequency 13.66 MHz, the RF power up to 500 W, the oxygen output pressure 0.5 - 2.5 Torr, the oxygen flow rate 0.1 - 2.5 Nl/min, the hollow electrode inner diameter 1 - 4 mm, the hollow electrode length 1 - 4 mm, the gas composition--99.5% and 99.995% oxygen, respectively. The singlet delta oxygen yield was increasing with the RF power and decreasing with the pressure. The dependence of the yield on the flow rate and the geometrical dimensions was not monotonous and exhibited an optimum. In such cases, the singlet delta oxygen yield up to 16% was achieved.
The behavior of the 2P1/2 yields 2P3/2 lasing transition in an atomic iodine in the presence of a magnetic field has been studied. The small-signal gain of a chemical oxygen iodine laser in the presence of a magnetic field was measured by utilizing a semiconductor laser. Gain measurements are given for (pi) and (sigma) components for field strength between 0 - 540 Gauss.
A new method for small-signal gain measurements which uses a distributed feedback laser diode (DFB laser diode) as a probe laser has been developed. In this method, as the wavelength of the probe laser can be changed continuously, not only the small-signal gain but also the gain profile can be measured. Small-signal gain with the gain profile of a chemical oxygen iodine laser was measured by applying this method. Moreover, from the line width of the observed gain profile, the temperature of the laser medium was estimated.
The chemical oxygen iodine laser (hereafter referred to as COIL) has been attracting attention for its potential on the usage for material processing. The completion of the COIL for material processing with such systems as the fuel recirculation equipment, continuous water vapor trapping facilities, and so on, is informed. The suitable resonator design is investigated. The experimental test was carried out with the stable-unstable resonator and a high quality beam of near diffraction limit at the unstable side was achieved. Now, the possibility of the COIL for processing is actually ascertained.
Since the first oscillation of a ruby laser obtained in 1960, an enormus amount of efforts have been concentrated on laser researches. Fundametal researches were almost finished in 1960's, then aims of investigations were turned to find out new applications.
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