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74 G a s , C h e m i c a l , a n d F r e e - E l e c t r o n L a s e r s Chemical Lasers 75

3.5.2 Carbon Monoxide Lasers
Chemically driven carbon monoxide devices have also been dem-
onstrated. They typically rely on the highly exothermal pumping
reaction:

CS + O → CO* + S, ∆Q = 334 kJ (3.34)
where the CS radical is often produced by the reaction

CS + O → CS + SO (3.35)
2
The pumping reaction produces highly vibrationally excited CO that
is redistributed by V-V transfer processes. Furthermore, the VT deac-
tivation rates for CO* are much more favorable than are those for HF.
Unfortunately, due to the high O bond energy, oxygen atoms are
2
almost as difficult to produce as hydrogen atoms. Because the oxygen
atoms are typically produced electrically, there is no real advantage to
using an all–electrically driven CO laser. Furthermore, interest is lim-
ited by the relatively poor propagation characteristics of CO in the
atmosphere.

References
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2
2
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2
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