Fuels for a premixed pulsed HCl laser

HCl pulsed chemical lasing was obtained from several premixed R-Cl/HI mixtures when initiated by a transverse pulsed discharge. The relative merits of these mixtures were compared to a premixed H
2
/Cl
2
mixture. For a constant stored electrical energy several mixtures have been found which give higher specific power than the H
2
/Cl
2
system. In addition, it has been possible to run some of these improved mixtures without diluent with no laser performance degradation.