Laser action from atmospheric-pressure H2-F2mixtures made at 300K

Thirty-five photons (
\lambda = 3 \mu
m) per photolytic F atom have been obtained from a 40-cm
³
photochemical laser filled with 400 torr of F
2
, 100 torr of H
2
, and minor amounts of Ar and O
2
mixed at 300 K. With 0.035-percent dissociation of the F
2
, 0.83-J 250-ns full width at half maximum (FWHM) pulses were observed.