CO/sub 2/ laser performance with a distributed gold catalyst

The performance of a CO/sub 2/ laser was improved by coating the inside wall of the discharge tube with a discontinuous gold film. In the presence of the discharge, the gold acts as an ambient temperature catalyst to reform decomposed CO/sub 2/. The gold coated laser delivered 122 W/m for both sealed-off and flowing operation. CO/sub 2/ decomposition levels are presented as a function of input power, gas pressure, and temperature. Atomic oxygen, generated by the discharge, appears to be required for gold to exhibit any detectable catalytic activity.<
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