Optimization of the energy characteristics of an oxygen–iodine laser

An analysis is made of the quenching of singlet oxygen in the process of its transport from a chemical reactor to a resonator in a chemical oxygen–iodine laser. It is shown that for a given construction of the laser there is an optimal oxygen pressure at which the maximum energy can be deposited in the active medium. Simple expressions are derived for estimating the ultimate energy characteristics of such a chemical laser.