Effect of CO/sub 2/ gas on the thermal-nonequilibrium ionization of nitrogen

Experimental measurements of electron density in a supersonic CO/sub 2/:N/sub 2/ gas mixture containing varying amounts of CO/sub 2/ are reported. A series of current-voltage curves are recorded for mixtures with different CO/sub 2/ contents at constant E/N = 3 x 10 to the -16th V sq cm. It is shown that adding CO/sub 2/ in amounts typical for gas lasers (5-15 percent) decreases the electron density in the jet by no more than 50 percent. If N/sub 2/ molecules excited to high vibrational states are involved in the ionization reaction, enough of them remain to support ionization even after energy exchange with CO/sub 2/. It is concluded that the vibrational degrees of freedom of the laser-active molecules in homogeneous CO/sub 2/ gasdynamic lasers can be pumped further by using a bulk discharge in a supersonic jet of nonequilibrium ionized gas. 12 references.