Recent Experimental Measurements of the ElectriCOIL System

Abstract

Theoretical and experimental studies have indicated that fractions of O 2 ( 1 Δ) can be produced in an electrical discharge that may permit lasing of an electric discharge oxygen-iodine laser (ElectriCOIL) system, possibly in conjunction with the injection of predissociated iodine. Results of those studies along with more recent experimental results show that electric excitation is a complex process that must be investigated with advanced diagnostics along with modeling to better understand this highly complex system. In this paper, recent detailed experimental measurements of the RF discharge region in the ElectriCOIL system are presented, including E/N and temperature measurements. Diagnostics play a critical role in developing an understanding of the ElectriCOIL system; and, as such, a great deal of care has been taken to implement high quality diagnostics for evaluating the flow properties emerging from the discharge region. Spectroscopic temperature measurements are taken from the O 2 ( 1 Σ) emission data.