Hydrogen-fluoride chemical laser

Fluorine reacts with ammonia in the presence of ammonium acid fluoride to give nitrogen trifluoride, NF. This compound can be used as a fluorine source in the high power hydrogen fluoride—deuterium fluoride (HF/DF) chemical lasers and in the production of microelectronic siUcon-based components. 

Chemica.1 Lasers. Chemical lasers (44) produce a population inversion by a chemical reaction that leaves the product in an excited state. One example is the set of reactions leading to production of excited-state hydrogen fluoride [7664-39-3], HE, according to... 

Other methods of excitation are effective or necessary for certain gain media. For example, certain energetic chemical reactions produce molecules in excited states. These excited molecules may then comprise the upper laser level of an inverted-population system. A specific example is the hydrogen fluoride "chemical laser" wherein excitation is provided by the reaction of hydrogen gas with atomic fluorine. Another method of excitation is simply the passage of an electric current through a semiconductor device. This serves as the exciter for diode lasers. 

The hydrogen-fluoride laser, first described by Kompa and Pimentel 122> in 1967 and independently by T. Deutsch 123>, has become the most popular chemical laser system. One might even say without exaggeration... 

Table 5. Pulsed hydrogen-fluoride chemical lasers...

LPAT was carried out by using a hydrogen fluoride (HF) chemical laser operating at 2.83 pm as the excitation source and a... 

E. Cuellar, J. H. Parker, and G. C. Pimentel, Rotational chemical lasers from hydrogen fluoride elimination reactions, J. Chem. Phys. 61 422 (1974). 

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