Chemical lasers produced from O( 3 P ) atom reactions. V. CO laser emissions and vibrational population distribution in the flash‐initiated SO 2 ‐CFBr 3 system

CO laser emission at 5 μm was detected when SO 2 and CFBr 3 were flash photolyzed in the vacuum ultraviolet above 165 nm. Over 40 vibrational–rotational transitions ranging from Δ v = 2 → 1 to 14 → 13, with the exception of those between 8 → 7 and 11 → 10, were identified. The CO emission is believed to result from the O + CF reaction:The vibrational population of the CO has been measured by means of a CO laser resonance absorption method. The CO was found to be vibrationally excited to v = 24 with a vibrational temperature of about 1.4 × 10 4 °K. The “surprisal analysis” of the observed CO distribution showed the possible occurrence of a minor process (presumably O + CFBr) that generated vibrationally colder CO. The effects of various additives on the CO emission were also examined. The addition of CO 2 to a D 2 ‐SO 2 ‐CFBr 3 ‐He mixture resulted in a simultaneous osciallation at 3.6, 5, and 10.6 μm due to DF, CO, and CO 2 , respectively. Additionally, the utilization of the O + CF n ( n = 1, 2, 3) reactions as F‐atom sources for HF‐laser operation in flash‐initiated systems were demonstrated.