Advanced Concepts for the Chemical Oxygen-Iodine Laser

System weight and volume are critical aspects that determine the Airborne Laser (ABL) platform operating altitude, total laser run time and aircraft refueling requirements. While COIL technology has made significant strides in system efficiency increases,an overall system weight reduction is needed. SARA, Inc. proposes a highly, innovative RF transmission line plasma technique to pre-dissociate molecular Iodine into free Iodine atoms before interaction with Singlet Delta Oxygen.Singlet Delta Oxygen is the energy storage and pump species that collisionally excites atomic iodine to the upper lasing state for the high energy 1.3mm laser airborne weapon output. Ideally one singlet delta collision results in one excited iodine atomand thus laser photon. In addition, the singlet delta flow must also first perform the requisite prior step of collisional disso-ciation of the molecular iodine (I2) into two iodine atoms (I-atoms). The dissociation process is not efficient with 2 to 3singlet delta species required to dissociate one iodine molecule.SARA's RF plasma dissociation technique will allow more Singlet Delta Oxygen to be used to collisionaly excite the iodine, increasing the laser power output and reducing the number of laser modules required for the ABL mission.This technique will result in an increase in laser power output over the existing ABL design for the same BHP and reactant consumption rates. The power increase would allow for a decrease in ABL system weight by reducing the total number of laser modulebuilding blocks required. All other COIL applications would benefit by the increased utilization of singlet delta oxygen, providing a potential expanding market.