“Electrical wind” in CO2–laser mixtures at superatmospheric pressures

Abstract

Abstract This article presents the results of “electrical wind” investigations in CO2–laser mixtures at superatmospheric (1–12 atm) pressures. It is established that for a fixed value of the unipolar corona discharge current, the gas flow velocity does not depend on the pressure, but is determined by the chemical composition of the working mixture. The maximum values of the “electrical wind” velocity are achieved in carbon dioxide and molecular nitrogen and their values are 3.2 and 2.9 ms−1. In typical laser mixtures CO2:N2:He = 1:1:1 – 1:1:3 the velocity of the “electrical wind ” are in the range from 2.5 to 1.5 ms−.