Possibility of using tetrafluorohydrazine as an oxidiser in a supersonic cw chemical HF laser

Abstract

Abstract We report a computational and experimental study of the possibility of replacing NF3 nitrogen trifluoride, which is used in the NF3 – D2 – He fuel composition in the atomic fluorine generator of a supersonic cw chemical HF laser, with N2F4 tetrafluorohydrazine. As a result of comparing the specific energy characteristics of an HF laser operating with each of the oxidisers, it is shown that the replacement of nitrogen trifluoride with tetrafluorohydrazine in the same laser model leads to an increase in the specific energy output by 13% – 15%. In this case, it is possible to reduce the specific mass of the oxidiser storage system (the ratio of the mass of the oxidiser storage system to the laser facility power), reduce the oxidiser tank dimensions, and simplify the active medium generator design by eliminating the ignition system of the NF3 oxidiser with a D2 primary fuel.