Abstract

A chemical reaction has been used to chemically produce metastable magnesium atoms by sequentially reacting ground state magnesium atoms with N₂O and CO. Formation of the excited atoms occurs via a Mg–N₂O complex which is reduced by reaction with CO to form metastable magnesium atoms. In these experiments, the metastable magnesium atoms were produced in a supersonic flow; the success of this investigation demonstrated the feasibility of scaling Benard’s subsonic flow experiments. Analysis of our data indicates that the observed excited magnesium atom concentration can be increased over measured levels by an order of magnitude. This prediction is based in part on calculations which were made using the experimentally measured rate constant data for the Mg–N₂O reaction. With the predicted increase in the Mg[³P] concentration, chemically pumped metastable magnesium atoms should be an excellent energy storage medium for an energy transfer visible chemical laser. Mg[³P] atoms have a relatively long radiative lifetime, 4.5 ms; deactivation of Mg[³P] by various reagents is slow; spontaneous emission from the metastable electronic energy level to the ground state is in the blue region, ³P⁻¹S:457.1 nm; and the metastable magnesium atoms can be chemically pumped. Some of the potential energy transfer candidates are evaluated and are discussed in detail in some of the related presentations.

© 1986 Optical Society of America