Use of Chemical Lasers to Determine the Rate Constants of Reactions Between Atoms and Molecules and the Rate Constants of the Relaxation of Vibrationally Excited Molecules

The application of chemical lasers to the determination of the rate constants of reactions and of the relaxation of vibrational excitation is discussed. The following procedures are reviewed: the measurement of the time lag of the generation with respect to the leading edge of the pulse used to initiate the reaction, the measurement of the generation decay time, the use of competing reactions to measure the rate constants of "non-laser" reactions, and also methods of measuring the relative rate constants for the population of different levels in the reaction product (the "equal amplification temperature" method, the "zero amplification temperature" method, and the "grating selection" method). 71 references.