This volume reports investigations which form part of a major series of theoretical and experimental studies being carried out in the Laboratory of Low-Temperature Plasma Optics at the Lebedev Physics Institute in Moscow. The papers give the results of systematic investigations of the chemical composition and of the electrical and optical properties of discharge plasmas, and also of populations of laser levels. Reliable and detailed information is given on the dissociation of carbon dioxide gas in discharges; the nature of the velocity distribution function, average energies, and densities of electrons; and populations and vibrational temperatures of molecules in cw CO and CO lasers. The material in this volume is intended for specialists in quantum electronics and low temperature plasma diagnostics.

Inhalt
Investigations of Physicochemical Properties of CO2 Laser Plasma V. N. Ochkin.- I Dissociation of CO2 Molecules in a CO2 Laser Gas-Discharge Plasma.- II Relaxation Processes and Population Inversion in a Multicomponent Plasma in a CO2 Discharge Laser.- III Experimental Determination of Laser Level Populations. Vibrational Temperatures.- Experimental Investigation of Electrical and Optical Properties of the Positive Column of Flow Discharges in Molecular Gases M. Z. Novgorodo.- I Review of Literature on Electrical and Optical Properties of Plasmas in Molecular Discoharges and Basic Information on CO2 Lasers.- II Experimental Methods and Conditions.- III Results of Investigations of Gas-Discharge Plasmas in Molecular Gases.- Conclusions.- Literature Cited.