O2(bΣ1+g) relaxation in active medium of oxygen-iodine laser

Rate constants for the removal of O 2 b 1 ∑ + g by collisions with O 2 , N 2 , CO 2 and H 2 O have been determined at temperature 297 K. O 2 (b 1 ∑ + g ) was excited by pulses from a tunable dye laser, and the deactivation kinetics were followed by observing the temporal behavior of the b 1 ∑ + g - X 3 ∑ - g fluorescence. The removal rate constants for CO 2 , N 2 and H 2 O were not strongly dependent on temperature, and could be represented by the expressions k CO 2 =(1.8±0.05)×10 -16 ; k N2 =(2.2 ± 0.2)×10 -15 , and k H2O =(6.12±0.67)×10 -12 cm 3 molecule -1 s -1 . Rate constant for O 2 (b 1 ∑ + ) removal by O 2 (X), being orders of magnitude lower, represented by the fitted expression k O2 =(3.67 ± 0.06)×10 -17 cm 3 molecule -1 s -1 . All of the rate constants measured at room temperature were found to be in good agreement with previously reported values.