Efficient model for HF lasers with rotational nonequilibrium

A method for modeling rotational nonequilibrium in HF(DF) laser systems that significantly reduces the computation time required for such calculations is described. With this formulation, an approximation can be obtained of the nonequilibrium optical gains of the individual v,J transitions without computing the individual populations for each v,J state, which appreciably reduces the number of integration variables. The predictions of a pulsed H(2)-F(2) laser model utilizing this approach are very similar to the predictions of a more complex model. The computational economy gained makes feasible parametric studies to improve understanding of the importance of rotational relaxation in laser calculations.