During plasma excitation of CO2 molecules in drive lasers, up to 60% of the CO2 decomposes into CO. Typically, Au is used as a catalyst to preferentially recombine CO and O radicals into CO2. By adding a secondary, microwave driven plasma to the system at the Au catalyst, O atoms can be stripped away from contaminants created in the laser such as Ox and NOx compounds. It is hypothesized that this will decrease the CO:CO2 ratio, which increases overall laser efficiency. This work serves as a status update on the measurement of CO:CO2 ratios for 4 tests: 1) control, 2) with Au catalyst installed, 3) with secondary plasma active, and 4) with Au catalyst installed and secondary plasma active.
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