Hubert Dipl.-Phys. Weber

High-power CO2 waveguide laser of the 1-kW category

The common design of CO lasers for materials processing is founded upon a fast, mechanially enhanced gas flow to remove the heat released by the electrical discharge for laser excitation. The blower and the gas handling devices limit the compactness of this system on principle. In this paper a diffusion cooled rf-excited CO laser in stationary gas is described that works according to th stripline laser concept. Because this laser needs no gas circulation, it can be built essentially more compact and of less weight than common systems. With a modified cooling cycle it can act as a high power CO laser as well. Experimental investigations concerning discharge and laser parameters are described. The beam quality achieved with a stableunstable waveguide hybrid resonator is compared with theoretical calculations. Technological concepts for high lifetime sealed off lasers are presented.