Masaru Ikedo

Preparation and characteristics of the TlBr‐TlI fiber for a high power CO2 laser beam

The TlBr‐TlI (thallium bromoiodide) crystal and its fiber preparation method were studied in order to develop a high power CO2 laser beam fiber. As a result of this study, the most preferable composition for the fiber was determined to be 42 wt. % TlBr. The fiber (0.5 mm in diameter and 1.5 m in length) at that composition had the following excellent characteristics: (1) a high output power of 138 W (70 kW/cm2), (2) a high total transmissivity of more than 93%/1.5 m, and (3) a bending radius of ultimate 3.5 cm.

An optical cable for a CO 2 laser scalpel

This paper describes requirements of designing an optical cable for a CO 2 laser scalpel and a design concept satisfying these requirements. The optical fiber used is polycrystalline KRS-5 and the power delivered by this optical fiber ranges from 20 to 40 W. Since the optical cable consists of three parts-a connector, a cable, and a hand-piece-these parts have been discussed separately from the mechanical and optical point of view. Safety considerations also have been described especially in the case of fiber breaking and melting down.