Carbon Dioxide Laser: Amplification

CARBON DIOXIDE LASER
A test target is vaporized and bursts into flame upon irradiation by a high power
continuous wave carbon dioxide laser emitting tens of kilowatts of infrared light.
The carbon dioxide laser (CO2 laser) was one of the earliest gas lasers to be
developed (invented by Kumar Patel of Bell Labs in 1964[1]), and is still one of the
most useful. Carbon dioxide lasers are the highest-power continuous wave lasers
that are currently available. They are also quite efficient: the ratio of output power
to pump power can be as large as 20%.
The CO2 laser produces a beam of infrared light with the principal wavelength bands
centering around 9.4 and 10.6 micrometers.
Amplification
The active laser medium (laser gain/amplification medium) is a gas discharge which is air
cooled (water cooled in higher power applications). The filling gas within the
discharge tube consists primarily of:
Carbon dioxide (CO2) (around 10–20%)

Nitrogen (N2) (around 10–20%)
Hydrogen (H2) and/or xenon (Xe) (a few percent; usually only used in a sealed tube.)
Helium (He) (The remainder of the gas mixture)
The specific proportions vary according to the particular laser.
The population inversion in the laser is achieved by the following sequence:
Electron impact excites vibrational motion of the nitrogen. Because nitrogen is a

homonuclear molecule, it cannot lose this energy by photon emission, and its excited
vibrational levels are therefore metastable and live for a long time.
Collisional energy transfer between the nitrogen and the carbon dioxide molecule
causes vibrational excitation of the carbon dioxide, with sufficient efficiency to lead
to the desired population inversion necessary for laser operation.
The nitrogen molecules are left in a lower excited state. Their transition to ground
state takes place by collision with cold helium atoms. The resulting hot helium
atoms must be cooled in order to sustain the ability to produce a population
inversion in the carbon dioxide molecules. In sealed lasers, this takes place as the
helium atoms strike the walls of the container. In flow-through lasers, a continuous
stream of CO2 and nitrogen is excited by the plasma discharge and the hot gas
mixture is exhausted from the resonator by pumps.
Construction
Because CO2 lasers operate in the infrared, special materials are necessary for their
construction. Typically, the mirrors are silvered, while windows and lenses are made
of either germanium or zinc selenide. For high power applications, gold mirrors and
zinc selenide windows and lenses are preferred. There are also diamond windows
and even lenses in use. Diamond windows are extremely expensive, but their high
thermal conductivity and hardness make them useful in high-power applications
and in dirty environments. Optical elements made of diamond can even be sand
blasted without losing their optical properties. Historically, lenses and windows were
made out of salt (either sodium chloride or potassium chloride). While the material was
inexpensive, the lenses and windows degraded slowly with exposure to atmospheric
moisture.
The most basic form of a CO2 laser consists of a gas discharge (with a mix close to
that specified above) with a total reflector at one end, and an output coupler (usually
a semi-reflective coated zinc selenide mirror) at the output end. The reflectivity of
the output coupler is typically around 5-15%. The laser output may also be edge-
coupled in higher power systems to reduce optical heating problems.
The CO2 laser can be constructed to have CW powers between milliwatts (mW) and
hundreds of kilowatts (kW).[2] It is also very easy to actively Q-switch a CO2 laser by
means of a rotating mirror or an electro-optic switch, giving rise to Q-switched peak
powers up to gigawatts (GW) of peak power.[3]
Because the laser transitions are actually on vibration-rotation bands of a linear

triatomic molecule, the rotational structure of the P and R bands can be selected by
a tuning element in the laser cavity. Because transmissive materials in the infrared
are rather lossy, the frequency tuning element is almost always a diffraction grating. By
rotating the diffraction grating, a particular rotational line of the vibrational
transition can be selected. The finest frequency selection may also be obtained
through the use of an etalon. In practice, together with isotopic substitution, this means
that a continuous comb of frequencies separated by around 1 cm−1 (30 GHz) can be
used that extend from 880 to 1090 cm−1. Such "line-tuneable" carbon dioxide
lasers[4] are principally of interest in research applications.
Gas
LaserCompar
isons
Laser Type Linear Power Maximum Power

Density Power Efficiency
W/m percent
W
He-Ne 0.1 1 0.1
Argon 1-10 50 0.1
CO2 60-80 1200 15-20

Working
Three gases (CO2, N2 and He) are mixed and fed into one end of a discharge tube
at a pressure of a few torr. The gas flows down the end of the tube in about one
second and is pumped out the far end with a mechanical forepump. An electrical
discharge is maintained between the metallic end flanges of the tube. The ballast
resistance is required because of the negative dynamic resistance of the discharge.
With a fully reflecting mirror on the left and a partially transmitting mirror on the
right, the device becomes a laser which radiates in the far infrared at 10.6 microns.
Applications
Because of the high power levels available (combined with reasonable cost for the
laser), CO2 lasers are frequently used in industrial applications for cutting and
welding, while lower power level lasers are used for engraving.[5] They are also very
useful in surgical procedures because water (which makes up most biological tissue)
absorbs this frequency of light very well. Some examples of medical uses are laser
surgery, skin resurfacing ("laser facelifts") (which essentially consist of burning the skin
to promote collagen formation), and dermabrasion. Also, it could be used to treat
certain skin conditions such as hirsuties papillaris genitalis by removing embarrassing
or annoying bumps, podules, etc. Researchers in Israel are experimenting with
using CO2 lasers to weld human tissue, as an alternative to traditional sutures.[6]
The common plastic Poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) absorbs IR light in the 2.8–
25 µm wavelength band, so CO2 lasers have been used in recent years for
fabricating microfluidic devices from it, with channel widths of a few hundred
micrometers.[7]
Because the atmosphere is quite transparent to infrared light, CO2 lasers are also
used for military rangefinding using LIDAR techniques.

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CARBON DIOXIDE LASER

Carbon dioxide (CO2) (around 10–20%)

The population inversion in the laser is achieved by the following sequence:

Electron impact excites vibrational motion of the nitrogen. Because nitrogen is a

Because the laser transitions are actually on vibration-rotation bands of a linear

Laser Type Linear Power Maximum Power

He-Ne 0.1 1 0.1

Argon 1-10 50 0.1

CO2 60-80 1200 15-20

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