Characteristics of a transverse-flow CO laser excited by RF-Discharge

Author

Kanazawa, Hirotaka ; Matsuzaka, Fumio ; Uehara, Minoru ; Kasuya, Koichi

Author_Institution

Mechatron. Dev. Center, Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Ind. Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan

Volume

30

Issue

6

fYear

1994

fDate

6/1/1994 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1448

Lastpage

1454

Abstract

We have developed a compact, efficient kW-class CO laser excited by transverse radio frequency (RF) discharge. The discharge and output characteristics of the RF-excited CO laser were investigated and were compared with those of the DC-excited one. The RF discharge power at 13.56 MHz was supplied to a discharge volume of 40H×35W×280L (mm³). Utilization of the RF excitation instead of the DC excitation enhanced the maximum input power, the electrical conversion efficiency and the beam quality. Six gas conditions (pressure, temperature, flow speed, and the concentrations of CO, N₂, and O₂) were chosen as the experimental parameters. The optimum values of the gas parameters to maximize the output power were 50 torr, 200 K, 17 m/s, 5%, 12% and 0.4% respectively. The maximum output power obtained was 1.32 kW, with an electrical conversion efficiency of 27% and a slope efficiency of 39%. The specific laser power, which characterizes the scaling law of a transverse-flow laser, was 4.6 kW/m for the length, and 3.3 W/cm³ for the volume

Keywords

carbon compounds; gas lasers; gasdynamic lasers; 1.32 kW; 13.56 MHz; 200 K; 27 percent; 39 percent; 50 torr; CO; N₂; N₂,; O₂; RF discharge power; RF-excited CO laser; beam quality; concentrations; discharge volume; electrical conversion efficiency; flow speed; gas conditions; maximum input power; output characteristics; pressure; scaling law; slope efficiency; specific laser power; temperature; transverse radio frequency discharge; transverse-flow CO laser; Cooling; Fiber lasers; Gas lasers; Laser beam cutting; Laser excitation; Laser stability; Power generation; Power lasers; Radio frequency; Temperature;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/3.299468

Filename

299468