The Inexpensive Repetitively Pulsed CO2 Laser

Abstract

Experiments were performed to obtain inexpensive construction of repetitively pulsed CO2 lasers. A 2.2 cm bore,150 cm discharge tube containing CO2 and N2 gas mixture was operated at 24 KV to produce output in excess of 0.1 joule. The output was approximately doubled when He gas was used along with CO2,N2 gases. At maximum output energy the ratio of electric field to pressure was approximately 20 V/cm torr. Good control of discharge and high circuit efficiency was obtained with a simple circuit operated at 30 or 60 pulses per second synchronized to the 60 Hz power line.