The absence of an applications led design philosophy has compromised both the development of laser source technology and its effective implementation into manufacturing technology in particular. For example, CO₂ lasers are still incapable of processing classes of refractory and non-ferrous metals. Whilst the scope of this paper is restricted to high power CO₂ lasers; the design methodology reported herein is applicable to source technology in general, which when exploited, will effect an expansion of applications. The CO₂ laser operational envelope should not only be expanded to incorporate high damage threshold materials but also offer a greater degree of controllability. By a combination of modelling and experimentation the requisite beam characteristics, at the workpiece, were determined then utilised to design the Laser Manufacturing System. The design of sub-system elements was achieved by a combination of experimentation and simulation which benefited from a comprehensive set of software tools. By linking these tools the physical processes in the laser - electron processes in the plasma, the history of photons in the resonator, etc. - can be related, in a detailed model, to the heating mechanisms in the workpiece.

Date Published: 28 July 1989
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 1042, CO2 Lasers and Applications, (28 July 1989); doi: 10.1117/12.951260

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1042:
CO2 Lasers and Applications
James D. Evans; Edward V. Locke, Editor(s)