Experimental investigation on principle of axisymmetric-fold combination cavity CO₂ laser

This paper reports the experimental investigation on the principle of axisymmetric-fold combination CO2 laser. The laser operated successfully in CW mode. The optimum gas mixture ratio and the gas pressure of the laser were determined. Different aspects of the CO2 laser were studied including the variations of excitation threshold voltage and output power with discharge current. The output spots and the light intensity distribution of the laser beam were obtained. The convergence of the laser beam was performed through an optical imaging system. The laser was successfully constructed, operated and tested for different applications within the limits of its maximum output power of 58 W.