High frequency excited CO2 laser  

Chen Yihong
Laser Institute
Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Wuhan, China  

ABSTRACT:
 
The high frequency excitation is increasingly substituting the DC discharge excitation of CO2 lasers, mainly because of the capability of higher power density and the superior modulation properties. According to the time scales  of various discharge processes, we have discussed the characteristics of AC excitation, RF excitation, DC excitation  and microwave excitation in this paper.
 
Reprinted from Laser Technology, Vol. 16, No. 3 (1992), 164-166