IPG Photonics has developed a range of carbon dioxide (CO2) gas lasers that are said to be more efficient and compact than conventional CO2 lasers.
The company’s first generation of CO2 gas lasers have output powers from one to three kilowatts, and operate in the 10.6 micron spectral range. According to the manufacturers, they have high electrical efficiency, good beam quality, low maintenance, ruggedness, compactness and low weight.
The company has traditionally developed fibre lasers which are used for metal welding, cladding, sintering and brazing. It claims there is room in the market for both CO2 gas lasers and fibres to coexist.
According to the manufacturer, the lasers have a beam generator that allows the output power to increase without affecting the optical quality of the beam. They can produce modes from TEM00 to TEM01, as well as “D” modes, so they can be used for precision cutting.
The new lasers are said to withstand accelerations of up to 1G, allowing users to put the resonator on an overhead gantry.

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