Experimental laser surgical assembly based on a waveguide CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> laser

The results from developing the Khirurg (Surgeon) surgical assembly are discussed. The assembly is based on a waveguide diffuse cooled CO₂ laser, excited by a discharge of acoustic-frequency alternating current, and has an average radiation power of up to 40 W. The abilities of this assembly are estimated in terms of surgical practice in general and its competitiveness on the global market.     

Operational characteristics and power scaling of a transverse flow transversely excited CW CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> laser

Transverse flow transversely excited (TFTE) CO₂ lasers are easily scalable to multikilowatt level. The laser power can be scaled up by increasing the volumetric gas flow and discharge volume. It was observed in a TFTE CW CO₂ laser having single row of pins as an anode and tubular cathode that the laser power was not increasing when the discharge volume and the gas volumetric flow were increased by increasing the electrode separation keeping the gas flow velocity constant. The discharge voltage too remained almost constant with the change of electrode separation at the same gas flow velocity. This necessitated revision of the scaling laws for designing this type of high power CO₂ laser. Experimental results of laser performance for different electrode separations are discussed and the modifications in the scaling laws are presented.     

Vibrational kinetics of the active media of CW CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> lasers

The vibrational kinetics of CW CO₂ lasers has been analyzed within the framework of a temperature model. The necessity of taking into account the coupling of the vibrational modes of the CO₂ molecule in determining the occupation numbers and the store of vibrational energy in individual modes is shown. Expressions that connect vibrational temperatures with the rates of excitation and relaxation of the lower vibrational levels of modes have been obtained. The ratios between the vibrational temperatures on selective excitation of the 00° 1 level and on excitation of CO₂ molecules in an electric discharge as well as the character of the dependences of vibrational temperatures on the pumping-energy value are discussed.__________Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 72, No. 1, pp. 72–79, January–February, 2005.     

Indigenous development of a 2 kW RF-excited fast axial flow CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> laser

RF-excited fast axial flow CO₂ lasers in kilowatt regime are presently being used for various new scientific applications in addition to laser material processing because of its versatility and superior beam quality. We have indigenously developed a compact 2 kW RF-excited fast axial flow CO₂ laser with moderate beam quality. In this paper the key design features of the laser and the associated high power capacitively coupled RF excitation technique are discussed in detail. Operational characteristics of this system are described along with the experimental findings.     

Coherent tunable far infrared radiation

Tunable, cw, far infrared (FIR) radiation has been generated by nonlinear mixing of radiation from two CO₂ lasers in a metal-insulator-metal, (MIM) diode. The FIR difference-frequency power was radiated from the MIM diode antenna to a calibrated indium antimonide bolometer. Two-tenths of a microwatt of FIR power was generated by 250 mW from each of the CO₂ lasers. Using the combination of lines from a waveguide CO₂ laser, with its larger tuning range, with lines from CO₂, N₂O, and CO₂ isotope lasers promises complete coverage of the entire far infrared band from 100 to 5000 GHz (3–200 cm^–1) with stepwise-tunable cw radiation.Contribution of the National Bureau of Standards, not subject to copyright     

CO2 laser drives extreme ultraviolet nano-lithography — second life of mature laser technology

It was shown both theoretically and experimentally that nanosecond order laser pulses at 10.6 micron wavelength were superior for driving the Sn plasma extreme ultraviolet (EUV) source for nano-lithography for the reasons of higher conversion efficiency, lower production of debris and higher average power levels obtainable in CO₂ media without serious problems of beam distortions and nonlinear effects occurring in competing solid-state lasers at high intensities. The renewed interest in such pulse format, wavelength, repetition rates in excess of 50 kHz and average power levels in excess of 18 kiloWatt has sparked new opportunities for a matured multi-kiloWatt CO₂ laser technology. The power demand of EUV source could be only satisfied by a Master-Oscillator-Power-Amplifier system configuration, leading to a development of a new type of hybrid pulsed CO₂ laser employing a whole spectrum of CO₂ technology, such as fast flow systems and diffusion-cooled planar waveguide lasers, and relatively recent quantum cascade lasers. In this paper we review briefly the history of relevant pulsed CO₂ laser technology and the requirements for multi-kiloWatt CO₂ laser, intended for the laser-produced plasma EUV source, and present our recent advances, such as novel solid-state seeded master oscillator and efficient multi-pass amplifiers built on planar waveguide CO₂ lasers.     

A DC excited waveguide multibeam CO2 laser using high frequency pre-ionization technique

High power industrial multibeam CO₂ lasers consist of a large number of closely packed parallel glass discharge tubes sharing a common plane parallel resonator. Every discharge tube forms an independent resonator. When discharge tubes of smaller diameter are used and the Fresnel numberN ≪ 1 for all resonators, they operate in waveguide mode. Waveguide modes have excellent discrimination of higher order modes. A DC excited waveguide multibeam CO₂ laser is reported having six glass discharge tubes. Simultaneous excitation of DC discharge in all sections is achieved by producing pre-ionization using an auxiliary high frequency pulsed discharge along with its other advantages. Maximum 170 W output power is obtained with all beams operating in EH₁₁ waveguide mode. The specific power of 28 W/m is much higher as compared to similar AC excited waveguide multibeam CO₂ lasers. Theoretical analysis shows that all resonators of this laser will support only EH₁₁ mode. This laser is successfully used for woodcutting     

Emission characteristics of debris from CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> and Nd:YAG laser-produced tin plasmas for extreme ultraviolet lithography light source

We describe a comparative study of the emission characteristics of debris from CO₂ and Nd:YAG laser-produced tin plasmas for developing an extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) lithography light source. Tin (Sn) ions and droplets emitted from a Sn plasma produced by a CO₂ laser or an Nd:YAG laser were detected using Faraday cups and quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) detectors, respectively. The droplets were also monitored by using silicon substrates as witness plates. The results showed higher ion kinetic energy and lower particle emission for the CO₂ laser than the Nd:YAG laser for the same laser energy (50 mJ). The average ion energy was 2.2 keV for the CO₂ laser-produced plasma (LPP), and 0.6 keV for the Nd:YAG LPP. The debris accumulation of the CO₂ LPP detected by the QCM detectors, however, was less than one fourth of that of the Nd:YAG LPP for the same laser energy. Using ion energy data, the mirror lifetime is estimated for the CO₂ and Nd:YAG lasers. In both cases, the upper limit of the number of shots was of the order of 10⁶. PACS  52.38.DX; 52.38.Ph; 52.38.Mf     

Computer calculations for thermal behavior of Na<Subscript>2</Subscript>CO<Subscript>3</Subscript>-Li<Subscript>2</Subscript>CO<Subscript>3</Subscript> melt

The thermal behavior of Na₂CO₃+Li₂CO₃ melt is studied by the method of thermodynamic simulation. The equilibrium compositions of the gas and salt phases are calculated at different temperatures in the initial argon atmosphere. Basic trends of the variation in the compositions of the melts and the gas phase above the melts in the presence of carbon are determined. The obtained results characterizing the stability of carbonate components in the melt are analyzed.     

Noncontact optogalvanic signal detection in DC discharge CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> lasers

A new noncontact method for detecting optogalvanic signals in DC discharge CO₂ lasers is reported. The presented technique is based on the detection of potential difference variations through a capacitor comprised of a discharge plasma column and a coaxial or parallel conductor. The obtained optogalvanic signals exhibit better responsivity and pulse shape in comparison with other conventional techniques; in addition, they are detectable as far as 3 m from a signal source.     

Filament-induced self-written waveguides in glassy As<Subscript>4</Subscript>Ge<Subscript>30</Subscript>S<Subscript>66</Subscript>

The filamentation of femtosecond laser pulses and filament-induced self-writing of a permanent waveguide are observed in As₄Ge₃₀S₆₆ chalcogenide glass. The radial profile of the self-written waveguide is extracted from the defocused transmission microscopic images via a two-step procedure: at first the phase image of the waveguide is computed using the transport-of-intensity equation and then the index profile is obtained from the phase image by applying the inversed Abel transform.     

The stability of the active medium of RF-exited CO2 lasers with gold as catalyst

Using mass-spectrometric investigations the gas composition of the active medium of sealed-off cw RF-excited CO₂ waveguide lasers have been studied. It has been found that a low degree of CO₂ dissociation and a laser power improvement can be achieved by means of a gold catalyst in the laser discharge volume. The conditions for long operational lifetimes of these lasers are described. Received: 21 December 1999 / Revised version: 1 May 2000 / Published online: 6 September 2000     

Waveguide CO2 lasers on sequence-band transitions

Two waveguide CO₂ lasers, a quartz waveguide and an alumina waveguide, have been studied on the 00°2–[10°l,02°1]_I,II sequence bands. The use of an intra-cavity hot CO₂ cell, which is a part of the waveguide, suppresses the regular-band transitions. The quartz waveguide laser has a total of 58 lines lasing on both the 9.4 µm and 10.4 µ,m sequence bands. The alumina waveguide laser has 36 lines lasing on the 10.4 µm sequence band and twice the output power of the quartz waveguide laser, whereas lasing on the 9.4 µm sequence band is difficult. The lasers can be operated on the selected single line without line jumping problem. The frequency tuning range of the strong lines is limited by the free spectral range of the cavity.     

Three-Mirror Multiple-Pass Cavity of a Transversely RF-Excited Planar Waveguide CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> Laser

A theoretical model for determining the optical losses in the three-mirror, multiple-pass cavity of a transversely rf-excited planar waveguide CO₂ laser with an exit mirror of arbitrary radius of curvature has been developed.__________Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 72, No. 2, pp. 198–201, March–April, 2005.     

Photoacoustic CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> sensor based on a DFB diode laser at 2.7 μm

We present a new detection scheme for carbon dioxide (CO₂) based on a custom-made room temperature distributed feedback (DFB) diode laser at 2.7 μm, currently representing one of the lasers with the highest emission wavelength of its kind. The detector's especially compact and simple set-up is based on photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS). This method makes use of the transformation of absorbed modulated radiation into a sound wave. The sensor enables a very high detection sensitivity for CO₂ in the ppb range. Furthermore, the carefully selected spectral region as well as the narrow bandwidth and wide tunability of the single-mode laser ensure an excellent selectivity. Even measurements of different CO₂ isotopes can be easily performed. This enables applications in industrial sensing and medical diagnostics (e.g. ¹³C-breath tests).     

Measurement on CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> solution density by optical technology

The optical technology based on Mach-Zehnder interferometry was successfully applied to a high-pressure liquid CO₂ and water system to measure CO₂ solution density. Experiments were carried out at a pressure range of from 5.0 to 12.5 MPa, temperatures from 273.25 to 284.15 K, and CO₂ mass fraction in solution up to 0.061. CO₂ solution density data were obtained from two sets of experiments. These data were calculated through the fringe shifts induced by density changes inside of the high-pressure vessel, which were directly recorded during the experiments, and a modified version of Lorentz-Lorenz formulation. The experimental results indicated that the density ratio of CO₂ solution to that of pure water at the same pressure and temperature is monotonically linear with the CO₂ concentration in the solution. The slope of this linear function, calculated by the experimental data fitting, is 0.275.     

Molecular Simulation of H<Subscript>2</Subscript>O,CO<Subscript>2</Subscript>, and CH<Subscript>4</Subscript> Adsorption in Coal Micropores

Based on the chemical model of coal, slit micropores with different pore sizes are established and structures are optimized in the software of materials studio. As the temperature rises, absolute adsorption capacities of H₂O are slightly affected, while absolute adsorption capacities of CO₂ and CH₄ gradually decrease. As the fugacity rises, excess adsorption curves of CO₂ experience increase-decrease-gentle three stages, while the curves of CH₄ gradually decrease. With the increase of pore size, adsorption capacities of H₂O increase, while adsorption capacities of CO₂ and CH₄ gradually decrease. H₂O firstly adsorbs on the oxygen-containing functional group, so the walls of pore are the preferential area for H₂O, while CO₂ and CH₄ choose to adsorb on–C–C–, therefore the walls are the primary area for CO₂ and CH₄. Strong potential in micropores and hydrogen bond among water molecules will promote the water adsorption, while the adsorptions of CO₂ and CH₄ are only induced by the Van der Waals interaction, but the difference between adsorption density and bulk density of CO₂ and CH₄ decides the change of excess adsorption capacity.     

Crystal growth,spectroscopic characterization and laser performance of Nd:Lu<Subscript>0.33</Subscript>Y<Subscript>0.36</Subscript>Gd<Subscript>0.3</Subscript>VO<Subscript>4</Subscript> crystal

A new three-matrix mixed vanadate crystal Nd:Lu_0.33Y_0.36Gd_0.3VO₄ (Nd:LuYGdVO₄) crystal was grown by the Czochralski method. Room temperature absorption and fluorescence spectra of the Nd:LuYGdVO₄ crystals were measured and the spectroscopic parameters were calculated by the Judd-Ofelt theory. The intensity parameters of the Nd:LuYGdVO₄ crystal were Ω₂ = 9.736 × 10⁻²⁰ cm², Ω₄ = 4.179 × 10⁻²⁰ cm², Ω₆ = 8.020 × 10⁻²⁰ cm² and the stimulate emission cross section was 5.3 × 10⁻¹⁹ cm². Diodepumped actively Q-switched and passively Q-switched Nd:LuYGdVO₄ and Nd:Lu_0.14Y_0.86VO₄ lasers at 1.06 μm were demonstrated. The results indicate that, for both actively and passively Q-switched lasers, the Nd:LuYGdVO₄ lasers can generate shorter pulse width with higher peak power than the Nd:Lu_0.14Y_0.86VO₄ lasers at the same cavity conditions.     

Accuracy in determination of the temperature and partial pressure of CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> in CO<Subscript>2</Subscript>:N<Subscript>2</Subscript>:H<Subscript>2</Subscript>O:NO<Subscript>2</Subscript> mixtures by multiple-frequency laser probing

We present the results of analysis of the errors introduced by hot-band transitions 11¹0-01¹1, 03¹0-01¹1, 12⁰0-12⁰1 of the CO₂ molecule and the absorption lines of the H₂O and NO₂ molecules in determination of the temperature and partial pressure of CO₂, included in the gas mixture CO₂: N₂:H₂O: NO₂ at atmospheric pressure, by multiple-frequency laser probing using a CO₂ laser tunable over the lines of the 00⁰1-[10⁰0,02⁰0]_I,II ground-state laser transitions. __________ Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 74, No. 6, pp. 810–815, November–December, 2007.     

Coupling efficiency in grating tuned carbon dioxide waveguide lasers

The coupling efficiency in typical CO₂ waveguide lasers when the feedback element is a diffraction grating is investigated theoretically. A scalar diffraction integral approach is adopted, and the laser is assumed to operate on its lowest loss waveguide mode.