2002/08/15 by Yasushi Iseki, Y. Iseki, Ikuo Watanabe +1
Engineering · Chemistry · #Laser Design and Applications #Solid State Laser Technologies #Spectroscopy and Laser Applications
paper · doi:10.1143/jjap.41.5187
A high-power copper vapor laser (CVL) scaled up to a 100 mm bore has been developed. In a large-bore CVL, there is a problem that the radial beam profile becomes nonuniform, which is caused by the high temperature of the buffer gas. Two methods have been applied to gas cooling: hydrogen addition to the buffer gas and insertion of gas cooling plates. Modeling of the increased thermal conductivity by hydrogen addition and of the radiation effect by plate insertion predicted that the buffer gas temperature would drop from 4160 K to 2650 K under typical operating conditions. Experimental results showed that the beam profile was improved especially at high repetition frequencies and high input powers. The CVL with a plasma tube length of 2.3 m was able to generate an output power of 329 W as an oscillator.