The following factors determine the cost of ownership of the CO2 laser pointer source:
● Gas consumption
● Power consumption, especially during standby
● Consumption of optical components (mainly beam output coupling components)
● Consumption of other spare parts
Although the above factors that determine the cost of ownership of CO2 lasers are constantly being developed and improved, the emergence of a new theory has significantly reduced the total cost of ownership of CO2 lasers without any shortcomings. It is a diffusion-cooled RF excited CO2 slab laser. .
With this new diffusion cooling technology, the CO2 slab laser does not require any complicated exhaust system settings, the gas consumption is basically negligible, the standby power consumption is minimized, and no maintenance ventilation technology is required. In addition, the resonator made only of copper mirrors and a diamond-coated window for beam transmission eliminates the need for regular replacement of optical components.
The excellent beam quality of the basic transverse mode allows the use of smaller cut widths in cutting applications and narrower weld seams in welding applications. In other words, this means lower power or higher processing speeds. The first slab laser was introduced to the market in 1993, and the power of this technology was increased to 8 kW in 2005, which has been able to cover the main range of industrial green laser pointer applications. For many processes, the long wavelength of 10 μm is more advantageous, so these lasers are still the best choice today and in the future.
Another laser that has gained a dominant position in the field of industrial material processing is a solid-state laser with an output wavelength of about 1 μm. One of the main advantages of using solid-state lasers is that highly flexible optical fibers can be used to transmit light beams. This method has entered the market in the second half of the 1980s. At the same time, a transmission fiber was developed for pulsed solid-state lasers, with an output power of up to 500 W. At that time, the core diameter of the fiber was 800~1000 μm, and the beam quality was 80 mm?mrad.