Gas degradation and O2 production in a high repetition rate, transversely excited atmospheric CO2 laser

Abstract

Based on viewpoint that O2 is the most informative indication of gas degradation in transversely excited atmospheric (TEA) CO2 lasers, we have experimentally investigated the O2 concentration using a 100 Hz, 500 W class TEA-CO2 laser with a catalytic gas recycler. A simple theoretical model is also proposed to describe the O2 concentration and then compared with experimental data over a wide range of operating conditions. The results show that the model can be used for design of optimized gas recyclers.