Carbon-dioxide laser

A test target bursts into flame upon irradiation by a continuous-wave kilowatt-level carbon-dioxide laser.

The carbon-dioxide laser (CO2 laser) was one of the earliest gas lasers to be developed. It was invented by Kumar Patel of Bell Labs in 1964[1] and is still one of the most useful types of laser. Carbon-dioxide lasers are the highest-power continuous-wave lasers that are currently available. They are also quite efficient: the ratio of output power to pump power can be as large as 20%. The CO2 laser produces a beam of infrared light with the principal wavelength bands centering on 9.6 and 10.6 micrometers (μm).

  1. ^ Patel, C. K. N. (1964). "Continuous-Wave Laser Action on Vibrational-Rotational Transitions of CO2". Physical Review. 136 (5A): A1187–A1193. Bibcode:1964PhRv..136.1187P. doi:10.1103/physrev.136.a1187.