Appl. Phys.

B 87, 105110 (2007)

Applied Physics B

DOI: 10.1007/s00340-006-2524-3

Lasers and Optics

Microwave excited CO2 laser with multiple

units using orthogonal electric fields

k. saito1,u
m. kato1
h. yajima1
m. kimura2
t. uchiyama3

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., 3-4 Hikaridai, Seika-cho, Soraku-gun,

Kyoto 619-0237, Japan
2 Matsushita Welding Systems Co., Ltd., 3-1-1 Inazu-cho, Toyonaka City,
Osaka 561-0854, Japan
3 Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University, 3-14-1 Hiyoshi,
Kouhoku-ku, Yokohama City, Kanagawa 223-8522, Japan

Received: 4 September 2006/

Revised version: 31 October 2006
Published online: 13 December 2006 Springer-Verlag 2006
ABSTRACT To realize a CO2 laser oscillator using a fast-axialflow high-power microwave discharge excitation, we devised
a method of making microwave discharge uniform by varying
the oscillation direction of an electric field with time and verified the effectiveness of this method. When five orthogonal
electric fields units were arranged in series for one laser tube,
a maximum laser output power of 609 W and a laser efficiency of 17.0% were achieved for a microwave input power
of 3590 W. In addition, using eight laser tubes, namely, 40
orthogonal electric fields units, we achieved a maximum laser
output power of 3.6 kW and a laser efficiency of 13% for a microwave input power of 27 kW. Thus, a high-power microwavedischarge-excited CO2 laser has become feasible.
PACS 42.60.By;

52.80.Pi

Introduction

A CO2 laser has excellent characteristics, such as

high laser efficiency, high laser output power at relatively
low cost and high beam quality. Pulse oscillation as well as
a maximum output power of approximately 20 30 kW can be
realized. Because of these advantages, CO2 lasers have been
in practical use in various fields of processing, from microfabrication to the fabrication of large workpieces. In recent
years, since surfaces of parts need to be freely curved and die
micromachining is advanced, demand for three-dimensional
laser processing machines, by which three-dimensional workpieces can be cut and welded, has been increasing instead of
conventional technologies such as a punch presses. Additionally, because more workpieces are made of aluminum, there is
a growing demand for CO2 lasers, with which high-precision
cutting is possible with high output power and high beam
quality.
A CO2 laser oscillator is mainly composed of discharge
excitation, an optical resonator, gas circulation, and gas cooling systems. Various types of each system are available:
direct-current (DC), radio-frequency (RF) and microwave
u Fax: +81 774 98 2576, E-mail: saito.ko@jp.panasonic.com

(MW) discharge excitations; stable or unstable optical resonator; axial-flow or transverse-flow gas circulation; and flow
or diffusion gas cooling. These systems can be combined in
various ways to give the CO2 laser oscillator configuration
specific to the desired purpose. Typical configurations include gas-flow DC, gas-flow RF [1], RF slab [25], gas-flow
MW [617], and MW slab [1822].
The microwave-discharge-excited CO2 laser has the following characteristics. Gas systems are clean owing to the use
of an electrodeless discharge excitation method and hence are
expected to be maintenance-free. Miniaturization is possible
because of their high input power density for laser gas discharge. The oscillator is electrically safe because their waveguide surface is grounded. Inexpensive power sources are applicable owing to the use of magnetrons. A high output power
is easily achieved using multiple stages of microwave waveguides. A high optical controllability is achieved because of
minute and accurate control of discharge obtained, using such
multiple stages and high excitation frequency. In addition,
using a fast-axial-flow internally stable resonator, one can obtain a high-quality laser beam.
Although the microwave discharge excitation method has
various advantages, as described above, it is difficult to spread
the stable microwave discharge uniformly. We devised an
orthogonal electric field method by which microwaves powers are input to a single discharge section from two different
directions to rotate the oscillation directions of the electric
field [23]. Streamer discharge tends to be generated and to
grow when the supplied electric field oscillates in only one direction. Therefore, if the oscillation direction of the electric
field is varied before the generation and growth of streamer
discharge, stable and uniform discharge in terms of time and
space can be obtained.
The oscillation directions of the electric fields of a horizontal microwave ( E H ) and a vertical microwave ( E V ),
which are incident into a laser tube from two different directions, are at 90 to each other. When these oscillating electric
field vectors are synthesized in the laser tube and if the amplitudes of the electric fields are identical but the phases differ
by 90 , the electric field produced becomes nearly circularly
polarized on the laser-tube cross section, and rotates with the
center of the laser tube as its axis. Consequently, the oscillation direction of the electric field vector rotates with the
oscillation frequency of the magnetron, making the discharge

106

FIGURE 1

Applied Physics B Lasers and Optics

Structure of multiple orthogonal electric fields units with one laser tube

uniform. With this orthogonal electric fields method, a maximum laser output power of 273 W and a laser efficiency of
18.8% were obtained for a microwave input power of 1450
W. In addition, a laser output power of 214 W and a laser efficiency of 20.0% were obtained for a microwave input power
of 1070 W [23].
By this method, a stable microwave discharge over time
and space was realized while suppressing the generation of
streamer discharge. With this achievement, a basic unit of
the CO2 laser oscillator with a high input power density and
a high laser efficiency can be established. When such orthogonal electric fields units are optimally arranged in one laser
tube as multiunits, taking into consideration the gas excitation
phenomenon, a laser with a high output power and a high laser
efficiency can be oscillated in a single laser tube. In addition,
by arranging multiple laser tubes, a high-quality high-power
CO2 laser oscillator has become feasible.
2

FIGURE 2

Electric field intensity and discharge positions

FIGURE 3

Discharge light fluctuation with unstable discharge position

Multiple orthogonal electric fields units

with single laser tube

To realize a high-power CO2 laser, a high laser

output power and a high laser efficiency per laser tube are required. To meet this requirement, multiple orthogonal electric
fields units are arranged in a single laser tube to form multiple discharge areas, and the output powers of each area are
added. Figure 1 schematically shows the structure of the orthogonal waveguide serially arranged in the laser tube. Here, the
following points should be considered: the uniformity of each
discharge and the energy transfer cycle between N2 and CO2
molecules in each discharge.
Each discharge must be uniform. Multiple discharge areas
are arranged serially from upstream to downstream in the gas
in a single laser tube. If the gas discharged in the upstream
includes temperature variation or irregular ionization, such
unevenness will cause a nonuniform discharge downstream.

For nonuniform discharge, the laser output power in each discharge area cannot be added. Stabilization of discharge positions is also required.
Inside the waveguide along the laser tube, the electric field
component parallel to the wall is zero of the waveguide and
becomes maximum at the center of the waveguide. When the
laser gas is stationary, a discharge is generated at the center of

SAITO et al.

Microwave excited CO2 laser with multiple units using orthogonal electric fields

107
FIGURE 4 Discharge position control with electrodes for multiple orthogonal electric fields units

the waveguide. In the fast-axial-flow laser oscillator, because

gas flows in the laser tube, the discharge position deviates
from the center downstream [23]. Figure 2 shows a schematic
of the electric field intensity distribution and the discharge
position in the waveguide. Under the appropriate conditions
of pulse oscillation, gas pressure and gas composition, the
discharge position A is stable. However, under adverse conditions for discharge or if temperature variation or irregular
ionization occurs in the laser gas, the discharge position oscillates between A and B. Figure 3 shows the change in discharge
brightness and the waveform of microwave electric power
when the discharge position is unstable. The discharge brightness was measured using an avalanche photodiode from the
waveguide reflector. The measurement was carried out at position A, where the discharge brightness was maximum during
stable discharge. This fluctuation of the discharge brightness
is marked when multiple orthogonal electric fields units are
serially arranged, and it may also occur during a single orthogonal electric fields unit discharge.
In this study, to stabilize the discharge position, the electric
field intensity distribution was shifted downstream to conform the position of maximum electric field intensity to the
discharge position. This adjustment was also effective for introducing the discharged gas to the outside of the waveguide
in as short a time as possible not to affect the next discharge.
As a method of controlling the electric field intensity distribution, four electrodes were placed downstream inside the
waveguide to narrow the waveguide, giving rise to high intensity between the electrodes. Figure 4 shows a schematic of the
electrodes. Figure 5 shows the electric field intensity distribution and the discharge position. Stable discharge brightness
was obtained, as shown in Fig. 6. Thus, using the orthogonal
electric fields method, one achieves a uniform discharge at
a stable position. Therefore, it is possible to add laser output
power for multiple discharge areas.
Next, we examined the energy transfer mechanism of N2
to CO2 molecules, which markedly influences the CO2 laser
efficiency. A N2 molecule, which is excited by the discharge,
collides with a ground-state CO2 molecule. Then, energy is
transferred from the N2 molecule to the CO2 molecule, resulting in the excitation of the latter. The excited CO2 molecule
emits photons and returns to the ground state. If multiple discharge areas are arranged serially in a single laser tube, the
same laser gas is excited repeatedly. N2 and CO2 molecules,
which are excited in a single discharge area, return to the
ground state after energy transfer and photon emission, and

FIGURE 5

Electric field intensity and discharge position with controlling

electrodes

FIGURE 6

Discharge light at discharge position with controlling electrodes

FIGURE 7

Optimum arrangement of discharges

they are repeatedly excited in the subsequent discharge areas.

Therefore, to obtain a high output power effectively, the
next discharge area should be at a position where almost all
molecules excited in the previous discharge area have returned to the ground state. If excessive microwave power is
input, the excitation efficiency of the N2 molecule deterio-

108

Applied Physics B Lasers and Optics

FIGURE 8 Laser output and laser efficiency using five orthogonal electric
fields units with one laser tube

rates; hence, so does laser efficiency. For effective laser oscillation, microwave power can be input until the laser gas
reaches thermal saturation. Therefore, the upper limit of microwave input is determined by the laser gas flow rate per laser

FIGURE 9

tubes

tube, namely, heat capacity. Moreover, if N2 is excited excessively, it takes a longer time for the energy transfer from
N2 to CO2 and for both molecules to return completely to
the ground state. This requires a longer distance between
the discharge areas, and hence the oscillator becomes larger.
The energy transfer process also depends on the composition ratio of N2 to CO2 in the laser gas and the gas pressure.
In this study, we used rate equations [24] to elucidate the
optimal conditions, such as the distance between discharge
areas, the number of discharge areas, gas composition ratio
and gas pressure, in order to distribute the microwave input to multiple discharge areas and to effectively obtain laser
output power. Figure 7 shows the results of the optimization. The distance between the centers of the waveguide was
determined to be 120 mm, the number of orthogonal electric fields units 5, and the gas composition ratio He : N2 :
CO2 = 82.7 : 13.2 : 4.1. Because the gas composition ratio is
closely related to the discharge state, it was determined in
the range over which a normal discharge is possible, on the
basis of the results obtained by a discharge experiment. The

Schematic structure of high-output-power CO2 laser system for microwave using multiple orthogonal electric fields units with multiple laser

SAITO et al.

Microwave excited CO2 laser with multiple units using orthogonal electric fields

FIGURE 10 Laser output and laser efficiency using multiple orthogonal

electric fields units with multiple laser tubes

two magnetrons are synchronized in terms of pulse repetition time. The magnetrons are operated in a pulse mode under
the conditions of a duty cycle of 20% and a 25 kHz repetition rate. The maximum output power of the microwave from
a magnetron is a mean power of 800 W and a peak power of
4 kW, and adjustable. The dimensions of the waveguide are
75 35 mm to realize miniaturization and enhance the electric field intensity in the waveguide. The internal diameter
of the laser tube is 21 mm to improve the laser beam quality at the expense of the laser efficiency. The length of the
laser tube is 690 mm. The laser-gas pressure at the center of
the laser tube is 1.19 104 Pa (89 Torr), which is relatively
high, to increase the number of molecules in the gas. The gas
flow velocity is approximately 260 m/s. The configuration
of the gas circulation system, optical system and measurement system is similar to that used in the single laser tube
experiment [23]. Under these conditions, we arranged multiple orthogonal electric fields units serially in a single laser
tube and carried out the experiment on obtaining a high output
power.
Figure 8 shows the input/output characteristics. Using
a single laser tube, we obtained a maximum laser output
power of 609 W and a laser efficiency of 17.0% for a microwave input power of 3590 W. In addition, a laser output
power of 317 W and a laser efficiency of 22.7% were obtained
for a microwave input power of 1394 W.
With the orthogonal electric fields method, by which the
discharge is made uniform, by arranging multiple discharge
areas to make efficient use of the laser gas, a high laser output power and a high laser efficiency were achieved. Because
of these multiple discharge areas, the laser efficiency was improved compared with that in the case of single discharge.
This was because, in the discharge areas after the a second
area, the discharge in the previous area functions as a preliminary ionization, resulting in a stable discharge.
3

Multiple orthogonal electric fields units

with multiple laser tubes

A high laser efficiency and a high output power for

a single laser tube were realized. Next, we arranged multiple
orthogonal electric fields units in multiple laser tubes to prepare a high-power CO2 laser oscillator.
Figure 9 shows a schematic of the setup. We used eight
laser tubes and five orthogonal electric fields units for each

109

laser tube, namely, 40 orthogonal electric fields units in total.

ULVAC PMB-024C was used as a mechanical booster pump.
In the optical system, we used an AR-coated ZnSe output mirror with a reflectivity of 40% and a radius of curvature of 20 m,
and an AR-coated ZnSe reflective mirror with a reflectivity
of 99.7% and a radius of curvature of 20 m; the length of the
resonator was 10.6 m. The aperture diameter was 20 mm. The
gas circulation system and optical system were designed to
withstand commercial practical use, instead of merely placing
importance on the maximum laser output power or maximum
laser efficiency.
Figure 10 shows the input/output characteristics of this
laser oscillator. With 40 orthogonal electric fields units in
eight laser tubes, we obtained a maximum laser output power
of 3.6 kW and a laser efficiency of 13% for a microwave input
power of 27 kW.
If more laser tubes are used, higher output power can be realized. Thus, a high-power microwave-discharge-excited CO2
laser has become feasible.
4

Conclusions

For microwave discharge excitation, we devised

the orthogonal electric fields method in which the oscillation direction of the electric field is varied with time, and we
achieved a uniform discharge and enhancement of the discharge region. As a result, a maximum laser output power
of 273 W and a laser efficiency of 18.8% were achieved for
a microwave input power of 1450 W by one orthogonal electric fields unit. For a microwave input power of 1070 W,
a laser output power of 214 W and a laser efficiency of 20.0%
were obtained. When five orthogonal electric fields units were
arranged serially in one laser tube, a maximum laser output power of 609 W and a laser efficiency of 17.0% were
achieved for a microwave input power of 3590 W. With a microwave input power of 1394 W, a laser output power of
317 W and a laser efficiency of 22.7% were obtained. In addition, using eight laser tubes, namely, 40 orthogonal electric
fields units, a maximum laser output power of 3.6 kW and
a laser efficiency of 13% were achieved for a microwave input power of 27 kW. Thus, the realization of a CO2 laser
with high-power microwave discharge excitation has become
possible.
In the future, we will optimize the gas flow in the highpower oscillator with the multiple laser tubes and the optical
resonator structure to pursue higher efficiency. Miniaturization of the oscillator will also be an important task in the
future.
REFERENCES
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

R. Wester, S. Seiwert, R. Wagner, J. Phys. D Appl. Phys. 24, 1796 (1991)

S. Yatsiv, Proc. Proc. 6th Int. Symp. Springer (1987), p. 252
A.M. Hornby, H.J. Baker, D.R. Hall, Opt. Commun. 108, 97 (1994)
J.D. Strohschein, W.D. Bilida, H.J.J. Seguin, C.E. Capjack, Appl. Phys.
Lett. 68, 1043 (1996)
K.M. Abramski, A.D. Colley, H.J. Baker, D.R. Hall, IEEE J. Quantum
Electron. QE-32, 340 (1996)
K.G. Handy, J.E. Brandelik, J. Appl. Phys. 49, 7 (1978)
B. Freisinger, J.H. Schafer, J. Uhlenbusch, Z.B. Zhang, Proc. SPIE 1132,
22 (1989)
B. Freisinger, H. Frowein, M. Pauls, G. Pott, J.H. Schafer, J. Uhlenbusch,
Proc. SPIE 1276, 29 (1990)

110

Applied Physics B Lasers and Optics

9 R. Wester, S. Seiwert, J. Phys. D Appl. Phys. 24, 1102 (1991)

10 T. Ikeda, M. Danno, H. Shimazutsu, T. Abe, J. Tanaka, IEEE J. Quantum
Electron. QE-30, 2657 (1994)
11 M. Marz, W. Oestreicher, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 65, 2980 (1994)
12 M. Marz, Electr. Engin. 78, 63 (1994)
13 T. Ikeda, M. Danno, IEEE J. Quantum Electron. QE-31, 1525 (1995)
14 T. Ikeda, M. Danno, IEEE J. Quantum Electron. QE-31, 1533 (1995)
15 T. Tokoro, N. Matsuoka, M. Yasuda, T. Uchiyama, Proc. SPIE 3092, 235
(1996)
16 K. Saito, M. Kato, H. Yajima, N. Furuya, M. Kimura, S. Yamane, Proc.
SPIE 2987, 2 (1997)

17 T. Ikeda, M. Danno, T. Monaka, M. Noda, J. Tanaka, IEEE J. Quantum

Electron. QE-35, 721 (1999)
18 A. Shahadi, Y. Sintov, E. Jerby, Micro. Opt. Technol. Lett. 36, 115
(2003)
19 J. Nishimae, K. Yoshizawa, Proc. SPIE 1225, 340 (1990)
20 M. Marz, W. Oestreicher, J. Phys. D Appl. Phys. 27, 470 (1994)
21 Y. Sintov, A. Gabay, S. Yatsiv, J. Phys. D Appl. Phys. 30, 2530 (1997)
22 Y. Sintov, A. Shahadi, J. Phys. D Appl. Phys. 33, 2125 (2000)
23 K. Saito, M. Kimura, T. Uchiyama, Appl. Phys. B 82, 621 (2006)
24 W.J. Witteman, Springer Series in Optical Sciences Vol. 53 (1987),
p. 134