Catalytic control of the gas chemistry of sealed TEA CO2 lasers

Abstract

Sealed operation of TEA CO2 lasers is demonstrated using external catalytic control of the laser gas chemistry. With copper catalysts, although the level of oxygen is maintained at very low levels, the level of CO is sufficient that some increase in instability is anticipated. With platinum-on-alumina catalysts the levels of both CO and O2 are very low and it is anticipated that indefinite laser gas lifetime is feasible even for high-repetition-rate high-power devices.