Catalyst enhanced high power radio frequency excited CO2 slab laser

Abstract
A substantial improvement in the specific laser output power (up to 30%) and efficiency (up to 50%) of a radio frequency (rf) excited slab CO 2 laser with a distributed gold catalyst is observed when a large amount of CO (more than 60% of CO 2 concentration) is added to the laser gas mixture. A maximum output power of 160 W with an efficiency of 17% was obtained from a laser with an active volume of 2×15×370 mm 3 . Gas mixtures with a high CO concentration combined with a distributed gold catalyst also accelerate the start-up time of rf pumped CO 2 lasers considerably.