Longitudinally Excited CO2 Laser with Short Laser Pulse like TEA CO2 Laser

Abstract

We have developed a longitudinally excited CO2 laser with a short laser pulse similar to that of TEA and Q-switched CO2 lasers. A capacitor transfer circuit with a low shunt resistance provided rapid discharge and a sharp spike pulse with a short pulse tail. Specifically, a circuit with a resistance of 10 M Ω provided a spike pulse width of 103.3 ns and a pulse tail length of 61.9 μs, whereas a circuit with a shunt resistance of 100 Ω provided a laser pulse with a spike pulse width of 96.3 ns and a pulse tail length of 17.2 μs. The laser pulses from this longitudinally excited CO2 laser were used for processing a human tooth without carbonization and for glass marking without cracks.