Radiation Power Control of the Industrial CO<sub>2</sub> Laser Excited by а Nonself-Sustained Glow Discharge by Changing the Frequency of Ionization Pulses

Abstract

The article describes radiation power control of industrial CO2 lasers of Lantan series excited by а nonself-sustained glow discharge in the automatic mode. These lasers are closed-cycle fast gas-transport lasers excited by a nonself-sustained glow discharge with ionization by periodic-pulsed capacitively coupled auxiliary discharge. In this case, ionization and conductivity are provided by periodic-pulsed capacitively coupled discharge. The energy contribution to molecular oscillations is provided by the passage of the main discharge current through the plasma with electron density given by ionization. This permits easy laser power control, provides excellent optical homogeneity and stability of an active volume together with high laser efficiency. A system of a nonself-sustained glow discharge with ionization by periodic-pulsed capacitively coupled auxiliary discharge, the stages of creation and brief characteristics of the Lantan series lasers is presented. The method of controlling the power of laser radiation by changing the frequency of the ionization pulses is determined. This control method allows operating of the laser in continuous and in pulse-periodic modes with adjustable pulse ratio and pulse duration, and also provides switching from one mode to another. In the continuous mode, the radiation power is controlled by changing the frequency of ionization pulses, which are high voltage pulses with duration of 100 ns, given with the frequency of 1-5 kHz. Pulse-periodic radiation control is performed by modulating ionization pulses that consists of pulses being delivered in batches. The frequency of the pulses in a batch determines the radiation power in a pulse. The frequency of the batches following is the frequency of the pulse mode, and the length of the batch determines the pulses duration. Based on the experimental data, the dependence of the radiation power on the ionization pulses frequency was determined. An experimental system is presented and the measuring accuracy of the laser radiation power and the frequency of ionization pulses is determined. Data acquiring and processing of experimental results were performed using the NI 6008 USB data acquisition device in the LabVIEW programs of National Instruments. To study the dependence of the laser power on Мехатроника, автоматизация, управление, Том 21, № 4, 2020 231 the frequency of the ionization pulses, a regression analysis method was applied. Studies have shown that the dependence of the laser power on the ionization pulses frequency is linear in a wide range of parameters. The equation of the direct regression is calculated. The confidence estimates of the coefficients of the direct regression and the confidence estimates of the deviation of the theoretical direct regression from the empirical one are calculated with a confidence level of 95%.