Influence of the wavelength for infrared laser effects on metals and dielectrics

Rene C. Joeckle; Martin Schellhorn; Gerard Stern; Andre Sontag; Bernard Gautier

doi:10.1117/12.183137

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10 August 1994 Influence of the wavelength for infrared laser effects on metals and dielectrics

Rene C. Joeckle, Martin Schellhorn, Gerard Stern, Andre Sontag, Bernard Gautier

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Proceedings Volume 2097, Laser Applications; (1994) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.183137
Event: Laser Optics, 1993, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation

Abstract

Two high power mid-IR gas lasers, the CO laser and the chemical HF laser, can offer higher absorption for metals and better focusing, i.e. smaller spot areas than CO₂ and Nd:YAG lasers. A comparison of the effects of three gas lasers is carried out at the ISL, using three high-power gas lasers: 1 kW (HF), 6 kW (CO) and 7.5 kW (CO₂) and allows to compare their effects on different materials. The absorptivity of these laser beams for several metals has been measured, both with low energy measurement techniques and with high power laser beams; an increase in absorptivity has been demonstrated for the short wavelengths lasers. Plexiglass irradiated with these lasers beams exhibits a boiling-type destruction behavior. The threshold fluence for the occurrence of the bubbles has been measured and compared with a simple boiling model showing the importance of the spectral absorption coefficient.

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Rene C. Joeckle, Martin Schellhorn, Gerard Stern, Andre Sontag, and Bernard Gautier "Influence of the wavelength for infrared laser effects on metals and dielectrics", Proc. SPIE 2097, Laser Applications, (10 August 1994); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.183137

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