Diffractive laser beam shaping for material processing using a CO 2 laser

Abstract

Low power CO₂ lasers with average powers of < 300 Watts are being manufactured with near diffraction limited beam quality. These lasers are a good source for diffractive beam shaping systems that can produce uniform round, square and lineshape intensity profiles. Several beam shaping configurations will be presented in this study, along with material processing results using these shaped beam systems. Comparative data will be presented for an on axis vs. off axis design and the merits of each will be considered.