SYMMETRY ENHANCEMENT AND SPOT-SIZE REDUCTION THROUGH RADIAL BEAM STACKING IN A MULTICHANNEL CO2-LASER ARRAY

The beam quality of a diffusion-cooled RF-excited radial-geometry CO2- slab-laser array is investigated. The system is shown to negate many o f the disadvantages inherent with slab lasers, namely, asymmetric beam s, multiple focal spots, and linear polarization. In addition, the eff ective spot size is reduced as a result of radial stacking of the indi vidual asymmetric but azimuthally distributed, incoherent, output beam lets. A performance demonstration with sheet-metal cutting has produce d excellent results in terms of kerf width, depth of penetration, and cut directionality.