Adventures of the CO2 laser

Nov. 2, 2016

On the subject of the CO2 laser, I will borrow a line from the great satirist Mark Twain, who responded to a newspaper inquiry in 1897 by writing, "The report of my death was an exaggeration."

Conard Holton

On the subject of the CO₂ laser, I will borrow a line from the great satirist Mark Twain, who responded to a newspaper inquiry in 1897 by writing, "The report of my death was an exaggeration." It's true that, in terms of sales of lasers for industrial processing, the fiber laser has some undeniable advantages and a growing market share, while CO₂ laser sales are projected to trend slightly down over the coming years. Yet the volume of industrial sales is not the only measure of its technical or market value

Our cover story this month demonstrates some of the virtues of the CO₂ laser, building on a heritage that dates back to 1965 at Bell Labs (see page 29). The authors, from Access Laser, describe very current applications in the processing of new materials such as multilayer plastics, as the source to produce plasma for EUV lithography, as a new tool for hard and soft tissue dentistry, and as a key element at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory. So while fiber lasers and high-power laser diodes are the lasers of the moment, CO₂ lasers still have a lot of life left in them.

Speaking of legacy photonics tools that are still critical in today's applications, we have two articles on devices and systems that have been mainstays since the 1970s. Senior Editor John Wallace surveys important alignment and other applications that rely on position-sensing detectors (see page 39), and how to test the performance of interferometers is the topic of our Optical Engineering Exchange article from Äpre Instruments (see page 33). Finally, a feature from Clerio Vision reveals the future of vision correction with ophthalmic surgery that uses a femtosecond laser to induce refractive index change in the cornea (see page 45). Indeed, past and future photonics seem to exist quite comfortably together.

About the Author

Conard Holton | Editor at Large

Conard Holton has 25 years of science and technology editing and writing experience. He was formerly a staff member and consultant for government agencies such as the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and engineering companies such as Bechtel. He joined Laser Focus World in 1997 as senior editor, becoming editor in chief of WDM Solutions, which he founded in 1999. In 2003 he joined Vision Systems Design as editor in chief, while continuing as contributing editor at Laser Focus World. Conard became editor in chief of Laser Focus World in August 2011, a role in which he served through August 2018. He then served as Editor at Large for Laser Focus World and Co-Chair of the Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar from August 2018 through January 2022. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, with additional studies at the Colorado School of Mines and Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.