Improved Performance From Homemade CO2 Laser.wmv

It's all in the Alignment!

Performance is much better after careful adjustment of the resonator optics. Circulatory cooling has also been restored in this video. Now the laser will set wood on fire without being focused. That's one way to determine if a laser is up to speed: if it can ignight wood without focusing optics once, then you have a standard by which to measure all future excercises. However, I believe that this laser is still far from optimal in terms of it's size and power consumption. One outstanding drawback over commercial laser devices is the unreliable performance that this laser exhibits. The power fades after the tube has been going for several seconds. I must then switch it off, let it rest for several seconds, and then switch it back on for a 'fresh' boost of of power. The only conclusion I have is that the tube becomes hot and distorts alignment , and the gas becomes warm (which has a direct affect on laser output).

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• laser
• physics
• optics

[laurendaisy7421]

cool

[jeriellsworth]

Very nice. I must make a CO2 laser soon.