Optical and Electronic Solutions for Power Stabilization of CO2 Lasers

Authors

Christian Childs, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
William O'Donnell, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Paul B. Ellison, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
David P. Shelton, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Ashkan Salamat, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-16-2020

Publication Title

Review of Scientific Instruments

Volume

91

Issue

10

First page number:

1

Last page number:

8

Abstract

High pressure-temperature conditions can be readily achieved through the laser-heated diamond anvil cell (LH-DAC). A stable laser source is required for reliable in situ measurements of the sample, as the sample is small with a thermal time constant of the order of microseconds. Here, we show that the power instabilities typical of CO2 gas lasers used in LH-DAC's are ±5% at the second timescale and ~±50% at the microsecond timescale. We also demonstrate that the pointing instability of the laser requires either a diffuser or an integrating sphere for reliable total power measurements with small sized detectors. We present a simple solution for stabilizing the power of a CO2 gas laser on the second timescale by the direct modulation of the current across the tube and another solution that stabilizes the power to the microsecond timescale by externally modulating the CO2 laser beam. Both solutions can achieve a ±0.3% power stability.

Keywords

Carbon dioxide lasers; Experimental mineralogy; Laser beams

Disciplines

Physical Sciences and Mathematics | Physics | Plasma and Beam Physics

Language

English

Repository Citation

Childs, C., O'Donnell, W., Ellison, P. B., Shelton, D. P., Salamat, A. (2020). Optical and Electronic Solutions for Power Stabilization of CO2 Lasers. Review of Scientific Instruments, 91(10), 1-8.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0021156