CO2 laser cutting & heating using silver halide fibers as scanning elements

A CO2 laser device based on a scanned Silver halide infra-red (I.R) optical fiber was designed and constructed. Power delivery were performed by scanning the output end of the optical fiber in two dimensions. A permanent magnet was attached to this end of the fiber, and it was displaced by a varying electro magnetic field. The device is computerized, which enables to control the scanning speed, laser output and magnetic field strength. Powered by a CO2 laser the equipment is capable of cutting, heating or marking on various surfaces. This paper describes applications in which CO2 laser energy is guided to remote locations via an I.R optical fiber. The output profile distribution, spot size and resolution were investigated and the results are compared to a simple theoretical model.