THERMAL EFFECTS IN A HOLLOW WAVEGUIDE BEAM LAUNCH FOR CO2 LASER POWER DELIVERY

摘要

Thermal effects caused by launching conditions in a CO2 laser beam delivery that uses metallic hollow waveguides is investigated. It is found that front-end clipping is the main cause of thermal loading and generates a steep temperature gradient at the fiber front end while the continuous beam attenuation produces a temperature distribution declining slowly along the waveguide. (C) 1996 Optical Society of America [References: 9]