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Introduction Laser systems are becoming an essential component of modern production facilities. If you are thinking of starting a small business or need professional-grade equipment for your laser projects, a glass CO2 laser tube is a long-term investment. You can choose a premium-quality tube for your DIY projects, craft production, and other small business needs. There are many advantages of using a glass laser tube, such as an TEN-HIGH-CO2 laser tube for your laser engraving needs. Let’s dive in! Benefits AFFORDABLE The most significant benefit of using these tubes is that they are more affordable than other laser tubes available on the market. However, the cheaper price tag doesn’t mean that you get a low-quality laser. Actually, glass laser tubes work by exciting carbon dioxide gas with direct current, producing stable laser beams that work well for almost any application. Since glass production is less expensive than metal production, such laser tubes are available at a more affordable price. GOOD USAGE LIMIT Another benefit is the long lifetime of glass laser tubes. For instance, our 100W CO2 laser tube for the laser engraver cutting machine has an estimated lifetime of 2,500-8,000 hours, based on light to average use. Users can explore different products to choose the usage that fits their production and energy needs. Keep in mind that constantly running your laser tube at maximum power can shorten its lifetime, so it’s best to choose a wattage high enough to compensate for its recommended power ceiling. COOLING MECHANISM Small businesses and DIY crafters prefer these tubes because of their excellent cooling mechanism. When you buy a laser tube from OMTech, you get a premium product with an exclusive water cooling system as an additional purchase that allows users to utilize them in work conditions with high temperatures up to 75 degrees. Effective cooling can help users get the most out of their high-powered lasers. Get to know your laser-engraving machine’s cooling requirements before buying the best chiller to guarantee sufficient cooling. Industrial-grade water chillers offer the most efficient cooling method at a consistent flow rate, quality, and temperature. You can choose from a wide range of water chillers online to find the best one for your machine. EXCELLENT CAPABILITIES Since CO2 glass tubes discharge a steady and continuous laser beam with direct current, users get a satisfactory cutting/engraving performance on a wide range of materials. Popular laser engraving projects for DIY enthusiasts and small businesses include photo etching, engraved wedding gifts, personalized leather goods, woodcraft, etc. Using a CO2 laser engraver, you can work on materials such as: Leather Rubber Cardboard Paper Wood Acrylic Textiles Things to Know about a Laser Tube’s Power Settings Various factors affect the engraving and cutting performance of a machine. For example, proper mirror alignment ensures the laser beam enters the focal lens correctly and executes your engraving commands with precision. Another factor at play is adequate laser focus. When you pulse the machine, it should produce a small sharp dot. Other factors that play a crucial role include the use of proper air assist, the settings of your desired software, and the water chiller, which helps increase the laser tube's efficiency and lifespan. Remember that operating your laser tube constantly at maximum power is going to have a substantial effect on its lifespan. Here are the average settings to choose when you are working on a wide variety of materials. Remember that you may have to experiment with different power and speed settings before finalizing them. But, with the acquisition of either aMid-Range or High Power model, you can choose the following settings for various materials: Maintenance Tips While maintaining this tube is easy, there are a few things to remember for maintenance. If you don’t carry out routine maintenance, you won’t be able to get the most out of your laser tube. Naturally, cleanliness will affect the engraving/cutting performance of your projects. Since debris, dust, and overuse can lead to several complications, remember to clean your machine regularly. A thorough cleaning routine is crucial, especially inside the machine cabinet or any area where materials can collect. Furthermore, using dirty optics can reduce the strength of the laser beam. Although you can inspect the optics to check for dirt or debris, making routine cleaning a part of your maintenance regime will add many months to your tube’s life. When optics are dirty, the debris and dirt can burn or combust into the optical surface, leading to irreversible damage to the lens or mirror. The best way to ensure top performance is to clean them thoroughly after every 10 to 40 hours of work. The cleaning frequency also depends upon the materials you generally use for engraving/cutting. Maintaining your machine will avoid any damages to the lens tube. The best thing to do is to use acetone, IPA, or lens cleaning solution, as well as gentle cotton buds for the clean-up procedure. A new laser tube will emit a bright pink/purple light; over time, this light will become white and fade away. The performance and power output of the tube will eventually decrease over time. Meaning you will have to increase the power or slow the cutting speed for certain projects. This will be a sign that you will have to replace the laser tube soon. Buy High-Quality CO2 Laser Tubes from TEN-HIGH If you are looking for an affordable but premium-quality product, you can find professional-grade products on OMTech Laser. We are a one-stop solution for all your small business and DIY engraving/cutting needs. You can also shop for accessories, software, and the latest fiber laser machines and CO2 laser machines. Contact us today if you want to know more about engraving products and their benefits for users throughout the laser community!

CO2 laser tube composition structure The basic structure of a typical sealed-off CO2 laser tube is shown in the figure above, which is mainly composed of three parts: hard glass , resonant cavity , and electrode . 1. Hard glass part This part is composed of GG17 material fired into discharge tube, water-cooled tube, air storage tube and return air tube. The discharge tube is a key part of the CO2 laser. It basically determines the characteristics of the laser output. The length of the discharge tube is proportional to the output power. Proportional. The function of the water-cooled tube is to cool the working gas, maintain a stable output power, and prevent the discharge tube from bursting due to heat during the discharge pumping process. The function of the gas storage tube on the one hand increases the gas storage capacity of the gain medium, reduces the change of the working gas composition and pressure during the discharge process, and prolongs the operating life, on the other hand, it enhances the mechanical strength and stability of the discharge tube. The air return tube is a thin spiral tube connecting the two electrode spaces in the discharge tube, which can improve the unbalanced distribution of the voltage between the electrodes caused by the electrophoresis phenomenon. Discharge only occurs in the discharge tube. 2. Resonant cavity part This part consists of a total mirror and an output mirror. The total mirror of the resonant cavity is generally based on optical glass, and the surface is gold-coated. The reflectivity of the gold-film mirror at 10.6um is above 98%; the output mirror of the resonant cavity is generally made of infrared materials that can transmit 10.6um radiation. Germanium (Ge) is the substrate, and a multilayer dielectric film is formed on it. 3. Electrode part CO2 lasers generally use cold cathodes, which are cylindrical in shape. The selection of cathode materials has a great impact on the life of the laser. The basic requirements for cathode materials are: low sputtering rate and low gas absorption rate. Working principle of CO2 laser tube The CO2 molecule is a linear symmetrical molecule. Two oxygen atoms are on both sides of the carbon atom, which represents the equilibrium position of the atoms. The atoms in the molecule are always in motion, and constantly vibrate around their equilibrium position. According to the molecular vibration theory, CO2 has three different vibration modes: 1. Two oxygen atoms vibrate in the direction perpendicular to the molecular axis, and the vibration direction is the same, while the carbon atom vibrates in the opposite direction perpendicular to the molecular axis. Since the vibrations of the three atoms are synchronized, it is also called deformation vibration 2. The two oxygen atoms vibrate in opposite directions along the molecular axis, that is, the two oxygens reach the maximum value and equilibrium value of the vibration at the same time in the vibration, and the carbon atoms in the molecule are still at this time, so the vibration is called symmetry vibration. 3. Three atoms vibrate along the axis of symmetry, and the vibration direction of the carbon atom is opposite to that of the two oxygen atoms, which is also called antisymmetric vibrational energy. In these three different vibration modes, it is determined that there are different groups of energy levels. Energy level graph The carbon dioxide laser is a molecular laser. The main substance is the carbon dioxide molecule. It can express a variety of energy states, depending on the shape of its vibration and rotation. The basic energy network is shown in Figure 1. The mixed gas in carbon dioxide is a plasma (plasma) formed by a low-pressure gas (usually 30-50 Torr) caused by the release of electrons. As Maxwell-Boltzmann's law of distribution says, in plasma, molecules exhibit multiple states of excitement. Some will present a high energy state (00o1) which appears as an asymmetric swing state. When colliding with a hollow wall or naturally radiating, such molecules will accidentally lose energy. Through natural emission, this high-energy state will drop to a symmetrical swing form (10o0) and emit photons (a light beam with a wavelength of 10.6μm) that may travel in any direction. Occasionally, one of these photons will propagate down the cavity of the optical axis and will swing in the resonance mirror. Excitation process In the CO2 laser tube, the main working materials are composed of CO2, nitrogen, and helium. Among them, CO2 is the gas that produces laser radiation, and nitrogen and helium are auxiliary gases. With helium, it can accelerate the thermal relaxation process of 010 energy level, which is more conducive to the pumping down of laser energy levels 100 and 020. The addition of nitrogen gas mainly plays a role in energy transfer in the CO2 laser tube, and plays a powerful role in the accumulation of energy level particles on the CO2 laser and the high-power and high-efficiency laser output. Excitation conditions of CO2 laser tube: In the discharge tube, a direct current of tens of mA or hundreds of mA is usually input. During discharge, the nitrogen molecules in the mixed gas in the discharge tube are excited by the impact of electrons. At this time, the excited nitrogen molecules collide with CO2 molecules, N2 molecules transfer their energy to CO2 molecules, and CO2 molecules transition from a low energy level to a high energy level to form a population inversion and emit laser light.

(CO2 laser) is a gas laser with CO2 gas as the working material. The discharge tube is usually made of glass or quartz material, filled with CO2 gas and other auxiliary gases (mainly helium and nitrogen, and usually a small amount of hydrogen or xenon); the electrode is generally a hollow cylinder made of nickel; resonant cavity One end is a gold-plated total reflection mirror, and the other end is a partial reflection mirror polished with germanium or gallium arsenide. When a high voltage (usually DC or low-frequency AC) is applied to the electrode, a glow discharge is generated in the discharge tube, and there is a laser output at one end of the germanium mirror, and its wavelength is in the mid-infrared band near 10.6 microns; generally a better tube . A discharge area of ​​about one meter long can obtain a continuous output power of 40 to 60 watts. Knowledge of function and structure of carbon dioxide laser (co2 laser tube) Carbon dioxide laser is a relatively important gas laser. This is because it has some prominent advantages: 1. It uses the transition between the vibration-rotational energy levels of the CO2 molecule, and it has a relatively rich spectrum, and there are dozens of spectrum lines in the vicinity of 10 microns in the laser output. The high-pressure CO2 laser discovered in recent years can even achieve a continuously tunable output from 9 to 10 microns; 2. Its output band is just the atmospheric window (that is, the transparency of the atmosphere to this wavelength is higher); in addition, it also has the advantages of high optical quality of the output beam, good coherence, narrow line width, and stable operation. Therefore, it has many applications in the national economy and national defense, such as processing (welding, cutting, drilling, etc.), communications, radar, chemical analysis, laser-induced chemical reactions, and surgical operations. 3. It has relatively large power and relatively high energy conversion efficiency. A general closed-tube CO2 laser can have a continuous output power of several tens of watts, which is far more than other gas lasers, and a lateral flow electrically excited CO2 laser can have a continuous output of hundreds of thousands of watts. In addition, the lateral atmospheric pressure CO2 laser has reached a higher level in energy and power from the pulse output, which is comparable to solid-state lasers. The energy conversion efficiency of CO2 lasers can reach 30-40%, which also exceeds that of general gas lasers.

The full name of Q-300 is " Radio Frequency Excitation Diffusion Cooling Slab Waveguide Carbon Dioxide Laser ". The principle of this radio frequency laser uses a radio frequency power supply as the pump source. Two rectangular metal slats are placed in parallel with a distance of a few millimeters between them. Different lasers have different intervals. One of the electrode plates is grounded through the metal shell and is named the negative plate, and the other is connected to the radio frequency power supply through the RF feed-in device, and is named the positive plate. Two total reflection mirrors are installed at both ends of the two metal slats to form a laser resonant cavity for extracting laser light. The positive and negative plates and the laser cavity mirror are installed inside a sealed metal cavity, and the metal cavity is usually made of aluminum alloy. The laser working gas, the positive and negative electrode plates, and the laser cavity mirror are sealed in the metal cavity. The RF power is introduced into the electrode plate through a special feedthrough, and the working gas between the electrode plates is ionized to generate gain material. The laser output is extracted through cavity mirrors installed at both ends of the electrode plate, and the laser beam is output from the window on the sealed cavity. The window is sealed with anti-reflection coated ZnSe lens, which can extract laser energy efficiently, and can seal the cavity in a stable and reliable high vacuum. There are water channels inside the positive electrode plate and the negative electrode plate, and both plates need to be forced to cool with water. The water path of the positive plate needs to be specially designed to ensure that the positive plate is insulated from the outside and smooth water flow. The schematic diagram of the Q-300 RF laser principle is as follows, the schematic diagram does not show the cooling water circuit of the pole plate and the inductor coil connected to the positive and negative plates: Q-300 metal radio frequency carbon dioxide laser working principle diagram -Heat dissipation The injected radio frequency power ionizes the CO2 working gas to produce laser light, and at the same time about 80% of the radio frequency power becomes heat and accumulates in the discharge area. The waste heat accumulated in the discharge area is directly transferred to the metal discharge electrode plate, and the flowing cooling water in the discharge electrode plate removes the waste heat to protect the discharge electrode plate from deformation and ensure the stability of the laser power. -Beam shaping The asymmetry of the structure of the resonant cavity of the Q-300 RF CO2 laser in two directions determines the asymmetry of the beam output by the laser when it is transmitted outside the cavity. The beam outside the cavity is an elliptical spot, the spot size in the X and Y directions, the beam divergence angle is different, and there is a side lobe beam in the X direction. The Q-300 laser shaping system first uses a cylindrical lens to transform the beam into a circular beam, then focuses, uses a spatial filter at the focal point to remove the sidelobe beam, and finally collimates. Through the above method, the beam is transformed into a circularly symmetrical quasi-Gausky mode beam. -polarization The discharge area of ​​Q-300 is parallel to the direction of the bottom plate of the laser, and its output beam is linearly polarized light, and the polarization direction is parallel to the direction of the bottom plate. If you need to use circularly polarized light, you can add a phase retardation device in the optical path, such as a phase retardation mirror. -Retro-reflected beam isolation principle When the metal radio frequency carbon dioxide laser is applied to the processing of highly reflective materials, it is necessary to insert a retroreflective beam isolator in the optical path. The principle is as follows: First, the laser beam is incident on a device that completely transmits P polarized light and completely reflects S light, such as the Brewster window, and then enters a 45-degree phase retardation device, such as a 45-degree phase retardation mirror, and then enters it. Focus lens for laser processing. After being reflected by the highly reflective material, the P light passes through the phase retardation mirror twice and becomes S light. When it enters the Brewster window, it cannot be transmitted, is completely reflected, and cannot return to the laser. The unidirectional optical path transmission device composed of Brewster window and 45-degree phase retarder is a kind of beam isolator. -Beam transmission optical path construction and optical device protection Under normal circumstances, the laser beam reaches the material by expanding the beam and then focusing for laser processing. For the optical path mode of the cutting machine, the laser beam passes through two movable 45-degree mirrors and is incident on the focusing mirror for material processing. For the optical path mode of the galvanometer marking machine (re-focus), the laser beam first enters the beam expander, then enters two galvanometer lenses, and then passes through the focusing field lens to achieve precise and rapid processing in a small area. The processing area should have a good exhaust device to ensure that the exhaust gas will not pollute the lens. From the laser exit to the focusing lens, a reliable light path sealing device must be installed. It is necessary to blow air (clean air or nitrogen) into the light path sealing device for protection. Each device on the optical path should be handled carefully during debugging and installation, and the surface of the device should not be contaminated. At the same time, the lens should not be subjected to excessive mechanical stress during installation. -RF power supply Spell Laser ’s Q-300 RF CO2 laser is driven by an 81.36MHz RF power supply. The power circuit uses a 48V DC power supply, and the output power is controlled by a control signal (such as a PWM signal). First, a crystal oscillator is used to generate an 81.36MHz RF signal, and then a high-power RF output is generated through a power amplifier circuit. The radio frequency power supply can provide laser status indication, such as normal operation, temperature, flow, voltage and other signals. By observing the status of the signal light, the status of the laser can be judged. -Refrigeration system and cooling water temperature setting Reasonable and appropriate cooling is essential for the normal operation of the Q-300 RF laser. Since most of the injected RF power becomes waste heat, a matched refrigeration system is required to cool the laser. According to the difference of ambient temperature and humidity, the setting range of cooling water temperature is 21~30 degrees, and the flow rate is not less than 6.5L/min. When setting the cooling water temperature, refer to the ambient temperature and humidity to prevent condensation on the laser. If condensation occurs on the laser surface, it will cause irreversible damage to the laser and seriously affect the life of the laser. The cooling water temperature should be higher than the dew point of the air. For example, if the dew point is 22 degrees, the cooling water temperature should be set to 23 degrees or higher. Of course, if the set cooling water temperature is too high, higher than the recommended range, such as 35 degrees, the waste heat generated in the discharge area will not be effectively discharged, resulting in a reduction in laser power and increasing the probability of RF power failure. For refrigeration and cooling water, deionized pure water must be used. If you use tap water, it will cause scaling and corrosion of the waterway, which will cause fatal damage to the laser. Do not operate the laser in the environment near the freezing point. The ice crystals that may exist in the cooling water will impact the laser water circuit and affect the life of the laser. When storing the laser, drain the water in the laser waterway to prevent the water from corroding the waterway during the storage process, or the waterway is frozen and the waterway is ruptured, causing the laser to be scrapped. -Modulation signal and pulse width modulation method The radio frequency carbon dioxide laser receives the control signal input from the outside and modulates the output power of the laser. According to the pulse width and frequency of the output signal, switch the RF power supply to obtain the corresponding laser pulse output. For the Q-300 laser, the maximum duty cycle is 60%. The relationship between Q frequency and pulse width is as follows: Among them, W is the modulation pulse width, the unit is µs, and Q is the modulation frequency, the unit is KHz. For example, at a frequency of 5KHz and a duty cycle of 60%, according to the above formula, calculate W=60%*1000/5=120µs.

With its excellent performance, laser equipment is increasingly used in all walks of life. Laser equipment can be roughly divided into: laser cutting machine, laser engraving machine, laser marking machine, laser slicer, laser medical equipment, and other laser equipment. At present, the laser cutting machines used for material cutting on the market can be roughly divided into two types: fiber laser cutting machines and CO2 laser cutting machines . To know how to buy a laser cutting machine, you first need to know the difference between fiber laser and CO2 laser 1. Different luminous media Fiber lasers generate lasers through diode pumping and use flexible fiber optic cables to transmit laser beams, while CO2 lasers generate lasers by exciting the nitrogen and carbon dioxide gas in the cavity, and then transmit the beams through mirrors. 2. Different structure At the same power, fiber lasers are more compact than CO2 lasers 3. Different electro-optical conversion efficiency The conversion efficiency of a general CO2 laser is about 10%, and the conversion efficiency of a fiber laser is about 30% 4. The laser wavelength is different The wavelength of fiber laser is 1.06μm, and the wavelength of CO2 laser is 9.3μm~10.6μm. Therefore, the focused spot of fiber laser is smaller than that of CO2 laser, the cutting speed is faster, and the processing efficiency is higher. So, since fiber lasers have so many advantages, isn't it obvious how to choose between the two? Existence is reasonable, and CO2 laser has its advantages. Different cutting materials have different light absorption rates at different wavelengths. Non-metallic materials such as wood, cloth, plastic, acrylic, etc. have low absorption rates for fiber lasers, while CO2 lasers have high absorption rates for metal or non-metal materials. Therefore, fiber laser is only suitable for cutting metal materials, while CO2 laser can be used for cutting metal materials and non-metal materials. In addition, the cutting surface of CO2 laser has good smoothness and high verticality, which is more suitable for cutting materials with high precision requirements. Therefore, in the sheet metal processing industry, everyone generally chooses fiber laser cutting machines, while in the non-metallic material processing industry, especially precision processing and advanced crafts processing, everyone still chooses to use CO2 laser cutting machines.

The working principle of the refrigerant circulation cooling system: the refrigerant liquid flows into the evaporator through capillary throttling and pressure reduction; it vaporizes in the evaporator, absorbs the heat of the cooled water in the external circulation cooling system of the water circuit, and becomes a high-temperature mortgage refrigerant vapor. It is sucked into the compressor; the compressor is compressed into high-temperature and high-pressure steam and discharged into the condenser. In the condenser, the refrigerant releases heat to the cooling medium-air, and then is injected into the capillary tube as a high-pressure low-temperature liquid after condensation. It enters the evaporator again to absorb heat and vaporize through the capillary tube to achieve the purpose of circulating refrigeration. The working principle of the water circuit external circulation cooling system: the water exchanges energy in the water tank with the refrigerant in the evaporator; after being cooled, it passes through the water tank, filter, and water pump to the heat exchanger in the water circuit internal circulation cooling system. The medium exchanges energy with the internal circulating water, absorbs its heat, and returns to the water tank to keep the internal circulating water within a certain temperature range. The working principle of the internal circulation cooling system in the water circuit: the internal circulation water and the external circulation water exchange energy in the heat exchanger, and return to the water tank after being cooled, and then flow through the laser cavity through a filter and a water pump to take away the heat in the laser cavity , The laser is cooled, the temperature rises, and then flows back to the heat exchanger to exchange energy with the external circulating water.