Sealed CO₂ Lasers

BEAM Laser Machines use 100 to 500 Watt sealed CO₂ lasers. These lasers are compact, extremely reliable, inexpensive to run and can provide over 20,000 hours of cutting before requiring service. Older technology lasers require an external gas source to supply gas flowing through the laser tube. These older lasers (called Flow-through Gas Lasers) are much larger, more expensive to run and less reliable.

 

Laser Power Control/SoftTouch Power Control

A dedicated micro-processor precisely controls the laser power, allowing fine engraving, even with a high-powered laser. The machine monitors the actual cutting speed and dynamically adjusts the laser power as the speed changes. This insures that the cut quality or depth of engraving is consistent.

Our lasers are sourced from the highest quality manufacturers on the market and all come with a 1 year warranty.

 

A High Intensity Beam

The high intensity beam of the CO₂ laser means faster vaporization of materials, higher processing speeds and deeper cuts.

The laser’s superior beam produces a highly focused spot (.004” diameter). This allows a 500W model, which generates 1500W peak power, to produce instantaneous intensities of up to 0.3 MW/mm2 at the material. This intensity is 400% greater than continuous-wave lasers of comparable power.

 

Pulsed Operation Means “Cooler” Processing

Operating in a pulsed mode results in a “cooler” process, because the laser operates with a 50% duty cycle (on/off time). Pulsing also reduces the Heat Affected Zone due to lower thermal conduction. The result is less charring when cutting materials such as paper, and less melting when cutting materials such as polymers.

 

Higher Repetition Rates Produce Higher Throughput

Both low peak power and low repetition rates limit how most pulsed lasers can remove material. However, the laser's unique power supply allows pulse repetition rates as high as 100 kHz, which is 400% faster than other lasers. For example, that's 12 meters/minute cutting acrylic.

Lasers are available for the Beam Dynamics cutting machine in powers ranging from 100W to 500W. Their all-metal construction and sealed, no-maintenance design are unique in the industry. Overall, sealed CO₂ lasers consistently demonstrate high quality, fast operating speeds and round the clock reliability.

 

“Brilliance” of CO₂ Lasers

CO₂ lasers are completely sealed and do not require any form of gas connections. They produce a beam which processes materials at a rate that belies its output power rating of up to 500 watts average power by producing 1,500 watts peak power! This is due to the laser Brilliance; the combination of a beam with a low M2 allowing smaller focus spot sizes and its square-wave pulsing characteristics. The laser can be pulsed at repetition rates of up to100kHz with pulse duration of between 25 and 1000 microseconds. CO₂ lasers offer greater power, flexibility and reliability with enhanced capabilities making the completely sealed, no consumable laser the industry choice.

 

All About CO₂ Laser Technology

At the heart of every Beam Dynamics machine is a modern sealed carbon-dioxide (CO₂) laser. CO₂ lasers emit far-infrared light at a wavelength of 10.6 microns. This wavelength is highly effective in processing a wide range of materials including wood, paper, plastics, glass, textiles, rubber and metals.

The sealed CO₂ lasers are ideal industrial tools. They provide the benefits of rugged construction, simple operation, high reliability, low operating costs and compact design.

 

Economical Maintenance-Free Design

Sealed lasers feature slab-discharge technology, which permanently confines the lasing gas mixture between two rectangular plate electrodes (opposite). These lasers require no replacement gas and no scheduled maintenance to the laser head for up to 25,000 hours (roughly two-and-a-half years) of continuous operation. Consequently, sealed lasers eliminate maintenance downtime, thereby increasing productivity and reducing costs.

Sealed lasers also have lower electrical and cooling-water requirements than conventional lasers that flow consumable gases through the laser head. The combination of these features results in an hourly operating cost of well under one dollar. By comparison, the hourly operating cost of conventional lasers can be five to ten times higher.

Slab-discharge technology employed in sealed lasers results in a remarkably compact and robust laser with high output power. These lasers are small and rugged enough to be mounted within the compact frame of an LMC while producing up to 500W of average output power and 1.5 kW of peak power.

 

Fast Material Removal

The pulsed light emission of sealed lasers is another reason why they are ideal for use in automated Laser Machining Centers. Pulsing gives accurate and essential control over how much and how fast energy is delivered for material processing. A dedicated microprocessor onboard every LMC automatically provides dynamic laser-power control to harness the power of each pulse and maximize material processing efficiency.

Relative to the duration of the pulse, sealed lasers produce high-frequency pulses with extremely fast rise-and-fall times (opposite). Therefore, laser power is efficiently delivered for cutting or drilling, rather than for merely heating the material to be processed. The result is a clean cut or hole with little heat induced collateral damage.

An important feature of the sealed lasers integrated into Beam Dynamics machines is a 50% ON/OFF mode with high peak-power. High peak-power results in faster material removal and the OFF time allows material cooling and minimizes the heat-affected zone (HAZ). For example, operating with oxygen assist, a 250W (750W peak power) sealed laser can cut 16-gage mild steel at over 100 in/min, directly competing with a 1.5 kW conventional flowing-gas CO₂ laser machine.

 

From Tools to Solutions

High repetition rate pulsing, high peak power, maintenance-free operation and low operating cost make sealed lasers ideal industrial tools. However, it is only after the addition of Beam Dynamics software, optics, electronics and precision mechanics that these lasers are transformed from industrial tools to manufacturing solutions. Our machines harness laser power and place it in the service of industry.