Brewster Windows for CO2 Laser?
The typical home-built CO2 laser normally uses a tube with internal mirrors. However, there are some commercial CO2 lasers that have Brewster windows and external mirrors. Here are some pros and cons: Advantages of Brewsters: • Output will be a polarized beam. Does this matter for a CO2 laser? • You can do your fiddling without going near the HV. 🙂 • Mirrors can be interchanged more easily. • Additional optics can be introduced into cavity. Disadvantages of Brewsters: • Optics can and will get dirty. • Losses in Brewster window material. • Making sure you get the angles correct. • Unavoidable reflections from Brewster windows (4 places) must be treated as Class IV beams. • Additional cost of Brewster windows and separate mirror mounts. (From: Pres Macy (malase@javanet.com).) As far as I know there is no Brewster windows aren’t used, except to save costs that you cannot use windows on your tube. I believe that all industrial designs incorporate the HR and OC onto their tubes which act
