Introduction
Articles
CO2 laser processing –
an overview
Chris Williams
The author
Chris Williams is Sales Manager, Howden Laser Division,
Dundee, UK.
Abstract
Looks at the various applications of the CO2 gas laser in
industrial material processing. Describes how the CO2
laser beam interacts with particular materials and high-
lights the laser system configuration, system characteris-
tics and attributes. Details CO2 laser cutting, welding and
surface modification and briefly touches on some emerg-
ing aerospace application areas.
Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology
Volume 69 · Number 1 · 1997 · pp. 43–52
MCB University Press · ISSN 0002-2667
43
Of the wide variety of lasers now produced,
two kinds are pre-eminent in the industrial
processing of materials: the solid state
Nd:YAG laser and the CO2 gas laser.
All industrial lasers may be viewed as
“black boxes” that take in electrical energy
and convert a fraction of it to very high grade,
focusable energy.
CO2 lasers are capable of higher continu-
ous output power than Nd:YAG and the cost
per watt of CO2 output is about 50 per cent
that of Nd:YAG output. However, the
Nd:YAG output at 1.06 microns wavelength
may be fibre-optically delivered from laser to
workpiece, whereas this is not possible for the
10.6-micron wavelength CO2 laser output.
Also, these wavelengths interact differently
with materials so that Nd:YAG is not often
appropriate for organic-based workpieces, e.g.
many plastics, while CO2 is not effective in
processing noble metals. Both can, however,
cut, weld and perform surface modification
on ferrous metals and aluminium. Because of
their different properties and relative costs,
Nd:YAG and CO2 lasers are often comple-
mentary rather than directly competitive
(though this can be the case). In the aerospace
material processing field, Nd:YAG lasers,
operating with repetitive, short-pulse output,
have for many years been used in the drilling
of deep, small diameter, cooling holes for
aeroengine components. CO2 lasers have not,
as yet, secured a niche of this type due, in
part, to the qualification processes within the
aerospace industry with respect to new cut-
ting and welding methods. This is likely to
change as CO2 laser processing becomes ever
more common in other industries.
This article looks at CO2 laser cutting,
welding and surface modification in general
and highlights some emerging aerospace
application areas.
Interaction of CO2 laser beams with
materials
The focusable energy from the CO2 laser is
emitted as a “raw” beam that is nearly parallel
at a wavelength of around 10.6 microns. The
diameter of this beam and its divergence
(angle of spread) varies from laser to laser but
typically a half-kilowatt laser beam can be
© Howden Laser, 1997
 CO2 laser processing – an overview Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology
Chris Williams Volume 69 · Number 1 · 1997 · 43–52

expected to have a diameter of approximately • localized heat input – low HAZ, no distor-
12mm and a divergence of a few milli-radians, tion;
while a three-kilowatt laser beam may have a • narrow weld/kerf – high speed;
diameter of approximately 15mm and a diver- • no force employed – quiet;
gence of one milli-radian. The beam must • processes in any direction – easily automat-
usually be focused before it can be used for ed;
material processing. With many solid materi- • non-contact;
als, the strength of interaction of the incoming • software “tooling” – no tooling lead time;
beam with the surface depends very much on • no tool wear;
the surface temperature. • eliminates secondary operations.
Clearly the laser is not much use unless com-
bined with an appropriate system to enable
‘…With this energy loading, even the the focused beam to be delivered, under
small percentage that is absorbed at control, to a workpiece.
the surface may quickly create a melt
pool with a dense vapour above it (if
thermal conduction away from the Laser system configurations
“hot-spot” is not too great) and this Laser systems for material processing can be
facilitates a strong interaction; less divided into three types:
focused beams interact less (1) moving laser;
strongly…’ (2) moving workpiece;
(3) moving optics.
These three types are depicted in Figures 1-3.
Many materials reflect a large percentage of
the incoming 10.6-micron energy (e.g. stain-
less steel reflects 95 per cent). A tightly Focus control
focused beam delivers a high energy loading
Before discussing other system aspects let us
to a small area of the surface, typically
consider what happens when a raw beam is
0.15mm in diameter. With this energy load-
focused by a lens or mirror. This is illustrated
ing, even the small percentage that is
by Figure 4.The diameter of the focused spot
absorbed at the surface may quickly create a
(which determines the power density at a
melt pool with a dense vapour above it (if
given laser power) depends on the beam
thermal conduction away from the “hot-spot” quality factor (M2, see later), the focal length
is not too great) and this facilitates a strong
interaction; less focused beams interact less
strongly. For metals, this is very important Figure 1 The moving laser system
(for example copper, silver and gold cannot
be processed and aluminium can be difficult).
Organic materials behave differently, because
even as solids they reflect very little; however,
some composites require not only very high
intensities but also other special ancillary
processes if they are to be cut successfully.
Thus, high-power density is used for cutting
and welding (both involve melting) and low
power density is used for heating. High-power
density can be taken to mean greater than
106W/cm2, low power density being between
102 and 104W/cm2.
Because a small focused spot is essential for
all processing involving melting, much effort
has been devoted to lenses and mirrors for
beam focusing (see later).
Some important features of laser process-
ing are:
44
 CO2 laser processing – an overview
Chris Williams
Figure 2 The moving workpiece system
Figure 3 The moving optics system
and the incoming beam diameter. For uni-
form laser processing over any working area or
volume, the focus characteristics must be
constant. This means that the incoming
diameter must be constant or very nearly so.
This is the case with moving laser or moving
workpiece-type systems as will become evi-
dent. Another equally important factor to
control is the distance between the focusing
element and the workpiece, since there is
generally little more than a millimetre latitude
in the depth of focus. This “focus height
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Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology
Volume 69 · Number 1 · 1997 · 43–52
Figure 4 The effect of focusing a lens or mirror on a raw beam
control” is a standard feature of most cutting
nozzles and is implemented by either a con-
tact linear variable-voltage differential trans-
ducer (LVDT) sensor or a non-contact capac-
itive transducer as part of a servo control
mechanism, which varies the distance
between lens and workpiece to track the
surface in real time. In this way any residual
undulations in the material being processed
are compensated for.
System characteristics
The choice of which system type to use main-
ly depends on the range of material, its thick-
ness and size.
The laser in a moving laser system must be
compact and rugged enough to survive and
operate properly. Fast traverse speeds up to
ten metres per minute are usually required and
accelerations up to 1g must be accommodat-
ed. Moving laser machines are cost effective,
utilize floor-space efficiently and are ideally
suited to deal with large areas of material (4m
× 2m and upwards), since they provide con-
stant focus conditions over the whole work-
piece. The load on the machine movement is a
constant quantity (the laser) and so can be
taken into account fully at the design stage,
meaning that non-variable, high dynamic
performance is ensured. They are not as fast as
moving optic machines, but with thick-plate or
difficult-to-process non-ferrous metals, cut-
ting speed seldom exceeds 2m per minute, and
so very fast motion is not a requirement.
A large-area (140m × 3m), three-kilowatt
moving laser system is shown in Plate 1.
 CO2 laser processing – an overview
Chris Williams
Plate 1 A three-kilowatt moving laser system
Moving workpiece machines are relatively
inexpensive and can accept a large, heavy
laser. They also have uniform focus over the
whole workpiece and can be made to operate
quickly (up to 20 metres per minute) and if
specified correctly, they can accommodate
heavy material. They do not, however, utilize
floorspace efficiently and this is sometimes a
disadvantage. Also, the weight of the material
to be processed varies from job to job; there-
fore, the dynamic performance is always, to
some extent, a compromise, although with
modern control this is not too significant.
Moving optic machines are usually the most
expensive, but are capable of very quick move-
ment (in excess of 100 metres per minute in
some cases). A “wrist”-action nozzle plus
Z-axis converts a standard 2D machine to 3D,
so that complex shapes can be processed.
Technical drawbacks to this approach are
related to beam focus variation. As the raw
beam propagates, it diverges (spreads), and
since the focusing lens encounters slightly
different incident diameters as it moves
around the XY range, then it produces differ-
ing focus sizes as a result. The cut quality will
therefore vary. With careful design and colli-
mating optics (which control the beam’s diver-
gence), such effects can be reduced but this
adds to the cost. In the cutting of thin ferrous
materials, non-uniform focus is a small effect,
but it can be very significant for thick-plate
(12mm and above) and for non-ferrous mate-
rials. For job-shops doing small profiles in thin
sheet, the fast traverse speed helps speed up
cycle-times, and this type of machine is
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Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology
Volume 69 · Number 1 · 1997 · 43–52
favoured in such high throughput environ-
ments.
Combinations (hybrids) of the three basic
types exist, e.g. a moving optic Z-axis, rota-
tion and wrist added to an XY moving laser or
moving workpiece machine gives a five-axis
capability. On the other hand, sometimes a
static laser with multi-axis workpiece motion
may be advantageous. Careful evaluation of
the proposed task is necessary for the opti-
mum system type to be selected.
System attributes
Laser control
Generally, laser cutting is used to make quite
complex shapes and so a laser capable of real-
time pulse control is essential. The average
power of the laser can be controlled by
turning the laser on and off electronically at
kilohertz frequencies and with variable duty
cycle. In this way, there is precise control of
the power incident on the surface of the mate-
rial resulting in optimum cut quality. Without
this power control, linked to the profiling
speed, excess power may be used in accelera-
tion/deceleration regions resulting in wide
kerf widths, large heat-affected zones and
even burn-out of the material. The duty cycle
of the pulsed waveform is routinely controlled
by a computer numerical control (CNC)
which uses the speed of the table as a refer-
ence input. Pulsing is also important for
piercing materials in order to start a cut, for
example, to trepan a hole within a part. The
ability to control the continuous laser power is
also desirable though not so essential.
Laser beam characteristics
Laser beam quality is also to be considered
when cutting. Two lasers of the same power
may perform very differently if their trans-
verse beam profiles (that is their intensity
distributions in the plane at right angles to the
beam propagation direction) differ. The best
profile for thin material cutting is the so-called
TEM00*. For thick plate and some compos-
ites a combination of TEM00 and TEM01*
results in a wider kerf giving better cut quality
and no dross adhesion. Schematic cross-
sections of typical laser modes are shown in
Figure 5.
The M2 figure of merit for laser modes is
now commonly used; M2 is equal to 1 for a
theoretically pure TEM00 beam and a “good”
laser may have M2 equal to 1.5 as an approxi-
 CO2 laser processing – an overview
Chris Williams
Figure 5 Cross-sections of typical laser modes
mation to this. Incidentally, a low M2 value
means not only a small focused spot but also a
greater depth of field, and both factors con-
tribute to improved processing consistency.
For high value products/materials, the facility
of varying the mode according to the process
requirement is very desirable – but not always
easy to implement.
The laser beam output is usually randomly
polarized; that is to say it is linear but varying in
direction with time. The speed and quality of
cut in metallic materials will vary depending on
the relative orientation between the direction of
cutting and the polarization vector. To circum-
vent this variability, an extra optic is introduced
to polarize the laser beam circularly.
Motion characteristics
The CNC controlling a system must be capa-
ble of executing a stored program correctly
and of moving the relevant component, be it
laser, workpiece or optics, smoothly in the
desired way. New generations of CNC includ-
ing PC digital signal-processor-based con-
trollers are now specifically tailored to laser
processing, controlling all relevant parameters
in real-time. These are user-friendly and carry
significant on-board memory – nowadays
typically in the region of 256kb. Offline pro-
gramming is universal, with data being down-
loaded via direct link or floppy disc. The
computer-aided manufacturing (CAM)
software system “front-end” should contain
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Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology
Volume 69 · Number 1 · 1997 · 43–52
nesting algorithms to ensure efficient material
utilization where this is important.
Whether it is the workpiece that moves or
the laser or the optics, the movement must be
smooth and be capable of high speeds and
accelerations.
To take advantage of the inherent accuracy
of the laser, the machine accuracy should
generally be around 100 microns. However
the machine accuracy requirement comes
from the type of work. Some jobs call for very
tight tolerances, while others specify a few
millimetres.
Laser cutting processes
In oxygen-assisted cutting, the assist gas (see
Figure 6) is a modest (approximately 2 bar)
pressure of pure oxygen. This causes an
exothermic reaction which assists the laser
melting of the metal so as to give high cutting
speeds and in consequence an oxidized cut
edge. However, while oxygen cutting is ideal
for mild and tool steel, it has drawbacks for
stainless steel and non-ferrous metals.
In stainless steel the nickel present in the
material reacts with the oxygen resulting in
adherent dross, particularly on thicker sec-
tions. In addition, because stainless steel has a
low thermal conductivity, oxygen cutting of
detailed profiles in thick sections is prone to
cause burn-out. Oxygen cutting obviously
adversely affects the cut edge metallurgy,
 CO2 laser processing – an overview Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology
Chris Williams Volume 69 · Number 1 · 1997 · 43–52

Figure 6 The laser cutting process

creates a relatively large heat-affected zone Focus control is essential as was mentioned
(HAZ) and in many stainless steel products earlier. For metal cutting the focus control
the edge finish requires post-processing to sensor may be capacitive, but this is not suit-
ensure an adequate cosmetic appearance. In able for non-metals where a contact probe is
non-ferrous materials the metallurgical conse- needed.
quences of oxygen assistance are often intoler- When cutting composite materials, their
able, e.g. cutting of aerospace titanium and inhomogeneous nature with respect to melting
aluminium. However, in non-critical applica- and boiling point is a problem. Fibres have a
tions, oxygen can give a useful boost to pro- higher melting point than does the epoxy
cessing speeds in aluminium for which the matrix and this leads to meltback at cut edges
HAZ is not of great concern; in such cases,
high pressure, clean compressed air often
serves as the assist gas. Figure 7 Inert gas cutting speeds with various thicknesses of aluminium alloy
In inert gas cutting, the assist gas can be 2024
nitrogen, argon or even helium, delivered at a
pressure of between 5-22 bar. In many cases,
nitrogen is used for reasons of economy but
sometimes the other, more chemically inert
gases are needed. The mechanism for inert
gas cutting is melt shearing in which the laser
beam melts the metal and the melt is blown
away by the high pressure gas jet. Since no
thermal contribution comes from the gas,
laser power and focusability are critical for
high performance.
As well as superior metallurgy, inert gas
cutting gives a far better cosmetic edge finish
and this can be of great benefit when produc-
ing profile parts from high value materials.
Howden Laser can cut various aluminium
alloys, e.g. 2024 with truly negligible HAZs at
speeds of up to 12 metres per minute with its
LE3000 laser and most structural aluminium
up to 7mm thick can be routinely processed
(see Figures 7 and 8).
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 CO2 laser processing – an overview
Chris Williams
Figure 8 Inert gas cutting speeds with various thicknesses of aluminium and
stainless steel (316)
Plate 2 The Howden Laser LE1500
leaving stray fibres exposed at the edge. The
very high-power densities provided by 3kW
lasers with low M2 beams and carefully opti-
mized pulse settings allow composites to be
cut. Howden Laser have developed a propri-
etary processing nozzle for aerospace carbon-
fibre sheet up to 4mm thick working at speeds
approaching one metre per minute, which
provides excellent cut quality (verified by a
leading aerospace manufacturer) when used in
conjunction with the Howden Laser LE3000
laser source. Another recent Howden Laser
development has resulted in a laser source with
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Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology
Volume 69 · Number 1 · 1997 · 43–52
very rapid pulse capabilities – the LE1500.
This laser (see Plate 2) can pulse around 100
times faster than all other CO2 lasers and its
applications in composite and ceramic pro-
cessing are only just beginning to be explored.
CO2 laser-cut kerf widths range from
0.1mm to 1-2mm depending on material
thickness.
Inert gas cutting at 3,000 watts
In order to begin a laser cut, the material must
first be pierced (unless starting from an edge).
It is accurate piercing that is particularly
difficult for lasers with inadequate power or
poor beam quality.
Inability to pierce easily can lead to lens
and/or resonator optic damage. Since alu-
minium may be a problem for 2kW class
lasers to pierce, then often the end-user
simply avoids it.
With the Howden laser LE3000, the high
quality (low M2) beam mode together with
the high output power (3,000W) ensures
foolproof, rapid piercing of aluminium alloys
up to 8mm thickness. This performance
similarly applies to stainless steel in which
even very thick material is rapidly pierced.
Some examples of the LE3000’s abilities are
shown in Plate 3, which shows from the
bottom up: 10mm stainless; 4.5mm stainless;
and 5mm aluminium.
Laser welding
Laser welding is basically a simple process,
requiring no filler wires, fluxes, electrodes or
ancillary equipment. The power density used
for welding is similar to that used for cutting
Plate 3 An example of the LE3000’s cutting capabilities
 CO2 laser processing – an overview
Chris Williams
Figure 9 A typical laser welding set-up
and so the same laser system may be used for
both cutting and welding, but a change of
focusing nozzle is desirable. A dual-purpose
system will allow easy reconfiguration
between welding and cutting. Figure 9
schematically illustrates a typical focusing set-
up for laser welding.
CO2 laser welding proceeds by keyhole
formation, similar to electron beam welding;
however, no vacuum chamber is needed.
Generally, the parts to be welded will be a
close fit, so that the weld is autogenous. To
prevent oxidation, argon or helium is usually
used to shield the weld while it is being
formed. Because the shield gas is applied at
very low pressure, the delivery optics are not
well protected (as in cutting). This tends to
make welding a process for high-power lasers
in which long focal length mirrors focus pow-
erful beams. The mirrors can then be a long
distance from the weld pool giving them some
protection from inevitable weld spatter.
Mirrors are in general much more robust than
lenses and can be cleaned and reused if dam-
aged. However, Howden Laser have devel-
oped production-proven welding nozzles for
low power (less than 1kW lasers) where lens
protection is in-built.
A problem encountered with laser welding
for aerospace applications is that of weld
termination, since keyhole closure without
weld porosity can be difficult. This problem is
sometimes defeated by welding past the close-
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Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology
Volume 69 · Number 1 · 1997 · 43–52
point and then using conventional machining
to remove the keyhole termination zone.
Materials for laser welding
The range of materials which may be welded
by laser is vast and includes the bonding of
dissimilar alloys, carbon steels, stainless steel,
nickel alloys and aluminium alloys.
Laser welding allows high-speed joining on
thinner ferrous materials; for example, tens of
thousands of solenoid valve assemblies are
welded per day with a 600W laser. However,
for maximum penetration a combination of
high beam quality and careful gas shielding is
needed. In welding, a plasma is formed above
the keyhole and this can attenuate the incom-
ing CO2 laser beam, so reducing penetration.
The plasma can, however, be controlled and
this effect reduced. Recent developments at
Howden Laser have made high-power CO
lasers available and these are showing benefits
in the welding of aluminium alloys because of
their improved transmission through weld
plasmas.
Welding non-metals can also be a very
successful operation. Polyethylene and
polypropylene are particularly suited to laser
welding.
Good fit up and jigging of the parts to be
welded is essential. A significant advantage
for laser welding is that the penetration is
controllable. For example, in the welding of
tube to plate parts for heat exchangers, the
 CO2 laser processing – an overview
Chris Williams
tube must not be perforated, so the weld
penetration through the tube wall is made
only partial.
Laser surface applications
Surface metallurgy using lasers covers many
areas, for example, glazing, hardening, alloy-
ing and annealing. The three main areas are
hardening, alloying and cladding.
The hardening process (power density
100W/cm2)
Transformation hardening is achieved by
heating a metal above a critical temperature
and then rapidly quenching it rather than
allowing equilibrium phases to form by slow
cooling.
It is essential that surface melting does not
occur and that rapid quenching does occur;
the latter is usually achieved by conduction
into the material bulk, i.e. it is self-quenching.
Transformation hardening is carried out by
moving an unfocused laser beam across the
surface of the material, ensuring, by control-
ling power density and speed of traverse, that
melting does not occur. In this way a thin
surface layer is quickly heated and then rapid-
ly cooled by conduction once the beam has
passed. A thin absorptive coating is applied to
the surface to reduce reflection losses.
The potential uses for such laser hardening
systems in the aerospace industry are in cases
where small sections of a component need
different properties from those of immediately
adjacent areas. For example, turbine blades
may be subject to local wear and corrosion
and benefit from small areas having corrosion
resistance without compromising the struc-
tural properties of the whole blade.
The surface alloying and cladding
processes (power density 104W/cm2)
Alloying is a process by which the surface of a
material is first melted and then additional
elements are added to this melted area, so
changing the composition of the surface.
Cladding involves bonding a new material to
the existing surface with minimal mixing of
the two materials.
Both alloying and cladding require higher
power densities than hardening, usually by a
factor of 10-100; however, similar optical
systems can be used to perform both process-
es. Additional equipment is required to intro-
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Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology
Volume 69 · Number 1 · 1997 · 43–52
duce the alloying elements to the surface;
these elements may be gases, powder, wire or
sheet and can be positioned on the surface
before or during the process.
Sometimes surface melting without alloy-
ing or cladding can be useful in homogenizing
certain materials.
It must be acknowledged that surface
metallurgy is a rarely encountered laser appli-
cation, although very considerable research
efforts have been directed towards it. This
may be because of cost factors in general
engineering applications which may not be
valid in specialized aerospace activities.
Two other emergent, surface-related appli-
cations are worth highlighting in the context
of the aerospace industry.
Surface texturing
It is sometimes desirable to texture the surface
of metals (sheet steel and aluminium) for a
variety of complementary reasons, for exam-
ple, to aid lubrication retention to help in
forming processes and to provide better paint
adhesion and finished appearance. New devel-
opments at Howden Laser in the form of the
LE1500 (which can be amplitude modulated
at up to 1MHz) enable rapid texturing of the
sheet forming rollers to be contemplated.
Presently such texturing is accomplished via
shot blasting or spark erosion. This texturing
process may also be useful in improving the
adhesion of ceramic coatings to certain metals
used in, for example, aeroengines. Since the
laser texturing process is non-contact, debris
from conventional shot-blast texturing is
avoided, so potentially improving quality.
Paint removal
Since current aircraft are predominantly of
aluminium alloy construction and paint is
organic, there is a large difference in how a
weakly focused CO2 laser beam interacts with
the paint compared with the aircraft body.
This means that a high-power pulsed laser can
remove paint by ablation without any damage
or physical contact with the aluminium under-
neath. Trials in the USA have reported quite
high removal rates (around one square metre
per minute) and with greater awareness of the
environmental and health impact of solvents
this application may well see further interest.
The use of low power CO2 lasers to remove
the rubber masking from alloy sheets prior to
chemical erosion is a related application. This
 CO2 laser processing – an overview
Chris Williams
particular technique has been in use in the
UK for many years.
Conclusion
CO2 lasers are mature cutting and welding
tools widely used in general industry. Their
role in aerospace manufacture is not presently
large but is growing as the processes become
fully proven and qualified. A number of spe-
cialized subcontractors such as the Laser
Machining Centre in Toronto, Canada, have
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Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology
Volume 69 · Number 1 · 1997 · 43–52
obtained the necessary approvals for their
work and are regularly supplying laser cut
parts to the aerospace community. In addi-
tion, most large players in the sector have
some CO2 cutting and welding equipment
either in production or in R&D evaluation. As
this work progresses, engineers will begin to
design with laser manufacture in mind as has
happened in other industries. The CO2 laser
is already an important tool and all the indica-
tions are that its significance will increase in
the future.