{"id":1376,"date":"2023-04-18T13:33:07","date_gmt":"2023-04-18T13:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanta.com\/precision-manufacturing\/?post_type=novanta_tech_paper&#038;p=1376"},"modified":"2026-06-26T13:21:57","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T13:21:57","slug":"understanding-pulse-width-modulated-co%e2%82%82-laser-operation","status":"publish","type":"novanta_tech_paper","link":"https:\/\/novanta.com\/precision-manufacturing\/resources\/whitepapers\/understanding-pulse-width-modulated-co%e2%82%82-laser-operation\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding Pulse Width Modulated CO2\u00a0Laser Operation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-technical-paper-overview\">Technical Paper Overview<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-understanding-pulse-width-modulated-co\u2082-laser-operation-cavity-rise-fall-time-not-pwm-input-decides-whether-you-see-pulses\"><strong>Understanding Pulse Width Modulated CO\u2082 Laser Operation<\/strong><br><em>Cavity rise\/fall time, not PWM input, decides whether you see pulses.<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The PWM signal driving a CO\u2082 laser is a simple square wave: 0V low, 5V high, frequency and duty cycle. The optical output emerging from the laser cavity is not simple. Cavity rise\/fall time (~50-100 \u00b5sec), RF architecture limits, and CW-vs-Pulsed design choices reshape that square wave into output that may or may not pulse, may or may not match the duty cycle linearly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This technical paper from Novanta authors Justin Conroy and Malte Hemmerich walks through PWM-to-optical-output behavior on RF-driven CO\u2082 lasers \u2014 using the Synrad Firestar ti100 (CW: >100W, 160 kHz max, 0-100% duty cycle) and Synrad Pulstar p100 (pulsed: 400W peak, 35% max duty cycle) \u2014 at nine duty-cycle \u00d7 frequency combinations, demonstrating exactly when output looks pulsed, when it smooths into CW, and why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-key-takeaways-include\">Key takeaways include:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Why the PWM input signal is simpler than the actual laser optical output \u2014 and what gets lost in translation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How laser cavity rise\/fall time (~50-100 \u00b5sec) interacts with PWM frequency to determine pulses vs sawtooth vs smooth CW<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>When to specify CW: vector marking, precision cutting of acrylic and labels, heat-treating<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What pulsed delivers that CW can&#8217;t: 2-4\u00d7 peak power for drilling, metal piercing, reduced HAZ on sensitive materials<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A practical 9-setting matrix (3 frequencies \u00d7 3 duty cycles) documenting actual optical output for both lasers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"h-\">Download the full technical paper for the side-by-side oscilloscope-style output graphs (ti100 and p100 at nine duty-cycle and frequency combinations), the tickle-signal explanation, and the CW-vs-Pulsed application matrix you can use to specify the right CO\u2082 laser architecture for your process before commissioning the line.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Technical Paper Overview Understanding Pulse Width Modulated CO\u2082 Laser OperationCavity rise\/fall time, not PWM input, decides whether you see pulses. The PWM signal driving a CO\u2082 laser is a simple square wave: 0V low, 5V high, frequency and duty cycle. The optical output emerging from the laser cavity is not simple. Cavity rise\/fall time (~50-100 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":342,"featured_media":4452,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"show_table_of_content":true},"class_list":["post-1376","novanta_tech_paper","type-novanta_tech_paper","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.0 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Understanding Pulse Width Modulated CO2\u00a0Laser Operation - Precision Manufacturing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/novanta.com\/precision-manufacturing\/resources\/whitepapers\/understanding-pulse-width-modulated-co\u2082-laser-operation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Understanding Pulse Width Modulated CO2\u00a0Laser Operation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Technical Paper Overview Understanding Pulse Width Modulated CO\u2082 Laser OperationCavity rise\/fall time, not PWM input, decides whether you see pulses. 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