ABSTRACT
Most laser cutting is carried out using CO2 or Nd:YAG lasers. The general principles of cutting are similar for both types of laser although CO2 lasers (see chapter B3.1) dominate the market. For this reason the following sections will concentrate on CO2 laser cutting and compare this with Nd:YAG laser cutting in section D1.2.5. (however, readers interested solely in Nd:YAG laser cutting need to read the following sections first). Most of the following information is paraphrased from two books: CO2 Laser Cutting by J Powell [1] and Laser Institute of America Guide to Laser Cutting by J Powell [2].
