Precise measurement for beam pointing stability of high power repetition rate TEA CO2 laser

High power repetition rate TEA CO2 laser emits high power and high pulse energy far-infrared laser, the laser spot and beam pointing stability is difficult to measure with commercial detectors directly. In this paper, a method is proposed to measure the beam pointing stability of high power repetition rate TEA CO2 laser. A laser with average power of 10 kW and repetition rate of 400 Hz is adopted as sample for measurement. An experimental device is optimally design to attenuate laser power and measure the laser spot. Beam pointing stability can be calculated from the measured result and the aberration caused by the experimental measurement is discussed. A correction algorithm based on the laser parameters is proposed and the beam pointing stability of this TEA CO2 laser can be calculated as 39.93 μrad and 145.53 μrad in x direction and y direction respectively.