Historical Review of Technological CO2 Lasers Development, Manufacturing and Operation Stages at E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute of the NAS of Ukraine

This paper provides a historical review of CO
2
lasers development, manufacturing and operation stages at E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute of the NAS of Ukraine for various technological applications. For the first time, the periodization proposed of these stages. The design features of technological CO
2
lasers are considered. Focus is made on the power sources for developed CO
2
lasers and their active medium excitation systems.