A medical CO2 laser Industrial (cutting and welding) Because of the high power levels available (combined with reasonable cost for the laser), CO2 lasers are frequently used in industrial applications for cutting and welding, while lower power level lasers are used for engraving. It is also used in the additive manufacturing process of Selective laser sintering (SLS). Medical (soft-tissue surgery)<unk> s have become useful in surgical procedures because water (which makes up most biological tissue) absorbs this frequency of light very well. Some examples of medical uses are laser surgery and skin resurfacing ("laser facelifts", which essentially consist of vaporizing the skin to promote collagen formation). CO2 lasers may be used to treat certain skin conditions such as hirsuties papillaris genitalis by removing bumps or podules. CO2 lasers can be used to remove vocal-fold lesions, such as vocal-fold cysts. Researchers in Israel are experimenting with using CO2 lasers to weld human tissue, as an alternative to traditional sutures. The 10.6 μm CO2 laser remains the best surgical laser for the soft tissue where both cutting and hemostasis are achieved photo-thermally (radiantly). CO2 lasers can be used in place of a scalpel for most procedures and are even used in places a scalpel would not be used, in delicate areas where mechanical trauma could damage the surgical site. CO2 lasers are the best suited for soft-tissue procedures in human and animal specialties, as compared to laser with other wavelengths. Advantages include less bleeding, shorter surgery time, less risk of infection, and less post-op swelling. Applications include gynecology, dentistry, oral and maxillofacial surgery, and many others. The CO2 laser at the 9.25–9.6 μm wavelength is sometimes used in dentistry for hard-tissue ablation. The hard-tissue is ablated at temperatures as high as 5,000 °C, producing bright thermal radiation. Other The common plastic poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) absorbs IR light in the 2.8–25 μm wavelength band, so CO2 lasers have been used in recent years for fabricating microfluidic devices from it, with channel widths of a few hundred micrometers. Because the atmosphere is quite transparent to infrared light, CO2 lasers are also used for military rangefinding using LIDAR techniques. CO2 lasers are used in spectroscopy and the Silex process to enrich uranium. The Soviet Polyus was designed to use a megawatt<unk>  as an in-orbit weapon to destroy SDI satellites.
Carbon-dioxide laser
Nd:YAG laser
Laser
Laser coagulation
GreenLight Laser Therapy
Photodynamic therapy
Laser surgery
Low-level laser therapy