In 1964, the CO2 laser was developed by C. Kumar N. Patel at Bell Laboratories. Colloquially, this powerful laser is also called a carbon dioxide laser. Its laser medium is carbon dioxide with a 4-level system. Along with solid-state lasers, the carbon dioxide laser is one of the most powerful lasers and is used in many areas of industry. The CO2 laser can reach output powers of up to 80 kW and pulse energies of up to 100 kJ. CO2 lasers are relatively efficient and inexpensive and the efficiency is about 15% to 20%.