Reflection of CO2 laser radiation from typical surfaces encountered in hospital environments

Abstract

Measurements of the reflectivity of CO2 laser radiation (10.6 micron) from typical clinical surfaces are reported. The results obtained confirm that stray reflections from these surfaces could be a potential hazard to both patient and hospital staff. Some conducting surfaces, for example, reflect up to 95% of the radiation incident upon them and even dielectrics reflect over 50% in some cases. The results reported are for linearly polarised light only. Strong evidence is shown that the deposition of certain thin coatings dramatically reduces the percentage of 10.6 micron radiation reflected.