Carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels remains in the atmosphere and is not absorbed by vegetation and the oceans. While transparent to visible light, carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, absorbing and emitting infrared radiation at its two infrared-active vibrational frequencies (see the section "Structure and bonding" above). Light emission from the earth's surface is most intense in the infrared region between 200 and 2500 cm, as opposed to light emission from the much hotter sun which is most intense in the visible region. Absorption of infrared light at the vibrational frequencies of atmospheric carbon dioxide traps energy near the
Carbon dioxide laser Carbon dioxide laser The carbon dioxide laser (CO laser) was one of the earliest gas lasers to be developed. It was invented by Kumar Patel of Bell Labs in 1964, and is still one of the most useful. Carbon dioxide lasers are the highest-power continuous wave lasers that are currently available. They are also quite efficient: the ratio of output power to pump power can be as large as 20%. The CO laser produces a beam of infrared light with the principal wavelength bands centering on 9.4 and 10.6 micrometers (μm). The active laser medium (laser gain/amplification medium) is a