Influence of beam polarization on laser cutting quality has been experimentally studied.In the experiments,linearly polarized and circularly polarized CO2 laser were used to cut 6mm low carbon steel sheets.Results show that when making linearly polarized laser cutting,different cutting directions have different kerf width and the degree of dross is also not the same.When making circularly polarized laser cutting,kerf width are of good consistency and no dross phenomenon occurs.Explanation to this phenomenon is given out from the point of view of light absorption and reflection.The paper also offers means to be taken in laser cutting in order to get good cutting quality.