LASERS

SOLID STATE LASERS

 Solid state laser- active centers are fixed in a

crystal or glassy material.
 They are electronically non- conducting , also
called doped insulator lasers.
 Active centers are dispersed in a dielectric
crystal or piece of glass.
 Crystal atom do not participate in lasing action
but act as host lattice to active centers .
 Eg- Chromium in Ruby lasers

Neodymium in YAG.
ND-YAG LASER
 Nd-YAG stands for Neodymium –yttrium
Aluminium Garnet(YAG)
 Nd- a rare earth metal when doped with solid
state crystals produce emission of 1m.
 Nd3+ ions takes place of yttrium ions. Doping
concentration of 0.725% by weight- 1.4  1026
atoms per m3
 Four level laser
 Pulsed/ continous mode
 Pumping source – xenon flash lamp
 Active medium – Nd3+
CONSTRUCTION
 Length of the Nd:YAG
laser rod –5cm to 10 cm
and diameter – 6-9mm.
 Laser rod and linear
flash lamp – elliptical
reflector cavity.
 Ends of rod are polished
and made optically flat
and parallel.
 Optical cavity- silvering
two ends or using 2
external mirrors. One is
100% reflecting other is
partially reflecting.
 System cooled by water
or air circulation.
ENERGY LEVELS
WORKING
 It’s a four level laser- pumping achieved by xenon flash lamp.
 Two primary pump bands are in energy 7000-8500A.
 It excites Nd3+ ions from the ground state to multiple energy states
of E4
 The excited Nd3+ ions quickly decays to the metastable upper laser
level E3- by releasing excess energy to lattice.
 E1 cannot be populated by Nd3+ ions since its 0.25 eV above ground
state. Therefore sparsely populated at normal operating temperature.
 Population inversion achieved between E3 and E2 levels.
 In E3 state Nd3+ ions emit 1.06m wavelength and drop to lower
level laser E2
 To get continuous output- tungsten halide incandescent lamps
Applications
Medicine
In oncology, it is used to remove skin cancer
It is used in ophthalmology to correct posterior capsular opacification, a
complication of cataract operation
Cosmetic medicine
Dentistry: It is used for soft tissue surgeries in the oral cavity

Manufacturing
For engraving, etching, or marking a variety of metals and plastics.
Cutting and welding steel and various alloys.
For automotive applications (cutting and welding steel) the power levels are
typically 1-5 kW

Military
Military surplus Nd:YAG laser fires through a collimator, focusing the
beam, which blasts a hole through a rubber block, releasing a burst of
plasma.
The Nd:YAG laser is the most common laser used in military as laser
rangefinders
HELIUM- NEON LASER
 The Helium-Neon laser was the first continuous laser.

 It was invented by Javan et. al. in 1961.

 Trouble free and extremely long operating life times.

 HeNe lasers have many industrial and scientific uses, and are
often used in laboratory demonstrations of optics.

 Continuous mode

 Active medium- 10 parts of helium to one part of neon

 Pumping- dc or RF discharge created by applying a high

voltage

 Four level laser

CONSTRUCTION
 The setup consists of a discharge tube of length 80 cm and bore
diameter of 1.5cm.

 The gain medium of the laser, as suggested by its name, is a mixture of

helium and neon gases, in a 5:1 to 20:1 ratio, contained at low pressure
(an average 50 Pa per cm of cavity length ) in a glass envelope.

 The energy or pump source of the laser is provided by an electrical

discharge of around 1000 volts through an anode and cathode at each
end of the glass tube.

 The optical cavity of the laser typically consists of a plane, high-

reflecting mirror at one end of the laser tube, and a concave output
coupler mirror of approximately 1% transmission at the other
end.

 optical output powers ranging from 1 mW to 100 mW.

 ENERGY LEVELS
 A description of the rather complex HeNe excitation
process
 When the power is switched on, An energetic electron
collisionally excites a He atom to the state labeled E5
and E3 .
 The excited He*(E5 and E3 ) atom collides with an
unexcited Ne atom and the atoms exchange internal
energy, resulting in Ne*(E5 and E3).
 This energy exchange process occurs with high
probability only because of the accidental near
equality of the two excitation energies of the two
levels in these atoms. Thus, the purpose of population
inversion is fulfilled.- resonant transfer
 When the excited Ne atom passes from metastable state(E5) to
lower level(E2), it emits photon of wavelength 632.8nm.

 This photon travels through the gas mixture parallel to the axis of
tube, it is reflected back and forth by the mirror ends until it
stimulates an excited Ne atom and causes it to emit a photon of
632.8nm with the stimulating photon.

 There are two more transistion from E5- E4 and E3- E2 With a
wavelength of 3.39m and 1.152m.

 The E5and E3 are metastable states and population inversion

achieved between E3 and E2 - 1.56m. and E5 and E2- 632.8nm and
E5 and E4 - 3.39m
 The stimulated transition from (E5) level to (E2)
level is laser transition.

 This process is continued and when a beam of

coherent radiation becomes sufficiently strong, a
portion of it escape through partially silvered
end.

 Finally the Ne atom comes to ground state

through collision with tube wall and undergoes
radiationless transition.
APPLICATIONS
 The Narrow red beam of He-Ne laser is used in
supermarkets to read bar codes.

 The He- Ne Laser is used in Holography in

producing the 3D images of objects.

 He-Ne lasers have many industrial and scientific

uses, and are often used in laboratory
demonstrations of optics.
CARBONDIOXIDE LASER
 It is one of the most efficient and powerful lasers
available.
 C.K.N. Patel designed CO2 laser in the year 1964

 CO2 laser is a 4 level molecular laser which

operates in the far infra red region.
 Both Pulsed and continuous wave outputs are
possible.
 Active medium: Mixture of CO2, N2 and He in the
ratio – 1:2:3
 Pumping source: electric discharge
ENERGY LEVELS OF CO2 LASER
MOLECULE

 Energy levels of isolated atoms are discrete and

narrow

 Molecules energy spectrum is complicated.

 Each electronic levels are associated with nearly

equally spaced vibration spectrum

 Each vibration levels have a number of rotational

level.
VIBRATION MODES OF CO2 LASER
 CO2 is a linear molecule constituting of central carbon atom with two
oxygen atom

 (mnq) are quantum numbers which represent vibrational modes.

 (020) – molecule in this energy state is pure bending mode with two
units of energy. Each vibrational level is associated with a rotational
states.
 symmetric stretching mode, the oxygen atoms
oscillate along the axis of the molecule
simultaneously departing or approaching the
carbon atom, which is stationary.
 bending mode, the molecule ceases to be exactly
linear as the atoms move perpendicular to the
molecular axis.
 asymmetric stretching, all the three atoms
oscillate: but while both oxygen atoms move in
one direction, carbon atoms move in the opposite
direction.
CONSTRUCTION

 It’s a discharge tube of 2.5cm diameter and 5cm

length.

 Its filled with a mixture of Co2, N2 and He in ratio

1:2:3

 Electric discharge

 End of the tube NaCl windows are placed at Brewster

angle so that plane polarised beam is produced.

 A pair of confocal mirrors which act as optical

resonators.
ENERGY LEVEL DIAGRAM
 Nitrogen – used to excite the Carbondioxide
molecule by resonant energy transfer.

 Helium is used as a coolant and deactivation of

the lower level.

 Wavelength – 10.6m and 9.6m

APPLICATIONS

 Material processing – cutting, drilling and

welding

 Medicinal applications – neuro surgery

 Laser remote sensing