INTRODUCTION PRINCIPLES OF OPERATION TYPES OF LASERS

LASERS APPLICATION
PICTURE GALLERY

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Laser, acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. Lasers are devices that amplify light and produce coherent light beams, ranging from infrared to ultraviolet. A light beam is coherent when its waves, or photons, propagate in step, or in phase, with one another .Laser light, therefore, can be made extremely intense, highly directional, and very pure in colour (frequency). Laser devices now extend into the X-ray frequency range.

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Lasers harness atoms to store and emit light in a coherent fashion. The electrons in the atoms of a laser medium are first energized, to an excited state by an energy source. They are then stimulated by external photons to emit the stored energy in the form of photons, a process known as stimulated emission. The photons emitted have a frequency characteristic of the atoms and travel in step with the stimulating photons. These photons in turn impinge on other excited atoms to release more photons. Light amplification is achieved as the photons move back and forth between two parallel mirrors, triggering further stimulated emissions.

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According to the laser medium used, lasers are generally classified as

Solid state laser Gas laser Semiconductor laser Liquid laser

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The most common solid laser media are rods of ruby crystals and neodymium-doped glasses and crystals. The ends of the rod are fashioned into two parallel surfaces coated with a highly reflecting non-metallic film. Solidstate lasers offer the highest power output. They are usually operated in a pulsed manner to generate a burst of light over a short time. Bursts as short as 12 10-15 sec have been achieved, which are useful in studying physical phenomena of very brief duration. Pumping is achieved with light from xenon flash tubes, arc lamps, or metal-vapour lamps. The frequency range has been expanded from infrared (IR) to ultraviolet (UV) by multiplying the original laser frequency with crystal-like potassium dihydrogen phosphate, which are even shorter, and X-ray wavelengths, which are even shorter, have been achieved by aiming laser beams at yttrium targets.

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The laser medium of a gas laser can be a pure gas, a mixture of gases, or even metal vapour, and is usually contained in a cylindrical glass or quartz tube. Two mirrors are located outside the ends of the tube to form the laser cavity. Gas lasers are pumped by ultraviolet light, electron beams, electric current, or chemical reactions. The helium-neon laser is known for its high frequency stability, colour purity, and minimal beam spread. Carbon dioxide lasers are very efficient, and consequently they are the most powerful continuous wave (CW) lasers.

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The most compact of lasers, the semiconductor laser usually consists of a junction between layers of semiconductors with different electrical conducting properties. The laser cavity is confined to the junction region by means of two reflective boundaries. Gallium arsenide is the semiconductor most commonly used. Semiconductor lasers are pumped by the direct application of electrical current across the junction, and they can be operated in the CW mode with better than 50 per cent efficiency. A method that permits even more efficient use of energy has been devised. It involves mounting tiny lasers vertically in such circuits, to a density of more than a million per square centimetre.

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The most common liquid laser media are inorganic dyes contained in glass vessels. They are pumped by intense flash lamps in a pulse mode or by a gas laser in the CW mode. The frequency of a tunable dye laser can be adjusted with the help of a prism inside the laser cavity.

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The use of lasers is restricted only by imagination. Lasers have become valuable tools in Industry

Scientific research
Medicine Military technology

Industry

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Powerful laser beams can be focused on a small spot with enormous power density. Consequently, the focused beams can readily heat, melt, or vaporize material in a precise manner. Lasers have been used to drill holes in diamonds, to shape machine tools, to trim microelectronic components, to heat-treat semiconductor chips, to cut fashion patterns, to synthesize new material, and to attempt to induce controlled nuclear fusion . The powerful short pulse produced by a laser also makes possible high-speed photography with an exposure time of several trillionths of a second. Highly directional laser beams are used for alignment in road and building construction.

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Scientific Research Because laser light is highly directional and monochromatic, extremely small amounts of light scattering or small frequency shifts caused by matter can easily be detected. By measuring such changes, scientists have successfully studied molecular structures. With lasers, the speed of light has been determined to an unprecedented accuracy, chemical reactions can be selectively induced, and the existence of trace substances in samples can be detected.
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Medicine Intense, narrow beams of laser light can cut and cauterize certain tissues in a small fraction of a second without damaging the surrounding healthy tissues. They have been used to weld the retina, bore holes in the skull, vaporize lesions, and cauterize blood vessels. Laser techniques have also been developed for lab tests of small biological samples.

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Military Technology Laser guidance systems for missiles, aircraft, and satellites are commonplace. The use of laser beams against hostile ballistic missiles has been proposed, as in the defence system urged by US President Ronald Reagan in 1983 . The ability of tunable dye lasers to excite selectively an atom or molecule may open up more efficient ways to separate isotopes for construction of nuclear weapons.

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Target Chamber of the Nova Laser Technicians install diagnostic equipment on the target chamber of Nova, the most powerful laser in the world. Inside the target chamber, ten laser beams are simultaneously directed towards a small fuel sample, producing fusion reactions. The laser is currently used for weapons research and should help scientists in the future explore the use of fusion as a possible energy source.

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Laser Welder High-power lasers are used in industry to weld together large pieces of hard metals. These lasers can produce temperatures above 5,500 C (about 10,000 F).

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Gas Lasers Intense red and green beams of argon and neodymium laser light cross a room, their paths bending sharply as they strike mirrors. Scientists use the unique properties of laser light to perform experiments that were previously impossible. Not all laser light is visible. For this reason, anyone working with lasers should have protective eyewear.

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SOLID STATE LASER

LIQUID LASER

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FREE ELECTRON LASER

SEMICONDUCTOR LASER

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