Laser - Wikipedia 3x5 L - Benjamin Riegel

8/11/2019 Laser - Wikipedia 3x5 L - Benjamin Riegel

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United States Air Force laser experiment

LaserFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A laseris a device that emitslight (electromagnetic radiation)

through a process of optical

amplification based on the

stimulated emission of photons.

The term "laser" originated as anacronym forLight Amplification

by Stimulated Emission of

Radiation.[1][2]The emitted laser

light is notable for its high degree

of spatial and temporal

coherence.
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Red (635 nm), green (532 nm), and blue-vio

(445 nm) lasers

Spatial coherence is typically

expressed through the output

being a narrow beam which is

diffraction-limited, often a so-

called "pencil beam." Laser

beams can be focused to very tiny

spots, achieving a very high

irradiance, or they can be

launched into beams of very low

divergence in order toconcentrate their power at a large

distance.

Temporal (or longitudinal)

coherence implies a polarized

wave at a single frequency whose
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phase is correlated over a

relatively large distance (the coherence length) along the beam.[3]A beam pr

by a thermal or other incoherent light source has an instantaneous amplitude

phase which vary randomly with respect to time and position, and thus a verycoherence length.

Most so-called "single wavelength" lasers actually produce radiation in sever

having slightly different frequencies (wavelengths), often not in a single pola

And although temporal coherence implies monochromaticity, there are even

that emit a broad spectrum of light, or emit different wavelengths of lightsimultaneously. There are some lasers which are not single spatial mode and

consequently their light beams diverge more than required by the diffraction

However all such devices are classified as "lasers" based on their method of

producing that light: stimulated emission. Lasers are employed in application

light of the required spatial or temporal coherence could not be produced usi

simpler technologies.
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Contents

1 Terminology2 Design3 Laser physics

3.1 Stimulated emission3.2 Gain medium and cavity3.3 The light emitted3.4 Quantum vs. classical emission processes

4 Continuous and pulsed modes of operation4.1 Continuous wave operation4.2 Pulsed operation

4.2.1 Q-switching

4.2.2 Mode-locking
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4.2.3 Pulsed pumping5 History

5.1 Foundations5.2 Maser

5.3 Laser5.4 Recent innovations

6 Types and operating principles6.1 Gas lasers

6.1.1 Chemical lasers6.1.2 Excimer lasers

6.2 Solid-state lasers6.3 Fiber lasers6.4 Photonic crystal lasers6.5 Semiconductor lasers6.6 Dye lasers6.7 Free electron lasers
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6.8 Bio laser6.9 Exotic laser media

7 Uses7.1 Examples by power

7.2 Hobby uses8 Safety9 As weapons10 Fictional predictions11 See also12 References

13 External links

Terminology

The word laserstarted as an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated e
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Laser beams in fog, reflectedwindshield

of radiation"; in modern usage "light" broadly

denotes electromagnetic radiation of any

frequency, not only visible light, hence

infrared laser, ultraviolet laser,X-ray laser,

and so on. Because the microwave

predecessor of the laser, the maser, was

developed first, devices of this sort operating

at microwave and radio frequencies are

referred to as "masers" rather than

"microwave lasers" or "radio lasers". In theearly technical literature, especially at Bell

Telephone Laboratories, the laser was called

an optical maser; this term is now

obsolete.[4]

A laser which produces light by itself is technically an optical oscillator rathe
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an optical amplifier as suggested by the acronym. It has been humorously no

the acronym LOSER, for "light oscillation by stimulated emission of radiatio

would have been more correct.[5]With the widespread use of the original acr

a common noun, actual optical amplifiers have come to be referred to as "lasamplifiers", notwithstanding the apparent redundancy in that designation.

The back-formed verb to laseis frequently used in the field, meaning "to pro

laser light,"[6]especially in reference to the gain medium of a laser; when a l

operating it is said to be "lasing." Further use of the words laserand maserin

extended sense, not referring to laser technology or devices, can be seen in usuch as astrophysical maserand atom laser.

Design
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Components of a typical lase

1. Gain medium

2. Laser pumping energy

3. High reflector

4. Output coupler

5. Laser beam

Main article: Laser construction

A laser consists of a gain medium, a

mechanism to supply energy to it, and

something to provide optical feedback.[7]The

gain medium is a material with properties that

allow it to amplify light by stimulated

emission. Light of a specific wavelength that

passes through the gain medium is amplified

(increases in power).

For the gain medium to amplify light, it needs

to be supplied with energy. This process is

called pumping. The energy is typically

supplied as an electrical current, or as light at

a different wavelength. Pump light may be
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animation explaining the stimulated emission and

Laser principle

provided by a flash lamp or

by another laser.

The most common type of

laser uses feedback from anoptical cavitya pair of

mirrors on either end of the

gain medium. Light bounces

back and forth between the

mirrors, passing through thegain medium and being

amplified each time.

Typically one of the two

mirrors, the output coupler,

is partially transparent. Some of the light escapes through this mirror. Depen

the design of the cavity (whether the mirrors are flat or curved), the light com

0:00
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of the laser may spread out or form a narrow beam. This type of device is som

called a laser oscillatorin analogy to electronic oscillators, in which an elect

amplifier receives electrical feedback that causes it to produce a signal.

Most practical lasers contain additional elements that affect properties of thelight such as the polarization, the wavelength, and the shape of the beam.

Laser physics

See also: Laser science

Electrons and how they interact with electromagnetic fields are important in

understanding of chemistry and physics.

Stimulated emission
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In the classical view, the energy of an electron orbiting an atomic nucleus is

for orbits further from the nucleus of an atom. However, quantum mechanica

force electrons to take on discrete positions in orbitals. Thus, electrons are fo

specific energy levels of an atom, two of which are shown below:
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stimulated_Emission.svg


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When an electron absorbs energy either from light (photons) or heat (phonon

receives that incident quantum of energy. But transitions are only allowed in

discrete energy levels such as the two shown above. This leads to emission li

absorption lines.

When an electron is excited from a lower to a higher energy level, it will not

way forever. An electron in an excited state may decay to a lower energy sta

is not occupied, according to a particular time constant characterizing that tra

When such an electron decays without external influence, emitting a photon,

called "spontaneous emission". The phase associated with the photon that is e

is random. A material with many atoms in such an excited state may thus res

radiation which is very spectrally limited (centered around one wavelength o

but the individual photons would have no common phase relationship and wo

emanate in random directions. This is the mechanism of fluorescence and the

emission.
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An external electromagnetic field at a frequency associated with a transition

affect the quantum mechanical state of the atom. As the electron in the atom

transition between two stationary states (neither of which shows a dipole fiel

enters a transition state which does have a dipole field, and which acts like a

electric dipole, and this dipole oscillates at a characteristic frequency. In respthe external electric field at this frequency, the probability of the atom enteri

transition state is greatly increased. Thus, the rate of transitions between two

stationary states is enhanced beyond that due to spontaneous emission. Such

transition to the higher state is called absorption, and it destroys an incident p

(the photon's energy goes into powering the increased energy of the higher sttransition from the higher to a lower energy state, however, produces an addi

photon; this is the process of stimulated emission.

Gain medium and cavity

The gain medium is excited by an external source of energy into an excited s
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most lasers this medium consists

of population of atoms which

have been excited into such a

state by means of an outside light

source, or an electrical fieldwhich supplies energy for atoms

to absorb and be transformed into

their excited states.

The gain medium of a laser is

normally a material of controlled

purity, size, concentration, and

shape, which amplifies the beam

by the process of stimulated

emission described above. This

material can be of any state: gas,
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A helium-neon laser demonstration at the K

Brossel Laboratory at Univ. Paris 6. The pin

orange glow running through the center of t

is from the electric discharge which produc

incoherent light, just as in a neon tube. This

plasma is excited and then acts as the gain m

through which the internal beam passes, as

reflected between the two mirrors. Laser rad

output through the front mirror can be seen

produce a tiny (about 1mm in diameter) inteon the screen, to the right. Although it is a d

pure red color, spots of laser light are so int

cameras are typically overexposed and disto

color.

liquid, solid, or plasma. The gain

medium absorbs pump energy,

which raises some electrons into

higher-energy ("excited")

quantum states. Particles caninteract with light by either

absorbing or emitting photons.

Emission can be spontaneous or

stimulated. In the latter case, the

photon is emitted in the samedirection as the light that is

passing by. When the number of

particles in one excited state

exceeds the number of particles

in some lower-energy state,

population inversion is achieved and the amount of stimulated emission due
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Spectrum of a helium neon la

illustrating its very high specpurity (limited by the measur

apparatus). The .002 nm band

the lasing medium is well ove

times narrower than the spect

of a light-emitting diode (who

spectrum is shown herefor

that passes through is larger than the amount

of absorption. Hence, the light is amplified.

By itself, this makes an optical amplifier.

When an optical amplifier is placed inside a

resonant optical cavity, one obtains a laser

oscillator.[8]

In a few situations it is possible to obtain

lasing with only a single pass of EM radiation

through the gain medium, and this produces alaser beam without any need for a resonant or

reflective cavity (see for example nitrogen

laser).[9]Thus, reflection in a resonant cavity

is usually required for a laser, but is not

absolutely necessary.
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comparison), with the bandw

single longitudinal mode bein

narrower still.

The optical resonator is sometimes referred to

as an "optical cavity", but this is a misnomer:

lasers use open resonators as opposed to the

literal cavity that would be employed at

microwave frequencies in a maser. Theresonator typically consists of two mirrors between which a coherent beam o

travels in both directions, reflecting back on itself so that an average photon

through the gain medium repeatedly before it is emitted from the output aper

lost to diffraction or absorption. If the gain (amplification) in the medium is l

than the resonator losses, then the power of the recirculating light can riseexponentially. But each stimulated emission event returns an atom from its e

state to the ground state, reducing the gain of the medium. With increasing b

power the net gain (gain minus loss) reduces to unity and the gain medium is

be saturated. In a continuous wave (CW) laser, the balance of pump power a

gain saturation and cavity losses produces an equilibrium value of the laser p

inside the cavity; this equilibrium determines the operating point of the laser
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applied pump power is too small, the gain will never be sufficient to overcom

resonator losses, and laser light will not be produced. The minimum pump po

needed to begin laser action is called the lasing threshold. The gain medium

amplify any photons passing through it, regardless of direction; but only the

in a spatial mode supported by the resonator will pass more than once througmedium and receive substantial amplification.

The light emitted

The light generated by stimulated emission is very similar to the input signalof wavelength, phase, and polarization. This gives laser light its characteristi

coherence, and allows it to maintain the uniform polarization and often

monochromaticity established by the optical cavity design.

The beam in the cavity and the output beam of the laser, when travelling in fr

(or a homogenous medium) rather than waveguides (as in an optical fiber las
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be approximated as a Gaussian beam in most lasers; such beams exhibit the m

divergence for a given diameter. However some high power lasers may be

multimode, with the transverse modes often approximated using Hermite-Ga

Laguerre-Gaussian functions. It has been shown that unstable laser resonator

used in most lasers) produce fractal shaped beams.[10]Near the beam "waist"

focal region) it is highly collimated: the wavefronts are planar, normal to the

direction of propagation, with no beam divergence at that point. However du

diffraction, that can only remain true well within the Rayleigh range. The be

single transverse mode (gaussian beam) laser eventually diverges at an angle

varies inversely with the beam diameter, as required by diffraction theory. Th"pencil beam" directly generated by a common helium-neon laser would spre

to a size of perhaps 500 kilometers when shone on the Moon (from the distan

the earth). On the other hand the light from a semiconductor laser typically e

tiny crystal with a large divergence: up to 50. However even such a diverge

can be transformed into a similarly collimated beam by means of a lens syste
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always included, for instance, in a laser pointer whose light originates from a

diode. That is possible due to the light being of a single spatial mode. This un

property of laser light, spatial coherence, cannot be replicated using standard

sources (except by discarding most of the light) as can be appreciated by com

the beam from a flashlight (torch) or spotlight to that of almost any laser.

Quantum vs. classical emission processes

The mechanism of producing radiation in a laser relies on stimulated emissio

energy is extracted from a transition in an atom or molecule. This is a quantuphenomenon discovered by Einstein who derived the relationship between th

coefficient describing spontaneous emission and the B coefficient which app

absorption and stimulated emission. However in the case of the free electron

atomic energy levels are not involved; it appears that the operation of this rat

exotic device can be explained without reference to quantum mechanics.
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Continuous and pulsed modes of operation

A laser can be classified as operating in either continuous or pulsed mode, de

on whether the power output is essentially continuous over time or whether itakes the form of pulses of light on one or another time scale. Of course even

whose output is normally continuous can be intentionally turned on and off a

rate in order to create pulses of light. When the modulation rate is on time sc

much slower than the cavity lifetime and the time period over which energy

stored in the lasing medium or pumping mechanism, then it is still classified

"modulated" or "pulsed" continuous wave laser. Most laser diodes used incommunication systems fall in that category.

Continuous wave operation

Some applications of lasers depend on a beam whose output power is constan
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time. Such a laser is known as continuous wave(CW). Many types of lasers c

made to operate in continuous wave mode to satisfy such an application. Ma

these lasers actually lase in several longitudinal modes at the same time, and

between the slightly different optical frequencies of those oscillations will in

produce amplitude variations on time scales shorter than the round-trip time reciprocal of the frequency spacing between modes), typically a few nanosec

less. In most cases these lasers are still termed "continuous wave" as their ou

power is steady when averaged over any longer time periods, with the very h

frequency power variations having little or no impact in the intended applica

(However the term is not applied to mode-locked lasers, where theintention

create very short pulses at the rate of the round-trip time).

For continuous wave operation it is required for the population inversion of t

medium to be continually replenished by a steady pump source. In some lasi

this is impossible. In some other lasers it would require pumping the laser at

high continuous power level which would be impractical or destroy the laser
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producing excessive heat. Such lasers cannot be run in CW mode.

Pulsed operation

Pulsed operation of lasers refers to any laser not classified as continuous wavthat the optical power appears in pulses of some duration at some repetition r

encompasses a wide range of technologies addressing a number of different

motivations. Some lasers are pulsed simply because they cannot be run in co

mode.

In other cases the application requires the production of pulses having as larg

energy as possible. Since the pulse energy is equal to the average power divi

the repetition rate, this goal can sometimes be satisfied by lowering the rate o

so that more energy can be built up in between pulses. In laser ablation for ex

a small volume of material at the surface of a work piece can be evaporated i

heated in a very short time, whereas supplying the energy gradually would al
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the heat to be absorbed into the bulk of the piece, never attaining a sufficient

temperature at a particular point.

Other applications rely on the peak pulse power (rather than the energy in the

especially in order to obtain nonlinear optical effects. For a given pulse energrequires creating pulses of the shortest possible duration utilizing techniques

Q-switching.

The optical bandwidth of a pulse cannot be narrower than the reciprocal of th

width. In the case of extremely short pulses, that implies lasing over a consid

bandwidth, quite contrary to the very narrow bandwidths typical of CW laserlasing medium in some dye lasersand vibronic solid-state lasersproduces op

gain over a wide bandwidth, making a laser possible which can thus generate

of light as short as a few femtoseconds (10!15s).

Q-switching
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Main article: Q-switching

In a Q-switched laser, the population inversion is allowed to build up by intro

loss inside the resonator which exceeds the gain of the medium; this can also

described as a reduction of the quality factor or 'Q' of the cavity. Then, after energy stored in the laser medium has approached the maximum possible lev

introduced loss mechanism (often an electro- or acousto-optical element) is r

removed (or that occurs by itself in a passive device), allowing lasing to begi

rapidly obtains the stored energy in the gain medium. This results in a short p

incorporating that energy, and thus a high peak power.

Mode-locking

Main article: Mode-locking

A mode-locked laser is capable of emitting extremely short pulses on the ord
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tens of picoseconds down to less than 10 femtoseconds. These pulses will rep

the round trip time, that is, the time that it takes light to complete one round t

between the mirrors comprising the resonator. Due to the Fourier limit (also

as energy-time uncertainty), a pulse of such short temporal length has a spec

spread over a considerable bandwidth. Thus such a gain medium must have abandwidth sufficiently broad to amplify those frequencies. An example of a

material is titanium-doped, artificially grown sapphire (Ti:sapphire) which h

wide gain bandwidth and can thus produce pulses of only a few femtosecond

duration.

Such mode-locked lasers are a most versatile tool for researching processes oon extremely short time scales (known as femtosecond physics, femtosecond

chemistry and ultrafast science), for maximizing the effect of nonlinearity in

materials (e.g. in second-harmonic generation, parametric down-conversion,

parametric oscillators and the like) due to the large peak power, and in ablati

applications.[citation needed]

Again, because of the extremely short pulse durat
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a laser will produce pulses which achieve an extremely high peak power.

Pulsed pumping

Another method of achieving pulsed laser operation is to pump the laser matwith a source that is itself pulsed, either through electronic charging in the ca

flash lamps, or another laser which is already pulsed. Pulsed pumping was

historically used with dye lasers where the inverted population lifetime of a d

molecule was so short that a high energy, fast pump was needed. The way to

overcome this problem was to charge up large capacitors which are then switdischarge through flashlamps, producing an intense flash. Pulsed pumping is

required for three-level lasers in which the lower energy level rapidly becom

populated preventing further lasing until those atoms relax to the ground stat

lasers, such as the excimer laser and the copper vapor laser, can never be ope

CW mode.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitors


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History

Foundations

In 1917, Albert Einstein established the theoretical foundations for the laser

maser in the paperZur Quantentheorie der Strahlung(On the Quantum Theo

Radiation); via a re-derivation of Max Plancks law of radiation, conceptuall

upon probability coefficients (Einstein coefficients) for the absorption, spont

emission, and stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation; in 1928, Rud

Ladenburg confirmed the existences of the phenomena of stimulated emissionegative absorption;[11]in 1939, Valentin A. Fabrikant predicted the use of

stimulated emission to amplify short waves;[12]in 1947, Willis E. Lamb an

Retherford found apparent stimulated emission in hydrogen spectra and effec

first demonstration of stimulated emission;[11]in 1950, Alfred Kastler (Nobe

for Physics 1966) proposed the method of optical pumping, experimentally
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confirmed, two years later, by Brossel, Kastler, and Winter.[13]

Maser

Main article: Maser

In 1953, Charles Hard Townes and graduate students James P. Gordon and H

Zeiger produced the first microwave amplifier, a device operating on similar

principles to the laser, but amplifying microwave radiation rather than infrare

visible radiation. Townes's maser was incapable of continuous output.

[citation

Meanwhile, in the Soviet Union, Nikolay Basov and Aleksandr Prokhorov w

independently working on the quantum oscillator and solved the problem of

continuous-output systems by using more than two energy levels. These gain

could release stimulated emissions between an excited state and a lower exci

not the ground state, facilitating the maintenance of a population inversion. I
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_inversionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stimulated_emissionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscillationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Mikhailovich_Prokhorovhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolay_Basovhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Unionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwavehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Hard_Towneshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maserhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser#cite_note-13


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Aleksandr Prokhoro

Prokhorov and Basov suggested optical pumping of a

multi-level system as a method for obtaining the

population inversion, later a main method of laser

pumping.

Townes reports that several eminent physicists

among them Niels Bohr, John von Neumann, Isidor

Rabi, Polykarp Kusch, and Llewellyn Thomas

argued the maser violated Heisenberg's uncertainty

principle and hence could not work.[1]

(http://books.google.com/books?

id=VrbD41GGeJYC&pg=PA69&lpg=PA69&dq=%22niels+bohr%22+rabi+
http://books.google.com/books?id=VrbD41GGeJYC&pg=PA69&lpg=PA69&dq=%22niels+bohr%22+rabi+kusch+von+neumann+laser&source=web&ots=0_A7OuramT&sig=4R4yTmk6SmJTN8mZaiOMzgg-LO4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncertainty_principlehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llewellyn_Thomashttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polykarp_Kuschhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isidor_Rabihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_von_Neumannhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niels_Bohrhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aleksandr_Prokhorov.jpg


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on+neumann+laser&source=web&ots=0_A7OuramT&sig=4R4yTmk6SmJT

OMzgg-LO4) In 1964 Charles H. Townes, Nikolay Basov, and Aleksandr Pr

shared the Nobel Prize in Physics, for fundamental work in the field of quan

electronics, which has led to the construction of oscillators and amplifiers ba

the maserlaser principle.

Laser

In 1957, Charles Hard Townes and Arthur Leonard Schawlow, then at Bell L

began a serious study of the infrared laser. As ideas developed, they abandon

infrared radiation to instead concentrate upon visible light. The concept origi

was called an "optical maser". In 1958, Bell Labs filed a patent application fo

proposed optical maser; and Schawlow and Townes submitted a manuscript

theoretical calculations to the Physical Review, published that year in Volum

Issue No. 6.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_Reviewhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visible_lighthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infraredhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Labshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Leonard_Schawlowhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Hard_Towneshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize_in_Physicshttp://books.google.com/books?id=VrbD41GGeJYC&pg=PA69&lpg=PA69&dq=%22niels+bohr%22+rabi+kusch+von+neumann+laser&source=web&ots=0_A7OuramT&sig=4R4yTmk6SmJTN8mZaiOMzgg-LO4


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Simultaneously, at Columbia University,

graduate student Gordon Gould was working

on a doctoral thesis about the energy levels of

excited thallium. When Gould and Townes

met, they spoke of radiation emission, as ageneral subject; afterwards, in November

1957, Gould noted his ideas for a laser,

including using an open resonator (later an

essential laser-device component). Moreover,

in 1958, Prokhorov independently proposed

using an open resonator, the first published

appearance (the USSR) of this idea.

Elsewhere, in the U.S., Schawlow and

Townes had agreed to an open-resonator laser

design apparently unaware of Prokhorovs

publications and Goulds unpublished laser
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resonatorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emission_(electromagnetic_radiation)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalliumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctoral_thesishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Gouldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_Universityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gould_notebook_001.jpg


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LASER notebook:First pag

notebook wherein Gordon Go

coined the LASER acronym,

described the technologic ele

for constructing the device.

work.

At a conference in 1959, Gordon Gould

published the term LASER in the paper The

LASER, Light Amplification by Stimulatedmission of Radiation.[1][5]Goulds linguistic

intention was using the -aser word particle

as a suffix to accurately denote the spectrum of the light emitted by the LA

device; thus x-rays:xaser, ultraviolet: uvaser, et cetera; none established itse

discrete term, although raser was briefly popular for denoting radio-freque

emitting devices.

Goulds notes included possible applications for a laser, such as spectrometry

interferometry, radar, and nuclear fusion. He continued developing the idea,

a patent application in April 1959. The U.S. Patent Office denied his applicat

awarded a patent to Bell Labs, in 1960. That provoked a twenty-eight-year la
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawsuithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Labshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Patent_and_Trademark_Officehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent_applicationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fusionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interferometryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectroscopyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser#cite_note-Biographical_Memoirs-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser#cite_note-Gould1959-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Gould


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featuring scientific prestige and money as the stakes. Gould won his first min

patent in 1977, yet it was not until 1987 that he won the first significant paten

lawsuit victory, when a Federal judge ordered the U.S. Patent Office to issue

to Gould for the optically pumped and the gas discharge laser devices. The q

of just how to assign credit for inventing the laser remains unresolved byhistorians.[14]

On May 16, 1960, Theodore H. Maiman operated the first functioning laser,[

Hughes Research Laboratories, Malibu, California, ahead of several research

including those of Townes, at Columbia University, Arthur Schawlow, at Be

Labs,[17]and Gould, at the TRG (Technical Research Group) company. Maim

functional laser used a solid-state flashlamp-pumped synthetic ruby crystal to

produce red laser light, at 694 nanometres wavelength; however, the device o

capable of pulsed operation, because of its three-level pumping design schem

in 1960, the Iranian physicist Ali Javan, and William R. Bennett, and Donald
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_R._Herriotthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_R._Bennett,_Jr.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Javanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flashlamphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser#cite_note-17http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Labshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_L._Schawlowhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_Universityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_H._Towneshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hughes_Research_Laboratorieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser#cite_note-15http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Maimanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser#cite_note-14http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_discharge


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Herriott, constructed the first gas laser, using helium and neon that was capab

continuous operation in the infrared (U.S. Patent 3,149,290); later, Javan rece

Albert Einstein Award in 1993. Basov and Javan proposed the semiconducto

diode concept. In 1962, Robert N. Hall demonstrated the first laser diodedev

made of gallium arsenide and emitted at 850 nm the near-infrared band of thespectrum. Later, in 1962, Nick Holonyak, Jr. demonstrated the first semicond

laser with a visible emission. This first semiconductor laser could only be us

pulsed-beam operation, and when cooled to liquid nitrogen temperatures (77

1970, Zhores Alferov, in the USSR, and Izuo Hayashi and Morton Panish of

Telephone Laboratories also independently developed room-temperature, con

operation diode lasers, using the heterojunction structure.

Recent innovations

Since the early period of laser history, laser research has produced a variety o

improved and specialized laser types, optimized for different performance go
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterojunctionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Telephone_Laboratorieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhores_Ivanovich_Alferovhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_nitrogenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Holonyakhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infraredhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallium_arsenidehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_N._Hallhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_diodehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein_Awardhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heliumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_laserhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_R._Herriott


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Graph showing the history of maxi

laser pulse intensity throughout the

years.

including:

new wavelength bandsmaximum average output power

maximum peak pulse energymaximum peak pulse powerminimum output pulse durationmaximum power efficiencyminimum cost

and this research continues to this day.

Lasing without maintaining the medium

excited into a population inversion was

discovered in 1992 in sodium gas and

again in 1995 in rubidium gas by various international teams.[citation needed]T
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubidiumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodiumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:History_of_laser_intensity.svg


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accomplished by using an external maser to induce "optical transparency" in

medium by introducing and destructively interfering the ground electron tran

between two paths, so that the likelihood for the ground electrons to absorb a

energy has been cancelled.

Types and operating principles

For a more complete list of laser types see this list of laser types.

Gas lasers

Main article: Gas laser

Following the invention of the HeNe gas laser, many other gas discharges ha

found to amplify light coherently. Gas lasers using many different gases have

l d d f
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Wavelengths of commercially available lasers. Laser types w

distinct laser lines are shown above the wavelength bar, while

are shown lasers that can emit in a wavelength range. The col

codifies the type of laser material (see the figure description f

details).

built and used for

many purposes.

The helium-neon

laser (HeNe) is

able to operate ata number of

different

wavelengths,

however the vast

majority are

engineered to laseat 633 nm; these

relatively low

cost but highly

coherent lasers

are extremely

i
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common in

optical research and educational laboratories. Commercial carbon dioxide (C

lasers can emit many hundreds of watts in a single spatial mode which can be

concentrated into a tiny spot. This emission is in the thermal infrared at 10.6

such lasers are regularly used in industry for cutting and welding. The efficieCO2laser is unusually high: over 10%. Argon-ion lasers can operate at a num

lasing transitions between 351 and 528.7 nm. Depending on the optical desig

more of these transitions can be lasing simultaneously; the most commonly u

are 458 nm, 488 nm and 514.5 nm. A nitrogen transverse electrical discharge

at atmospheric pressure (TEA) laser is an inexpensive gas laser, often home-

hobbyists, which produces rather incoherent UV light at 337.1 nm.[18]Metal

lasers are gas lasers that generate deep ultraviolet wavelengths. Helium-silve

224 nm and neon-copper (NeCu) 248 nm are two examples. Like all low-pre

lasers, the gain media of these lasers have quite narrow oscillation linewidths

than 3 GHz (0.5 picometers),[19]making them candidates for use in fluoresce

d R t
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser#cite_note-19http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picometershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GHzhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linewidthhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heliumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_ultraviolethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser#cite_note-18http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TEA_laserhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_laserhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide_laserhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raman_spectroscopy


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suppressed Raman spectroscopy.

Chemical lasers

Chemical lasers are powered by a chemical reaction permitting a large amouenergy to be released quickly. Such very high power lasers are especially of

to the military, however continuous wave chemical lasers at very high power

fed by streams of gasses, have been developed and have some industrial appl

As examples, in the Hydrogen fluoride laser (27002900 nm) and the Deuter

fluoride laser (3800 nm) the reaction is the combination of hydrogen or deute

gas with combustion products of ethylene in nitrogen trifluoride.

Excimer lasers

Excimer lasers are a special sort of gas laser powered by an electric discharg

hi h th l i di i i i l i l i i
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which the lasing medium is an excimer, or more precisely an exciplex in exis

designs. These are molecules which can only exist with one atom in an excite

electronic state. Once the molecule transfers its excitation energy to a photon

therefore, its atoms are no longer bound to each other and the molecule disin

This drastically reduces the population of the lower energy state thus greatlyfacilitating a population inversion. Excimers currently used are all noble gas

compounds; noble gasses are chemically inert and can only form compounds

an excited state. Excimer lasers typically operate at ultraviolet wavelengths w

major applicatons including semiconductor photolithography and LASIK eye

surgery. Commonly used excimer molecules include ArF (emission at 193 nm

(222 nm), KrF (248 nm), XeCl (308 nm), and XeF (351 nm).[20]The molecu

fluorine laser, emitting at 157 nm in the vacuum ultraviolet is sometimes refe

as an excimer laser, however this appears to be a misnomer inasmuch as F2i

compound.

S lid t t l
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser#cite_note-20http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LASIKhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photolithographyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraviolethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Noble_gas_compoundshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excited_statehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exciplexhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excimer


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A frequency-doubled green la

pointer, showing internal

construction. Two AAA cells

electronics power the laser m

(lower diagram) This contain

Solid-state lasers

Solid-state lasers use a crystalline or glass rod

which is "doped" with ions that provide the

required energy states. For example, the firstworking laser was a ruby laser, made from

ruby (chromium-doped corundum). The

population inversion is actually maintained in

the "dopant", such as chromium or

neodymium. These materials are pumped

optically using a shorter wavelength than the

lasing wavelength, often from a flashtube or

from another laser.

It should be noted that "solid-state" in this

sense refers to a crystal or glass, but this

powerful 808 nm IR diode lausage is distinct from the designation of
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neodymiumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromiumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_inversionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corundumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromiumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_laserhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_laserhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_pointerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Green-laser-pointer-dpss-diagrams.jpg


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powerful 808 nm IR diode la

optically pumps a Nd:YVO4

inside a laser cavity. That las

produces 1064 nm (infrared)

which is mainly confined insiresonator. Also inside the lase

however, is a non-linear KTP

which causes frequency doub

resulting in green light at 532

front mirror is transparent to

visible wavelength which is t

expanded and collimated usin

lenses (in this particular desig

usage is distinct from the designation of

"solid-state electronics" in referring to

semiconductors. Semiconductor lasers (laser

diodes) are pumped electrically and are thus

notreferred to as solid-state lasers. The classof solid-state lasers would, however, properly

include fiber lasers in which dopants in the

glass lase under optical pumping. But in

practice these are simply referred to as "fiber

lasers" with "solid-state" reserved for lasers

using a solid rod of such a material.

Neodymium is a common "dopant" in various

solid-state laser crystals, including yttrium

orthovanadate (Nd:YVO4), yttrium lithium

fluoride (Nd:YLF) and yttrium aluminium garnet (Nd:YAG). All these lasers

produce high powers in the infrared spectrum at 1064 nm They are used for
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nd:YAGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yttrium_aluminium_garnethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nd:YLFhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yttrium_lithium_fluoridehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neodymium-doped_yttrium_orthovanadatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yttrium_orthovanadatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neodymiumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiber_laserhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiber_laserhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared


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produce high powers in the infrared spectrum at 1064 nm. They are used for

welding and marking of metals and other materials, and also in spectroscopy

pumping dye lasers.

These lasers are also commonly frequency doubled, tripled or quadrupled, incalled "diode pumped solid state" or DPSS lasers. Under second, third, or fou

harmonic generation these produce 532 nm (green, visible), 355 nm and 266

(UV) beams. This is the technology behind the bright laser pointers particula

green (532 nm) and other short visible wavelengths.

Ytterbium, holmium, thulium, and erbium are other common "dopants" in solasers. Ytterbium is used in crystals such as Yb:YAG, Yb:KGW, Yb:KYW,

Yb:BOYS, Yb:CaF2, typically operating around 10201050 nm. They are po

very efficient and high powered due to a small quantum defect. Extremely hi

powers in ultrashort pulses can be achieved with Yb:YAG. Holmium-doped

crystals emit at 2097 nm and form an efficient laser operating at infrared wav

strongly absorbed by water bearing tissues The Ho YAG is usually operated
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strongly absorbed by water-bearing tissues. The Ho-YAG is usually operated

pulsed mode, and passed through optical fiber surgical devices to resurface jo

remove rot from teeth, vaporize cancers, and pulverize kidney and gall stone

Titanium-doped sapphire (Ti:sapphire) produces a highly tunable infrared lascommonly used for spectroscopy. It is also notable for use as a mode-locked

producing ultrashort pulses of extremely high peak power.

Thermal limitations in solid-state lasers arise from unconverted pump power

manifests itself as heat. This heat, when coupled with a high thermo-optic co

(dn/dT) can give rise to thermal lensing as well as reduced quantum efficienctypes of issues can be overcome by another novel diode-pumped solid-state l

diode-pumped thin disk laser. The thermal limitations in this laser type are m

by using a laser medium geometry in which the thickness is much smaller th

diameter of the pump beam. This allows for a more even thermal gradient in

material. Thin disk lasers have been shown to produce up to kilowatt levels o

[21]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_laserhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_laserhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultrashort_pulsehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectroscopyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infraredhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunable_laserhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ti-sapphire_laserhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapphirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titaniumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser#cite_note-21


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power.[21]

Fiber lasers

Main article: Fiber laser

Solid-state lasers or laser amplifiers where the light is guided due to the total

reflection in a single mode optical fiber are instead called fiber lasers. Guidin

light allows extremely long gain regions providing good cooling conditions;

have high surface area to volume ratio which allows efficient cooling. In add

fiber's waveguiding properties tend to reduce thermal distortion of the beam.and ytterbium ions are common active species in such lasers.

Quite often, the fiber laser is designed as a double-clad fiber. This type of fib

consists of a fiber core, an inner cladding and an outer cladding. The index o

three concentric layers is chosen so that the fiber core acts as a single-mode f

the laser emission while the outer cladding acts as a highly multimode core f
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-clad_fiberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ytterbiumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiber_laserhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_fiberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_internal_reflectionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiber_laserhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser#cite_note-21


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the laser emission while the outer cladding acts as a highly multimode core f

pump laser. This lets the pump propagate a large amount of power into and t

the active inner core region, while still having a high numerical aperture (NA

have easy launching conditions.

Pump light can be used more efficiently by creating a fiber disk laser, or a st

such lasers.

Fiber lasers have a fundamental limit in that the intensity of the light in the fi

cannot be so high that optical nonlinearities induced by the local electric fiel

strength can become dominant and prevent laser operation and/or lead to thedestruction of the fiber. This effect is called photodarkening. In bulk laser ma

the cooling is not so efficient, and it is difficult to separate the effects of

photodarkening from the thermal effects, but the experiments in fibers show

photodarkening can be attributed to the formation of long-living color

centers.[citation needed]
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medium power laser diodes are used in laser
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A 5.6 mm 'closed can' comme

laser diode, probably from a C

DVD player

medium power laser diodes are used in laser

pointers, laser printers and CD/DVD players.

Laser diodes are also frequently used to

optically pump other lasers with high

efficiency. The highest power industrial laserdiodes, with power up to 10 kW

(70dBm)[citation needed], are used in industry

for cutting and welding. External-cavity

semiconductor lasers have a semiconductor

active medium in a larger cavity. These

devices can generate high power outputs withgood beam quality, wavelength-tunable

narrow-linewidth radiation, or ultrashort laser pulses.

Vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) are semiconductor lasers w

emission direction is perpendicular to the surface of the wafer. VCSEL devic

typically have a more circular output beam than conventional laser diodes, an
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VCSELhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linewidthhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_pumpinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_printerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_pointerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_playerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD_playerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Diode_laser.jpg


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yp y o o p o o o ,

potentially could be much cheaper to manufacture. As of 2005, only 850 nm

are widely available, with 1300 nm VCSELs beginning to be commercialize

1550 nm devices an area of research. VECSELs are external-cavity VCSELs

Quantum cascade lasers are semiconductor lasers that have an active transitiobetween energy sub-bandsof an electron in a structure containing several qu

wells.

The development of a silicon laser is important in the field of optical comput

Silicon is the material of choice for integrated circuits, and so electronic and

photonic components (such as optical interconnects) could be fabricated on tchip. Unfortunately, silicon is a difficult lasing material to deal with, since it

certain properties which block lasing. However, recently teams have produce

lasers through methods such as fabricating the lasing material from silicon an

semiconductor materials, such as indium(III) phosphide or gallium(III) arsen

materials which allow coherent light to be produced from silicon. These are c

hybrid silicon laser. Another type is a Raman laser, which takes advantage o
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallium(III)_arsenidehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indium(III)_phosphidehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_interconnecthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_photonichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_circuitshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_computinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siliconhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_wellhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_cascade_laserhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VECSELhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raman_scatteringhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raman_laserhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_silicon_laser


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y yp , g

scattering to produce a laser from materials such as silicon.

Dye lasers

Dye lasers use an organic dye as the gain medium. The wide gain spectrum o

available dyes, or mixtures of dyes, allows these lasers to be highly tunable,

produce very short-duration pulses (on the order of a few femtoseconds). Alt

these tunable lasers are mainly known in their liquid form, researchers have a

demonstrated narrow-linewidth tunable emission in dispersive oscillator

configurations incorporating solid-state dye gain media.[24]In their most pre

form these solid state dye lasers use dye-doped polymers as laser media.

Free electron lasers

Free electron lasers, or FELs, generate coherent, high power radiation, that is
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, , g , g p ,

tunable, currently ranging in wavelength from microwaves, through terahertz

radiation and infrared, to the visible spectrum, to soft X-rays. They have the

frequency range of any laser type. While FEL beams share the same optical t

other lasers, such as coherent radiation, FEL operation is quite different. Unlliquid, or solid-state lasers, which rely on bound atomic or molecular states,

a relativistic electron beam as the lasing medium, hence the termfree electro

Bio laser

Living cells can be genetically engineered to produce Green fluorescent prot(GFP). The GFP is used as the laser's "gain medium", where light amplificati

place. The cells are then placed between two tiny mirrors, just 20 millionths

metre across, which acted as the "laser cavity" in which light could bounce m

times through the cell. Upon bathing the cell with blue light, it could be seen

directed and intense green laser light.[25][26]
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directed and intense green laser light.

Exotic laser media

In September 2007, the BBC News reported that there was speculation aboutpossibility of using positronium annihilation to drive a very powerful gamma

laser.[27]Dr. David Cassidy of the University of California, Riverside propos

single such laser could be used to ignite a nuclear fusion reaction, replacing t

of hundreds of lasers currently employed in inertial confinement fusion

experiments.[27]

Space-based X-ray lasers pumped by a nuclear explosion have also been pro

antimissile weapons.[28][29]Such devices would be one-shot weapons.

Uses
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Main article: List of applications for lasers

When lasers were invented in 1960, they were called "a solution looking for

problem".[30]

Since then, they have become ubiquitous, finding utility in thohighly varied applications in every section of modern society, including cons

electronics, information technology, science, medicine, industry, law enforce

entertainment, and the military.

The first use of lasers in the daily lives of the general population was the sup

barcode scanner, introduced in 1974. The laserdisc player, introduced in 197the first successful consumer product to include a laser but the compact disc

was the first laser-equipped device to become common, beginning in 1982 fo

shortly by laser printers.

Some other uses are:

Medicine: Bloodless surgery, laser
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healing, surgical treatment, kidneystone treatment, eye treatment, dentistryIndustry: Cutting, welding, materialheat treatment, marking parts, non-contact measurement of partsMilitary: Marking targets, guidingmunitions, missile defence, electro-optical countermeasures (EOCM),alternative to radar, blinding troops.

Law enforcement: used for latentfingerprint detection in the forensic

identification field[31][32]

Research: Spectroscopy, laser ablation,laser annealing, laser scattering, laserinterferometry, LIDAR, laser capture

Lasers range in size from micmicrodissection, fluorescence
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g

diode lasers (top) with numer

applications, to football field

neodymium glass lasers (bott

for inertial confinement fusionuclear weapons research and

high energy density physics

experiments.

microscopyProduct development/commercial: laserprinters, optical discs (e.g. CDs and thelike), barcode scanners, thermometers,laser pointers, holograms, bubblegrams.Laser lighting displays: Laser lightshowsCosmetic skin treatments: acnetreatment, cellulite and striae reduction,and hair removal.

In 2004, excluding diode lasers, approximately 131,000 lasers were sold with

of US$2.19 billion.[33]In the same year, approximately 733 million diode las

valued at $3.20 billion, were sold.[34]

Examples by power
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p y p

Different applications need lasers with different output powers. Lasers that p

continuous beam or a series of short pulses can be compared on the basis of t

average power. Lasers that produce pulses can also be characterized based oneakpower of each pulse. The peak power of a pulsed laser is many orders o

magnitude greater than its average power. The average output power is alwa

than the power consumed.

The continuous or average power required for some uses:

Power Use

15 mW Laser pointers

5 mW CD-ROM drive

510 mW DVD player or DVD-ROM drive

- -

250 mW Consumer 16" DVD R burner
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Laser application in

astronomical adaptiv

250 mW Consumer 16"DVD-R burner

400 mWBurning through a jewel case including disk within 4 seconds

DVD 24"dual-layer recording.[36]

1 WGreen laser in current Holographic Versatile Disc prototypedevelopment

120 WOutput of the majority of commercially available solid-state laused for micro machining

30100 W Typical sealed CO2surgical lasers[37]

1003000 W Typical sealed CO2lasers used in industrial laser cutting

100 kW Claimed output of a CO2laser being developed by Northrop

Grumman for militar (wea on) a lications

imagingExamples of pulsed systems with high peak power:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grummanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_cuttinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser#cite_note-37http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micromachineryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holographic_Versatile_Dischttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser#cite_note-36http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewel_casehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD-Rhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptive_opticshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lying_down_on_the_VLT_platform.jpg


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700 TW (700"1012W) National IgnitionFacility, a 192-beam, 1.8-megajoule laser system adjoining a 10-meter

diameter target chamber.[38]

1.3 PW (1.3"1015W) world's most powerful laser as of 1998, locate

Lawrence Livermore Laboratory[39]

Hobby uses

In recent years, some hobbyists have taken interests in lasers. Lasers used byhobbyists are generally of class IIIa or IIIb (see Safety), although some have

their own class IV types.[40]However, compared to other hobbyists, laser ho

are far less common, due to the cost and potential dangers involved. Due to t

of lasers, some hobbyists use inexpensive means to obtain lasers, such as salv

laser diodes from broken DVD players (red), Blu-ray players (violet), or even[41]
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power laser diodes from CD or DVD burners.[41]

Hobbyists also have been taking surplus pulsed lasers from retired military

applications and modifying them for pulsed holography. Pulsed Ruby and puYAG lasers have been used.

Safety

Main article: Laser safety

Even the first laser was recognized as being potentially dangerous. Theodore

characterized the first laser as having a power of one "Gillette" as it could bu

through one Gillette razor blade. Today, it is accepted that even low-power la

with only a few milliwatts of output power can be hazardous to human eyesi

when the beam from such a laser hits the eye

di tl ft fl ti f hi f
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Warning symbol for laser

directly or after reflection from a shiny surface.

At wavelengths which the cornea and the lens

can focus well, the coherence and low

divergence of laser light means that it can befocused by the eye into an extremely small spot

on the retina, resulting in localized burning and

permanent damage in seconds or even less time.

Lasers are usually labeled with a safety class

number, which identifies how dangerous thelaser is:

Class 1 is inherently safe, usually because the light is contained in anenclosure, for example in CD players.Class 2 is safe during normal use; the blink reflex of the eye will preve

damage. Usually up to 1 mW power, forexample laser pointers
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Laser warning label

example laser pointers.Class 3R (formerly IIIa) lasers are usuallyup to 5 mW and involve a small risk of eyedamage within the time of the blink reflex.Staring into such a beam for severalseconds is likely to cause damage to a spoton the retina.Class 3B can cause immediate eye damageupon exposure.Class 4 lasers can burn skin, and in somecases, even scattered light can cause eyeand/or skin damage. Many industrial andscientific lasers are in this class.

The indicated powers are for visible-light, continuous-wave lasers. For pulse

and invisible wavelengths, other power limits apply. People working with cla

and class 4 lasers can protect their eyes with safety goggles which are design

b b li ht f ti l l th
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Laser_label_2.jpg


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absorb light of a particular wavelength.

Infrared lasers with wavelengths beyond about 1.4 micrometres are often ref

as "eye-safe", because the cornea strongly absorbs light at these wavelengths

protecting the retina from damage. The label "eye-safe" can be misleading, h

as it only applies to relatively low power continuous wave beams; a high pow

switched laser at these wavelengths can burn the cornea, causing severe eye

and even moderate power lasers can injure the eye.

As weapons

Lasers of all but the lowest powers can potentially be used as incapacitating

through their ability to produce temporary or permanent vision loss in varyin

degrees when aimed at the eyes. The degree, character, and duration of vision

impairment caused by eye exposure to laser light varies with the power of the

the wavelength(s) the collimation of the beam the exact orientation of the b
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q-switched


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the wavelength(s), the collimation of the beam, the exact orientation of the b

the duration of exposure. Lasers of even a fraction of a watt in power can pro

immediate, permanent vision loss under certain conditions, making such lase

potential non-lethal but incapacitating weapons. The extreme handicap that linduced blindness represents makes the use of lasers even as non-lethal weap

morally controversial, and weapons designed to cause blindness have been b

the Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons. Incidents of pilots being exposed to

while flying have prompted aviation authorities to implement special procedu

deal with such hazards.[42]

Laser weapons capable of directly damaging or destroying a target in comba

in the experimental stage. The general idea of laser-beam weaponry is to hit

with a train of brief pulses of light. The rapid evaporation and expansion of t

surface causes shockwaves that damage the target.[citation needed]The power n

to project a high-powered laser beam of this kind is beyond the limit of curre

mobile power technology thus favoring chemically powered gas dynamic la
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mobile power technology, thus favoring chemically powered gas dynamic la

Example experimental systems include MIRACL and the Tactical High Ener

Laser.

The U.S. Air Force is working on the Boeing YAL-1, an airborne laser moun

Boeing 747. It is intended to be used to shoot down incoming ballistic missil

enemy territory. On March 18, 2009 Northrop Grumman claimed that its eng

Redondo Beach had successfully built and tested an electrically powered soli

laser capable of producing a 100-kilowatt beam, powerful enough to destroy

airplane. According to Brian Strickland, manager for the United States ArmyHigh Power Solid State Laser program, an electrically powered laser is capab

being mounted in an aircraft, ship, or other vehicle because it requires much

space for its supporting equipment than a chemical laser.[43]However the so

such a large electrical power in a mobile application remains unclear.

Fictional predictions
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See also: Raygun

Several novelists described devices similar to lasers, prior to the discovery ofstimulated emission:

A very early example is the Heat-Ray featured in H. G. Wells' novel T

of the Worlds(1898).[44]

A laser-like device was described in Alexey Tolstoy's science fiction n

Hyperboloid of Engineer Garinin 1927.Mikhail Bulgakov exaggerated the biological effect (laser bio stimulatintense red light in his science fiction novel Fatal Eggs(1925), withoureasonable description of the source of this red light. (In that novel, thelight first appears occasionally from the illuminating system of an advmicroscope; then the protagonist Prof. Persikov arranges a special set-

generation of the red light.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatal_Eggshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Bulgakovhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hyperboloid_of_Engineer_Garinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexey_Tolstoyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser#cite_note-Van_Riper_46-44http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds_(novel)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._G._Wellshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat-Rayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stimulated_emissionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raygun


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See also

Bessel beamCoherent perfectabsorberdazzler (weapon)Free-space optical

communicationHomogeneousbroadeningInduced gammaemissionInjection seeder

Laser beamprofilerLaser bondingLaser convertingLaser cooling

Laser engravingLaser medicineLaser scalpel3D scannerLaser turntableLaser beam

List of laserarticlesList of lightsourcesMercury lase

NanolaserReference beRytov numbeSoundAmplificationStimulated

International LaserDisplay

welding Emission ofRadiation SA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_Amplification_by_Stimulated_Emission_of_Radiationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rytov_numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reference_beamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanolaserhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_laserhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_light_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_laser_articleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_beam_weldinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_turntablehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_scannerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_scalpelhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_medicinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_engravinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_coolinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_convertinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_bondinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_beam_profilerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Injection_seederhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induced_gamma_emissionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homogeneous_broadeninghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free-space_optical_communicationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dazzler_(weapon)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coherent_perfect_absorberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessel_beamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_Amplification_by_Stimulated_Emission_of_Radiationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_beam_weldinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Laser_Display_Association


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DisplayAssociationLaseraccelerometer

Lasers andaviation safety

Radiation SASelective lasesinteringSpaser

Speckle patteTophat beam

References

Notes

1. ^ abGould, R. Gordon (1959). "The LASER, Light Amplification by Stimul

Documents

Laser - Wikipedia 3x5 L - Benjamin Riegel