Gas laser

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

A gas laser is a

William R. Bennett, Jr., in 1960. It produced a coherent light beam in the infrared region of the spectrum at 1.15 micrometres.[1]

A helium-neon laser is a well-known type of gas laser

Types of gas laser

A gas laser cycles molecules from a low to a high energy state to create a laser beam, this is opposed to lasers that cycle an electron inside an atom.
A gas laser cycles molecules from a low to a high energy state to create a laser beam, this is opposed to lasers that cycle an electron inside an atom.

Gas lasers using many gases have been built and used for many purposes.

µm
and 10.6 µm, and are often used in industry for cutting and welding. The efficiency of a CO2 laser is over 10%.

Carbon monoxide or "CO" lasers have the potential for very large outputs, but the use of this type of laser is limited by the toxicity of carbon monoxide gas. Human operators must be protected from this deadly gas. Furthermore, it is extremely corrosive to many materials including seals, gaskets, etc.

Helium–neon (HeNe) lasers can be made to oscillate at over 160 different wavelengths by adjusting the cavity Q to peak at the desired wavelength. This can be done by adjusting the spectral response of the mirrors or by using a dispersive element (Littrow prism) in the cavity. Units operating at 633 nm are very common in schools and laboratories because of their low cost and near-perfect beam qualities.

Nitrogen lasers operate in the ultraviolet range, typically 337.1 nm, using molecular nitrogen as its gain medium, pumped by an electrical discharge.

TEA lasers are energized by a high voltage electrical discharge in a gas mixture generally at or above atmospheric pressure. The acronym "TEA" stands for Transversely Excited Atmospheric.

Chemical lasers

Main article: Chemical laser

deuterium fluoride laser (3.8 µm) the reaction is the combination of hydrogen or deuterium gas with combustion products of ethylene in nitrogen trifluoride. They were invented by George C. Pimentel
.

Chemical lasers are powered by a chemical reaction permitting a large amount of energy to be released quickly. Such very high power lasers are especially of interest to the military. Further, continuous-wave chemical lasers at very high power levels, fed by streams of gasses, have been developed and have some industrial applications.

Excimer lasers

Main article: Excimer laser

Excimer lasers are powered by a chemical reaction involving an excited dimer, or excimer, which is a short-lived dimeric or heterodimeric molecule formed from two species (atoms), at least one of which is in an excited electronic state. They typically produce ultraviolet light, and are used in semiconductor photolithography and in LASIK eye surgery. Commonly used excimer molecules include F2 (fluorine, emitting at 157 nm), and noble gas compounds (ArF [193 nm], KrCl [222 nm], KrF [248 nm], XeCl [308 nm], and XeF [351 nm]).[3]

Ion lasers

Main article: Ion laser

Argon-ion lasers emit light in the range 351–528.7 nm. Depending on the optics and the laser tube a different number of lines is usable but the most commonly used lines are 458 nm, 488 nm and 514.5 nm.

Metal-vapor lasers

Metal-vapor lasers are gas lasers that typically generate

femtometers),[4]
making them candidates for use in fluorescence suppressed Raman spectroscopy.

The Copper vapor laser, with two spectral lines of green (510.6 nm) and yellow (578.2 nm), is the most powerful laser with the highest efficiency in the visible spectrum.[5]

Advantages

  • High volume of active material
  • Active material is relatively inexpensive
  • Almost impossible to damage the active material
  • Heat can be removed quickly from the cavity

Applications

  • He-Ne laser is mainly used in making holograms.
  • In laser printing He-Ne laser is used as a source for writing on the photosensitive material.
  • He-Ne lasers were used in reading Bar Codes, which are imprinted on products in stores. They have been largely replaced by
    laser diodes
    .
  • Nitrogen lasers and excimer laser are used in pulsed dye laser pumping.[6]
  • Ion lasers, mostly argon, are used in CW dye laser pumping.[6]

See also

References

  1. ISBN 9781483158792
    .
  2. ^ "Air Force Research Lab's high power CO2 laser". Defense Tech Briefs. Archived from the original on 2007-06-07.
  3. ISBN 0-412-81910-4
    .
  4. ^ "Deep UV Lasers" (PDF). Photon Systems, Covina, Calif. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-07-01. Retrieved 2007-05-27.
  5. ISBN 9781420018806
    .
  6. ^
    ISBN 0-12-222696-8
    .
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