LASERS

- Well these are the notes I have compiled from

somewhere on the internet.

- These contain a very in-depth expalanation on
every aspect of LASERS which you may not
require at times. So skip that.


- What I would suggest is before starting
anything from these set of notes first have a
look at the entire material by scrolling leisurely
and then decide wht topics you have and what
arent of concern.

- This document has stuff which you guys dont
have at all!! So do not get dejected just by
looking at the huge chunk of pages.


- Wish you all the best for your Quiz.
Take care.

HISTORY OF LASERS
LASER is the acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.
Albert Einstein first explained the theory of stimulated emission in 1917, which became the basis of
Laser. He postulated that, when the population inversion exists between upper and lower levels
among atomic systems, it is possible to realize amplified stimulated emission and the stimulated
emission has the same frequency and phase as the incident radiation. However, it was in late 1940s
and fifties that scientists and engineers did extensive work to realize a practical device based on
the principle of stimulated emission. Notable scientists who pioneered the work include Charles
Townes, Joseph Weber, Alexander Prokhorov and Nikolai G Basov.
Initially, the scientists and engineers were working towards the realization of a MASER (Microwave
Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation), a device that amplified microwaves for its
immediate application in microwave communication systems. Townes and the other engineers
believed it to be possible create an optical maser, a device for creating powerful beams of light
using higher frequency energy to stimulate what was to become termed the lasing medium. Despite
the pioneering work of Townes and Prokhorov it was left to Theodore Maiman in 1960 to invent the
first Laser using ruby as a lasing medium that was stimulated using high energy flashes of intense
light.
The development of Lasers has been a turning point in the history of science and engineering. It has
produced a completely new type of systems with potentials for applications in a wide variety of
fields. During sixties, lot of work had been carried out on the basic development of almost all the
major lasers including high power gas dynamic and chemical lasers. Almost all the practical
applications of these lasers in defense as well as in industry were also identified during this period.
The motivation of using the high power lasers in strategic scenario was a great driving force for the
rapid development of these high power lasers. In early seventies, megawatt class carbon dioxide
gas dynamic laser was successfully developed and tested against typical military targets. The
development of chemical lasers, free electron and X-ray lasers took slightly longer time because of
involvement of multidisciplinary approach.

The major steps of advances or breakthroughs in Laser research are given below:
Dates, Contributors and events
1917: Einstein, A. - Concept and theory of stimulated light emission
1948: Gabor, D. - Invention of holography
1951: Charles H Townes, Alexander Prokhorov, Nikolai G Basov, Joseph Weber - The invention
of the MASER (Microwave Amplification of Stimulated Emission of Radiation) at Columbia University,
Lebedev Laboratories, Moscow and University of Maryland.
1956: Bloembergen, N. - Solid-state maser- [Proposal for a new type of solid state maser] at
Harvard University.
1958: Schawlow, A.L. and Townes, C.H. - Proposed the realization of masers for light and infrared
at Columbia University .
1960: Maiman, T.H. - Realization of first working LASER based on Ruby at Hughes Research
Laboratories.
1961: Javan, A., Bennet, W.R. and Herriot, D.R. - First gas laser : Helium- Neon (He-Ne laser) at
Bell Laboratories.
1961: Fox, A.G., Li, T. - Theory of optical resonators at Bell Laboratories.
1962: Hall,R. - First Semiconductor laser (Gallium-Arsenide laser) at General Electric Labs.
1962: McClung,F.J and Hellwarth, R.W. - Giant pulse generation / Q-Switching.
1962: Johnson, L.F., Boyd, G.D., Nassau, K and Sodden, R.R. - Continuous wave solid-state laser.
1964: Geusic, J.E., Markos, H.M., Van Uiteit, L.G. - Development of first working Nd:YAG LASER
at Bell Labs.
1964: Patel, C.K.N. - Development of CO2 LASER at Bell Labs.
1964: Bridges, W. - Development of Argon Ion LASER a Hughes Labs.
1965: Pimentel, G. and Kasper, J. V. V. - First chemical LASER at University of California, Berkley.
1965: Bloembergen, N. - Wave propagation in nonlinear media.
1966: Silfvast, W., Fowles, G. and Hopkins - First metal vapor LASER - Zn/Cd - at University of
Utah.
1966: Walter, W.T., Solomon, N., Piltch, M and Gould, G. - Metal vapor laser.
1966: Sorokin, P. and Lankard, J. - Demonstration of first Dye Laser action at IBM Labs.
1966: AVCO Research Laboratory, USA. - First Gas Dynamic Laser based on CO
2

1970: Nikolai Basov's Group - First Excimer LASER at Lebedev Labs, Moscow based on Xenon (Xe)
only.
1974: Ewing, J.J. and Brau, C. - First rare gas halide excimer at Avco Everet Labs.
1977: John M J Madey's Group - First free electron laser at Stanford University.
1977: McDermott, W.E., Pehelkin, N.R,. Benard, D.J and Bousek, R.R. - Chemical Oxygen Iodine
Laser (COIL).
1980: Geoffrey Pert's Group - First report of X-ray lasing action, Hull University, UK.
1984: Dennis Matthew's Group - First reported demonstration of a "laboratory" X-ray laser from
Lawrence Livermore Labs.
1999: Herbelin,J.M., Henshaw, T.L., Rafferty, B.D., Anderson, B.T., Tate, R.F., Madden, T.J.,
Mankey II, G.C and Hager, G.D. - All Gas-Phase Chemical Iodine Laser (AGIL).
2001: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory - Solid State Heat Capacity Laser (SSHCL).


PROPERTIES OF LASERS
LASERS: BASIC CHARACTERISTICS
Laser has certain unique properties, namely, high monochromaticity, coherence and directionality,
compared to ordinary sources of light, though both are electromagnetic radiations. These
properties are briefly discussed in the following sections.

Monochromaticity

The energy of a photon determines its wavelength through the relationship E = hc/, where c is the
speed of light, h is Planck's constant, and is wavelength. In an ideal case, the laser emits all
photons with the same energy, and thus the same wavelength, it is said to be monochromatic. The
light from a laser typically comes from one atomic transition with a single precise wavelength. So
the laser light has a single spectral color and is almost the purest monochromatic light available.

However, in all practical cases, the laser light is not truly monochromatic. A truly monochromatic
wave requires a wave train of infinite duration. The spectral emission line from which it
originates does have a finite width, because of the Doppler effect of the moving atoms or
molecules from which it comes. Compared to the ordinary sources of light, the range of frequency
(line width) of the laser is extremely small. This range is called line width or bandwidth.

Why the laser light is monochromatic? Following are the factors responsible for making the
laser beam monochromatic:

Laser light consists of essentially one wavelength, having its origin in
stimulated emission from one set of atomic energy levels. This is
possible because laser transition, in principle, involves well-defined
energy levels.

EM wave of frequency v = (E
2
- E
1
) only can be amplified, v has a
certain range which is called line width. This line width is decided by
various broadening factors such as Doppler effect of moving atoms
and molecules.

The generation of laser is such that the laser cavity forms a resonant
system and laser oscillation is sustained only at the resonant
frequencies of the cavity. This leads to the further narrowing of the
laser line width. So laser light is usually very pure in wavelength, we
say it has the property of monochromatic.
The lasers, in general, generate light in a very narrow band around a single, central wavelength.
The degree of monochromoticity can be quantitatively described in terms of wavelength bandwidth
or frequency bandwidth. The narrower is the line width, higher degree of the monochromocity of
the laser has. However this depends on the type of laser, and special techniques can be used to
improve monochromaticity. Typically, the frequency bandwidth of a commercial He-Ne laser is
about 1500MHz (full width at half-maximum, FWHM). In terms of wavelength, it means that at a
wavelength of 632.8nm this means a wavelength bandwidth of about 0.01nm. On the other hand,
the bandwidth of a typically diode laser with a wavelength of 900nm is about 1nm as compared to
LED, which has a bandwidth of approximately 30 - 60 nm.

Monochromatic output, or high frequency stability, is of great importance for lasers being used in
interferometric measurements since the wavelength is the measure of length and distance and
must be known with extreme precision, at least one part in a million, and it must remain constant
with time. The same holds true for lasers used in chemical and many other scientific analytical
applications. Both these techniques are important in quality control and inspection. For these
applications, frequency stabilized 632.8 nm HeNe laser (a frequency of approximately 473 THz)
with a 1 MHz bandwidth are commercially available.

Another important laser: the Nd:YAG laser used in most laser designators, generates an output
beam at 1.064 microns, with a typical bandwidth of 0.00045 microns, an amazingly narrow line
width of 0.04 percent of the central wavelength. This spectrally pure output is critical for a
multitude of applications, including remote sensing for specific chemical constituents and high
signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) communications.

This property of monochromoticity has excellent applications in high-resolution spectroscopy to
observe specific transitions in a molecule. A practical application is the separation of isotopes in
the nuclear industry where the fissionable isotope of Uranium, 235U, is separated from the non-
fissionable one 238U by exploiting the minute difference in their energy levels.

Coherence

When an excited atom, depending on its lifetime at the higher energy level, comes down to lower
energy level, a photon is emitted, corresponding to the equation,
hv = E
2
- E
1
,
where h is the Planks constant, v is the frequency of the emitted photon and E
2
and E
1
correspond
to higher and lower energy levels respectively. This type of natural emission occurs in different
directions and is called spontaneous emissions. It is characterized by the lifetime of the upper
excited state after which it spontaneously returns to lower state and radiates away the energy by
emission. Interestingly, apart from spontaneous emission, an excited atom can be induced to emit a
photon by another photon of same frequency - i.e. a passing photon can stimulate a transition from
a higher level to the lower level, thus resulting in the emission of two photons, which is gain. The
two emitted photons are said to be in phase, which means that the crest or the trough of the wave
associated with one photon will occur at the same time as on the wave associated with the other
photon. An avalanche of similar photons is created and these photons have a fixed phase
relationship with each other. This fixed phase relationship between the photons from various atoms
in the active medium results in the laser beam generated having the property of coherence. Since
the radiation emitted is by the stimulation process, it is referred to as the stimulated emission and
the generation of laser is by stimulated emission.

In the case of spontaneous emission, the emission is natural where as in the case of stimulated
emission, it is induced or stimulated. Further there is no amplification in the case of spontaneous
emission as well as no phase relationship between emitted photons, as it happens in the case of
stimulated emission. But one has to remember that under normal conditions, there is far more
atoms in the lower level than in the upper level and as such absorption dominates stimulated
emission. In order to reverse this trend, there must be much more atoms in the upper level than in
the lower level. This specific condition is called population inversion and is essential for stimulated
emission to be in a predominant position for generation of laser. In the case of laser, the
stimulated emission process is responsible for the emission of photons and amplification. Since the
emitted photons have a definite phase relationship with each other, coherent output is produced.
i.e. the atoms emit photons in phase with the incoming stimulating photons and emitted waves
adds to the incoming waves, generating brighter output. Addition is due to the relative phase
relationship. Photons of ordinary light also come from atoms without any phase relationship with
each other and are not coherent. Therefore, laser is called a coherent light source where as an
ordinary light is called an incoherent light source.

To sum up, the two conditions necessary for laser action are population inversion and stimulated
emission. Inside a laser, the stimulated emission occurs in a resonant cavity with mirrors at both
ends. Thus by repeating this process of interaction of photon with excited atoms many times, one
can produce a highly coherent beam of light. Since a common stimulus triggers the emission events,
which provide the amplified light, the emitted photons are "in step" and have a definite phase
relation to each other. These emitted photons having a definite phase relation to each other,
generates coherent output, i.e. the atoms emit photons in phase with the incoming stimulating
photons and emitted waves add to the incoming waves, generating brighter output. Addition is due
to the relative phase relationship. Photons of ordinary light also come from atoms, but independent
of each other and without any phase relationship with each other and are not coherent. Therefore,
laser is called a coherent light source where as an ordinary light is called an incoherent source of
light. The concept of coherence can be well understood from the following figure.

(a) (b)
Figure (a) depicts a typical beam of light waves from an ordinary source traveling through space.
One can see that these waves do not have any fixed relationship with each other. This light is said
to be "incoherent", meaning that the light beam has no internal order. Figure (b), on the other
hand, illustrates the light waves within a highly collimated laser beam. All of these individual waves
are in step, or "in phase", with one another at every point. "Coherence" is the term used to describe
such a property of laser light.

There are two types of coherence - spatial and temporal

Correlation between the waves at one place at different times, or along the path of a beam at a
single instant, are effectively the same thing, and are called "temporal coherence". Correlation
between different places (but not along the path) is called "spatial coherence".

To understand coherence, let us take two points on a wave front, at time equal to zero. There will
be a certain phase difference between these two points and if it remains same even after lapse of a
period of time, then the electromagnetic wave (em) has perfect coherence between the two
points. In case, the phase difference remains same for any two points anywhere on the wave front,
then we say that the electromagnetic wave has perfect spatial coherence, where as if this is true
only for a specific area, then the electromagnetic wave is said to have only partial spatial
coherence. Spatial coherence is related to directionality and uniphase wave fronts.

Now let us consider a single point on the wave front. There will be a phase difference between
time, t = 0 and t = o t of the electromagnetic wave. If this phase difference remains same for any
value of o t, then we say that the em wave has perfect temporal coherence. But if this is only for a
specific value of o t, then the em wave has partial temporal coherence.

It may be understood that these two types of coherence are independent of each other. i.e. an
em wave with partial temporal coherence can have perfect spatial coherence.

Some important points:

Coherence is a property of waves that indicates the ability of the
waves to interfere with each other. Two waves that are coherent can
be combined to produce an unmoving distribution of constructive and
destructive interference (a visible interference pattern) depending on
the relative phase of the waves at their meeting point. Waves that
areincoherent, when combined, produce rapidly moving areas of
constructive and destructive interference and therefore do not
produce a visible interference pattern.

Another way of saying the same thing is that coherence is a measure
of the ability of a light source to produce high contrast interference
fringes when the light is interfered with itself in an interferometer.
High coherence means high fringe visibility with excellent contrast,
(i.e., good black and white fringes, or black and whatever color the
light is); low coherence means washed-out fringes, and zero
coherence means no fringes.

One of the ways of understanding coherence is to predict
it. Suppose one can take a snapshot of the waves, and then take
another snapshot at a later time. If the two snapshots look almost
identical, even with a long time interval, then we have a high degree
of coherence.

A wave can also be coherent with itself, a property known
as temporal coherence. If a wave is combined with a delayed copy of
itself, the duration of the delay over which it produces visible
interference is known as the coherence time of the wave, t
c
. From
this, acorresponding coherence length l
c
, can be estimated as :
l
c
= t
c

where c is the speed of the light wave.

Coherence time (t
c
) relates to the finite bandwidth of the source and
in general, it is proportional to the bandwidth
t
c
1/v
where v is the frequency bandwidth. The temporal coherence
comes from the monochromaticity of the laser beam. The narrower
the line width or v of the light source, the better is its temporal
coherence.

If the laser supports the oscillation of multiple longitudinal modes but
no higher-order transverse modes, it means that the laser output has
finite temporal coherence but perfect spatial coherence. The
longitudinal modes in a laser are equally spaced in frequency by c/2L
where c is the velocity of light and L is the effective length of the
laser resonator. The number of longitudinal modes determines the
coherence length of the laser. The relation between the coherence
length l
c
, the longitudinal mode spacing c/2L and the number of
modes N (N>!) is
N = [c/2 l
c
] / c/2 L = L/ l
c


Small coherence lengths are obtained with lasers, which support
oscillation over a very wide spectral bandwidth.

There are certain gas lasers which have very long coherence length of
tens of meters, while other lasers, especially Diode lasers have
coherence length of the order of millimeters.

Typically for a commercially available He-Ne laser with 632.8 nm
wave-length and 0.01 nm spectral bandwidth, the coherence length is
about 4cm or at the most of the order of the length of its resonator
because of the presence of many longitudinal modes.

A frequency stabilized 632.8 nm HeNe laser (a frequency of
approximately 473 THz) with a 1 MHz bandwidth would have a
coherence length of about 300 meters. In this case, the coherence
length is much longer than the length of the cavity because only a
single longitudinal is forced to be active in it at any given time.

An 800 nm laser diode with a 1 nm spectral width would have a
coherence length of about 0.64 mm.

A 600 nm LED with a spectral width of 60 nm would have a coherence
length of around 6 um.

He-Ne lasers are also much more spatially coherent than LEDs. LEDs
generally have a very short spatial coherence length, typically only a
couple of wavelengths.

In holography, the temporal coherence length determines the
maximum depth of the object in a reflection hologram, and the
spatial coherence length determines the lateral size. Holography,
which is based on interference between light beams, long coherence
length enables taking holograms of large bodies, which require
greater depth of field. Both the light reflected from the near part of
the body, and the light reflected from the far part of the body, will
still be coherent with the reference beam.

Spatial coherence refers to how spherical the wave front is. Does
every portion of the wave front appear to have exactly the same
center of curvature?

The requirement for high temporal coherence is in coherent, or
heterodyne detection. In these systems, energy reflected off the
target is mixed with energy from the original laser to create a fringe
pattern. The photons are supposed to maintain the fixed phase
relationship for the time needed to hit the target and return in order
to have proper contrast in the fringe pattern.

One of the important applications includes Doppler velocity
measurements of the target through the measurements of the
frequency shift because of the moving targets. The frequency shift
from the target-reflected energy is a function of the target velocity.
However, if the frequency of the laser itself is shifting (because of
poor coherence) during the time of flight, this creates a broadening or
an error in the frequency of the returned beam that limits how
accurately one can measure the Doppler velocity.

Spatial coherence is high for sphere waves and plane waves, and is
related to the size of the light source. A point source emits spatially
coherent light, while the light from a finite source has lower
coherence. Spatial coherence can be increased with a spatial filter; a
very small pinhole preceded by a condenser lens. The spatial
coherence of light will increase as it travels away from the source and
becomes more like a sphere or plane wave. Light from distant stars,
though far from monochromatic, has extremely high spatial
coherence.

Coherence length is defined as the length over which energy in two
separate waves remains constant. With respect to the laser, it is the
greatest distance between two arms of an interferometric system for
which sufficient interferometric effects can be observed.

Using Michelson Interferometer, one can estimate the coherence
length by measuring the maximum path difference between the two
beams, which still show the interference pattern.

Since the temporal coherence is a measure of the ability of the
radiation to perform interference, as a result of differences in path
lengths between the two beams, it is thus important in interferometry
and holography.

Ordinary light is not coherent because it comes from independent
atoms, which emit on time scales of about 10-8 seconds. There is a
degree of coherence in sources like the mercury green line and some
other useful spectral sources, but their coherence does not approach
that of a laser.
Beam diameter
It is very interesting to note that, the intensity of laser light is
not same throughout the cross section of the beam. This is
because of the fact that the cavity also controls the trans-verse
modes, or intensity cross sections. The ideal beam has a
symmetric cross section: The intensity is greater in the middle
and tails off at the edges. This is called the Transverse
Electromagnetic Mode (TEM
00
) output as shown in the figure. The
subscripts n and m (0 and 0 in this case) in the TEM
nm
are
correlated to the number of nodes in the x and y directions. A
theoretical TEM
00
beam has a perfect Gaussian profile. Detailed
discussion on modes is given in the next section. Lasers can produce many other TEM modes, which
would be discussed in later sections. In general, one can say that laser beams have a symmetric
intensity profile. i.e. if we run across the beam, the intensity is minimum at the edge and as we
move towards the center it increases and is maximum at the center and then it falls in a similar
fashion as on the other side, where from we started. In fact, we can start at any point on the rim of
the laser beam and the result will be same, as discussed earlier. Beam diameter is defined as the
diameter of a circular beam at a certain point where the intensity drops to a certain fraction of its
maximum value. The common definitions are half the intensity i.e. full width at half maximum
(FWHM), 1/e (0.368) and 1/e
2
(0.135) of the maximum value. In other words, beam diameter is the
diameter of the laser beam cross section between points near the outer edge of the beam where its
intensity is only 50 % (FWHM), 63% (1- 1/e) and about 86% (1-1/e
2
) of the intensity at the beam
center.

Directionality and beam divergence
One of the important properties of laser is its high directionality. The mirrors placed at opposite
ends of a laser cavity enables the beam to travel back and forth in order to gain intensity by the
stimulated emission of more photons at the same wavelength, which results in increased
amplification due to the longer path length through the medium. The multiple reflections also
produce a well-collimated beam, because only photons traveling parallel to the cavity walls will be
reflected from both mirrors. If the light is the slightest bit off axis, it will be lost from the beam.
The resonant cavity, thus, makes certain that only electromagnetic waves traveling along the optic
axis can be sustained, consequent building of the gain.

The high degree of collimation arises from the fact that the cavity of the laser has very nearly
parallel front and back mirrors, which constrain the final laser beam to a path, which is
perpendicular to those mirrors. Collimation refers to the degree to which the beam remains
parallel with distance. A perfectly collimated beam would have parallel sides and would never
expand at all. Its divergence angle would be exactly zero. Diffraction plays an important role in
determining the size of laser spot that can be projected at a given distance. The oscillation of the
beam in the resonator cavity produces a narrow beam that subsequently diverges at some angle
depending on the resonator design, the size of the output aperture, and resulting diffraction
effects on the beam. These diffraction effects usually referred as a beam-spreading effect are a
result of the light waves passing through a small opening. These diffraction phenomena impose a
limit on the minimum diameter of a light point after passing through an optical system. For a laser,
the beam emerging from the output mirror can be thought of as the opening or aperture, and the
diffraction effects on the beam by the mirror will limit the minimum divergence and spot size of
the beam. For beams in TEM
00
mode, diffraction is usually the limiting factor in beam divergence.

In fact one can say that, divergence angle describes the directionality of the laser. For a perfect
spatially coherent laser beam, the diffraction limited divergence angle is given by,
K X / D,
where and D are the wavelength and diameter of the laser beam respectively. K is a constant
factor that is usually unity but depends on the wavelength. The relationship clearly demonstrates
that beam divergence increases with wavelength, and decreases as beam (or output lens) diameter
increases. In other words, a smaller diameter beam will suffer more divergence and greater spread
with distance than a larger beam. For a perfect gaussian beam, the divergence
o
(half angle), is
related to beam waist radius w
o
as

o
= (1 / [ / w
o
])
Using the above equations, and assuming K or 2 x (1 / ) as unity, let us calculate the minimum
divergence (full angle) that can be theoretically achievable for the most well known lasers, i.e.
Nd:YAG ( = 1.06 mm with 3mm diameter) and He-Ne laser ( = 0.6328 mm with 1mm beam
diameter). The divergence angles are 0.353 milli-rad or 0.02014 and 0.6328 mrad or
0.03607 respectively. Compare this with the divergence of the light from a torchlight (20 or
more) and the high directionality of laser beams becomes quite obvious. As the spatial coherence
becomes partial or the degree of coherence reduces, the divergence increases accordingly and for
calculating the divergence, the diameter of the beam D is to be replaced with the coherence area
in the above-mentioned equation.

Consider the size (diameter) of a collimated beam as it propagates as shown in the figure. It can be
seen that the diameter increases. This increase of the beam size is due to the beam divergence and
the same is measured in milliradians (mrad). It is
either measured as full angle (measure of increase
in diameter) or as half angle (measure of increase
in radius). For example, the diameter of a beam
of 1mrad full angle divergence, after propagation
of 1Km, will be 1m (Physical optics). For small angle, the divergence can be approximated as the
ratio of the beam diameter to the distance from the laser aperture.

Brightness

While summing up the discussion on monochromaticity (narrow line width) and directionality (low
divergence) of laser, radiance of laser cannot be missed out. It is defined as the power emitted per
unit surface area per unit solid angle. The units are
watts per square meter per steradian. A steradian is
the unit of solid angle, which is three-dimensional
analogue of conventional two-dimensional (planar)
angle expressed in radians. For small angles the
relation between a planar angle and the solid angle of
a cone with that planar angle is to a good
approximation is:
= ( / 4)
2

where is the planar angle and is the solid angle as shown in the figure. The radiance of a 1mm
He-Ne laser with 1 mm out put diameter and a divergence of 1 milli-radian is 1.6 x 10
9
Watts/m
2
-
steradian, which can be estimated in the following manner.

The solid angle corresponding to one millirad is:
= ( / 4) (1 mrad)
2
= 0.8 x 10
-6
sterad and the radiance is power divided by the area of the
beam and the solid angle. Thus radiance B is

B = 10
-3
W/(0.785 x 10
-6
)(0.8 x 10
-6
) = 1.6 x 10
9
Watts/m
2
-steradian
The radiance of a milliwatt helium neon laser is far greater than 10
6
Watts/m
2
-steradian, that of
the sun which emits more than 10
26
W.

This is a unique advantage for many of the laser applications in various areas.

Laser Modes

As we know that part of the laser light in the laser cavity emerges through the output mirror. The
optical waves within an optical resonant cavity are characterized by their resonant modes, which
are discrete resonant conditions governed by the dimensions of the cavity. The laser beam radiated
from the laser cavity is thus not arbitrary. Only the waves oscillating at modes that match the
oscillation modes of the laser cavity can be produced. The laser modes governed by the axial
dimensions of the resonant cavity are called the longitudinal modes, and the modes determined by
the cross-sectional dimensions of the laser cavity are called transverse modes.

Longitudinal Mode

Generally speaking light modes means possible standing EM waves in a system. The number of
modes in this meaning is huge. Laser mode means the possible standing waves in laser cavity. We
see that stimulated lights are transmitted back and forth between the mirrors and interfere with
each other, as a result only light of those frequencies, which create nodes at both mirrors are
allowed. In other words, if the round trip distance is integer multiples of the wavelength ?, only
then it can result in a standing wave. Thus, the cavity length must be an integer multiplication of
half their wavelengths. The result is the condition of resonance: light waves are amplified strongly,
if and only if, they satisfy the equation:
2nL=N
where L is the cavity length, n is the refractive index of the laser medium, nL is theoptical
path, N is an integer and denotes the wavelength.
The integer N cannot be an arbitrary number. It is limited by the fluorescence curve and only the
modes for which the gain of laser of the laser medium G () > 1 would be supported.

The above equation can be rewritten as:
N = 2L/ = 2 L/(c/f)

And f = c / 2L
Where c and f are the velocity and frequency of light.
Assuming a cavity of length 50 cm, it gives us the possible number of modes as 159 x 10
4
and
the separation between two modes as 300 MHz. However, if the laser bandwidth is of the order
of 2.5 GHz, it can support only 6 longitudinal modes.

Some important points related to longitudinal modes:

Modes governed by the axial dimensions of the resonant cavity are
called longitudinal modes. The longitudinal modes are formed when
the two waves with the same frequency and amplitude are moving
againsteach other.

The to and fro movement of the electromagnetic radiation is
controlled by the laser cavity end mirrors and only the waves with
nodes at both ends are sustained or allowed, which means that
the cavity lengthshould be an integral multiple of the half
wavelengths. Thus the cavity length and the refractive index of the
laser medium determine the frequencies that are allowed inside the
cavity.

The other important aspect is that the frequencies are spaced at
equal intervals.

In applications where power is more important as in most high power
applications for material processing or medical surgery, multimode
lasers can be used. As such the laser is being used as a mean for
transferring the energy on to the target. Thus there is not much
importance for the longitudinal laser modes. However, for
applications involving interference such as holography or
interferrometric measurements, and in applications related to
spectroscopic and photochemical, where single well-defined
wavelength is required, single mode lasers are very critical.

Increase in the cavity length increases the number of possible laser
modes under the fluorescence curve. However, it reduces the
frequency gap between the adjacent modes. This leads to that a
single mode laser can be made by reducing the length of the cavity,
such that only one longitudinal mode will remain under the
fluorescence curve with G
L
>1.

The multiple longitudinal mode structure gives rise to a power
fluctuation phenomenon termed mode sweeping. All unstabilized
helium neon lasers exhibit this effect, which is due to thermal
instability causing variation in the cavity length. As the cavity length
changes, there is a small change in mode spacing which is typically 10
kHz or less under normal conditions.






Transverse Mode
The configuration of the optical cavity determines the
transverse modes of the laser output, which
characterizes the intensity distribution of laser beam
in the transverse plane that is perpendicular to the
direction of propagation. If we intersect the output
laser beam and study the transverse beam cross
section, we find the light intensity can be of
diff
ere
nt
dist
ribu
tion
s
(pat
terns). These are called Transverse
Electromagnetic Modes (TEM). Two
indices are used to indicate the TEM
modes - TEM
pq
, p and q are integer
numbers indicating the number of points
of zero illumination (between illuminated
regions) along x axis and y - axis
respectively.


As explained earlier that the amplitude of
a light beam is increased in a laser by
multiple passes of coherent light waves
through the active medium. The process is accomplished by an active medium placed between a
pair of mirrors that act as a feedback mechanism. During each round trip between the mirrors, the
light waves are amplified by the active medium and reduced by internal losses and laser output. A
number of different combinations of mirrors, such as plane and curved, have been utilized in
practical laser. Some of them are shown in the figure.

Most common form of structure is a stable resonator, which concentrate light along the laser axis,
extracting energy efficiently from that region, but not from the outer regions far from the axis.
This cavity will then have a set of nearly loss less resonant modes, which will have the form of very
nearly perfect Hermite-gaussian or Laguerre-gaussian mathematical functions. The lowest-order
mode will have an essentially ideal gaussian profile with a certain spot size, which depends only on
the spacing and radii of the mirrors and the wavelength of the light and not on the mirror diameter,
which is assumed to be very large typically four to five times of the beam size. This spot size,
called the "gaussian spot size" and can be estimated by a simple formula in terms of the cavity
length L, the end mirror radii r
1
and r
2
, and the wavelength. The beam thus it produces has an
intensity peak in the center, and a Gaussian drop in intensity with increasing distance from the
axis. The fundamental TEM
00
mode is only one of many transverse modes that satisfy the round-trip
propagation criteria.

For most applications for example like holography, the TEM
00
mode is considered most desirable,
but multi-mode beams can often deliver more power, though with a poorer beam quality, and may
be acceptable in applications where power is the main criterion.

The laser can be forced to lase in a single TEM
00
mode by simply putting a pinhole with proper
diameter between the two mirrors. The pinhole diameter should be equal to the diameter of the
lower mode as this would allow only this mode to pass through the pinhole, and all higher modes
will be attenuated. Since radiation inside the optical cavity undergoes multiple passes, only the
basic mode will be amplified, and appear in the output.

Beam quality

Discussion on properties of laser will not be complete without making an assessment of beam
quality. Laser beam quality is important since the closer a real laser beam is to diffraction-limited,
the more tightly it can be focused, the greater depth of field, and the smaller the diameter of
beam-handling optics need to transmit the beam. For applications such as directed energy
applications, a better beam quality translates into better delivery of optical power to the target in
the far field. For material processing, the more tightly focused the laser beam results in the higher
intensities. The design of optical delivery systems for laser systems is highly dependent on the
laser's beam quality.

It was thus felt that to recognize, quantify and determine the beam propagation characteristics, a
figure of merit would be very necessary and useful. Therefore, the concept of a dimensionless
beam propagation parameter, M
2
was developed in 1970 for all types of lasers. M
2
is a quantitative
measure of the quality of the laser beam and according to ISO standard 11146, it is defined as
the beam parameter product (BPP) divided by / . The beam divergence, as discussed earlier, is
= M
2
X / w
0R

where w
0R
is the beam radius at the beam waist and the wave length.

(Beam parameter product (BPP) is the product of a laser beam's divergence angle and the diameter
of the beam at its narrowest point (the "beam waist"). Its units are mm mrad.

M
2
can also be defined in the following manner:

The ratio of the BPP of an actual beam to that of an ideal Gaussian
beam at the same wavelength . This parameter is a wavelength-
independent measure of beam quality.

It is the ratio of the divergence of the real beam to that of a
theoretical diffraction-limited beam of the same waist size with a
Gaussian beam profile.
ISO standard 11146 has laid down procedures for the measurement of M
2
also. This was necessitated
by the use of large number of high power lasers for industrial applications like cutting, drilling and
welding, with high cost of investment. Here it is necessary to focus the laser beams 'tightly' to
produce highest possible radiance with minimum collateral damage. Technically, only high quality
and reliable laser beams can ensure this aspect as well as profitable return to the investment.
M
2
beam quality factor limits the degree to which a laser beam can be focused for a given beam
divergence, which in turn is limited by the numerical aperture of the focusing lens. A word of
caution that is necessary since M
2
factor would be different for two orthogonal directions to the
beam axis for non-circular beams. For example, for diode bars, M
2
is low for the fast axis and high
for the slow axis.

For any laser beam, the product of the beam radius (w
0R
) and the far-field divergence () is a
constant, and the ratio,
M
2
= w
0Real
.
Real
/ w
0R
. ,
where w
0Real
and q
Real
are the beam waist and far field divergence of the real beam respectively.
M
2
is an accurate indication of the propagation characteristics of the beam.

There are some other important points related to M
2
:

The value of M
2
is always greater than or equal to 1 and ranges from 1 for a diffraction-limited
TEM
00
laser beam, to several hundred for a distorted, poor quality beam.

M
2
= 1 only occurs for single-mode TEM
00
Gaussian beams.

Helium neon lasers typically have an M
2
factor that is less than 1.1. For ion lasers, the M
2
factor
is typically between 1.1 and 1.3. Collimated TEM
00
diode laser beams usually have an M
2
ranging
from 1.1 to 1.7. For high-energy multimode lasers, the M
2
factor can be as high as 3 or 4. In all
cases, the M
2
factor, which varies significantly, affects the characteristics of a laser beam and
cannot be neglected in optical designs.

Though carefully/optimally designed lasers can achieve the M
2
~ 1, high power lasers have very
much higher M
2
value of 100 or even more. Thermal distortions in the active gain media, use of
poor optical quality of components, diffraction effects at apertures etc. are the main reasons
for the reduction of beam quality. Beam quality also gets affected adversely when the lasers
work at higher cavity modes. A pump source with uniform intensity distribution, an optimized
cavity design with least sensitivity to thermal lensing, high optical quality components and a
gain medium least prone to thermal disturbance are a pre-requisite to a laser system for the
generation of high beam quality output.























PRINCIPLES OF LASER ACTION
We have already discussed the properties of Lasers in the previous section. In this section we
intend to describe the basic principles involved in the generation of laser. In order to
understand the basic laser operation, we must consider the important terms like absorption
and losses, stimulated emission, spontaneous emission, feedback etc.

Absorption, spontaneous emission and stimulated emission:

As we all know that atoms and molecules can exist only in certain energy states. The state of
lowest energy is called the ground state; all other states have more energy than the ground
state and are called excited states. Each excited state, of which there are many, has a fixed
amount of energy over and above that of the ground state. Under ordinary conditions, almost
all atoms and molecules are in their ground states. Three types of processes are possible for a
two-level atomic system. In the first, an incoming photon excites the atomic system from a
lower energy state into a higher energy state. This is called absorption or
sometimes stimulated absorption. It is called stimulated absorptions because of the fact that
the atoms absorb the incident energy at certain frequencies only. Stimulated absorption occurs
when a photon strikes an atom with just exactly the proper energy to induce an electronic
transition between two energy states. In case a broadband light is incident on a given two level
atomic system, we can observe that the complete spectrum is not absorbed but only certain
discrete lines are absorbed depending on the difference in their energy levels. This process
reduces the lower level population and in the process increases the upper level population. The
population or the number of atoms in states E
1
and E
2
at any time would be N
1
and
N
2
respectively. When radiation passes through a material, it is absorbed according to:
I
x
= I
0
e-
x
(1)
Where I
x
is the radiance after traveling distance x through the material with absorption
coefficient as a and I
0
is the initial intensity of light. The absorption depends on the
population difference between N
1
and N
2
and the refractive index of the medium.

Rate of stimulated absorption, R
12
(abs), from level 1 to 2 is given as:
R
12
(abs) = B
12
N
1
(2)
Where B
12
is the Einstein's coefficient for stimulated absorption and has the units as cm
3
/s
2
J,
N
1
is the population in the ground state and is the energy density per unit frequency of the
incoming photons.

Once the atom or molecule has been produced in its excited state, there is a probability that it
will emit radiation again and return to a lower energy state. This lower energy state may be
either the ground state or still one of the excited states but having lower energy level. In the
process, a photon is emitted. In this emission process, where the atoms spontaneously goes to a
lower energy state through the emission of a photon is called spontaneous emission or
fluorescence. This emission process is a random one and the emitted light goes off in all
directions, and the wave properties of the light are randomly out of step with each other and
thus are incoherent.

The rate of spontaneous emission, R
21
(spon), from level 2 to 1 is given as:
R
21
(spon) = A
21
N
2
(3)
Where A
21
is the coefficient of spontaneous emission and has the unit of s
-1
, N
2
is the number of
atoms in level 2.

One can observe that this spontaneous decay of the upper level takes place in the absence of
an electromagnetic field and the rate is proportional to the population of that level and thus
does not depend on the intensity of the excitation source. It is purely a statistical phenomenon
related with time and space and is dependent on the lifetime of the excited state. If the
transition lifetime is very large, it is considered as a forbidden transition.

Excited atoms can loose their energy not only by spontaneous emission, but also by induced or
stimulated emission and therefore the emission output of the system consists of spontaneous
and stimulated emissions. The probability of stimulated emission is proportional to the
intensity of the energy density of external radiation and the induced emission has a firm phase
relationship with it, unlike spontaneous emission. Since the spontaneous photons have no phase
relations with each other, the output is incoherent. But stimulated emission has the same
phase, direction, spectral and polarization properties as the stimulating field and both are
indistinguishable in all aspects. Consequently, the laser output is coherent. In fact it is this
stimulated emission, under certain conditions as explained in the earlier section that comes out
of the laser device as laser.

Rate of stimulated emission, R
21
(stim), from level 2 to 1 is given as:
R
21
(stim) = B
21
N
2
(4)
Where B
21
is the Einstein's coefficient for stimulated emission and has the dimensions as m
3
/s
2
J,
N
2
is the population in the excited state and is the energy density per unit frequency of the
triggering photons.

Considering an ideal material with only two non-degenerate energy levels, where absorption,
spontaneous emission and stimulated emission takes place, one can arrive at the following
conclusion.

Absorption = spontaneous emission + stimulated emission
i.e. B
12
N
1
r(n) = A
21
N
2
+ B
21
N
2
r (5)
This situation is shown in the figure 1.


At any given instance, under normal circumstances, both stimulated and spontaneous emissions
may occur, but the probability of stimulated emission is pretty low. One can find out this ratio
of spontaneous to stimulated emission using one of the following equations:
(6)

(7)
where is the radiation energy density and is equal to Nhv, N being the number of photons of
frequency v per unit volume and k is Boltzmann's constant. Considering a case of ordinary bulb
having a filament temperature of about 5000K and emitting radiation in the wavelength range
of 0.6 micron corresponding to frequency of 5 x 10
14
Hz, the probability of stimulated
emission is approximately one hundredth of that of the spontaneous emission. At lower
temperatures, it would even be orders less than this.

The ratio of the probability of spontaneous to stimulated light emission depends directly on
the frequency of emission or inversely to the wavelength. Thus in the microwave region,
stimulated emission is more probable than spontaneous, hence the early production of the
maser. In the optical region, spontaneous emission is more likely than stimulated emission and
this gets worse as we go into the UV and X-ray regions of the spectrum.

Under thermal equilibrium, the population N
2
and N
1
of levels E
2
and E
1
respectively
governed by the fact that the rate of upward transitions should be equal to rate of
downward transitions.

The population density of atoms N
1
and N
2
in ground level E
1
and excited state E
2
can be
estimated using Boltzmann's relationship as follows:
(8)




Since, (E
2
- E
1
) / kT is always positive, irrespective of the value of temperature T, N
2
must be
less than N
1
if the system is remain at thermal equilibrium. At the most the excited state
population N
2
(t) reaches a steady state at t, and the highest proportion of atoms that can
exist in the excited state N
2
/N
total
<1/2. Under these conditions the material always acts as an
absorber of incident photons.

The above discussion implies that in a two level system the number of atoms in the excited
state can never exceed the number in the ground state and hence can never work as a laser. If
the system is to act as a laser, an incident photon must have a higher probability of causing
stimulated emission than of being absorbed i.e. the rate of stimulated emission must exceed
that of absorption. In other words, the laser action is possible only when N
2
> N
1
. This non-
equilibrium condition is known as called population inversion.

Before we discuss about the techniques of population inversion and laser action, these are
some additional important points related to Absorption, spontaneous emission and stimulated
emission:

In case of spontaneous emission of a photon, the probability of its
emission is inversely related to the average length of time that an atom
can reside in the upper level of the transition before it relaxes. This
time is known as the SPONTANEOUS LIFETIME. Typically, the
spontaneous lifetime is of the order of 10
-8
- 10
-9
sec. The shorter the
spontaneous lifetime, the greater is the probability that spontaneous
emission will occur.

In certain materials, there are energy levels, which has the spontaneous
lifetime of the order of microseconds to a few milliseconds. These
levels are known as METASTABLE levels. The probability of transitions
involving metastable levels is relatively low.

As the likelihood of spontaneous emission decreases the conditions that
favor stimulated emission are enhanced. If an atom is excited into a
metastable state it can stay there long enough for a photon of the
correct frequency to arrive. Such a situation promotes stimulated
emission at the expense of spontaneous emission.

In case of stimulated emission, atoms in an upper energy level can be
triggered or stimulated in phase by an incoming photon of a specific
energy. The incident photon must have an energy corresponding to the
energy difference between the upper and lower states. The emitted
photons have the same energy as incident photon. These photons are in
phase with the triggering photon and also travel in its direction.

Stimulated processes like stimulated absorption, or stimulated emission
require incoming photons of the right frequency, whereas spontaneous
emission can take place in the absence of incoming photon also.

Spontaneous emission is completely isotropic. Stimulated processes, on
the other hand, have a built-in preference for emission in the direction
of the incident flux of photons.


Population Inversion and Laser Operation

As discussed above, whenever light is incident on the material, there is competition between
absorption, spontaneous emission and stimulated emission processes. Under normal equilibrium
conditions, the population of various levels is given by Boltzmann's relationship and thus N
2
will
always be less than N
1
. Further, stimulated photon emission is much less than the spontaneous
photon emission and the absorption. For a system to work as a laser one requires that
stimulated emission should exceed photon absorption; it leads us to the following two
conditions:

N
2
> N
1
: i.e. Population Inversion

As per equation (6) or (7), the value of (the radiation energy density
which is equal to Nhv) should be as large as possible.
First condition cannot be achieved under thermal equilibrium conditions. This implies that in
order to create population inversion, one must look for non-thermal equilibrium system and
thus the need for special laser materials.

The second condition that requires higher value of r necessitates the use of an additional
supply of large amount of energy of correct wavelength to excite the desired transition. The
process is known as pumping. Various techniques include optical, electrical, chemical, gas
dynamic etc.

Population inversion though is the primary condition, but in itself is not sufficient for producing
a laser. As there are certain losses of the emitted photons within the material itself in addition
to spontaneous emission, one has to think about the geometry that can overcome these losses
and there is overall gain. This requires an optical cavity or resonator.

The principle behind the laser is like this. Suppose we can produce a large number of atoms all
in excited states. If one of the atoms emitted spontaneously, then the emitted photon would
stimulate other atoms to emit. These emitted photons would, in turn, stimulate further
emission. The result would be an intense burst of coherent radiation.
These issues have
been discussed
below:



A representative
laser system is
shown in Figure (2).
It consists of three
basic parts.



An active medium with a suitable set of energy levels to support laser
action.

A source of pumping energy in order to establish a population inversion.

An optical cavity or resonator to introduce optical feedback and so
maintain the gain of the system overcoming all losses.





Brief description of each of the above components and their basic function are given
below.
1. Active laser
medium or gain
medium: Laser
medium is the
heart of the laser
system and is
responsible for
producing gain and
subsequent
generation of
laser. It can be a
crystal, solid,
liquid,
semiconductor or
gas medium and can be
pumped to a higher
energy state. The
material should be of
controlled purity, size
and shape and should
have the suitable energy
levels to support
population inversion. In
other words, it must
have a metastable state
to support stimulated
emission. Most lasers are
based on 3 or 4 level
energy level systems, which depends on the lasing medium. These systems are shown in figs
3a and 3b. In case of a three-level laser, the material is pumped from level 1 to level 3,
which decays rapidly to level 2 through spontaneous emission. Level 2 is a metastable level
and promotes stimulated emission from level 2 to level 1.

On the other hand in a four level laser, the material is pumped to level 4, which is a fast
decaying level, and the atoms decay rapidly to level 3, which is a metastable level. The
stimulated emission takes place from level 3 to level 2 from where the atoms decay back to
level 1. Four level lasers is an improvement on a system based on three level systems. In
this case, the laser transition takes place between the third and second excited states.
Since lower laser level 2 is a fast decaying level which ensures that it rapidly gets empty
and as such always supports the population inversion condition.
2. Excitation or pumping mechanism: Absorption of the energy by the atoms, electrons, ions
or molecules as the case may be, of the active medium is a primary requisite in the
generation of laser. In order to excite these elements to higher energy levels, an excitation
or pumping mechanism is necessary. It is well known that under the equilibrium state, as
per Boltzman?s conditions, higher energy levels are much less populated than the lower
energy levels. One of the requirements of laser action is population inversion in the levels
concerned. i.e. to have larger population in the upper levels than in the lower ones.
Otherwise absorption will dominate at the cost of stimulated emission. There are various
types of excitation or pumping mechanisms available, the most commonly used ones are
optical, electrical, thermal or chemical techniques, which depends on the type of the laser
gain medium employed. For example, Solid state lasers usually employ optical pumping
from high energy xenon flash lamps (e.g., ruby, Nd:YAG) or from a second pump laser or
laser diode array (e.g., DPSS frequency doubled green lasers). Gas lasers use an AC or DC
electrical discharge through the gas medium, or external RF excitation, electron beam
bombardment, or a chemical reaction. The DC electrical discharge is most common for
'small' gas lasers (e.g., helium-neon, argon ion, etc.). DC most often pumps semiconductor
lasers current. Liquid (dye) lasers are usually pumped optically.
3. Optical resonator: Optical resonator plays a very important role in the generation of the
laser output, in providing high directionality to the laser beam as well as producing gain in
the active medium to overcome the losses due to, straying away of photons from the laser
medium, diffraction losses due to definite sizes of the mirrors, radiation losses inside the
active medium due to absorption and scattering etc. In order to sustain laser action, one
has to confine the laser medium and the pumping mechanism in a special way that should
promote stimulated emission rather than spontaneous emission. In practice, photons need
to be confined in the system to allow the number of photons created by stimulated
emission to exceed all other mechanisms. This is achieved by bounding the laser medium
between two mirrors as shown in figure 2. On one end of the active medium is the high
reflectance mirror (100% reflecting) or the rear mirror and on the other end is the partially
reflecting or transmissive mirror or the output coupler. The laser emanates from the output
coupler, as it is partially transmissive. Stimulated photons can bounce back and forward
along the cavity, creating more stimulated emission as they go. In the process, any
photons which are either not of the correct frequency or do not travel along the optical
axis are lost.
Laser action: Interaction of electromagnetic radiation with matter produces absorption and
spontaneous emission. Absorption and spontaneous emission are natural processes. For the
generation of laser, stimulated emission is essential. Stimulated emission has to be induced or
stimulated and is generated under special conditions as stated by Einstein in his famous paper
of 1917. i.e. ?when the population inversion exists between upper and lower levels among
atomic systems, it is possible to realize amplified stimulated emission and the stimulated
emission has the same frequency and phase as the incident radiation?. Einstein combined
Plank? law with Boltzmann?s statistics in formulating the concept of stimulated emission. In
electronic, atomic, molecular or ionic systems the upper energy levels are less populated than
the lower energy levels under equilibrium conditions. Pumping mechanism excites say, atoms
to a higher energy level by absorption (Figs.3a and 3b).

The atom stays at the higher level for a certain duration and decays to the lower stable ground
level spontaneously, emitting a photon, with a wavelength decided by the difference between
the upper and the lower energy levels. This is referred to as natural or spontaneous emission
and the photon is called spontaneous photon. The spontaneous emission or fluorescence has no
preferred direction and the photons emitted have no phase relations with each other, thus
generating an incoherent light output (Fig.4). But it is not necessary that the atom is always
de-excited to ground state. It can go to an intermediate state, called metastable state with a
radiation less transition, where it stays for a much longer period than the upper level and
comes down to lower level or to the ground state. Since period of stay of atoms in the
metastable state is large, it is possible to have a much larger number of atoms in metastable
level in comparison to the lower level so that the population of metastable state and the lower
or ground state is reversed. i.e. there are more atoms in the upper metastable level than the
lower level. This condition is referred to as population inversion. Once this is achieved, laser
action is initiated in the following fashion. The atom in the metastable state comes down to
the ground state emitting a photon. This photon can stimulate an atom in the metastable state
to release its photon in phase with it. The photon thus released is called stimulated photon. It
moves in the same direction as the initiating photon, has the same wavelength and polarization
and is in phase with it, thus producing amplification. Since there are a large number of
initiating photons, it forms an initiating electromagnetic radiation field. An avalanche of
stimulated photons is generated, as the photons traveling along the length of the active
medium stimulates a number of excited atoms in the metastable state to release their photons.
This is referred to as the stimulated emission. These photons are fully reflected by the rear
reflector (100% reflective) and the number and consequently the intensity of stimulated
photons increases as they traverse through the active medium, thus increasing the intensity of
radiation field of stimulated emission. At the output coupler, a part of these photons are
reflected and the rest is transmitted as the laser output. This action is repeated and the
reflected photons after striking the rear mirror, reach the output coupler in the return path.
The intensity of the laser output increases as the pumping continues. When the input pumping
energy reduces, the available initiating and subsequently the stimulated photons decrease
considerably and the gain of the system is not able to overcome the losses, thus laser output
ceases. Since the stimulation process was started by the initiating photons, the emitted
photons can combine coherently, as all of them are in phase with each other, unlike in the case
of spontaneous emission and coherent laser light is emitted (Fig.5). Though the laser action will
continue as long as the energy is given to the active medium, it may be stated that pulsed laser
is obtained if the population inversion is available in a transient fashion and continuous wave
(CW) laser is possible if the population inversion is maintained in a steady-state basis. If the
input energy is given by say a flash lamp, the output will be a pulsed output and the laser is
called a pulsed laser. If equilibrium can be achieved between the number of photons emitted
and the number of atoms in the metastable level by pumping with a continuous arc lamp
instead of a flash lamp, then it is possible to achieve a continuous laser output, which is called
continuous wave laser.




We may conclude that, laser action is preceded by three processes, namely, absorption,
spontaneous emission and stimulated emission - absorption of energy to populate upper levels,
spontaneous emission to produce the initial photons for stimulation and finally, stimulated
emission for generation of coherent output or laser.








LASER GENERATION
n this section, we will discuss pumping mechanisms to excite active ions to higher levels for
population inversion, laser resonators for control of amplification and creation of special beam
profiles, Q-switching techniques to increase the power of the laser output to very high levels,
thermal and birefringence effects produced by the heating of the laser medium affecting the beam
quality etc. related to laser generation in solid state, gas, semiconductor, dye, free electron and X-
Ray lasers. Although these technologies vary very much for each of the above-mentioned lasers,
there are lots of common factors as can be seen from the following paragraphs.


Pumping or excitation mechanisms:

First requirement in the generation of laser is the creation of population inversion. Input energy in
various forms have to be supplied to the gain media for excitation and transition of ground level
atoms, molecules, ions or electrons as the case may be, to higher levels to create population
inversion and consequent generation of laser. Commonly used excitation techniques are optical
pumping (solid state lasers), electrical discharge / radio frequency excitation (gas lasers), electron
beam / injection current (semiconductor lasers), chemical (chemical lasers), thermal (Gas Dynamic
Lasers), high-energy electrons from accelerator (free electron lasers) etc. Lasers, with output in
the spectral region matching the absorption band of the active media, are also employed for
excitation. The type of excitation techniques used is decided by the nature of the active laser
media. The different types of excitation mechanisms are optical, electrical, chemical, thermal,
laser etc.

Optical: In solid-state lasers (SSLs), the laser media are in the form of optically transparent solid
materials with active ions having strong absorption bands in the visible or near infrared region. A
pump source, giving maximum emission at wavelengths to excite fluorescence in the laser material,
is most suited for SSLs. Noble gas filled flash lamps, metal vapour discharge lamps, tungsten-
halogen filament lamps, semiconductor lasers, etc. are all used in this connection. Xenon flash
lamps for pulsed operation and CW arc lamps for CW operation of lasers are the most commonly
employed optical pumps. An optical reflector cavity is required to couple the high intensity light
output efficiently from the flash lamp to the laser rod. Various reflecting geometries have been
employed for this purpose. Elliptical reflector, with the laser rod at one focus and the flash lamp at
the other, cylindrical reflector with the lamp and the rod in close proximity or the rod surrounded
by the helical flash lamp, have all been used for efficient coupling of light on to the rod. End
pumping as well as side pumping geometries have been employed for diode laser pumping of solid-
state lasers. Examples of optically pumped SSLs are Nd:YAG, Nd: Glass and Alexandrite, to sight a
few.

Electrical: In gas lasers (helium-neon, argon ion and carbon dioxide lasers), electrical discharge is
employed to excite neon atoms, argon ions and CO
2
molecules respectively to higher levels to
create population inversion. The most common type of excitation is either a direct current
electrical discharge or a radio frequency discharge. For high power CO
2
lasers, instead of having the
discharge along the length of the laser tube, a transverse excitation, with a series of electrodes
spaced along the gas tube, is employed.

Chemical: In chemical lasers, the chemical reaction generates a large amount of excited molecules
and then another gas is introduced in to the system. Now depending on the system, one of the two
following things can happen. Either it takes energy from the excited molecule, as in the case of
COIL (iodine molecules from singlet oxygen) or it reacts with those particles, producing an excited
molecule, as in the case of DF / HF laser (deuterium or hydrogen respectively with fluorine
radicals) These excited molecules produce population inversion. COIL, DF and HF lasers are some of
the examples of chemical lasers.

Thermal: In gas dynamic laser, adiabatic expansion cooling of hot gases is utilized to produce
population inversion. The technique is to expand hot gases through specially shaped nozzles from a
high pressure, high temperature chamber into a low-pressure chamber, thus creating a highly non-
equilibrium state in the resonator. Due to adiabatic expansion, the upper level population is frozen
and the lower level population is depleted, resulting in strong population inversion. Carbon dioxide
gas dynamic laser (CDGDL) is an example of a thermally excited laser.

Laser: Ti: Sapphire laser is a good example of a laser pumped laser. As the peak of the absorption
band of Ti: Sapphire is around 500 nm, frequency doubled Nd: YAG laser (532 nm) for pulsed
operation and Argon ion laser (514 nm) for CW mode of operation are used for excitation to create
population inversion and subsequent laser emission. Diode laser pumping of Nd: YAG laser is
another example of a laser being employed for excitation.

These pumping techniques have been discussed in greater details in the next chapter, which
deals with specific type of lasers.


Resonators:

The two mirrors, between which the gain medium is situated is referred to as the laser resonator.
Resonator plays a very important role in controlling small signal gain as well as total gain of the
laser system and developing transverse and longitudinal modes. It is responsible for generating
special types of laser beam profiles and also gives the laser its unique property of directionality and
coherence. The spectral characteristics of the laser, like beam diameter, divergence and energy
distribution are controlled primarily by transverse modes. Line width and coherence length are
basically determined by longitudinal modes. Various types of resonators were discussed in the
earlier section and the same will not be repeated. Further, the intention of this site is only to give
an insight into the subject and to provide references for a serious study.

Different resonator types are distinguished by the focal lengths of the two mirrors and the
distance between them. The most common types of optical cavities consist of two flat or
spherical mirrors. The simplest of these is the plane-parallel or Fabry - Perot cavity,
consisting of two flat mirrors separated by some distance L. These arrangements of flat mirrors are
usually not preferred because of the difficulty of their alignment with required accuracy, which is
typically few seconds of arc. Fabry - Perot cavities suffer from another type of problem, which
further results in increased losses. The plane waves that exist in F-P cavities generate large
diffraction losses at the edges of the mirrors. Losses, in general, are very carefully monitored in
laser cavities because they can wipe out the gain of the active medium. The resonator geometry
must be chosen so that the beam remains stable. By stability, we mean that the size of the beam
does not continually grow with multiple reflections. However, this problem is much reduced for
very short cavities with a small mirror separation distance (L < 1 cm). Plane-parallel resonators are
therefore commonly used in microchip and semiconductor lasers. In these cases, rather than using
separate mirrors, the laser medium itself is suitably coated at both the ends to serve as fully
reflecting and partially reflected mirror.

The plane-parallel cavity (shown in the above figure) is an important component in pulsed solid
lasers and some other pulsed lasers as well because its high mode volume makes efficient use of
the active medium. Though, the cavity has the highest diffraction loss of any configuration, but this
loss is overcome easily in pulsed lasers by the additional gain achieved by the larger mode volume.
It has the additional advantage of not focusing the laser beam inside the active medium. Such
internal focusing can damage solid laser rods. As mentioned earlier, the plane parallel cavity is,
however, the most difficult to align,

Optical cavities are designed to have a large Q factor, so that the beam can reflect large number of
times without any significant attenuation. As such, the frequency and thus the line width of the
beam are very small as compared to the frequency of the laser.

For the type of lasers we are discussing, flat mirror geometries are not feasible. Only certain ranges
of values for R
1
, R
2
, and L produce stable resonators in which periodic refocusing of the intra-cavity
beam is produced. If the cavity is unstable, the beam size will grow without limit, eventually
growing larger than the size of the cavity mirrors and being lost. The stability criterion in terms of
R
1
, R
2
and L is given as:

OR

WHERE



The stability criterion can be shown graphically
by plotting g
1
against g
2
as shown. Areas bounded
by the line g
1
g
2
= 1 and the g
1
g
2
axes are stable.
Cavities at points exactly on the line are
marginally stable. Even a little variation in cavity
length can cause the resonator to become
unstable. The plane-parallel cavity corresponds
to point (1,1) in the stability diagram.

For a resonator with two mirrors with radii of
curvature R
1
and R
2
, there are a number of
common cavity configurations. Some of these
configurations are discussed below:

If the two curvatures are equal to half the cavity
length (R
1
= R
2
= L / 2), a concentric or spherical
resonator results. This type of cavity produces a
diffraction limited beam waist in the centre of
the cavity, with large beam diameters at the
mirrors, filling the whole mirror aperture. This
type of configuration corresponds to point (-1,-1)
in the stability diagram.

The spherical cavity is shown in the adjoining figure and is basically functionally opposite to the
plane- parallel cavity. It is easiest to align, has the lowest diffraction loss, and has the smallest
mode volume. CW dye lasers usually employ this type of cavity because a focused beam is
necessary to cause efficient stimulated emission of these lasers. The spherical cavity is not
commonly used with any other type of laser.

The confocal cavity is a compromise between the plane-parallel and the spherical cavities. The
confocal cavity combines the ease of alignment and low diffraction loss of the spherical cavity with
the increased mode volume as in case of flat and parallel mirror configuration. This configuration
corresponds to a point (0,0) in the stability diagram. Confocal cavities can be utilized with almost
any CW laser for moderate power levels. A common and important design is the confocal resonator,
with equal curvature mirrors equal to the cavity length (R
1
= R
2
= L). This design produces the
smallest possible beam diameter at the cavity mirrors for a given cavity length, and is often used in
lasers where the purity of the transverse mode pattern is important. In case of confocal resonator
the foci F1 and F2 of mirrors are coincident. In this case, the center of curvature of one mirror lies
on the surface of another mirror as L=R.

Resonators formed by two spherical mirrors of the same radius of curvature R and separated by a
distance L such that R<L<2R, i.e., in between confocal and concentric, are called Generalized
Spherical Resonators, which is also often used.

The hemispherical cavity, which is actually a
half of the spherical cavity, has characteristics
similar to that of spherical. This configuration
corresponds to point (0,1) in the stability
diagram. The advantage of this type of cavity
over the spherical cavity is the cost of the
mirrors. The hemispherical cavity is used with
most low-power HeNe lasers because of low
diffraction loss, ease of alignment, and reduced
cost.

Cavities can be identified as stable or unstable
according to whether a particular configuration allows the cavity oscillations to remain
within the cavity or the laser beam spreads out of the cavity. The output mirror of the laser
resonator is precisely coated to achieve the required reflection into the cavity. In case the
beam is too intense, the mirror may suffer damage, which may result in the cessation of laser
action. Generally, for low powers typically less than a kilowatt, lasers mainly use stable cavity
configurations. The laser output is from the center of optical axis. Stable cavity design allows the
beam to oscillate many times inside the cavity to get high gain, and also the focal property and
directionality are also improved. However, for high power lasers, unstable cavity configurations are
usually preferred as shown in the adjoining figure. The laser output comes from the edge of the
output mirror, which is often a totally reflecting metal mirror. This concave-convex cavity
normally is used only with high power lasers. In practice, the diameter of the convex mirror is
smaller than that of the beam. The output beam is formed by the part of the beam that passes
around the mirror and, consequently, has a "doughnut" configuration. The beam must pass around
the mirror because mirrors that will transmit the intense beams of these high-power lasers cannot
be fabricated. The ring shaped beam reduces the intensity of the beam, thus reduces the risk of
damaging the mirror. In this cavity configuration, the ring shaped beam is however, poor for
focusing. Unstable cavities are suitable for high gain per round trip laser systems, which don't
require large numbers of oscillation between the mirrors.


Thermal problems:

Efficiency of most of the laser systems is very poor (less than 5%) and as such the unutilized input
energy goes as heat. To understand effect of thermal problems on the resonator, let us consider a
solid-state laser. Since most of the input energy goes up in heating the laser rod, fluid cooling is
employed to get the rod with in the thermal limit of working. During the cooling cycle, radial
temperature gradient arises between the center of the rod and its surface i.e. center of the rod is
at higher temperature than the periphery, as the surface gets cooled faster than the central region.
Consequently, refractive index variation in the material takes place, resulting in thermal lensing.
We can say that the input power of the optical pump controls the beam radius with in the laser rod
in the resonator. Thus, thermally induced birefringence occurs and depolarization effects become a
hindrance for power scaling or increasing the repetition rate of the laser. It becomes imperative to
know the compensation of depolarization in order to design a resonator for high power lasers.
Further, the finite size of the resonator mirrors and inherent in-homogeneity of the laser crystal
also produce aberration of the output beam. Resonator dielectric mirrors in the lasers are passive
structures and they cannot correct the aberration introduced. The use of self-correcting adaptive
resonators and phase conjugate mirrors has reduced these aberrations to a great extent.


Q-switching techniques:

The losses associated with the modes generated in the resonator are radiation losses produced by
scattering and absorption due to impurities in the laser material, diffraction losses associated with
the finite dimensions of the laser material, mirrors, other optical components etc and reflection
losses produced by the imperfect mirrors. It is necessary to overcome these losses by way of
building up gain with the feed back between the mirrors, while the population inversion and
stimulated emission exist. The Q or quality factor of an optical cavity describes the ability of the
cavity to store light energy in the form of standing waves. The Q factor is the ratio of energy
contained in the cavity divided by the energy lost during each round trip in the cavity:


This means that a cavity with high losses dissipates a lot of energy per cycle hence it has a low Q
value; a high Q cavity means the energy loss per cycle is small in the given cavity. Hence higher the
quality factor, lower is the losses.

This implies that by controlling Q, one can control the output of the laser. Q-switching or Q-spoiling
is a technique to generate high power laser output by controlling the quality factor in a laser cavity
i.e. controlling the losses. Q-switch, located in the cavity can change temporal and power
characteristics of the laser beam.

Q switching technique can be defined as a method to create high power / energy laser pulses.
It modulates the Q of laser cavity to build population inversion first, and then release the
accumulated energy suddenly, in this way high-energy pulses can be created.

If a closed shutter is kept inside the laser cavity during pumping, the optical feedback between
mirrors will be prevented. Consequently, the population inversion caused by energy stored in the
material, as well as the gain increases to a high value. But the losses are also high (low Q) and due
to the absence of feedback, the increase in gain to overcome the losses are not available and
consequently the laser action is inhibited. When the shutter is suddenly opened, high Q (low loss) is
restored and the excess energy stored is discharged in a very short time, resulting in a high power
laser pulse, which is several orders of magnitude higher than the normal pulse. The basic idea is
that for only a brief time is the beam allowed to pass back and forth between the mirrors to
achieve the laser action, but the pumping action is continuous so that a large population inversion
is already build up when the lasing condition is satisfied. Since the power of the pulse is very high it
is called a giant pulse. Q-switched lasers normally emit only one giant pulse in an operational cycle.
The pulse typically has time duration of nanoseconds and the peak intensity is of 10
6
- 10
9
watts.
The extremely short, high-energy output pulses make the Q-switched lasers an ideal transmitter
source for rangefinders and surveillance radar applications.

A good Q-switch should reduce the loop gain to zero when closed and should introduce no loss in
the cavity when opened. It should switch from one condition to the other as fast as possible, and
the switching should be synchronized to external events.

There are a number of techniques employed for the generation of high power laser pulses, which
are discussed briefly below:


Mechanical:

In the mechanical Q-switching technique, rotational, oscillatory or translational motion of
optical components are used to create a situation, where laser action is inhibited during
pump cycle either by putting a shutter between mirrors or by misaligning mirror itself i.e.
to introduce high loss during pumping for storing the excess energy in the material. Pulse widths of
the order of few tens of nano-seconds have been obtained with this technique.

The simplest type of Q-switch uses a rotating mirror or prism to form one end of the optical cavity.
A sensor triggers the pump source i.e. flash lamp just before the mirror or other optical element
rotates into position such that the resonator mirrors are parallel to each other. Usually the
maximum-reflectivity mirror is rotated so that the mirror is tilted out of alignment. The system is
Q-switched when the mirror rotates back into alignment. This alignment happens once in each
revolution. Rotating mirror Q-switches offer 100% dynamic loss and 0% insertion loss. This is fairly
easy to do with ruby as the lasing medium with its long (3 ms) fluorescence lifetime. However, the
corresponding value for Nd: YAG is only 230 s.Thus, only 100 to 200 s is available once
the flash lamp fires and sensing the position of a rotating optical element to this precision
would be somewhat more difficult. For example, at 6,000 rpm or 100 rps, one revolution is
completed in 10-4 sec. Thus 100 microseconds correspond to 1/100th of a full rotation. However, if
rotating mirror can be made multifaceted or the Q-switch speed can be made fast enough by
rotating the mirror at high speed typically 20,000 to 60,000 rpm, even lasers like Nd: YAG can be Q-
switched and switching time typically of a few nanoseconds can be achieved. However, rotating
mirror Q-switches are prone to alignment difficulties because each face of the mirror must be
aligned to within a fraction of milliradian. Thus, roof prisms are often used as rotating elements. As
long as the roof of the prism is perpendicular to the axis of rotation, reflection is guaranteed at
some angle of rotation. Simple set ups are shown in the adjoining figures.

Mechanical Q-switches are simplest and least expensive of the Q-switches. They have the additional
advantages of polarization and wavelength insensitivity. However, the high rotational speeds mean
that the devices are noisy and possess relatively short lifetimes. Furthermore, mechanical
components are not robust in harsh environments.


Electro-optical:

Probably the most reliable and commonly used Q-switches employ electro-optical (E-O) effect in
crystals (Pockels effect) and liquids (Kerr effect). An E-O element like the properly oriented lithium
niobate crystal, under the influence of electric field, becomes birefringent, producing 'fast' and
'slow' axes orthogonal to each other, with different refractive indices. A plane polarized optical
beam at 45o to these axes and incident normal to their plane, will split in to two orthogonal
components, traveling along the same path, but with different velocities, causing a phase
difference between the them. Depending on the voltage applied to the E-O element (eg. Lithium
niobate crystal), the combination of the two beams will produce a linearly, circularly or an
elliptically polarised beam. E-O Q-switch is formed by the combination of a polariser and an E-O
element in the resonator cavity. These are called Pockels cell Q-switches also, since the working is
based on Pockels effect.

This common arrangement for an electro-optic Q-Switch in which the Q-Switch is placed
between a linear polarizer and the rear mirror is shown in the figure. The applied voltage
across the Q-Switch is chosen so as to cause a /4 difference in the phases of the emerging
components. If linearly polarized light enters the crystal, then circularly polarized light will
emerge. In other words, when voltage is applied to the Q-Switch, it acts like a quarter-wave plate.
Initially, the beam passes through the linear polarizes. It enters the electro-optic crystal and
emerges as right circularly polarized light. After it reflects from the mirror, it converts into left
circularly polarized light. When the beam passes through the electro-optic crystal, it emerges as
linear polarized light but perpendicular to the direction of the original light polarization. In other
words, the /4 Q-switch plus the mirror reflection plus the /4 Q-switch again, acts like a /2 or
half-wave plate that will convert linear polarization in one direction to linear polarization in the
orthogonal direction. This orthogonal polarized beam is then ejected from the cavity by the
polarizer. When the voltage is removed from the Q-Switch, the crystal is no longer birefringent.
Thus, the emerging beam from the crystal is unchanged and is not affected by the
polarizer. Therefore, this Q-Switch only produces a pulse when the voltage is off.

Another method is to place the E-O element between two crossed linear polarisers. Initially,
the beam passes through the linear polarizer. It enters the electro-optic crystal and
emerges as linear polarized light rotated by 90 degrees (orthogonal to the original
polarization). It then can pass through the second polarizer. When the voltage is removed from the
Q-Switch, the crystal is no longer birefringent and emerging beam from the crystal is unchanged.
The beam has the same polarization as original beam and is ejected from the cavity. Thus, this Q-
Switch only produces a pulse when the voltage is on. This configuration is shown in the adjoining
figure.

Electro-optical Q-switches have high dynamic loss (99%) and relatively high insertion losses (15%)
because of the losses in the optical elements. Switching time is fast; typically less than a
nanosecond, and synchronization is good. Laser pulse widths of the order of few nano-seconds can
be obtained using this method. Crystals, like lithium niobate, potassium di-deuterium phosphate
etc are used for making E-O Q-switches as Pockels effect is shown only by crystals, which lack
center of point symmetry.

Few words about the power drivers for the Pockels cell Q-switches may be of interest here.
Depending on the material used for the Q-switches, the voltage may vary from 3 to 15KV, with the
current requirement of the order of 10 to 20 mA and having a rise time of few nano-seconds.
Krytrons are best for fast switching.


Acousto-optical:

When an ultrasonic wave passes through a transparent material, say fused quartz, it acts like an
optical phase grating, due to photo-elastic effect. Acousto-optic Q-switches employ these quartz
like materials which exhibit a change in the refractive index when the material is acoustically
excited via photo elastic effect. The idea is to create an acoustic standing wave in the crystal by
means of a piezo-electric transducer bonded to the crystal. The acoustic standing wave generates a
corresponding standing wave in the refractive index. This refractive index variation behaves like an
acoustic grating. If a light beam is incident on this grating, part of the intensity will be switched
out of the resonator cavity. With a little more ingenuity most of the diffracted beam can be
deflected out of the laser cavity, thus spoiling the Q of the cavity. The resulting optical phase
grating deflects the beam out of the laser cavity thus creating a low Q value.

Acousto-optic Q-switches are often operated in the Bragg scattering regime. In this regime,
the interaction path is large and the zeroth and first-order diffraction beams need to be
considered. In the Bragg regime of the operation, the acoustic grating is oriented at an
angle u with respect to the incoming light ray. The angle is typically defined inside the acousto-
optic modulator, and is given as



Where n is the index of the refraction and A is the acoustical wavelength.

This configuration is shown in fig. The scattering angle 2u and the diffracted beam intensity is
given as:



Where P
ac
is the acoutic power, 'l' and 'w' are the length and width of the transducer respectively.
M
2
is the acousto-optic figure of merit.

By cutting off the driving voltage to the transducer, the acoustic wave is removed and the
diffraction effect disappears, the cavity is again aligned. The laser system returns to the high Q
value, with consequent generation of laser.

As compared to E.O. devices, where dynamic loss of almost 100 % can be achieved, acousto-optic
devices have low dynamic loss typically 50 - 60 %. However, the insertion loss can be almost zero.
As mentioned earlier, EO devices can be switched off faster typically in the nanosecond range, in
case of AO devices; on the other hand, the switching time is determined by the time the acoustic
wave requires to cross the optical beam. Since 6 km/s is a typical acoustic velocity, so the
switching time is about 170 ns per mm beam diameter. This slow switching time at 100 ns or
greater is a drawback of these devices.

On the other hand, AO devices can be modulated much faster thus implying that the repetition rate
can be very high. Though the switching time is slow, one can have 100s of kHz repetition rate in
these devices. EO devices, on the other hand suffer from these considerations. EO devices need a
certain recovery time. Typically these devices are good for a few 100 Hz rep rate.

An additional advantage of AO Devices is that they require only low voltages

Acousto-optic Q-switches are ideally suited for use with CW pumped Nd:YAG laser systems
They cannot be used with most pulse pumped systems because their low dynamic loss will not
prevent lasing.


Magneto-optic:

Magneto-optic (M-O) effect or Faraday effect manifests in most of the optically transparent solids
and liquids, when they are subjected to strong magnetic fields. The induced optical activity so
generated is able to rotate the plane of polarization of an optical beam, which propagate parallel
to the direction of the magnetic field in the material. The devices working on M-O effect can
produce rotation of the plane of polarization for any input polarization angle, which is not the case
with the electro-optic devices and are used in the development of isolators and rotators. This
device produces a clockwise rotation of the polarization of the optical beam's axis through 45
when the beam propagates in one direction. When the beam passes back through the same
assembly, it will not reverse this effect, but will produce an additional rotation of 45 for the
reverse beam, thus making the total rotation by 90. This will then be at 90 to the input
polarization axis. Faraday isolators are used to prevent damage to the laser oscillators from
enhanced back reflection from amplifiers as well as from targets. Rotators are used to ensure
unidirectional response in ring laser systems in conjunction with other intra-cavity polarization
selective element. Faraday isolators are rarely used for Q-switching applications.


Dye:

Unlike all the other Q-switches, dye Q-switch is a passive element, since it does not need an
external agency for its working. It is either a cell filled with dye or dye molecules embedded in
polyurethane, placed between the rear mirror and the laser medium. During pumping, the initial
fluorescent emission from the laser medium is absorbed by the dye and isolates the rear mirror
from the system, thus inhibiting the laser gain build up. As the intensity of the fluorescent emission
increases, the dye gets bleached and becomes transparent allowing laser oscillation to begin and
subsequent generation of laser. The property of the dye is such that its absorption coefficient
decreases with increasing intensity. The dye in solution or polyurethane matrix is a non-linear
optical material. This has an absorption coefficient, which is a function of incident light intensity:
the material is opaque (absorbing) until the intensity of the light in the cavity reaches a critical
value, at which point the material suddenly becomes transparent. No external signal is needed to
trigger a passive Q switch. As the intensity in the cavity reaches a critical value at which the dye
saturates, the cavity Q is switched. The result is a very short of the order of nanosecond length
output pulse. The saturable absorber then returns to its absorbing state and if the pumping
continues, the process will repeat generating a series of short pulses.

The dye based Q-switch is also called a saturable absorber because its absorption saturates at high
intensities. Basically, the dye molecules absorb photons and are transferred to a higher state and
once the sufficient number of ground level molecules is pumped up, the dye becomes transparent
i.e. in the beginning the dye is opaque (shutter closed) and in the end it is transparent (shutter
opened). Important points to remember while selecting the dye, are that the dye cross section
should be much larger than the laser cross section and the dye should be able to absorb radiation at
the specific wavelength of the laser. Another important aspect is the dye relaxation time, as the
spectral and temporal characteristics are very much dependant on it. If the dye has a short
relaxation time, it will mode-lock the pulses instead of Q-switching it, as it can follow the fast
oscillations in intensity. Crypto cyanine and Kodak 9860 and 9740 dye solutions have very
short relaxation times, where as Kodak 14015 dye (for Q-switching of neodymium lasers) has
much lower relaxation time. Power output and the pulse width of the laser will depend on
the dilution level of the dye with the solvent i.e. by controlling the transmission level, which is
around 40 to 60%. Various lasers require different types of dyes due to the reasons given above.

Bleachable dye Q-switches rate very high in dynamic loss (>99%) and insertion loss is typically few
percent. Their switching time is fast. There are virtually no synchronization issues involved at all.
Dye cell Q-switches can be used with pulse pumped systems only because a CW pumped laser never
produces sufficient fluorescence to bleach the dye. This can be used to provide a means of easily
controlling the pulse rate of a diode or arc lamp pumped laser with excellent consistency of pulse
energy as the Q-switch only activates when its threshold is reached. Since no complex mechanical
and/or electronic systems are involved, this is an excellent approach, especially for compact lower
power systems. Schematic of dye Q-switch is shown in the adjoining figure.


Cavity dumping:

As discussed earlier, Q-switch works as an optical shutter and is used to prevent lasing so
that the energy from the pump source can be stored in the active medium of the laser in
the form of excited atoms. Pulsed output can be obtained from many lasers using this type
of Q-switching, however, this technique does not work with lasers whose upper-state lifetime is too
short to store the sizeable energy. Cavity dumping is another method to generate short, powerful
pulses. It is different from Q-switching in the sense that in this case the energy is stored in the form
of the optical waves in the cavity and not in the population of excited states of the active
medium.

The cavity of a laser to be used for cavity dumping consists of two high reflective mirrors. That is,
this cavity has no partially transmitting mirror, the so-called output coupler. Light is totally
confined within the cavity. Lasing begins when the intra-cavity shutter is opened for
maximum transmission. As there is no light leaving the cavity, the Q factor of the cavity is
very high. As the laser begins to oscillate, the optical energy builds up in the cavity in the
form of the E.M. waves. All the light energy is stored inside a cavity. A component called the 'cavity
dumper', which is placed inside the cavity, is suddenly switched-on so that it deflects the light out
of the cavity. That is, this component 'dumps' all the stored light energy out of the cavity in one
pulse. In other words, we first build up the light energy inside the cavity, and than dump all the
stored energy in one go out of the cavity. Simple set up is shown in adjoining figure.

The component that may work as cavity dumper can be a transparent electro-optic or acousto-optic
switch, which, when switched on, can deflect the light out of the cavity with high efficiency.
Cavity dumpers can be used practically with any laser. The only point to see is that the optics
should have a high damage threshold? Pulse duration in cavity-dumped lasers is typically 1-2ns.


Mode locking:

In a laser resonator cavity, light waves reflect between the two mirrors continuously and as such
they interfere constructively and destructively with it self to form standing waves. We already
know from the previous section that standing waves that form a discrete set of frequencies are
called longitudinal modes. These modes are the only frequencies, which are allowed to oscillate by
the resonat cavity, the rest being suppressed by destructive intereference. If we consider a plane-
plane mirror geometry, only those modes, for which the the distance between the mirrors is an
exact multiple of half the wavelength of the light, will be allowed to oscillate. Even though the
laser is in fact nearly monochromatic, the modes are so close together that there can be many
thousands of modes within that narrow frequency range. A typical in-homogeneously broadened
laser cavity may support oscillations in many modes simultaneously. The output of such a laser as a
function of time depends on the relative phases, frequencies and amplitudes of the modes. If these
parameters are random and vary all time, the modes are incoherent. Further if there is no means
to choose modes, then random quantum "noise" will trigger modes randomly and laser action can
occur essentially continuously and with random phases with respect to other longitudinal modes. A
laser can oscillate on many longitudinal modes, with frequencies that are equally separated by
inter-modal spacing of v
F
= c/2L, where c and Lare velocity of light and the distance between the
resonator mirrors respectively. Normally, these modes oscillate independently without any fixed
phase relationship with each other. Although these modes oscillate independently and are usually
called free running modes, however external means can be used to couple them and lock their
phases together. If a mode operates with the other modes with a fixed phase relationship, then all
the modes will periodically interfere with each other constrctively, generating an intense pulse of
light. The laser is now said to be mode-locked or phase-locked. These high intensity pulses repeat
themselves in a time ( t ) taken by the light to make exactly one round trip of the laser cavity. This
time corresponds to, t = 1/v
F
= 2L/c.


Difference between mode locking and Q-switching:
- Mode locking is a technique for producing periodic, high power, short duration laser pulses.
Mode locking is achieved by forcing the longitudinal modes to maintain fixed phase
relationships. This can be accomplished by modulating the loss (or gain) of the laser cavity
at a frequency equal to the inter-modal frequency separation v
F
= c/2L. The basis of the
technique is to induce a fixed phase relationship between the modes of the laser's resonant
cavity. The laser is then said to bephase-locked or mode-locked. Interference between
these modes causes the laser light to be produced as a train of pulses. Depending on the
properties of the laser, these pulses may be of extremely brief duration, as short as a few
femtoseconds.
- Major difference between Q switching and mode locking is that in case of mode locking,
before generation of the output pulse the energy is stored in the intra-cavity light field,
whereas in case of Q- switching it is stored in the gain medium. The most important
advantage of mode locking is that this energy can be extracted within just one round-trip
time, independent of the time required for building up the intra-cavity power. Therefore,
the pulse duration achievable is more or less determined by the resonator length (provided
that the switching time of the modulator is not longer than the resonator round-trip time),
and is decoupled from the laser gain. This means that even for very high pulse repetition
rates, e.g. several megahertz, pulse durations of a few nanoseconds are still achievable.
- In case of Q switching, the number of radiation transits through the switch whether active
or passive, are usually few; in most cases just once. Whereas, in case of mode locking the
radiation transits through the switch large number of times.
- In case of Q-switching, the laser output is turned off by increasing the resonator loss i.e. by
spoiling the resonator quality factor Q periodically with the help of a modulated absorber
inside the resonator. Thus Q-switching is loss switching. Because the pump continues to
deliver constant power at all time, energy is stored in the atoms in the form of
accumulated population difference during the off (high loss) times. When the losses are
reduced during the on times, the large accumulated population difference is released,
generating short intense pulses of light.
- In case of mode locking, pulsed laser action is attained by coupling together the modes of
lasers and locking their phases to each other. For example, the longitudinal modes of a
multimode laser, which oscillates at frequencies that are equally separated by the inter-
modal frequency, v
F
= c/2L, may be made to behave in this fashion.

Mode locking Techniques:

The method used to obtain these operating conditions consists in using a rapid light modulator that
can chop the light in the cavity into periods of exactly the same length as a round trip. Thus, only
those photons allowed to pass through the modulator in its on state will be amplified and will
always find the modulator in this state after each round trip. The other photons elsewhere in the
cavity will be subject to losses when they travel through the modulator Active as well as passive
techniques have been employed to generate mode-locked laser pulses.

In case of active techniques, suppose that an optical switch for example, an electro-optic or
acousto-optic is placed inside the resonator, which blocks the light at all the times, except when
the pulse is about to cross it, whereupon it opens for the duration of the pulse. Since the pulse
itself is permitted to pass, it is not affected by the presence of the switch and the pulse train
continues uninterrupted. In the absence of phase locking, the individual modes have different
phases that are determined by the random conditions at the onset of their oscillation. If the
phases, by chance, happen to take equal of fixed values, the sum of the modes will form a giant
pulse that would not be affected by the presence of the switch. Any other combination of phases
would form a field distribution that is blocked by the switch, which adds to the losses of the laser
system. Therefore in the presence of a switch, only case where there is lasing is that the modes
have equal phases. The laser waits for the lucky accident of such phases, but once the oscillation
starts they continue to be locked.

As discussed earlier, in case of acousto-optic modulators, the devices usually work in the Bragg
regime. In such cases, the Bragg diffraction is given by



Where
0
, n and A are the wavelength of the light, refractive index and the acoustic wave,
respectively. This equation implies that the diffraction angle u is inversely proportional to acoustic
wavelength or in other words is linearly proportional to the acoustic frequency. It is also directly
proportional to the optical wavelength; thus, for a given acoustic frequency, higher the optical
wavelength, the larger the diffraction angle.

During the time the acoustic wave is produced, the incident laser light is scattered into a certain
direction (the first diffraction order); thus, it is lost for the direct pass of the laser light between
the mirrors of the cavity. About 90% of the incident light can be deflected. To obtain pulses, we
must switch the acoustic waves on and off. Devices operating in the range up to GHz frequencies
are available from industrial manufacturers.

In case of electro-optic shutters, the device, when placed in a laser cavity and driven with an
electrical signal, induces a small, sinusoidal varying frequency shift in the light passing through
it. If the frequency of modulation is matched to the round-trip time of the cavity, then some
light in the cavity sees repeated up-shifts in frequency, and some repeated downshifts. After
many repetitions, the up-shifted and downshifted light is swept out of the gain bandwidth of
the laser. The only light, which is unaffected, is that which passes through the modulator when
the induced frequency shift is zero, which forms a narrow pulse of light.

A shutter or modulator whose timing is accurately controlled externally is not necessary in passive
mode locked systems. If some material or mechanism could be used which automatically opens to
allow the pulses through but is closed otherwise, a self-adjusting modulator could be constructed.
In other words, the light pulse would open its own shutter when it arrived, rather than depending
on it being open upon arrival. Hence, if the pulse arrived early or late, the shutter would still open,
allow the pulse to pass through and then close. This method is referred to as passive mode locking.

A saturable absorber is an optical device that exhibits an intensity-dependent transmission. What
this means is that the device behaves differently depending on the intensity of the light passing
through it. For passive mode-locking, ideally a saturable absorber will selectively absorb low-
intensity light, and transmit light which is of sufficiently high intensity.

When placed in a laser cavity, a saturable absorber will attenuate low-intensity constant wave
light. However, because of the somewhat random intensity fluctuations experienced by an un-
mode-locked laser, any random, intense spike will be transmitted preferentially by the saturable
absorber. As the light in the cavity oscillates, this process repeats, leading to the selective
amplification of the high-intensity spikes, and the absorption of the low-intensity light. After many
round trips, this leads to a train of pulses and mode-locking of the laser.

Saturable absorbers are commonly liquid organic dyes, but they can also be made from doped
crystals and semiconductors. Semiconductor absorbers tend to exhibit very fast response times
(~100 fs), which is one of the factors that determines the final duration of the pulses in a
passively mode-locked laser

The advantage here is that both Q-switching and mode-locking can be carried out with th same dye.
Without going in to theoretical aspects, the following experimental points are note worthy. In a
configuration for obtaining mode-locked lasers, it is essetial that reflections from the two resonator
mirrors only should be confined in the laser cavity and the reflections from all the other surfaces of
components, should go out of the cavity. Therefore, the laser rod should be cut at a small angle
(and not perpendicular to the rod axis) and the dye cell containing saturable absorbable should be
kept at an angle to the laser axis or the dye cell should be in optical contact with the fully
reflecting mirror, to avoid etalon effects as well as avoiding spurious reflections from the surfaces
of other components. To reduce the stringent alignment requirements, one can employ curved
mirrors. The generation of TEMoo mode can be fecilitated by the use of a pin hole in the laser
cavity.

The minimum laser pulse width that can be obtained by Q-switching technique is around 10
nanoseconds by pulse reflection mode technique (limitation due to the pulse buildup time
requirement) and about a nano-second employing pulse transmission mode technique (limited by
the length of the cavity). Generation of pico-second and femto-second pulse widths is possible with
mode-locking technique.

Some important points regarding mode locked lasers:
- Inter-modal frequency separation v
F
= c/2L, where c and L are velocity of light and the
distance between the resonator mirrors respectively. Typically for a solid-state laser, if
the value of 'L' is 15 cm, so the inter-modal frequency separation is 1 GHz.
- Time ( t ) taken by the light to make exactly one round trip of the laser cavity is given
as t = 1/v
F
= 2L/c . This value is typically a nanosecond.
- No of modes present in the cavity are M, where

M = Av / v
F
, where Av is the atomic line width
- The period of pulse train is t = 2L/c. This is just the time for a single round trip of
reflection within the resonator.
- The mode locked pulse width t
pulse
is given as t
pulse
= t / M.
- The maximum output irradiance is equal to (ME
0
)
2
, where we have assumed for
simplicity that all M modes have the same amplitude E
0
.
- Typically an Nd
3+
: YAG laser having a line width of 100 GHz can support 100
modes and the minimum mode locked pulse width can be 10 ps.
- For Ti
3+
: Al
2
O
3
laser, having a line width of 100 THz, can support 100,000 modes and
the minimum mode locked pulse width can be 10 fs.
A simple mode locked laser pulse train is shown in the adjoining figure.

Gain, Small signal gain and Saturation Intensity

Since this section is discussing various aspects of gain, it is only appropriate to define small signal
gain, laser threshold, threshold pump power, saturation power, gain band width etc, understanding
of which are essential for the development of lasers.
- Small signal gain of a laser medium is the optical gain obtained for a weak input signal,
which does not produce gain saturation.
- The in put power for which the small signal gain is equal to the total cavity losses, is
defined as the laser threshold and the pump power for which the laser threshold is
reached is called threshold pump power. One has to reach a compromise between high
slope efficiency and low threshold power for optimization of the output.
- Loop gain is defined as the total net gain that is obtained for a round trip transmission
through the laser, after taking into account the losses.
- The saturation power is defined, as the power of that input signal, which in the steady
state produces a gain equal to one half of the value of its small signal gain.
- Gain bandwidth is the finite range of frequencies, in which gain is available.
Let us discuss these terms in detail.

We may recall that the stimulated laser cross-section R
21
(v) is given as



Where is the wavelength, n is the refractive index, A
21
is the Einstein coefficient and L (v) is the
spectral line shape function.

Under favorable conditions, stimulated emission can result in optical amplification. An external
source of energy such as flash lamp stimulates atoms from ground state to excited state. Under
certain conditions, it may create population inversion. When light of appropriate frequency passes
through this medium having population inversion, the incident photons stimulate the excited atoms
to emit additional photons of the same frequency, phase and direction resulting in an amplification
of the input intensity.

The population inversion is given as



Where g
1
and g
2
are degeneracy of energy levels 1 and 2 respectively.

We know that the population difference, AN
21
(N
2
- N
l
), is a function of E.M. energy density
I
incident
, i.e. the intensity of the E.M. radiation in the material.

This is so because both the stimulated emission and the absorption rates depend on I
incident
, and
these two processes determine the population difference. As I
incident
(or the intensity) increases in
the amplifier, it stimulates more and more excited atoms to emit photons.

This can only go on as long as the number of stimulating photons is less than the number of excited
atoms. Once the number of photons overtakes the number of excited atoms, the exponential
growth comes to an end

In terms of population of different levels, the population difference, AN
21
(N
2
- N
l
), can be
written in terms of intensity as:



Where I
s
is the saturation intensity and is given as



(N
2
- N
l
)
o
represents the population difference (population inversion) before interaction with the
E.M. radiation intensity, 'I' : 'h' is the Plank's constant, v is the frequency of light, R
21
is the
stimulated emission cross-section and t
u
is the upper state life time of the laser gain medium.
- It is clear from equation (2) that the population difference (N
2
- N
l
) decreases with
increasing intensity. When the incident intensity is equal to I
sat
, the population difference is
reduced to half of its original value.
Similar expression for the intensity dependent gain can be written in the following manner:

The output intensity of the stimulated emission, for small enough input intensity I(z), is given as



The product of R
21
(v) and AN
21
is known as small signal gain per unit length 'g
o
'



The small-signal gain coefficient represents the gain at very low intensities, at which the
population inversion has not been significantly affected (depleted) by the radiation.

Therefore,



Or



In case we also consider the losses in the material and a denotes the loss coefficient of the laser
material, then this equation becomes



The general gain coefficient equation for a laser-amplifying medium is given as



Where g
o
is the laser small signal gain coefficient, I is the intensity of the incident light on the gain
medium and I
s
is the gain medium saturation intensity, which is given as



Where h is the Plank's constant, v is the frequency of light, R
21
is the stimulated emission cross-
section and t
u
is the upper state life time of the laser gain medium.

Equation (1) indicates that for very small values of intensity 'I', gain 'G' is equal to small signal gain
'g
o
' . As intensity increases, the gain decreases; when it is equal to 'saturation intensity', the gain
becomes half.

As such, the saturation intensity IS is defined as the input intensity at which the gain of the
optical amplifier drops to exactly half of the small-signal gain.

With further increase in intensity, the gain further reduces drastically.

To summarize, as the intensity in the material increases, so does the rate of stimulated
emission, which acts to remove population from the upper level. This means that the degree
of population inversion is reduced with increasing intensity, which in turn means that the gain
is also reduced. The steady state condition corresponds to the case when the level of
stimulated emission is just sufficient to balance the increase due to pumping.


Importance of Saturation Intensity

The output of a laser depends on the energy stored in the laser material. The stored energy density
(J/cm
2
) E
st
in a laser material, is directly related to the pump energy E
pump
and is also modified by:
- The overlap of the pump spectrum to the absorption spectrum of the material
- The intrinsic efficiency of the material
- Lifetime of upper excited energy laser level.
- Saturation effects for very high pump energy densities.
- The small signal gain g
o
is directly proportional to population inversion, which in turn
depends on the stored energy. Under small signal gain conditions, the maximum
extractable energy is the product of stored energy E
st
and area.
- If E
st
is far greater than the saturation energy, the degree of stimulated emission increases
thereby reducing the population inversion and thus the reduction in output energy.
- If E
st
is less than the saturation energy, the degree of stimulated emission is less and thus
the output energy is not optimum.
- For efficient operation, lasers must operate with stored energy densities roughly
comparable their saturation energy density.
Saturation energy density of common laser materials:
Nd: YAG: 0.7 J/cm2
Nd: Glass: 5 J/cm2
Ti: Sapphire: 0.9 J/cm2
Alexandrite: 30 J/cm2


Higher saturation energy density in Nd: Glass and Alexandrite suggest that higher output energies
are possible in these materials.


Threshold Gain:

Letter 'a' in laser stands for amplification and obviously various aspects related to amplification is
the key to laser generation. Amplification or optical gain in the laser medium is hindered by the
cavity losses. The losses in the laser cavity make part of the available radiation not to take part in
the lasing process. The necessary condition for lasing is that the total gain in the system should be
a little higher than all the losses. This input energy is referred to as laser threshold. Although lasing
is supposed to start immediately when the input energy reaches above laser threshold, useful,
stable low noise performance and significant output can be obtained only much above laser
threshold, since for achieving low threshold and low cavity losses as well as high gain are a must.

The cavity losses are:

Absorption and scattering losses in the gain medium, mirrors and other optical components
- Spontaneous emission losses
- Diffraction losses due to finite sizes of components
- Radiation losses through the output coupler, it being a partial reflector (unavoidable as
partial reflectivity is essential for extracting the power from the laser)
In order to have a lower threshold and subsequent operation of an efficient laser system, one can
employ high optical quality components with low absorption and scattering, to reduce losses.
Radiation losses through the output coupler can be minimised by optimising its reflectivity. Thus
one can achieve a low loss situation.


Let us estimate the threshold gain condition.

As already stated, at laser threshold, the gain equals losses.

Let us consider a laser media of length 'l', reflectivity of output coupler R
2
and that of rear mirror
as R
1
= 100% or unity.

Let us imagine a wave of initial radiant power E
o
at the rear mirror.

Then the radiant power, E, without feedback is given as



Where g
o
is the single pass gain.

After one pass through the gain medium, the radiant power at the output coupler is E
1
is given as



Where o
i
is the loss coefficient.

After reflection from output coupler, the radiant power is E
2
, which is



After the next pass through the gain medium, the radiant power is E
3
, which can be written as



The beam has made one complete roundtrip pass through the system, after reflection from the rear
mirror (reflection coefficient =1).

To sustain laser oscillations, the new radiant power E
3
should be either equal or more than the
initial value. That is



Or



Which is the loop gain with feedback.

We already know that unless gain equals the loss, the steady state oscillations cannot be sustained.

The above equation can be rewritten as,



Or



After rearranging and taking log on both sides,



This is the threshold gain condition below which no laser oscillations can be sustained.

Therefore, threshold gain, g
o
(threshold) is



The above equation can be rewritten as,



Where




Laser parameter characterization:

Basic laser parameters are beam width, divergence, beam propagation factor, power, energy,
temporal characteristics, power and energy distribution. Accurate measurements of these
parameters are essential for the users as well as the manufacturers, to get the required results
from the laser products. Lasers are very expensive devices and lasers procured for a certain job will
fail, if the parameters expected from the systems are not met with, incurring heavy losses to the
user. Taking all these aspects in to account, International Standards have been generated to
characterize various parameters of lasers and optical components for the benefit of all concerned,
under the EUREKA project entitled Characterization of Optical Components Laser Beams
(CHOCOLAB). The aim of the EUREKA project is to develop accurate test methods for these
standards and to implement the same in the industry for various applications. Under the Vienna
agreement, draftm standards have been published both as EN ISO and ISO standards, to evaluate
the technical performance of both pulsed and CW lasers as well as to measure very accurately the
parameters mentioned above.

The standards listed below, are for laser equipments and optical components, the details of which
can be obtained from web site of American National Standards Institute.

ISO/DSO 11146 - This standard describes methods for accurate measurements of laser beam
properties like laser beam diameter, divergence angle and beam propagation factors.

ISO/DIS 11554 - This standard specifies methods for the evaluation of laser power, energy and
temporal characteristics for the accuracy and performance of the measurement system.

ISO/DIS 11670 - This standard is basically meant for laser beam positional stability for testing and
characterizing of lasers along with related symbols and terms.

ISO/DIS 12005 - This standard provides test methodology for quick measurement of not only the
polarization characteristics, but also the degree of polarization.

ISO/CD 13694 - This standard is meant for the measurement and characterization of spatial
properties power and energy density distribution functions at a given plane.

















TYPES OF LASERS
Introduction

A laser is composed of an active laser medium, or gain medium, and a resonant optical cavity. The
Laser gain medium transfers external energy into the laser beam. It is a material with controlled
purity, size, concentration, and shape, which amplifies the beam by the process of stimulated
emission. The laser gain medium, in general, is pumped, by an external energy source including a
flash lamp, another laser source, electric gas discharge, exothermic chemical reactions etc. . The
pump energy is absorbed by the laser medium, exciting some of its particles into high-energy state
where these can interact with light both by absorbing photons or by emitting photons. Under
certain conditions, as mentioned in earlier sections, the amount of stimulated emission due to light
that passes exceeds the amount of absorption resulting in amplification. Thus the basic components
of a laser are:
- Lasing material e.g. crystal, glass, gas, semiconductor, dye, etc.
- Pump source that adds energy to the lasing material, e.g. flash lamp, electrical current to
cause electron collisions, radiation from a laser, chemical reactions etc.
- Optical cavity, which consists of reflectors, acts as the feedback mechanism for light
amplification.
In this section, we would like to discuss various types of lasers like, solid state lasers,
semiconductor lasers, dye lasers, excimer lasers, gas lasers, gas dynamic lasers, chemical lasers, X-
Ray lasers, Free Electron lasers etc. Our intention is to provide salient features of various systems,
without going into intricate details. The reader is advised to go through the various references for
details at the end of the section.
SOLID STATE LASERS
Solid-state laser consists of a host and an active ion doped in the solid host material. The Active ion
must have sharp fluorescent line, broad absorption bands and high quantum efficiency for the
wavelength of interest. The host material must be strong, and fracture resistant, with high thermal
conductivity and high optical quality. Glasses and crystalline materials have shown to have these
characteristics, when doped with rare earth ions. Silicate glasses, phosphate glasses, crystalline
material like, garnets, aluminates, metal oxides, fluorides, molybdates, tungstates, etc, are very
good hosts. Important active ions are rare earth ions like, neodymium, erbium, holmium and
transition metals like, chromium, titanium, nickel, etc. Some of the important solid state lasers
are, Ruby, Nd:YAG, Nd:Glass, Nd:Cr:GSGG, Er:Glass, Alexandrite, Titanium: sapphire, etc.

Basic parts of a flash pumped solid-state laser are given in the adjoining figure. All the solid-state
laser materials used as the active medium have their absorption bands in the visible region.
Consequently, optical pumping with flash lamps having their emission spectra in the visible region is
used as the excitation mechanism. Flash lamp pumped Solid state lasers are, in general, very
inefficient, as only a very small region of the emission spectra is used in the absorption process,
absorption band of the active ion being very narrow and rest being unutilized. Pumping using Diode
lasers with precisely matching output with the absorption band of the active medium have
improved the efficiency of solid state lasers considerably, some times almost touching 100%. But
since the output power of the diode laser being rather low, solid-state laser output is also low. To
overcome this drawback, stacks of diodes are employed to increase their total output, thus
generating very high power laser giving as good as the flash lamp pumped laser systems. The real
advantage of a diode pumped solid-state laser that it is very compact, light weight and small in
size, with long life.


There are a large number of solid-state lasers and we will discuss only some of the very important
solid-state lasers and their salient features.


Pumping of Solid State Lasers

Pumping of the gain media is usually performed in one of the following forms:
- Optical pumping
- Electrical pumping
- Chemical pumping
So far as solid-state lasers are concerned, it is mainly the optical pumping, which is being used.
Optical pumping uses either cw or pulsed light emitted by a powerful lamp or a laser beam. Optical
pumping can be realized by light from powerful incoherent sources. The incoherent light is
absorbed by the active medium so that the atoms are pumped to the upper laser level. This method
is especially suited for solid state or liquid lasers whose absorption bands are wide enough to
absorb sufficient energy from the wide band incident incoherent light sources.

Optical pumping is a resonant process; the incident photon energy hv must be equal to the energy
differences between the excited states and normal states. We can express optical pumping as hv +
A A*, where A is the atom at normal state, A* is the corresponding atom at excited state. So if
there are lasers whose light wavelengths are within the absorption bands of the active medium, we
can use these laser lights for pumping. Since the bandwidth of laser light is very narrow, the
pumping efficiency can be very high. Laser pumping is not limited to solid-state lasers, it can also
be used for liquid and gas lasers. In fact diode laser pumping has become the dominant means of
optical pumping for reasons discussed below.

The first ever laser, the ruby laser reported by Maiman, was pumped with a discharge lamp viz.
flash lamp. Though not very efficient, still there are few advantages; for example:
- The price per watt of generated pump power is much lower for lamps, compared with laser
diodes used for diode pumping.
- Very high pump powers (particularly peak powers) can be generated.
- Lamps are fairly robust, e.g. quite immune to voltage or current spikes.
- However, device lifetime, power efficiency, cooling and thermal lensing are not really
important issues e.g. when a flash lamp is operated with low pulse repetition rate and low
average power, as required e.g. in engraving and marking systems.
Discharge lamps used for laser pumping can be grouped in two categories: arc lamps and flash
lamps. Arc lamps are usually optimized for continuous operation, whereas flash lamps find their
applications in pulsed lamps.

In most of the cases, laser rod and lamp are placed within an elliptical pump chamber with
reflective walls, so that a larger percentage of the generated pump light can be absorbed in the
laser rod (as shown in the figure). Cooled water or an ethylene glycol mixture is circulated to
remove the excess heat. In addition to rod geometries, slab lasers can also be pumped through
flash lamps. Here, an array of lamps pumps a slab through its large face, possibly from both sides.
The pump light may be injected through a layer of cooling fluid.


The main disadvantages associated with Flash lamp pumping includes:
- The lifetime of lamps is very limited - normally up to a few thousand hours.
- Flash lamps have a broad emission spectra (see adjoining figure) whereas the absorption
spectra of lasing media have more or less discreet absorption peeks. . As a result, most of
the optical energy being emitted by the flash lamp goes waste.


- The wall plug efficiency of the laser (electrical to optical efficiency) is low - typically ( few
percent. This results in a higher heat load, making necessary a more powerful cooling
system, and the strong thermal lensing and hence a poor beam quality.
- Electric power supplies for lamp-pumped lasers involve high electrical voltages, which raise
additional safety issues.
- The low pump brightness (compared with that achievable with diode lasers) and the broad
emission wavelength range exclude many solid-state gain media.
The second technique under optical pumping is through diode lasers .The lasers based on this type
of pumping are known as Diode Pumped Solid State Lasers (DPSSL) or sometimes the all-solid state
lasers.

Because optical pumping is a resonant process, the wavelengths of the pumping diode lasers must
be within the absorption bandwidth of the active medium to be pumped, the nearer to the
absorption peak wavelength the better. The adjoining figure show the absorption spectral of
Nd:YAG laser which has a peak absorption value at 810 nm. GaAs / AlGaAs quantum well (QW)
diode lasers operating at about 800 nm can be used to pump this laser. Likewise, Nd:Glass has a
absorption peak at 802 nm and thus can also be pumped by the same laser.


However, for Yb:YAG laser and Yb:glass laser, the best absorption wavelengths are 960 and 980 nm
respectively, we can pump them using InGaSa/GaAs strained quantum well (QW) lasers in the 950-
980 nm range.

In case of diode laser pumping, the absorption efficiency is about 0.90~0.98, whereas for flash lamp
pumping, it is about 0.17. Further the energy quantum efficiency for diode laser pumping is about
1.4 times as large as flash lamp pumping, with typical value of 0.82 and 0.59 respectively. So the
overall pumping efficiency of diode laser is about 7~8 times that of lamp pumping.

The advantage is quite clear. For normal pumping processes, because of the low efficiency of
pumping and the required high pumping power to maintain proper power output, a large fraction of
the pumping power is wasted as harmful heat. This heat has to be properly removed, i.e., the laser
has to be properly cooled to maintain proper working conditions. While for diode pumped lasers,
much of the absorbed power is used for final population inversion, the ratio of thermal generation
from the absorbed radiation power for diode laser pumping is much less than that for lamp
pumping. Thus the power required for diode pumping is far less than the lamp pumping; the
absolute value of thermal burden of diode laser pumping is also strikingly small compared with
lamp pumping. This makes it possible for more compact laser designs.

We can divide diode laser pumping into four types according to the degree of integration of the
diode lasers: single stripe, diode array, diode bar and diode stack. Normally the pumping power
increases with the integration degree.
- Low-power lasers (up to roughly 200 mW) can be pumped with small edge-emitting laser
diodes. These exhibit a diffraction limited beam quality and make it quite easy to achieve
the same for the solid-state laser.
- Broad area diodes typically generate several watts and are suitable for pumping solid-state
lasers with output powers up to a few watts. Their beam quality is quite asymmetric, but
normally still sufficient for achieving a diffraction-limited laser output without using
complicated optics.
- High power diode bars emit tens of watts (or even >100 W), allowing for higher output
powers, particularly when several bars are combined. Their beam quality is strongly
asymmetric and quite poor; as a result their radiance is much lower than that of lower-
power diodes. However, beam shapers are often used to improve the beam quality and to
make the beam symmetric.
- For the highest powers, diode stacks are often used. These have a still worse beam quality
and lower brightness, but can provide multiple kilowatts. We can stack the bars into a two
dimensional structure, it is reported that 1 cm long bars are stacked to form an emitting
area. The average power is about 100W/cm
2
, peak power 1kW/cm
2
.
There are basically two types of pump geometry, longitudinal pumping (pump beam enters the
laser medium along the resonator axis) and transverse pumping (pump beam incident on the active
medium from transverse directions to the resonator axis). For longitudinal pumping, the beam
needs to be concentrated to a small and circular spot. These two types of pumping viz. edge
pumping and side pumping are shown in the following figures.


The main advantages of diode pumping can be summarized as follows:
- The compactness of the pump source, the power supply and the cooling arrangement makes
the whole laser system much smaller and easier to use.
- A high electrical-to-optical efficiency of the pump source (order of 50%) leads to a high
overall power efficiency i.e. wall plug efficiency of the laser. As a consequence, small
power supplies are needed, and both the electricity consumption and the cooling demands
are drastically reduced, comparing with those for lamp-pumped lasers.
- The narrow optical bandwidth of diode lasers makes it possible to directly pump certain
transitions of laser-active ions without losing power in other spectral regions. It thus also
contributes to a high efficiency.
- Although the beam quality of high power diode lasers is poor, however, end pumping of
lasers provide very good overlap of laser mode and pump region, leading to high beam
quality and power efficiency.
- Diode-pumped low-power lasers can be pumped with diffraction-limited laser diodes. This
allows the construction of very low power lasers with reasonable power efficiency.
- The lifetime of laser diodes is long compared with that of discharge lamps: Further it is
much easier to replace laser diodes as compared to discharge lamps.
- Diode pumping makes it possible to use a very wide range of solid-state gain media for
different wavelength regions.
The main disadvantage of diode pumping (as compared to lamp pumping) is the significantly
higher cost per watt of pump power.

Ruby laser


The World's first solid-state laser, invented by Maiman in 1960, now has only a historical
importance. The laser host is Aluminium oxide (Al
2
O
3
) with triply ionized chromium (Cr
3+
) as the
active ion.

This first material used was synthetic ruby. Ruby is crystalline alumina (Al
2
O
3
) in which a small
fraction of the Al
3+
ions have been replaced by chromium ions, Cr
3+
. It is the chromium ions that
give rise to the characteristic pink or red color of ruby and it is in these ions that a population
inversion is set up in a ruby laser.

The two broad absorption regions centered on 400 nm and 550 nm are both used for optical
pumping of the ruby. Thus most of the useful pump light for a ruby rod lies in the blue-green
portion of the visible spectrum. In a ruby laser, a rod of ruby is irradiated with the intense flash of
light from xenon-filled flashtubes. Light in the green and blue regions of the spectrum is absorbed
by chromium ions, raising the energy of electrons of the ions from the ground state level to the
broad F bands of levels. Electrons in the F bands rapidly undergo non-radiative transitions to the
two metastable E levels. A non-radiative transition does not result in the emission of light; the
energy released in the transition is dissipated as heat in the ruby crystal. The metastable levels are
unusual in that they have a relatively long lifetime of about 4 milliseconds (4 x 10
-3
s), the major
decay process being a transition from the lower level to the ground state. This long lifetime allows
a high proportion more than a half) of the chromium ions to build up in the metastable levels so
that a population inversion is set up between these levels and the ground state level. This
population inversion is the condition required for stimulated emission to overcome absorption and
so give rise to the amplification of light. In an assembly of chromium ions in which a population
inversion has been set up, some will decay spontaneously to the ground state level emitting red
light of wavelength 694.3 nm in the process. This light can then interact with other chromium ions
that are in the metastable levels causing them to emit light of the same wavelength by stimulated
emission. As each stimulating photon leads to the emission of two photons, the intensity of the
light emitted will build up quickly through this cascading process.


The ruby laser is often referred to as an example of a three-level system. More than three energy
levels are actually involved but they can be put into three categories. These are; the lower level
form which pumping takes place, the F levels into which the chromium ions are pumped, and the
metastable levels from which stimulated emission occurs. It is a three level laser and as such
threshold for laser action is nearly 300 to 400 times when compared with Nd:YAG laser (four level
laser) of similar dimensions. Working of this laser has already been discussed earlier. Some
important properties of Ruby are listed below:


Important Properties of Ruby
Property Value
Density 3.98 g/cc
Melting Point 2040C
Young's Modulus 345 Gpa
Compressive Strength 2.0 Gpa
Hardness 9 Mhos, 2000 Knoop
Thermal Expansion
5.8 x 10
-6
/ C {20 to 50C} ; 7.7 x 10
-6
/ C {20 to
200C }
Thermal Conductivity
46.02 W / mK) { 0C } ; 25.10 W / mK) {100C} ;
12.55 W / mK) {400C}
Refractive index at 700 nm 1.7638 Ordinary Ray ; 1.7556 Extraordinary Ray
Birefringence 0.008
Refractive Index vs. Chromium
Concentration
3 x 10
-3
(n / % Cr
2
O
3
)
Crystallographic orientation, optical (c -
axis) to rod axis
60 within 5
Fluorescent Lifetime at 0.05% Cr2O3 3 ms at 300 K
Fluorescent Linewidth 5.0 at 300K
Output Wavelength 6.94.3 nm
Major Pump Bands 404 nm and 554 nm


Concept of Maiman's Ruby laser is shown below.


Other types of laser operate on a four level system and, in general, the mechanism of amplification
differs for different lasing materials. However, in all cases, it is necessary to set up a population
inversion so that stimulated emission occurs more often than absorption.

Neodymium Class of Lasers


Neodymium, with chemical symbol as Nd, is a chemical element belonging to the group of rare
earth metals. In laser technology, it is widely used in the form of the trivalent ion Nd
3+
as the laser-
active dopant of gain media based on various host materials, including both crystals and laser
glasses.

The strongest laser transition is that from
4
F
3/2
to
4
I
11/2
for 1064 nm, but other transitions are
available with longer or shorter wavelengths. In order to achieve lasing on those, lasing at the
1064-nm line needs to be suppressed by inserting an appropriate wavelength filter. Neodymium
atoms in the ground state absorb photons and are raised in energy to one of the pump bands. The
states in these bands have lifetimes on the order of 10
-8
seconds, and the atoms quickly drop to the
upper lasing level by radiation less transition. The upper lasing level,
4
F
3/2
, has a fluorescent
lifetime of about 0.3 msec. A population inversion develops and lasing occurs, with the atoms
dropping to the lower lasing level. his level is very close to the ground state, and excited atoms
rapidly return to the ground state by another radiation less transition.

The population in level
4
I
11/2
quickly reduces to zero as excited species jump to the ground
state
4
I
9/2
via multi-phonon emission.

Since the lifetime of the lower states is much smaller than that of the upper states, there is
normally negligible population in all these levels, so that neodymium-doped gain media exhibit
pure four - level behaviour.


The greatest consideration in the design of a solid-state laser is spectral matching of the pump
source to the absorption spectrum of the laser rod. Xenon flashlamps provide the most efficient
operation of ruby lasers. Krypton arc lamps and flashlamps are best with neodymium lasers. The
krypton flashlamp produces most of its output light in the infrared region of the absorption bands
of Nd:YAG and Nd:glass. Thus, it is the best spectral match for these laser materials. Krypton
flashlamps are however, not widely used because of their cost. They are far more expensive than
xenon lamps, and the xenon lamps also have sufficient output in the desired spectral region, thus
making their lower efficiency acceptable.

The most common neodymium-doped gain media are:
- Nd:YAG = Nd:Y
3
Al
5
O
12
(yttrium aluminum garnet,) : the classical choice for 1064 nm, but
also usable at 946 nm and 1320 nm (and a few other lines); isotropic; still very common
particularly for high power lasers and Q - switched lasers.
The most studied of all the solid state lasers, Nd:YAG was lased in 1964. In Nd:YAG laser, YAG is the
host and triply ionized neodymium (Nd
3+
) is the active ion responsible for the laser output at 1064
nm wavelength. It is a four level laser with high fluorescence efficiency. An Nd:YAG rod of 75mm
length and 6mm diameter lases at a very low threshold of less than a Joule with a matching pulse
forming network and a xenon-krypton gas mixture flash lamp. It has a high thermal conductivity
and can be cooled with fluid coolant efficiently and produce high output at repetition rate of 400
pulses per second (pps) or better. But its efficiency is around 1% due to its very narrow absorption
bands; consequently most of the visible output of the flash lamp is unutilized. Typical neodymium
doping concentrations are of the order of 1% (atm.). High doping concentrations can be
advantageous e.g. because they reduce the pump absorption length, but too high concentrations
lead to quenching of the upper state lifetime via up conversion processes. The YAG absorption lines
form sharp spikes within closely packed bands. The two important pumping bands in Nd:YAG lasers
are in the regions of 730-760 nm and 790-820 nm. Since both of these bands are in the near
infrared, these wavelengths are the most desirable for optical pumping of YAG lasers.

Water cooling of the rod combined with the high thermal conductivity of YAG provides a cooling
effect sufficient that small-diameter Nd:YAG laser rods may be operated in the CW mode. YAG is
the only widely used solid-state laser material capable of CW operation, although other CW solid-
state lasers are under development.
- Nd:Cr:GSGG laser: Nd
3+
is the active ion in this case also, the host being gadolinium
scandium gallium garnet (GSGG), sensitized with Cr
3+
. GSGG is a material with higher
fracture limit and sensitization with triply ionized chromium (Cr
3+
) gives it a far better
efficiency, compared to Nd:YAG, because Cr
3+
absorbs the unutilized part of the emission
spectra of the flash lamp and emits in the band corresponding to the absorption band of
Nd
3+
ion. Its lasing wavelength is 1064 nm.
- Nd: YVO
4
(yttrium vanadate,) for 1064 nm, 914 nm and 1342 nm: very high pump and laser
cross sections and larger gain bandwidth, compared with Nd:YAG, thus particularly
attractive for low - threshold lasers; also good properties for high power operation with
good beam quality (low dn/dT); birefringent
- Nd:YLF = Nd:YLiF
4
(yttrium lithium fluoride) for 1047 nm and 1053 nm: birefringent, long
upper state life time, weak thermal lensing: useful for high power Q switched lasers.
- Nd:GdVO
4
(gadolinium vanadate) for 1064 nm and 1341 nm: similar to Nd:YVO
4
, but having
a larger gain bandwidth.
- Nd:GGG (gadolinium gallium garnet): often used for high power heat capacity lasers
- Nd:YAP ( yttrium aluminum phosphate) : high thermal conductivity, birefringent
- Nd:glass : Neodymium atoms are also used as the active elements in Nd:glass lasers. The
doping level is usually 1% or less. The absorption spectrum and energy-level diagrams of
Nd:glass are similar to those of Nd:YAG, but the glass absorption peaks are much broader
and less distinct. The reason for this is that glass is not a crystalline structure as is YAG.
Glass is a supercooled fluid and has a random amorphous structure. Neodymium ions in a
YAG crystal all have the same spacing from neighboring atoms and very similar
environments. In glass the atomic distances and distribution are random, and each ion has a
different environment. This causes the energy levels of different ions to shift differently,
broadening all the absorption and emission lines considerably. This also results in a
somewhat longer lifetime for the upper lasing level. This means that Nd:glass has a higher
efficiency than Nd:YAG in the pulsed mode and a broader output linewidth.
As glass has a much lower thermal conductivity than YAG implying that the waste heat is retained
in the lasing material longer, resulting in a greater temperature rise. For this reason the transition
from the lower lasing level to the ground state in Nd:glass occurs much more slowly as the laser
temperature rises during operation. This quickly quenches lasing and requires that Nd:glass lasers
operate in the pulsed mode only.

Though this laser also is a four level laser with Nd
3+
as the active laser ion, it cannot generate
output at high repetition rate due to its very low thermal conductivity, but it can produce much
higher energy output as compared to Nd:YAG laser. As both silicate glasses and phosphate glasses
are used as hosts; depending on the hosts lasing is at 1061 nm or 1054 nm respectively. Nd:glass
lasers typically can be pulsed only once every few seconds, but the larger rods can deliver pulse
energies of several hundred joules for relatively small systems and kilojoules for larger ones. They
are the most efficient solid-state lasers, and the least expensive. This makes glass popular where
high-energy pulses are required. Finally, these neodymium-doped glasses (mostly silicate and
phosphate glasses) can be used for laser applications. However, silicate glasses are often more
attractive for neodymium-doped optical fibers, which are suitable for fiber lasers and amplifiers.

In all these media (except for glasses), the neodymium dopant ions replace other ions (often
yttrium) of the host medium, which have about the same size.


Some Important properties of Nd:YAG crystals are given below :
Property Value
Chemical formula Nd
3+
:Y
3
Al
5
O
12

Crystal structure Cubic
Density 4.56 g/cm
3

Moh hardness 8 to 8.5
Young's modulus 280 GPa
Tensile strength 200 MPa
Melting point 1970 C
Thermal conductivity 10 to 14 W / m K)
Thermal expansion coefficient 7 to 810
-6
/K
Birefringence None (only thermally induced)
Refractive index at 1064 nm 1.82
Temperature dependence of refractive index 7 - 10 x 10
-6
/K
Nd density for 1% atm. doping 1.361020 cm
-3

Fluorescence lifetime 230 s
Absorption cross section at 808 nm 7.7 10
-20
cm
2

Emission cross section at 1064 nm 2810
-20
cm
2

Gain bandwidth 0.6 nm

Ytterbium doped class of solid-state lasers


Ytterbium is a chemical element belonging to the group of rare earth metals having chemical
symbol as Yb. Presently, it has acquired a prominent role in the form of the trivalent ion Yb
3+
,
which is used as a laser-active dopant in a variety of host materials, including both crystals and
glasses. It is often being used for high power lasers and for wavelength- tunable solid-state lasers.
Energy levels of Yb
3+
ions in Yb:YAG, and the usual pump and laser transitions are shown in the
adjoining figure.


Ytterbium-doped laser crystals and glasses have a number of interesting properties, which differ
from those e.g. of Nd: doped host materials.
- They have a very simple electronic level structure, with only one excited state manifold
(
2
F
5/2
) within reach from the ground state manifold (
2
F
7/2
) with near-infrared photons.
- Pumping and amplification involve transitions between different sublevels of the ground
state and excited state manifolds.
- The quantum defect is always rather small, making them suitable for high power lasers.
- The gain bandwidth of the laser transitions is typically quite large, compared to Nd : doped
crystals thus making them suitable for applications involving wide wavelength tuning,
generation of ultra short pulses in mode - locked lasers.
- The upper state life times are relatively long; typically of the order of 1-2 milliseconds,
which is beneficial for Q - switching.
In addition to neodymium and ytterbium, there are other dopants have also been attempted in YAG
crystals and laser glasses. For example, Erbium doped laser materials can emit at various
wavelengths e.g. Er: Glass laser emits radiation at 1540 nm 1.54 m, suitable for eye-safe laser
applications; Er:YAG emitting at 2.94 m and is used in dentistry and for skin resurfacing: Er:YAG
can also emit at 1645 nm and 1617 nm, as well as at 550 nm and 561 nm; Er:YLF emits at 1730nm
and Er:GSGG emits at 2.8 m.

Active elements from Erbium doped Yttrium Scandium Gallium Garnet crystals (Er:Y
3
Sc
2
Ga
3
0
12
or
Er:YSGG) single crystals are designed for diode pumped solid-state lasers radiating in the 3 m
range. Er:YSGG crystals show the potential of their application alongside with the widely used
Er:YAG, Er:GGG and Er:YLF crystals. Flash lamp pumped solid-state lasers based on Cr,Nd and
Cr,Er doped Yttrium Scandium Gallium Garnet crystals (Cr,Nd:Y
3
Sc
2
Ga
3
0
12
or Cr,Nd:YSGG and
Cr,Er:Y
3
Sc
2
Ga
3
0
12
or Cr,Er:YSGG) have a higher efficiency than those based on Nd:YAG and Er:YAG.
Active elements prepared from YSGG crystals are optimum for medium power pulse lasers with the
repetition rates up to several tens of cycles.


Comparative generation characteristics:
Crystal type Er:YSGG Er:YAG
Er concerntation, at. % 38 33
Pumping wavelength, nm 966 964
Stimulated radiation wavelength, m 2.797; 2.823 2.830
Generation threshold, mW 72 418
Max. Power output at pumping power 720 mW, 966 nm 201 51
Slope efficiency, % 31.1 16.9


The advantages of YSGG crystals compared with YAG crystals, however, are lost when large
size elements are used because of the inferior thermal characteristics of YSGG crystals.

Eye Safe Lasers


For a given power levels, Lasers emitting in a wavelength region with relatively low hazards for the
human eye are known as eye-safe lasers. Lasers with emission wavelengths longer than 1.4 m
usually fall in this category of "eye-safe", because light in that wavelength range is strongly
absorbed in the eye's lens and thus cannot reach the significantly more sensitive retina.
Wavelengths between 400 nm and 1400 nm are focused by the curved cornea and lens on to the
retina; the optical gain is about 100,000-200,000 times. Viewing a laser beam or Point Source will
focus all the light on a very small area of the retina, resulting in a greatly increased power density
and an increased chance of damage.


Obviously, the quality "eye-safe" depends not only on the emission wavelength, but also on the
power level and the optical intensity, which can reach the eye. With sufficient power, as e.g.
reached with a fiber amplifier or with a Q- switched laser, the eye can of course still be damaged,
e.g. by overheating the eye's lens. Threshold energy density for retinal damage at 1064 nm
(Nd:YAG) is 10
-6
J/cm
2
and at 694.3 nm (Ruby) it is 10
-7
J/cm
2
. For laser wavelengths above 1400
nm, damage to the retina occurs at very high energy density, since the transmission of the eye is
negligible as shown in the adjoining figure. For example, Er:Glass laser emits radiation at 1540 nm
and threshold density of retinal damage is 1J/cm
2
. Such high energy density is not normally
encountered at work place and these types of lasers are eye safe.

Solid-state lasers have been designed to operate at various wavelengths, but the band of
wavelengths from about 1.4 mm to 1.6 mm is of great interest because of eye safety reasons.
Maximum permissible exposure levels for eye in this band are several orders of magnitudes greater
than invisible and one micron band [ANSI, Z136.1-1993]. Er: Glass class of lasers is gaining much
attention due to its radiation wavelength of 1540 nm which is not only safe for eye, but can also be
used for rage finder applications as there is an atmospheric window for this wavelength.

On the other hand, eye-safe lasers in the range of 2 - 3 m wavelength are being used in the fields
of coherent Doppler velocimetry, gas detection, space applications and medical operations since
water exhibits a strong absorption spectrum in this wavelength region. Er: YAG laser, which emits
at 2.94 m, also falls in this category. Unlike in Nd:YAG lasers, the frequency of Er:YAG lasers is
strongly absorbed by water due to atomic resonances. This restricts its use in range finder
applications and many other laser applications e.g. surgery, which have water present. Because of
this limitation Er:YAG lasers are far less common than relatives such as Nd:YAG and Er: glass.

In addition to the Er: glass, which is the main workhorse in the area of eye-safe lasers, some of the
other flash pumped eye safe solid state lasers are Thulium doped YAG, Tm
3+
:YAG ( around 2 m ),
Holmium doped YAG, Ho:YAG ( 2.1 m ), Chromium doped YAG , Cr
4+
:YAG ( 1.35 - 1.55 m ) ,
Er:YLF (1730nm), Er:YAG (2940nm), Er:Cr:GSGG ( 2.8m) and Ho:YLF (2060nm).

Since wavelength around 1.5 micron is of interest, apart from direct generation of this eye safe
laser radiation, it has also been generated by shifting the 1064nm output of Nd:YAG to 1540nm by
Stimulated Raman Scattering (SRS) technique. Other commonly used technique is based on optical
parametric oscillators (OPOs), which involves KTP and periodically poled KTP (PPKTP) crystals.

The energy level diagram of Erbium in glass matrix is shown in the adjoining figures along with the
typical absorption and emission cross-sections for the most prominent 4I13/2 4I15/2 transition in
Er
+3
spectra.




Table lists the important properties of these erbium-doped glasses. Recently Ytterbium and
chromium have also been co-doped with erbium for 1.54-micron applications. Erbium laser glass
with Yb ion doping has been found suitable for microlaser system using moderate power diode
pumping laser system (DPSS). Using these glasses, the cw 1540 nm has also been obtained with good
beam quality and stable output. Chromium co-doping with erbium, on the other hand, in laser
glasses are especially suitable for the high power xenon lamp-pumping laser.


Properties of Er: doped Laser Glasses
Property Value
Center lasing wavelength 1.535 m
Stimulated emission cross section 8.0 x 10
-21
cm
2

Fluorescence life time 7.9 msec
Refractive index 1.533 at 0.6 m: 1.521 at 1.535 m
Temp coeff. Of refractive index, dn/dt -10 x 10
-7
/C between 20 - 40C
Transformation temp 450C
Softening temp 485C
Thermal coeff of expansion 8.2 x 10
-6
/C between 20 - 40C
Density 2.90 g / cc

Tunable Lasers


Normally, stimulated emission in solid-state laser is in the form of photons. But it is possible to
couple stimulated emission of photons with the phonons, the vibrational quanta of lattice, where
the fixed total energy of laser transition can be partitioned between photons and phonons in a
continuous way. This has resulted in a new class of solid-state laser called vibronic laser, where a
phonon is emitted or absorbed with each electronic transition. Historically, the first tunable
vibronic laser, Nickel doped in Magnesium Fluoride (Ni:MgF
2
) was lased in 1963 at Bell Labs. This
followed by a series of vibronic lasers, using nickel, vanadium, cobalt etc. as the dopant material
and MnF
2
, MgO, MgF
2
, ZnF
2
etc. as the host crystal. All these flash pumped lasers worked at
cryogenic temperature. Optically pumped Ho:BaY
2
F
6
was the first tunable vibronic laser to operate
at room temperature. It can be seen from literature that, chromium (Cr
3+
) plays a very important
role, as dopant, in many of the tunable solid-state lasers. In tunable lasers, output is tunable from
visible to infra-red. Some of the important tunable lasers are Alexandrite (BeAl
2
O
4
), Emerald
(Be
3
Al
2
Si
6
O
18
) and Titanium:sapphire (Ti:Al
2
O
3
) lasers.

Alexandrite laser


Alexandrite laser was invented in 1974. The laser material is Cr
3+
doped chrysoberyl (Cr
+3
:BeAl
2
O
4
).
It is tunable from 700 to 820nm, is mechanically strong, chemically stable, has high average power
capability, high thermal coefficient, performs better at higher temperature, can be Q-switched and
can also be made to lase in the CW mode. As a 3-level system its function is very much akin to that
of the ruby laser and lases at a fixed wavelength of 680nm, has high threshold for laser action with
low efficiency. As a 4-level laser its function is that of a vibronic laser: that is, phonons, as well as
photons, are emitted during lasing. The wavelength tuning is accomplished by controlling the
branching of energy between phonons and photons during lasing. Alexandrite lasers have been
tuned across most of the spectrum between 701 and 860 nm. The central part of the tuning range is
from 700 - 820 nm. Using non-linear wavelength conversion processes such as harmonic generation
and Raman shifting, light has been generated at wavelengths from the deep IR (20 m) to the VUV.
In addition to its broad absorption bands throughout the visible spectrum, alexandrite exhibits
narrow R line absorption features at wavelengths near 680 nm. These properties together with its
long fluorescence lifetime make it an excellent material for both flashlamp and diode pumping.
Alexandrite's thermo-mechanical properties make it an excellent performer in high power laser
applications.

Material Properties of Alexandrite (Cr
+3
: BeAl
2
O
4
)
Property Value
Operating wavelength 700 - 820 nm
Crystal structure Rhombic
Lattice parameters a = 5.47 : b = 9.39 : c = 4.42
Hardness 8.5 mohs
Density, 3.79 g/cm3
Refractive index 1.74 - 1.75
Axial characteristic Biaxial
Thermal conductivity 0.23 W/cm K
Stimulated emission cross-section at 300K 3.0 x 10
-19
cm
2

Lifetime 260 x 10
-6
sec
Absorption loss at 750 nm 0.001 - 0.003 cm
-1

Cr dopant concentration, 0.03 - 0.50 at. %


Simplified energy level diagram of alexandrite, as a 4-level laser, shown here.


It may be noticed that the upper laser level meta-stable level in the figure) is above the energy
storage level and consequently the upper lasing level gets more populated from the transitions
from the storage level with the rise in temperature of the system. The resulting transitions to
ground level are vibronic in nature. i.e. photon emission is accompanied by lattice phonon creation
giving rise to 4-level operation.

Emerald laser


Room temperature operation of alexandrite laser induced the search for other materials with
similar properties, which resulted in the development of emerald laser in 1980. Chromium doped in
beryllium aluminium silicate (Cr
3+
in Be
3
Al
2
Si
6
O
18
) is the common name for emerald. It is a vibronic
4-level laser. The gain and emission cross-section of emerald is almost twice that of alexandrite. It
has lower lasing threshold compared to alexandrite and ruby has many similarities with alexandrite
like working better at higher temperature and excitation by flash lamps. Further, it is tunable from
730nm to 840nm and can be Q-switched and mode-locked. With its wide spectral bandwidth, it is
capable of generating ultra-short pulses. Emerald, like alexandrite operates in a vibronic four level,
phonon terminated mode and exhibits gain over a 695-835 nm wavelength range. Its broad
fluorescence bandwidth, together with a high gain cross section and 65 s room temperature
fluorescence lifetime, make emerald an excellent laser material for high power, Q-switched, or
mode-locked operation. Highly efficient quasi-cw (continuous-wave) laser operation has been
achieved in emerald over the 720-842 nm tuning range.

Titanium:sapphire laser (Ti
3+
:Al
2
O
3
)


Titanium:sapphire laser is an important member of the family of vibronic lasers. In this case
trivalent titanium is doped in the sapphire host material. Presently, it is the most widely used
crystal for wavelengths tunable lasers. It combines the excellent thermal, physical and optical
properties of Sapphire with the broadest tunable range of any known material. It can be lased over
the entire band from 660 to 1100 nm. Frequency doubling provides tunability over the blue-green
region of the visible spectrum. Ti:Sapphire crystals are active media for highly efficient tunable
solid-state lasers. They demonstrate good operation in the pulsed-periodic, quasi-CW and CW
modes of operation. Ti:Sapphire is a 4-level, Vibronic laser with fluorescence lifetime of 3.2 - 3.6
m. The peak of the absorption band is 490 - 500 nm which makes it an excellent material for
pumping with a variety of sources operating in the green-argon ion, copper vapour, frequency-
doubled Nd:YAG or Nd: YLF, and dye lasers are routinely used. Excitation by flash lamp is very
difficult due to its short fluorescence lifetime at room temperature. Nevertheless, flash lamp
pumping was carried out in 1984 employing a coaxial flash lamp, operating with a pulse width of 5
s. These flash lamps were specially designed to allow short fluorescence lifetime. These factors
and broad tunability make it an excellent replacement for several common dye lasing materials.
Peter Moulton was the first scientist, who demonstrated this laser in 1982.

Titanium-doped sapphire (Ti
3+
:sapphire) is also a widely used transition metal doped gain medium
for femtosecond solid state lasers. Immediately after its demonstration, Ti:sapphire lasers quickly
replaced most of the dye lasers, which had previously dominated the fields for ultrashort pulse
generation and widely wavelength tunable lasers. These ultra short pulses from Ti:sapphire lasers
can be generated using passive mode locking, where a pulse duration around 100 fs is easily
achieved. However, using advanced precision dispersion compensation techniques, pulses of the
order of 5 - 10 fs have also been obtained. Ti:sapphire lasers are also very convenient for pumping
test setups of new solid state lasers such as based on neodymium or ytterbium doped gain media,
since they can easily be tuned to the required pump wavelength and allow to work with very high
pump brightness due to their excellent beam quality and high output power of typically several
watts.

Properties of Er: doped Laser Glasses
Property Value
Crystal structure Hexagonal
Lattice parameters a = 4.748 ; c = 12.957
Axial characteristic Uniaxial
Tuning range 660 - 1100 nm
Pumping range 450 - 532 nm
Ti dopant concentration 0.02 - 0.35 at. %
Refractive index 1.76
Birefringence 0.0082
Density 3.98 g/cm3
Hardness 9 Mohs
Thermal conductivity at 25C 0.33 - 0.35 W / cm K
Specific heat at 18C 761 J / kg K
Thermal expansion coefficient (20 - 100C) (4.78 - 5.31) x 10-6 / K
Absorption coefficient at 510 nm 0.5 - 2.5 cm-1


The adjoining figure shows the energy diagram of the absorption and emission bands of the 3d1
Ti
3+
ion. In the diagram, the 2T2 level is the ground state, while the 2E level is the excited state.
The closely spaced vibrational sublevels broaden the electronic energy levels. The Ti:sapphire laser
is called a vibronic laser because of the close blending of the electronic and vibrational
frequencies.


The absorption band of Ti
3+
is in the blue green spectral region, whereas the emission spectrum is
slightly red shifted as shown in the figure given here:


Special properties of the Ti:sapphire gain medium can be summarized as follows:
- Sapphire monocrystalline Al
2
O
3
) has an excellent thermal conductivity, alleviating thermal
effects even for high laser powers and intensities.
- The Ti
3+
ion has a very large gain bandwidth much larger than that of rare earth doped
gain media), allowing the generation of very short pulses as well as wide wavelength
tenability.
- The maximum gain and laser efficiency is obtained around 800 nm. The possible tuning
range is 650 nm to 1100 nm, although different mirror sets are normally required for
covering this huge range, and exchanging mirror sets is a somewhat tedious task. However,
the number of required using ultra broadband mirrors could reduce mirror sets.
- There is also a wide range of possible pump wavelengths, which however are located in the
green spectral region, where powerful laser diodes are not available. In most cases, several
watts of pump power are used, sometimes even up to 20 W. Originally, Ti:sapphire lasers
were in most cases pumped with 514-nm argon ion lasers, which are powerful, but very
inefficient, expensive to operate, and bulky. Other kinds of green lasers, which are now
being widely used, are frequency doubled solid-state lasers based on neodymium doped
gain media such as Nd: YAG, Nd: YLF.
- The upper state lifetime is rather short (3.2 - 3.6 s), and the saturation power is very high.
This means that the pump intensity needs to be rather high, so that a strongly focused
pump beam and thus a pump source with high beam quality is required.
- Despite the huge emission bandwidth, Ti:sapphire has relatively high laser cross sections,
which reduces the tendency of Ti:sapphire lasers for Q - switching instabilities.


If the requirements in terms of pulse duration and output power are less stringent, Ti: sapphire
lasers may be replaced with Cr:LiSAF (LiSrAlF
6
) or Cr:LiCAF (LiCaAlF
6
) lasers, which can be pumped
at longer (red) wavelengths, where laser diodes are available. These Cr: doped materials are
promising new solid-state laser material with a reasonably good tuning range. In the case of LiCAF,
the peak lasing wavelength is at 780 nm with a tuning range from 720 to 840 nm. Whereas LiSAF has
an even wider tuning range, covering 780-1010 nm with peak lasing wavelength is at 825 nm.

Nonlinear frequency conversion can be used to further extend the range of emission wavelengths of
a Ti: sapphire laser system. The simplest possibility is frequency doubling to access the blue,
ultraviolet and green spectral region. Another approach is to pump an optical parametric oscillator
(OPO), offering a wide tuning range in the near or mid infrared spectral region.


The output wavelengths of the OPOs are usually tuned by changing the pump Ti: sapphire
wavelength. This technique of tuning the OPO wavelength is mechanically simpler than the more
common technique of angle-tuning the OPO crystal (which requires a physical rotation of the OPO
crystal). In addition, it avoids the redirection of the output beam due to crystal rotation. Another
advantage of pump-wavelength tuning is that it is possible to achieve rapid tuning with no moving
parts by using an electronically tunable Ti: sapphire laser. The Ti: sapphire laser can be tuned using
a conventional multi-plate birefringent filter. A typical OPO based frequency conversion set up for
obtaining wavelengths in the range of 1.5 and 2.5 m for LIDAR applications is given in the
adjoining figure.

A diode-pumped Nd:YLF or Nd: YAG laser is frequency doubled using to pump Ti: sapphire laser.
Tuning of the Ti: sapphire laser can be accomplished by the computer-controlled, stepper-motor
rotation of a birefringent filter or electro-optical or acousto-optical elements. This tunable
radiation is subsequently used to pump one of two optical parametric oscillators to produce tunable
mid-IR radiation. Frequency doubling can be accomplished using non-linear crystals like KTP
(Potassium titanyl phosphate: KTiOPO
4
) or LBO (Lithium Triborate: LiB
3
O
5
), whereas OPO materials
like RTA (Rubidium titanyl arsenate: RbTiOAsO
4
), CTA (cesium titanyl arsenate : CsTiOAsO
4
), RTP (
Rubidium titanyl phosphate :RbTiOP0
4
), can be finally used for obtaining the wavelengths in the
range of 2-5 micron.

It is worth mentioning that materials like Potassium Titanyl Arsenate (KTiOAsO4 or KTA) is an
excellent optical non-linear crystal developed recently for non-linear optical and electro-optical
device applications. The non-linear optical and electro optical coefficients are higher in these
materials as compared to KTP and they have the added benefit of significantly reduced absorption
in the 2.0 - 5.0 m region. The large non-linear coefficients are combined with broad angular and
temperature bandwidths. Additional advantages of the Arsenates are low dielectric constants, low
loss tangent and ionic conductivities orders of magnitude less than KTP. Single crystals of these
Arsenates are chemically and thermally stable, non-hygroscopic and are highly resistant to high
intensity laser radiation. Crystals of KTA are important for second harmonic generation (SHG), sum
and difference frequency generation (SFG)/(DFG), optical parametric oscillation (OPO),
electrooptical Q-switching and modulation and as substrates for optical waveguides. OPO devices
based on these crystals are reliable, solid state sources of tunable laser radiation exhibiting energy
conversion efficiencies above 50%. KTA has a very high damage threshold. No optical damage has
been observed at the levels of 10 - 20 GW/cm
2
with the picoseconds dye laser pulses.


Wavelength selection

In tunable lasers, wavelength selection is an essential requirement. Some of the wavelengths tuning
techniques for selecting a specified wavelength are the use of prism, grating, intra-cavity etalon,
birefringent filter etc. The most commonly used technique is the birefringent filter, which was
demonstrated in 1973. It consists of a single thin birefringent material located inside the laser
cavity at the Brewster angle, with the birefringent axis lying in the plane of the crystal. If the
wavelength of interest corresponds to an integral number of full wave retardation, laser functions
as if the filter is absent and the specific wavelength is emitted. The laser polarization is modified
for any other wavelength and suffers heavy losses at the Brewster surfaces. The losses for the
unwanted wave lengths can be increased by increasing the number of crystal plates, which are
similarly aligned. By rotating the birefringent crystal in its own plane, the wavelength tunability is
achieved.


The adjoining figure depicts the birefringent tuning element employed in most of the tunable
lasers. The birefringent element is usually made of crystal quartz or calcite and is mounted at
Brewster's angle. Light traveling through this element is resolved into two components, one
polarized along the fast axis and one polarized along the slow axis. These two components travel at
different speeds and, thus, become more out-of-phase as they travel through the element. The
thickness of this element is adjusted such that it results in a retardation of one full wavelength for
the wavelength of interest for the slow ray. When this element is used where wavelength band is
present and passes through it, only one of the wavelengths will actually be retarded by exactly one
wavelength. Other wavelengths will be retarded slightly more or less. The wavelength that is
retarded by exactly one full wavelength will emerge with its polarization unchanged. All other
wavelengths will have an elliptical polarization with a horizontal component. These horizontal
components will be reflected from Brewster's-angle surfaces in the system, producing losses for all
wavelengths except the one passed unchanged by the filter.

Additional filter elements can be added to achieve narrower bandwidths. The second element is
twice the thickness of the first, and the third element is four times the thickness of the first. Each
additional element further reduces the output line width.

The birefringent filter is tuned by rotation about an axis perpendicular to its optical surfaces. If the
filter is positioned so that its "slow" axis is horizontal, the slow component of the light experiences
the greatest retardation. The angle between the slow axis and the light transmission direction
changes with the rotation of the filter. It becomes minimum when the slow axis lies in a vertical
plane. Reduction of this angle also reduces the retardation effect. This allows the slow ray to travel
faster as the slow axis becomes more vertical. Under these conditions, a different wavelength will
experience exactly one full wave retardation at different angular orientations of the filter.

Ceramic Lasers


Solid-state laser technologies made a significant progress last decade. Major part of this progress is
attributed to the laser diode (LD) pumping. In the late nineties, the new solid-state laser material,
ceramic YAG, achieved prominence because of its tremendous application potential. Two Japanese
groups developed ceramic laser by different techniques. Dr. Ikesue demonstrated the first laser
oscillation in 1995. But his method, hot press method, is good for microchip lasers only and has
limited scalability. Dr. Yanagitani, Konoshima Chemical Company, published the patent on pure
chemical method for ceramic YAG laser component. Nanometer size precursor and nano-YAG-
crystal grow to micro-crystals with grain size of 10 micron through the solid phase crystal growth.
The technique has become a major milestone for the major applications of solid-state lasers
including National Ignition Facility (NIF) Programs and Solid-State Heat Capacity Laser (SSHCL)
programme for Directed Energy Weapon systems.

The fast growing interest in the development of these ceramic lasers has led to intensive research
in this area. Over the past few years, polycrystalline ceramics have emerged as a viable alternative
to the single-crystal hosts, which are based on a rare-earth dopant in a crystalline host material. A
ceramic laser is a real revolution in solid-state lasers. It has a nature of crystalline laser like large
and homogeneously broadened emission cross-section, thermal conductivity, and mechanical
constant. But the fabrication process is really glass-like-fabricated.

Lasers based on these ceramic materials have several advantages:
- Since no tedious growth of single crystals is required, ceramic lasers can be significantly
less expensive than conventional lasers.
- The ceramic materials can be custom-fabricated with spatially tailored doping
concentrations and index profiles.
- The biggest advantage of ceramic laser to the single crystal laser is the scaling to the large
aperture size. Samples of the size of 10 by 10 by 2 centimeters have already been
fabricated and are being used in heat capacity solid-state laser applications. Demonstration
of a large aperture sample of 1m x 1m in the ceramic forming process has already been
reported for its application for the meter-size ceramic lasers for laser fusion driver.
- The slabs of these materials can be obtained regularly, on time, and without unexpected
additional costs. Ceramic materials can be made any size and shape. The time required to
produce the slabs from start to finish is much shorter than the time to grow crystal boules-
days instead of weeks. In addition, multiple samples can be fired in one furnace at the
same time.
- Ceramic slabs are also tougher than single-seed crystal slabs and much less apt to undergo a
catastrophic fracture. When a crystal slab fractures, the fracture can "run," extending some
distance from the original crack and often branching or making a random turn into the
center of the crystal to relieve stress. Because cracks are impeded by grain boundaries,
ceramic fractures don't run as easily or randomly.
- Ceramics also measure lower residual stress, which is stress that resides in a material after
it has been manufactured. Significant residual stress distorts the laser beam and can make
the material more susceptible to cracking.
- Further, Ceramics can accommodate higher concentrations of dopants (rare-earth ions such
as neodymium), which could permit pumping at wavelengths that might otherwise be
impractical.
- Dopant concentrations are highly homogeneous in ceramics and can be controlled precisely.
In crystals, dopants tend to segregate toward the bottom of the growing boule.
- Ceramics also offer the possibility of novel composite structures. For example, a single slab
could have an "active" layer of YAG doped with neodymium ions and another layer
composed of YAG doped with chromium ions. Such a design is called a passive Q-switch,
which turns on the laser after saturation. Another possible approach is to embed different
powders with the same host before sintering the slab to create a gradation of neodymium
ions or incorporate the passive Q - switch.


The ceramic laser materials are being produced by forming a nanopowder of ingredients into the
desired shape followed by sintering in vacuum to form an aggregate of micro crystals that exhibit
optical and thermal qualities almost identical to those of a single seed crystal. Livermore
researchers are experimenting with several methods to make transparent ceramics. Like Japanese
scientists, they begin with a solution of yttrium, neodymium, and aluminum salts and add a solution
of ammonium hydrogen carbonate. The precipitate is then filtered, washed, and dried. At this
point, the co-precipitated amorphous carbonate is made up of agglomerates of particles measuring
about 10 nanometers in diameter. The particles are heated to about 1,100C to decompose the
carbonates and obtain particles of neodymium-doped yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Nd:YAG) measuring
about 100 nanometers in size. Highly agglomerated, the particles are treated ultrasonically, and
then the large particles are removed to obtain a uniform small size. In a process called slip casting,
a suspension of the fine powder is poured into a plaster of paris mold and allowed to settle. Excess
water is poured off, and the mold is set aside to absorb most of the remaining water and dry. The
result is a porous structure called a preform structure, which is removed from the mold. The
preform still contains many pores and is only about 40 to 45 percent dense. The preform structure
is then fired in a vacuum at high temperature for many hours. This sintering process involves
surface atom diffusion, resulting in the particles fusing together and decreasing the total surface
energy. Some of the pores are squeezed out, and the structure shrinks but still retains its overall
shape. Additionally, many physical and thermal properties undergo dramatic improvements during
sintering.

Because the sintering process still leaves a few trapped pores, the ceramic parts are subjected to a
1- to 2-hour treatment in a hot isostatic press. The press drives out the last pores by heating the
sample to high temperatures under enormous pressure of the order of several hundred
megapascals. Provided that no impurities exist, the remaining trapped pores collapse, and the
finished part achieves the greater than 99.99 percent theoretical density required for nearly
perfect transparency.

Recently, Japanese scientists have developed techniques to produce ceramic parts that rival the
transparency of traditional crystals (grown from a single seed) and exceed a single crystal's fracture
resistance and robustness of manufacturability.

In addition to the National Ignition Facility (NIF) Programs Directorate and Solid-State Heat
Capacity Laser (SSHCL), Livermore researchers have also been looking at other possible applications
of these remarkable materials for use in other Livermore lasers. Potential applications include
scalable components and advanced drivers for laser-driven fusion power plants.

In its current configuration, the SSHCL has four transparent ceramic insulators, called amplifier
slabs, measuring 10 by 10 by 2 centimeters that are pumped by 16 arrays of battery-powered laser
diode bars.

With the transparent ceramic slabs in place, the SSHCL can generate 25,000 watts of light for up to
10 seconds at 10-percent duty cycle. The SSHCL is pulsed, turning on and off 200 times per second
to generate a beam that can penetrate a 2.5-centimeter-thick piece of steel in 2 to 7 seconds
depending on the beam size at the target. The system recently achieved 67,000 watts of average
power with five ceramic slabs for short fire durations. The laser, which is powered by batteries, is
being pursued as part of the U.S. Army's program to develop directed-energy technologies to
defend against missiles, mortar shells, and artillery. Unlike chemical lasers designed for the same
purpose, an SSHCL is small enough to be installed on a transport vehicle or helicopter. An SSHCL
can also be used to clear land mines. Its pulses can dig through several centimeters of dirt to
expose and neutralize a mine.

Yamamoto and colleagues are designing a megawatt-class, solid-state ceramic laser that builds on
the success of the ceramics in the SSHCL. The new design features 16 ceramic laser slabs measuring
20 by 20 by 4 centimeters.

Tests show that the transparent ceramics exceed specifications. The amount of scattered light, for
example, is similar to that measured from single crystals of Nd:GGG or Nd:YAG. The ceramic slab
contains tens of thousands of boundaries between microcrystallites, or "grain boundaries," in the
path of the laser light. However, the laser light passing through doesn't "see" the many grain
boundaries that measure less than 1 nanometer wide. "The performance of transparent ceramic
slabs in the SSHCL is astounding, easily meeting or surpassing the performance of the crystal
Nd:GGG slabs."

Recently, scientists at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, at the University of Electro-
Communications in Tokyo and at Konoshima Chemical Co. Ltd. in Japan reported what they believe
is the highest efficiency reported from a diode-pumped ceramic Yb:Y
2
O
3
laser. Pumping the laser
with 976-nm radiation, of which 2.8 W was absorbed in the ceramic material, they observed 1.74 W
of output at 1078 nm with a slope efficiency of 82.4 %. Their Yb: Y
2
O
3
sample had 8 percent atomic
doping, producing three absorption peaks and three emission peaks. Two of the emission peaks viz.
at 950 and 1031.2 nm overlaid absorption peaks and were poor candidates for laser action. To
maximize the quantum efficiency, the scientists pumped their ceramic laser at 976 nm and
obtained laser action at 1074 nm. With an end-pumped, 3 3 2-mm-long Yb:Y
2
O
3
ceramic sample
inside a 5-cm-long, nearly hemispheric resonator, they obtained the 82.4 percent slope efficiency
Heat Capacity Lasers


High average power output of the order of even few tens of kilowatts is not obtainable from solid-
state lasers due to their poor efficiency and thermal constraint. Solid-state lasers have very low
efficiency and consequently the unutilized input energy heats up the laser rod.

There are three possible modes of laser operation. The first one is single shot operation like the
one being used in laser range finders or at higher energy level in the NIF, which uses laser glass as
the lasing media. In this case, the thermal effects in the solid-state medium are not very important
and the cooling is provided through ambient atmosphere after the laser shot. Since it is a single
shot or the time between the shots is much larger, the laser media gets cooled by the time next
shot is fired. Net result is that there is no thermal gradient in the lasing media at the time of firing
a shot.

The second mode of operation is steady state operation, which is typically the case for most of the
solid-state lasers based on Nd: YAG. The laser medium is continuously cooled while it is also being
pumped. Solid-state lasers have very low efficiency and consequently the unutilized input energy
heats up the laser rod. As the cooling fluid flows over the surface of the laser medium, either rod
or a disc, a temperature gradient is developed between the center of the medium and the surface.
This is due to the fact that the cooling of the surface is faster than the of the central region of the
medium, since the cooling of the same takes place depending on the thermal conductivity of the
material, which is very poor. As the material cooling rate is rather low compared to that of surface,
temperature gradient is produced in the material. If the thermal gradient increases beyond a
certain value, laser action becomes more and more inefficient and may even cease. Further,
thermal birefringence thereby produced also considerably reduces the beam quality of the laser.
Figure shows the temperature gradient in a laser medium under steady state operation. This
temperature profile induces a tensile stress in the medium. Higher the power levels, more is the
waste heat deposited in the material and thus higher are the thermo-mechanical stresses (of tensile
nature). Since there is a limit to which a material can be subjected to stresses before the fracture
limit, it sets the limit how much power we can extract in lasers in steady state conditions.


The limitation of steady state operation can be overcome by operating the laser in a novel mode
i.e. heat capacity mode, which is intermediate between the above two modes viz. single shot and a
steady state. In this case, single shots are rapidly fired on a time scales, which are short as
compared to thermal diffusion times through the laser medium. Under these conditions, the build
up of thermal gradients is avoided and the device basically has the thermo-optic properties of a
single shot device. The waste heat generated during lasing is stored in the active medium, whose
temperature rises from the initially achieved starting value to a temperature where laser operation
ceases. At this point the medium is again cooled to the initial temperature so that new lasing
sequence can begin. Lasing times of many seconds typically up to 10 sec can be achieved
generating up to megawatts of levels of burst power during this time. This burst operation makes
the heat capacity laser concept more suitable for applications, which require large amount of
energy, but for a short period of time. In the HCL concept, there is inversion of the temperature
profile through out the medium, as compared to the normal steady state lasing approach. In fact,
total energy that can be extracted depends on the heat capacity of the active medium and the
temperature difference over which it is operated. To generate higher output, one has to choose a
material with higher heat capacity and avail a technique to increase the temperature difference,
like cooling the system to liquid nitrogen temperature.

Figure shows the temperature gradient in a laser medium under heat capacity mode operation. This
temperature profile induces a compressive stress in the medium. Higher the power levels, more is
the waste heat deposited in the material and thus higher are the thermo-mechanical stresses (of
compressive nature). Since for laser materials, compressive fracture strength is about 5 - 6 times
higher than that of the tensile strength, the laser can be pumped much harder thereby yielding
higher outputs.


After every burst, the laser material is vigoursly cooled for making it ready for the next run. In the
beginning of the new run, the temperature profile in the material will be such that the surfaces will
be cooler as compared to the center of the material. As soon as we start firing new burst, the
surface temperature starts rising faster as compared to the center of the laser material, thus first
making the profile even and then inverted later on. On the other hand, in steady state operation,
the surface temperature is always less than the center of the laser medium to start with, and this
difference continuously increases till a steady state is reached. The temperature difference decides
the maximum output power, one can extract from the material. In terms of thermal gradient, the
thermal gradient goes on increasing with time in case of steady state operation, whereas in case of
heat capacity mode, these gradients rather decreases first for some time and then increases later
on. Time within which the gradients develop for the laser to cease really decides the duration of
the burst.

The heat capacity concept was demonstrated in 2001 at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
by constructing a 10 kW average power that operates in this mode. Initial demonstration used laser
glass as a lasing medium and pumped was carried out using flash lamps. Although the prototype
uses Nd: glass for its laser amplifier disks, the upgraded versions use Nd:GGG. Compared with Nd:
glass, Nd: GGG boasts a higher mechanical strength and higher thermal conductivity, which, in
combination, allows to rapidly cool the disks between runs and reduce the turnaround time
between laser firings. To pump these Nd: GGG amplifier disks, the SSHCL uses arrays of laser diodes
instead of flash lamps because diode arrays are more compact and efficient than flash lamps and,
more importantly, diode radiation generates less heat in the Nd: GGG laser crystals. The Nd: GGG is
also twice as efficient in converting pump energy to output beam energy. However, there was a big
challenge to grow the crystals large enough to manufacture the nine 13-square-centimeter slabs
needed for the upgraded 100-kilowatt laser. Northrop /Grumman Poly-Scientific, the commercial
partner responsible for growing the crystals, have attempted to produce high-optical-quality Nd:
GGG crystals up to 15 centimeters in diameter.

In 2001 itself, Professor Ueda of Univ. of Electro-Communications, Tokyo Japan demonstrated the
potential of ceramic lasers. Ceramic rods of Nd: YAG of 100 mm length and 3 mm diameter pumped
by diode lasers were reported to yield powers of the order of 2 kW with a potential to deliver up to
10 kW. High efficiency operation was demonstrated in the end-pumping scheme and the optical-
optical efficiency was measured to be about 60% in 1% and 2% doping. This was almost the best
data for a single crystal and was a clear evidence to show the high quality of ceramic YAG material.
Since ceramic laser media has many advantages over their crystal counterpart (see section on
ceramic lasers), scientist working at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory immediately thought
of using ceramic media for their heat capacity laser programme.

During the last several years, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has been developing high-
power solid-state lasers for tactical battlefield applications. These lasers are based on a compact,
flexible, single-aperture, mobile architecture that can be readily scaled to engagement-level
powers (~ 100 kW). Looking at the potential of ceramic media for heat capacity lasers, the lasing
medium is a series of diode-pumped solid-state ceramic slabs, producing a beam at a wavelength of
approximately 1 micron. During lasing operations, the waste heat is stored in the slabs. In a field
device, the slabs would be rapidly interchanged with cool slabs, after several accumulated seconds
of lasing.

It has been reported in 2005 that the laboratory laser has four ceramic YAG slabs pumped by diodes
at a pulse repetition rate of 200 Hz. The aperture size is 10x10 cm
2
. With this laser, routine
operation has been achieved at a time-averaged power of about 25 kW (125 J, 200 Hz) for several
seconds. Since the laser has a pulsed format, this is the power averaged over an interval longer
than several pulses. The pulse length is about 0.5 ms, giving a duty factor of 10%. The time-
averaged power is the same as the equivalent CW power. With the transparent ceramic slabs in
place, the SSHCL can generate 25,000 watts of light for up to 10 seconds at 10-percent duty cycle.
This pulsed SSHCL can generate a beam that can penetrate a 2.5-centimeter thick piece of steel in
2 to 7 seconds depending on the beam size at the target. The system recently achieved 67,000
watts of average power with five ceramic slabs for short fire durations. The laser, which is
powered by batteries, was conceived as part of the U.S. army's program to develop directed-energy
technologies to defend against missiles, mortar shells, and artillery. SSHCL is small enough to be
installed on a transport vehicle or helicopter. This SSHCL can also be used to clear land mines. Its
pulses can dig through several centimeters of dirt to expose and neutralize a mine.

Based on the success of ceramic slabs, efforts are on to upgrade the system up to 100 kW (500J,
200 Hz) by designing a megawatt-class, solid-state heat capacity ceramic laser based on 16 ceramic
laser slabs measuring 20 by 20 by 4 centimeters.





GAS LASERS
In gas lasers, the active medium is in the gaseous state. Since the laser media is a gas, it is kept in
a plasma tube, with proper electrodes for electrical discharge to produce ionization, enclosed with
dielectric mirrors. One may think that gas laser is a simple device, as there is no basic preparation
required for the lasing medium, as in the case of a solid sate laser. But in practice, it is a complex
device, as it needs optimization of gas mixture, gas discharge parameters, mirror and container
configuration etc. The same have to be properly designed to create suitable conditions for
population inversion. Further, gas discharge produces heat and it has to be removed to avoid
detrimental effect on gas discharge and the optical components.

Gas lasers may be grouped as, atom lasers, molecular lasers, ion lasers, etc. In the atom lasers, the
lasing medium contains atoms, which are electrically neutral. He-Ne laser is an excellent example
of this group. Molecular lasers have molecules as the lasing medium, as in the case of carbon
dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrogen lasers. Important ion lasers, such as argon and krypton
lasers have ionized gases as their active laser medium. Interestingly, helium-cadmium laser has
metal ions as the active laser medium. Some of the important lasers will be discussed in the coming
paragraphs. Interested readers may look up the references, given at end of this section for detailed
study.

He-Ne laser


Ali Javan invented helium-neon laser in 1961 at Bell Telephone Laboratories, USA. It is a four level
atom laser with a mixture of helium and neon. Though it lases at a number of wavelengths, its most
popular output is at 633nm (red). Other available outputs are at 543nm (green), 594nm (yellow),
612nm (orange), 1523nm (infra-red). Though neon is the lasing gas, it is the minor constituent (15%
of the total mixture), helium taking the bigger share. Electrical discharge excites the helium atoms
to the higher energy states, which are populated by electronic collisions. A characteristic of Helium
is that its first states to be excited, 2
1
S
1
and 2
1
S
0
are metastable (lifetime ~ seconds), i.e. optical
transitions to the ground state 1
1
S
0
are not
allowed, because this would violate the
selection rules for optical transitions. As a
result of gas discharge, these states are
populated by electron collisions. The
upper energy level of helium atoms nearly
matches with the upper energy levels of
the neon atoms (within the thermal energy
kT). Besides electron collision, atomic
collision also plays very important part.
The excited helium atoms reach ground
state after loosing their energy after
exciting the ground state neon atoms to
higher energy levels. These two processes
create population inversion in the neon
system. The simple energy level diagram of a Helium-Neon laser is given below with only some of
the major transitions indicated. Since it has two lower laser levels, it is capable of lasing at a large
number of wavelengths. As can be seen, the generation of laser output at 632nm is between 3s and
2p energy levels.

The lifetime of s-states is about an order longer than that of p states; population inversion exists
between 3s and 2p levels. Further, 2p level is almost emptied into 1s level due to fast radiative
(spontaneous) transitions. Neon atoms reach the ground state via collisions with tube wall, as
optical transition is not allowed. Therefore to increase losses, one has to choose a laser tube with a
capillary as small as possible. But this effectively reduces the available amount of lasing atoms.
This contradiction is the main reason for the low output of He-Ne laser. Another reason for the low
output is the low gain of He-Ne laser. Consequently, maximum output He-Ne laser is 100mw.
Another interesting aspect is that since the discharge has a negative resistance, a ballast resistance
is to be used in series with the laser to make the overall impedance positive. But with its high
spatial and temporal coherence as well as low divergence, it is an excellent tool for holographic
work. It is a rugged, compact and comparatively less expensive laser with long life (more than
10,000hours).

HeNe laser system consists of Power supply for ionizing the HeNe gas and sustaining the operation
by supplying a regulated current, Ballast resistor placed in series with the HeNe laser anode to have
a stable electrical discharge and the main HeNe laser tube containing the helium and neon gas
mixture that generates light at the desired wavelength. The following page contains more detailed
information concerning how a HeNe laser. The schematic diagram of He-Ne laser head is shown
below:
- Electric power is transferred to electrons via electric discharge, with a typical
current in the range of 5 to 100 mA. It usually takes place in a d.c. discharge
created by first applying a high voltage (10kV) for a short time to ionise the
gas, after which a lower voltage (2-4 kV) maintains the current typically a
few mA sufficient to maintain a glow discharge or plasma in a glass tube
containing an optimal mixture (typically 5:1 to 7:1) of helium and neon gas,
Electrons in the electric discharge are released at the cathode and are accelerated
by the applied voltage towards the anode. The moving electrons collide with the
gaseous atoms and as a result some of the He and Ne atoms are excited into higher
lying states. This energetic electron collision excites a He atom to the state is
labeled 2
1
S
0

- The excited He
*
(2
1
S
0
) atom collides with an unexcited Ne atom and excites it to
Ne
*
(3s). This energy exchange process occurs with high probability because the
energy levels of these two atoms are quite close to each other (order of 0.05 eV or
387 cm
-1
, which is within kT).
- The 3s level of Ne is a metastable atomic state and deexcites to the 2p level by
emitting a photon of wavelength 6328 . It is this emission of 6328 light by Ne
atoms that, in the presence of a suitable optical configuration, leads to lasing
action.
- The excited Ne
*
(2p) atom rapidly deexcites to the Ne ground state by emitting
additional photons or by collisions with the plasma tube. The deexcitation process
occurs rapidly, there are more Ne atoms in the 3s2 state than there are in the 2p
state at any given moment in the HeNe plasma, and a population inversion is
established between these two levels. When a population inversion is established
between the 3s and 2p levels of the excited Ne atoms, the discharge can act as an
optical gain medium for light of wavelength 6328 .
- It may be noted that He and Ne atoms in excited states can also deexcite and
return to their ground states by emitting light spontaneously. This light makes up
the bright and diffuse pink-red glow of the plasma that is seen at even in the
absence of laser action. To achieve laser action it is necessary to have more atoms
in excited states than in ground states, and to establish what is called a population
inversion.
- To extract a light beam from the resonator, it is necessary that one of the two
resonator mirrors, usually called the output coupler, has a reflectivity of 99% so
that 1% of the photons incident on it travel out of the resonator to produce an
external laser beam. The other mirror, called the high reflector, should be as
reflective as possible. The diameter, bandwidth, and polarization of the HeNe laser
beam are determined by the properties of the resonator mirrors and other optical
components that lie along the axis of the optical resonator.
- For efficient operation, the population of the final state in the laser transition
should be rapidly depleted. This is achieved by increasing the probability of
collisions between the Ne atoms and the walls of the discharge tube by reducing
the tube diameter. The gain of the HeNe laser is inversely proportional to the tube
radius; the narrower the discharge tube, the higher the gain. In most HeNe lasers
the tube diameter is not larger than a few millimeters. An additional benefit of the
small tube diameter is that the emission is restricted to the TEM
00
mode; higher
order transverse modes cannot oscillate in very narrow tubes.)
- Commercial models of He-Ne laser emit continuous beams from a few tenths of a
millwatt to 75mW, with most in the 0.5mW to 7mW range.
- Beam diameters of helium-neon lasers with TEM
00
output in the milliwatt range are
usually around a millimeter. Also it tends to increase with output power. For
longer, high-power models, beam diameters can reach a couple of millimeters.
- Most of the commercial He-Ne lasers have coherence lengths around 20 to 30 cm,
which is adequate for holography of small objects. Single-frequency He-Ne lasers
have much narrower spectral bandwidths and thus much longer coherence lengths,
but are usually much more expensive. Divergence of He-Ne laser is of the order of 1
milliradian, which drops when beam diameter increases, because these lasers
normally operate near the diffraction limit.
Some of the typical parameters of Helium Neon Lasers are listed below:
Parameter Value
Wavelengths 6328 , 1.15 m, 3.39 m
Small signal gain 'g
0
' (1.3 - 2.1)%
Saturation Intensity, I
sat
29.2 W/cm
2

Beam divergence 0.5 - 1.5 mrad
Beam diameter 0.5 - 1.25 mm
Efficiency 0.01 to 0.1 %
Output Power 0.5 - 75 mW

Some of the important applications of He-Ne lasers include:
- Interferometers
- Free-space optical communications
- Fiber Optic Experimentation.
- Viewing of holograms.
- Hologram generation
- Construction of a basic laser light show
- Laser surveillance.
- Laser tachometer.
- Laser burglar alarm.
- Laser gyroscope.

Carbon Dioxide Lasers


C.K.N.Patel invented this molecular laser in 1964, at Bell Telephone Labs, USA. The active medium
responsible for lasing is the carbon dioxide molecules, giving output at 10.6 m and 9.6 m. The
very first CO
2
laser produced only a few milliwatt output. CO
2
lasers typically emit at a wavelength
of 10.6 m, but there are other lines in the region of 9-11 m (particularly at 9.6 m). In most
cases, average powers are between some tens of watts and many kilowatts. The power conversion
efficiency can be between 10 - 20 %. It is higher than for most flash lamp pumped solid-state lasers,
but much lower than for diode pumped solid-state lasers. With the technological advancements,
the present class of CO
2
lasers produces CW output of megawatts.

The salient features of fundamentals of lasing action in CO
2
laser are as follows. Carbon dioxide
molecule is a tri-atomic molecule consisting of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a central
carbon atom. It has three fundamental modes of vibration, namely, symmetric, bending and
asymmetric stretching modes, which are shown in figure below.

In the symmetric mode, carbon atom is in the
center and the two oxygen atoms oscillate
symmetrically along the axis of the molecule
in unison, either away from or towards each
other. In bending stretch mode, the
oscillation of the molecules is in
perpendicular direction to the axis. In the
asymmetric mode, though the molecules
oscillate along the axis, only one of the
oxygen atoms comes close to the central
carbon atom at a time and as this atom
moves away from the center, the other atom
comes towards the carbon atom and they
alternate the movements.

The three vibrational states of CO
2
are
referred to by the number of vibrational
quanta v1, v2 and v3 related to the symmetric, bend and asymmetric stretch modes respectively. It
may be noted that it is possible for a molecule to execute all the three modes at a time or a
molecule excited to a level can have more than one quantum of energy in any one of the modes or
in all of the three modes. For example, (001) means that the CO
2
molecule has a single vibrational
quantum in asymmetric stretch mode.

There are many vibrational energy exchange processes that take place between different molecules
in the mixture of gases. Transitions between vibrational energy levels results in emission in the
infrared, where as transitions between rotational states emit photons in the microwave region. Gas
mixture in the CO
2
laser consists of helium, nitrogen and carbon dioxide gases. A total pressure of
6-20 torr is made up of 10 to 20% N
2
and 10 to 15% CO
2
and rest being helium. Important vibrational
relaxation processes that occur in CO
2
and N
2
system are shown in the figure given here.

The laser transition is between upper laser level (001) and the lower laser level (100), emitting out
put at 10.6m. Lot of transitions takes place for generating 10.6m laser emission. By electron
impact nitrogen (N
2
) excitation takes place to vibration level, v = 1. Transfer of energy between
nitrogen and the nearly resonant first asymmetric stretch level (001) of carbon dioxide molecules
takes place, since the restoring force constant of N
2
and that of CO
2
molecules are almost identical
and results in populating the upper laser level. It may be noted that the population is shared
between v1 and v2 modes and the vibrational energy in the v2 manifolds is converted in to
translational energy by collisions with helium. (100) state and (020) state have only even spin
members. Further, members of the same vibrational states are in thermal equilibrium and the
available energy is redistributed between them, as determined by Boltzmann statistics. Two
important functions are carried out by helium, namely, it maintains plasma discharge and also
helps in depopulating the lower laser level. Collision between carbon dioxide and helium atoms
results in the transfer of energy to the helium atom.

After the completion of laser transition from (001) state to (100) state, CO
2
molecules still have lot
of energy, which they have to loose before getting excited back to the higher level. This takes
place in two steps. i.e. first from (100) to (010) and then from (010) to (000) level, which is the
ground state.

It would not be out of place to discuss the role of nitrogen and helium in the lasing of CO
2
laser.
Nitrogen has only one vibrational mode as it is a diatomic molecule and it has only one vibrational
quantum number. With reference to the figure above, it can be seen that nitrogen level (v = 1) is
very near to the CO
2
(001) level. Collision between CO
2
molecule in the ground state (000) and
N
2
molecule (v = 1) results in the transfer of energy to CO
2
molecule. Consequently, CO
2
molecule
will be at (001) state and N
2
will be at (v = 0) state. In an electric discharge laser, nitrogen is used
to transform the available energy to excite CO
2
molecules to the upper lasing level.

De-excitation of CO
2
from (100) level to (010) level is very efficient. But the relaxation from (010)
level to (000) state is very inefficient in pure CO
2
. This is due to the fact that the de-excitation is
by collision and the rate depends on the nature of the particles involved. At a pressure of say 1
torr, each CO
2
molecule under goes about 100 collisions per second, where as in the presence of
helium gas, the rate increases to about 4,000, due to which the de-excitation is accelerated
greatly, thus increasing the efficiency of the system. Water vapour or helium is used as a catalyst
to improve the efficiency of the CO
2
laser. Though the collision rate in the presence of water vapor
is about 100,000 per second at a pressure of 1 torr, it helps only in depopulating the lower laser
level, where as helium helps in de-excitation of the lower laser level as well as in maintaining the
excitation to upper level.

At this juncture, we would like to draw the attention of the reader to certain specific factors
related to the design of CO
2
lasers, namely methods of excitation and cooling of laser gas mixtures.
Electrical discharge (radio frequency and direct current), gas dynamic (thermal) and electron beam
(high energy) excitation techniques have been employed to generate high power output from
CO
2
lasers. Like other lasers, CO
2
laser is also not a very efficient device. It has efficiency about
20%, the rest of the energy going as heat and as such cooling is of great importance in the design
and development of CO
2
lasers. Unused energy increases the temperature of the system and the
lower level population cannot be emptied fast enough to ground state. This naturally affects the
population inversion and laser action ceases altogether due to temperature rise.

CO
2
laser uses CO
2
, N
2
, He and sometimes some hydrogen (H
2
) and or water vapor mixtures. The
role of hydrogen or water vapor (2-5 %) is to help (particularly in sealed-tube lasers) to reoxidize
carbon monoxide (formed in the discharge) to carbon dioxide. It may be mentioned that not only
the total pressure of laser gas, but also the proportion at which they are mixed are also very
important to produce maximum output from the system. For example, to start with one may begin
with 10-20 % CO
2
, 10-20% N
2
and the rest 60 - 80 % being He. Then the proportion of these gases
may be optimized to get maximum output. Here one cannot forget the importance of current,
higher the current, higher is the laser output. Such a laser is electrically pumped via a gas
discharge, which can be operated with DC current, with AC current (e.g. 20-50 kHz) or in the radio
frequency (RF) domain.

The gas mixture in a carbon dioxide laser is subjected to an electric discharge causing the low-
pressure gas to form plasma. In the plasma, the molecules take up various excited states as
expected from the Boltzmann distribution. Some will be in the upper state (001), which represents
an asymmetric oscillation mode. This molecule may lose its energy by collision with the walls of the
cavity or by spontaneous emission. Through spontaneous emission the state falls to the symmetric
oscillation mode (100) and a photon of light of wavelength 10.6 m is emitted traveling in any
direction. One of these photons, by chance, will be traveling down the optics axis of the cavity and
will start oscillating between the resonator mirrors.

CO
2
laser can work in the pulsed as well as in the CW mode. Not only DC excitation generate CW
output, but high frequency (HF) and radio frequency (RF) can also generate CW output, since the
life times of the excited molecules are long when compared with HF and RF frequency. Maximum
pulse frequency of the system is limited by the speed of response of the discharge.

Basically, CO
2
laser system arrangement is very similar to other gas lasers, i.e. a gas filled tube
with a pair of mirrors at the ends and the gas excited with DC or RF electrical discharge. Total
reflecting mirror is a highly polished solid molybdnium or silicon with high reflectivity coatings or
gold-coated copper. Output coupler is normally Zinc Selenide (ZnSe) as it has very low transmission
losses at CO
2
laser wavelength. Germanium is another choice, but this has to be cooled, especially
for high output. For high power applications, gold mirrors and zinc selenide windows and lenses are
preferred. Recently diamond windows and even lenses are also being used. Diamond windows are
extremely expensive, but their high thermal conductivity and hardness make them useful in high-
power applications.

The most basic form of a CO
2
laser consists of a gas discharge (with a mix close to that specified
above) with a total reflector at one end, and an output coupler (usually a semi-reflective coated
zinc selenide mirror) at the output end. The reflectivity of the output coupler is typically around 5-
15%. The laser output may also be edge-coupled in higher power systems to reduce optical heating
problems.

CO
2
lasers have been operated in the following modes:
- Sealed or no-flow
- Slow axial flow
- Fast flow
- Transverse excited atmosphere (TEA)
- Wave guide type
- Gas dynamic mode
The maximum attainable power output depends upon the efficiency of excitation and the cooling of
the Laser gas. Thus the practical designs of the Laser vary according to the form of selective
excitation, the cooling of the gas and with it the attainable power output. The development of a
cost effective power Semiconductor for the high frequency region made it possible to realise high
frequency excited discharging. They also have the advantage against parallel flow discharge as the
power can be connected to the Laser gas almost without losses. The way the waste heat is rejected
(or gas cooling method) has a large influence on the laser system design. In principle, it can be
performed by two possible methods. The first method is based on the conventional process of
natural diffusion of the heated gas to the tube wall, which is the operating principle of the sealed,
and slow axial flow lasers. The second method is based on the gas forced convection, which is the
operating principle of the fast flow lasers.

Sealed off Laser
A sealed off laser is a laser in which the ends of the gain tube are closed off and the gas is not
allowed to flow into or out of the tube. The scheme of the Laser systems as a whole, at first seems
rather simple; but the various details adopted for system life are quite complex. Contamination of
the laser gas due to sputtering of the electrodes and production of heat are the major problems
encountered in the working of the system. The electrodes must be made of a precious metal so
that the continual material erosion does not react with the gases and especially with its
disassociation products. In this case, heat is removed by helium removing the excess energy and
moving to the walls of the gain tube where it gives up its energy to the wall through collisions.
Another issue that arises in this case is that carbon monoxide is formed, which will cause laser
action to cease. The addition of water vapour takes care that the formed CO gas will react with it
and generates CO
2
and finally re-mixes again with the CO
2
gas. These types of lasers are capable of
hundreds of watts of output power. Optimised systems achieve power outputs of up to 60 - 70 Watt
per meter of discharged length. The cooling of gases takes place through diffusion- that means that
the gas molecules diffuse from the center of the discharge to the wall, where they are cooled by
collisions.
- For laser powers between a few watts and a several hundred watts, it is common to
use sealed-tube or no-flow lasers, where the laser bore and gas supply are
contained in a sealed tube. Such lasers are compact and rugged, and reach
operation lifetimes of several thousands of hours.
Slow Flow Laser
Contamination and thermal aspects can be overcome to a great extent by flowing the laser gases,
where the electrodes are outside the discharge tube. These are the systems required for initial
understanding of CO
2
Laser development and are still very common keeping in view the
complications associated with the sealed off lasers. For experimentation, this system is ideal with
regard to Laser behaviour and basic capabilities. With an optimised system having an excitation
length of 1 meter, Laser power of up to a maximum of 100 Watt can be achieved. The excitation
takes place over a longitudinal direct current discharge, The excitation of the initial Laser level is
achieved firstly by electron collision and secondly due to collisions with excited N
2
molecules. The
important features are:
- Water or oil cooling in a double-walled glass plasma tube.
- Gas flow rates (1-20 liters per minute, depending upon size and output of laser).
- Dc excitation, coaxial with gas flow and laser beam.
- Low-current (3 - 100 mA) operation.
- Gas pressures in the range of 10 to 30 torr.
- Tube diameters of 1.0-2.0 cm.
- Available output powers up to about 50 -100 W per meter of tube length.
The primary factor that limits output power of these lasers is their inability to efficiently remove
waste heat from the gas. Cooling is principally achieved by helium (He) collisions with tube walls.
Air-cooling of CO
2
laser tubes is possible, but this results in an elevated wall temperature and
greatly reduces laser efficiency. Smaller CO
2
lasers and those used in research often employ water-
cooling. Industrial CO
2
lasers usually use re-circulating oil and oil-to-water heat exchangers for
better system stability and reduced maintenance. An increase of tube current beyond the
recommended operating value results in more heat than can be effectively removed from the
system in this manner. Increases in tube diameter also decrease cooling efficiency by increasing the
path length necessary for (He) atoms to reach the walls from the center of the tube. Thus, the only
effective method of increasing output power of this type of CO
2
laser is to extend the active length.
For best results, this must also be accompanied by an increase in gas flow rate. In larger systems
the gas is re-circulated with a few percent being replaced on each cycle.

Slow axial flow lasers can generate few hundreds of watts of output, typically about 50 to 70 watts
per meter length of the tube, independent of the tube diameter. To generate hundreds of watts,
few meters long tube will be required, which is not very practical. In order to overcome this
problem, folded tube technique has been employed. But the folding mirrors increase the
complexity of the system. The optical quality of the laser beam is also affected adversely. Further,
alignment of the mirrors and cleaning of the same poses practical difficulty in maintaining the
system. The laser gases are cooled by direct cooling of the gases by conduction with the walls,
where the cavity walls are cooled by water jackets Typically slow flow CO
2
lasers generate a
maximum of 400watts CW output with a gas flow of 20 l/minute and a coolant flow of 7 l/minute
using a water jacket.
- In no flow low-power sealed-tube lasers and in slow gas flow lasers; the beam quality can be very
high.
- The beam size and divergence angle are between 1 - 7 mm and 2 - 6 mrad respectively. Since
the laser is being operated at relatively small pressures, the more dominant form of broadening is
Doppler broadening
Fast Flow Laser
To generate few kilowatt output, one has to go for fast axial flow CO
2
laser systems. With this
system, it is possible to obtain 4-5 KW outputs, which depends on the rate of mass of flow rather
than on the length of the tube, unlike in the case of slow flow system. Typical rate of gas flow is
about 400 l/second and gas is recalculated after cooling through a heat exchanger. Fast axial flow
lasers generally operate at less than 150mbar. Another aspect is that the modes can be controlled
with the diameter of the laser tube as it acts as an optical aperture. The hot Laser gas is sucked off
from the discharge chamber with the help of a Roots vacuum pump. In the process it passes through
the heat exchanger. The laser gas mixture is cooled when it passes through the heat exchangers
kept out side the laser cavity. Fast axial flow CO
2
laser systems are complex due to size and power
requirements of re-circulation pumps and power supplies. The power output is limited to 5KW.
Increasing the diameter of the laser tube increases the beam divergence, especially in the higher
modes and the reduction generates thermal lensing and consequently increases beam divergence,
distorting the beam. For Laser powers higher than 5 kW, however, the transversal excitation system
of is more advantageous, because here, due to the far lower electrode distance, the necessary
ignition and drop voltage is comparatively low. Lasers of this type are capable of producing several
kilowatts of power with fast flow geometry.

Transverse Excited Atmosphere (TEA)
As stated above, the pressure in the CO
2
laser tube is of the order of millibars and output is limited
to 5 kilowatts. By operating the laser at a pressure of about one atmosphere as well as by passing a
pulsed current transversely through the laser gas, it is possible to produce pulsed energy output of
hundred of joules with pulse width ranging from microsecond to nanosecond region and pulse
repetition rate ranging from single shot to 300 Hz. This type of laser is referred to as TEA
(transversely excited atmospheric) laser. TEA lasers are operated in pulsed mode only, as the gas
discharge would not be stable at high pressures, and are suitable for average powers of tens of
kilowatts

Unlike sealed off and slow flow lasers, where problem of heat disposal is solved through convection
and diffusion, the development of a pulsed CO
2
Laser forms the basis of TEA laser to solve the
problem of heat disposal of the Laser gas, mainly through the utilisation of the specific heat of the
Laser gas. This eliminates the continuous operation, because through the increased number of
collisions, inversion is destroyed. However, if the excitation pulse is faster than the destruction of
inversion, then a Laser pulse can be generated whose time constant depends on the mechanisms
time constant. The gas flow is low and the gas pressure is high. The excitation voltage is around
tens thousand volts. The laser beam energy distribution is uniform over a relatively large area. As
the voltage required for a longitudinal discharge would be too high, transverse excitation is done
with a series of electrodes along the tube. Its peak power is very high up to 10
12
W as its pulse
duration is very small. However it is very difficult to focus its laser beam to a small spot due to
multimode operation. Lasers of this type are used in big research plants under extremely high peak
power to examine the nature of matter. A CO
2
Laser system built in the scientific laboratory in Los
Alamos has a terawatt of power with a nanosecond pulse width.

Wave guide CO
2
Laser
Wave-guide CO
2
laser is a very compact laser. Basically it has two electrodes separated by an
insulator. Since the electrode separation is only a few millimeters, it acts as a bore of same
dimension and the beam propagation is in the 'wave guide mode'. Normally sealed laser tube has a
reservoir. High-pressure operation due to small bore allows rapid heat removal, leading to high gain
and consequent high output. The beam diameter and divergence of the beam are 1 - 2 mm and 3 -
5 mrad respectively.

Gas Dynamic CO
2
Laser
There are gas dynamic CO
2
lasers for multi-megawatt powers for military applications, where the
energy is not provided by a gas discharge but by a combustion process just like rocket engine.
These types of lasers are a class in itself and will be discussed separately

Q - Switched CO
2
Lasers
Fast pulsing has proven to be more difficult. The simplest way to pulse the laser is to switch the RF
power source to excite the CO
2
plasma. Due to the high life time of the Laser output level (001) of
the order of msec, a switching technique is possible for the production of higher peak power. With
the correct duty cycle, one can produce pulses in the range of 100 microseconds to 10 ms.

A shorter pulse is also possible by using an internal electro-optic modulator, such as a Q-switch (or
cavity dumper). It is also very easy to actively Q - switch a CO
2
laser by means of a rotating mirror
or an electro-optic switch, giving rise to Q-switched peak powers up to gigawatts (GW) of peak
power. Previously, Q-switching was limited to military and very high-value applications, because
the limited availability of cadmium-telluride (CdTe) modulator crystals. Even then, the modulators
had a short lifetime because of poor damage threshold properties of these crystals. However,
recent innovations have eliminated these drawbacks. Now, a modulator with advanced growth
techniques suitable for CdTe crystals produces devices with very high optical damage threshold.

Properties of some resonantly absorbing molecules have also been experimentally investigated by
making use of Q-switching techniques. SF
6
has been used to passively Q-switch CO
2
lasers.

Applications:
There are numerous applications for CO
2
lasers. The ranges of power that can be produced by the
CO
2
laser, the relatively high efficiency, and low cost of the CO
2
laser make it a very strong
candidate for the materials industry as well as the medical profession.
- The biggest use of these lasers is for material processing. CO
2
lasers are used for
cutting materials such as plastic or metal, welding, etching or engraving materials.
Relatively high power CO
2
lasers are frequently used in industrial applications for
cutting and welding, while lower power level lasers are used for engraving. Cutting
of plastic materials, wood, die boards, etc which exhibits high absorption at 10.6
m, require moderate power levels of 20-200 W , whereas cutting and welding
metals such as stainless steel, aluminum or copper, require multi-kilowatt powers .
- Recently, they have been receiving a lot of attention for use in medical procedures.
They are useful in surgical procedures because water present in most of the
biological tissues absorbs this frequency of light very well. CO
2
lasers have been
used in surgery to cut skin, stop minor bleeding during surgery, remove or vaporize
abnormalities and to perform skin resurfacing etc. Also, it could be used to treat
certain skin conditions such as removal of embarrassing or annoying bumps,
podules, etc.
- Because of excellent beam quality, the sealed or no flow CO
2
laser is often used in
beam-deflected laser marking.
- The TEA CO
2
laser is often used in mask marking.
- They have been used as a tool to measure distance
- Because the atmosphere is transparent for CO
2
wavelength ,these lasers are also
being used for military rangefinding and LIDAR applications.
- Further, the long operation wavelength of CO
2
lasers makes them almost eye - safe
particularly at lower intensities.
For a detailed understanding of CO
2
laser, the reader is referred to references.

References:
- C. K. N. Patel, ~Continuous-wave laser action on vibrational-rotational transitions
of CO
2
~, Phys Rev. 136, A1187, (1964)
- O. Svelto, Principles of Lasers, Plenum Press, New York (1998)
- http://www.twi.co.uk/content/kspah002.html
- http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/laserco2.htm
- http://www.medicalindiatourism.com/skinalive/lasers/co2-laser.html
- http://www.scientific-web.com/en/Physics/Laser/CarbonDioxideLaser.html


Argon ion laser
W. Bridges invented Argon ion laser in 1964 at Hughes Aircraft Labs. Argon gas, in an ionized state
(Ar
+
), is the lasing medium. It is an important member of the noble gas lasers and can generate
large number of discrete laser lines (wavelengths) ranging from the UV (275.4 nm) to near infrared
(752 nm) with the majority of the power being developed at the 488nm and 514.5nm lines.
However, unlike HeNe lasers, the energy level transitions that contribute to laser action come from
ions of argon atoms that have had 1 or 2 electrons stripped from their outer shells. Spectral lines at
wavelengths less than 400 nm come from atoms that have had 2 electrons removed. Longer
wavelengths come from singly ionized atoms. There are many possible transitions in the UV, visible,
and IR portions of the spectrum. With suitable optics coherent light from a single spectral line or
many lines may be produced simultaneously. An adjustable intra-cavity prism can even be included
to permit the desired wavelength to be selected via a thumbscrew adjustment. The energy level
diagram of Argon ion laser is given here.

Population inversion takes place between 4p and 4s level. 4s level has short life time and
decays to the ion ground state. Argon ion recaptures and electron and moves to argon
atom ground level.

To generate ionised argon gas, high current (tens of amperes) low voltage (few hundred volts)
power supply is employed. Water-cooling is essential for most Argon ion lasers, but air cooled low
power argon lasers are also available. Argon-ion lasers can emit tens of watts at some lines in the
green and blue, and up to 100W emitting on all lines when operating in the CW mode. In the pulse
mode, the output power can easily reach several kilowatts.

The important components of Argon ion laser include power supply, plasma tube and resonator
assembly.

Argon ion lasers, like the HeNe lasers, are excited by electric discharge through the gas, after an
initial high voltage pulse that ionises the gas. Electrons traveling through the gas collide with atoms
and transfer energy through the collision. Since these atoms require large amounts of energy to
reach ionisation, many collisions must take place in a short time, which means that high current
density is required these types of lasers. Once the gas ions are sufficiently excited, lasing may
occur on several different transitions. The ground state of the ion is about 16eV above the neutral
atom ground state, so a total of 36eV is required to excite an argon atom from its neutral atom
ground state to the upper lasing level. This is a lot of energy considering that electrons can only
provide between 2eV and 4eV per collision. Thus, many collisions are required to raise a neutral
atom from its ground state to the ion ground state, and then to the upper lasing level. The fact
that many collisions are required implies large currents. In addition, lifetimes of the atomic and
ionic states involved in the excitation process are short, so the atoms tend to drop in energy very
quickly after each collision. So to keep the excited state population high, collisions must occur at a
rapid rate, which again requires high current densities. For these reasons, ion lasers operate at very
high current densities. To achieve high current densities one can either increase the magnitude of
the current or reduce the tube diameter or both. Current amplitudes in ion lasers are very large,
typically between 10 and 70A depending on the laser. Further laser tubes are constructed so as to
have the smallest bore diameters possible without introducing diffraction losses. In some of the
designs, magnetic field is also applied coaxially to the laser tube to further concentrate the current
at the center of the laser tube, resulting in higher current density and fewer collisions with the
tube walls. Reducing the collisions with the wall of the tube also helps in reducing the tube
temperature.

So the power supply must not only supply an initial triggering pulse (6KV to 8KV) to initiate the
plasma discharge, but it must also maintain the plasma discharge. For small to medium size argon
ion lasers, the power supply is rating is up to 10 - 15 amps of DC current at up to 140VDC. For
higher power lasers, the current requirement may be as high as 50 - 70 amps of DC current at up to
600VDC. Major advances in semiconductor technology, coupled with significant enhancements of
electronic components in general, have lead to many significant improvements in power supplies
for all types of ion lasers. Modern argon laser power supplies are much smaller, more reliable, more
efficient, and provide overall better laser performance. Today, state-of-the-art ion laser power
supplies operate at very high efficiencies (>93%).

The heart of any argon laser is the plasma tube, and the key component of the plasma tube is the
bore. The design of the plasma tube must be such that it can sustain extremely high temperatures
without damage while maintaining an excellent vacuum seal. Further, in addition to the heat, the
tube material must also be able to withstand the intense UV radiation emitted by ions dropping
from the lower laser level to the ground state. Since plasma temperature is in the range of 1500 -
2000
o
C, there are only few materials that can go into an argon plasma tube and survive the are:
BeO, kovar, tungsten, aluminum nitride, pyrolytic graphite and molybdenum. The material of
choice for the bore of an argon ion laser plasma tube is usually BeO since it has a low vapor
pressure and can be produced with a high chemical purity. When properly sealed, a plasma tube
utilizing a BeO bore will allow the argon gas pressure within the tube to remain at its approximate
1 torr level for many years, thus assuring many hours of reliable laser operation. In addition, BeO is
also an excellent thermal conductor. As such, the large amount of heat, generated by the plasma
discharge within the bore, is readily conducted to the exterior of the BeO bore where it is then
removed by means of forced air cooling (low argon lasers) or flowing water in a water jacket (high
power argon lasers). Beryllium oxide is also preferred as it conducts heat 5 times faster then most
metals. However, one has to be careful while handling BeO, as its powder is extremely dangerous
for lungs. The typical ion tube has a thick helix of tungsten-based cathode. This cathode is made of
specially processed tungsten and coated to promote the formation of a sufficiently dense electron
cloud so that high current can be passed through the tube with minimal additional heating at the
cathode itself. The hot cathode results in thermionic emission of electrons from its surface to free
space.

Bore diameters usually range from 0.55 to 0.75 mm for small lasers and up to 2 mm for larger ones.
Further longer tubes require larger bores.

For producing laser energy, the bore must function as part of an optically resonant cavity. To
accomplish this, mirrors are placed at each end of the bore facing perpendicular to the length of
the bore. One of these mirrors is a highly reflective mirror while the other is partially reflective.
Usually the mirrors are permanently bonded, in a vacuum tight manner.

As Argon ion lasers will simultaneously run on several lines unless there is a dispersive
element (prism or grating) in the cavity. With an intra-cavity prism, approximately 30
different lines can be selected, depending on the laser power and the type of mirrors
used.

Most of these lasers have a hemispherical cavity, with a flat high-reflector mirror and a long-radius
output coupler. A typical 5 W Argon ion laser is about 1m long, while higher power lasers are much
longer. The mirrors are designed for specific wavelengths; for the ultraviolet range special mirrors
are required. An intra-cavity prism is used for the selection of the various lines, with the prism
shaped so that the beams strikes it at or near Brewsters angle on both surfaces. The prism and the
high reflector are usually mounted together in a single unit. The optical cavities of Argon ion lasers
often contain an adjustable aperture located between the output coupler and the end of the laser
tube, which serves to depress unwanted transverse modes. When the aperture is set for the proper
diameter, only the TEM
00
mode will lase.

For applications like holography, one requires a single transverse mode, single line and single
frequency i.e. single longitudinal mode argon ion lasers. TEM
00
mode operation can be realised by
inserting a variable aperture in the resonant cavity. Single line operation is achieved by placing an
intracacity prism. However, the number of longitudinal oscillating modes in any laser is
approximately equal to the laser line-width divided by the mode spacing. The gain bandwidth of an
argon laser is typically of the order of 10Ghz, which means that many modes will lase
simulaneously, unless prevented from doing so. 10Ghz corresponds to a length of a little more than
an inch (3cm), which means that the coherence length is of this order implying that the maximum
recordable depth of a hologram will be only an inch or so. In order to prevent more than one mode
to lase and thus to ensure single frequency operation, we need to add an etalon into the cavity.
Two types of etalons are common in Argon ion lasers. In one, the etalon is an approximately 1cm
thick solid piece of fused quartz with coated surfaces to achieve the correct reflectivity. In the
second type, an air-spaced etalon is used, with two quartz windows mounted on the ends of a
hollow cylinder. The oscillating frequency of the (single) mode is adjusted by slightly changing the
cavity length of the etalon either by tilting the etalon slightly, or by changing the temperature of
the etalon and thereby its thickness.

The efficiency of the ion lasers is very poor. The problem is that the lower laser level is about 16
eV from the ground state, resulting in a loss of large percentage of the input energy, before the
ions relax to the ground state. The end result is a poor efficiency in these lasers, with typical
efficiencies the order of 0.05%. Typically, a 5 W argon ion laser will also generate about 10kW of
heat. In fact, the limitation on the output power of these lasers is determined by the ability to
remove the waste heat from the laser and maintain the tube at a low enough temperature so as not
to damage the tube. That is why; high power ion lasers are always water-cooled.

Pulsed Argon ion lasers can be realized in the following manner:
- Power on Demand power supplies are used for pulsed medical ion laser systems,
these power supplies consist of a large capacitor bank charged by a switching
supply to enable multi watt lasers to run off common single phase power supplies.
- An intra-cavity acousto-optic device can mode lock a laser source. The acousto-
optic modulator device suitable for a particular wavelength has been used to mode
lock the ultraviolet lines at 3511, 3638 and 5145 from an argon ion laser. Pulses of
0.2 nsec and 0.17 nsec for UV and visible wavelengths have been produced.
Applications:

Argon ion lasers are used in a wide variety of applications. These are being used extensively in
scientific, research, educational, medical and commercial applications. The applications include:
- Raman Spectroscopy
- Microscopy
- Flow Cytometry
- Forensics to detect latent fingerprints
- Laser shows for Entertainment
- Fiber Bragg Grating production
- Semiconductor Wafer inspection
- Ophthalmic Surgery
- Critical cell sorting and classifying for DNA sequencing applications
- Argon lasers are used for retinal phototherapy particularly for diabetic patients
- Sources for optical pumping.
- High power, excellent beam quality, and blue green wavelength, argon lasers being
used extensively in high speed printing applications
- Green line of Argon ion lasers up to one watt has been extensively used for
photolithography work.
- New applications for ion lasers continue to emerge, including producing three-
dimensional (3-D) models of parts in a process called stereo lithography and serving
as light sources in confocal microscopes.
Summary of Some important properties of Argon Ion Lasers:
Property Value
Strongest Wavelengths 514.5 and 488 nm
Power Range Few miliwatts to about 100 W on all the lines
Electrical efficiency 0.05 to 0.1 %
Small signal gain 0.005 cm
-1

Saturation Intensity 16.3 W/cm
2

Beam diameter 1 - 2 mm
Beam divergence 0.5 mrad
Typical operating current 50 A
Magnetic Field 600 - 1200 G
Operating Life 5000 - 10000 hrs
Pressure inside plasma tube 0.1 - 1.0 torr

Krypton laser
Krypton laser is another important member of the Ion lasers category. Argon lasers are though by
far the most important members of this group, but krypton ion lasers are also in wide use. Ion
lasers are gas lasers in which the stimulated emission process occurs between two energy states of
an ion. The excitation mechanism of such a laser first must supply the necessary energy to remove
an electron from the lasing atom to produce the ion, and then must supply additional energy to
raise the ion to the appropriate excited state. These large input energy requirements result in low
efficiencies for essentially all ion lasers. The energy levels of krypton ion lasers are similar to those
of argon, and they also may be operated either on one line at a time or on several lines at once. A
unique feature of krypton lasers is that, with the proper mirrors, they will lase on four lines that
are red, yellow, green, and blue in color. This produces an output beam that is white in appearance
and is uniquely suited to laser light shows. Krypton ion laser employs ionised krypton gas (Kr
+
) and
lases at a number of wavelengths (more than 10), most important being in the visible region of
electromagnetic spectra.

Krypton ion laser and argon ion lasers are similar in construction and performance, with the argon
system producing higher powers for longer lifetimes. Krypton-ion lasers are almost identical in
construction and reliability to argon lasers. Krypton lasers emit at several wavelengths : in the
visible range it emits at 406.7 nm, 413.1 nm, 415,4 nm, 468.0 nm, 476.2 nm, 482.5 nm, 520.8 nm,
530.9 nm, 568.2 nm, 647.1 nm, 676.4 nm. The argon laser has its strongest output at 514 nm
(green) and 488 nm (blue). The krypton laser is known for its red (647 nm) and yellow (568 nm)
output. The two gases can be combined to produce a laser with quasi-white all-lines output. Under
some conditions krypton lasers can produce wavelengths over the full visible spectrum with lines in
the red, yellow, green and blue. The 647.1 nm and 676.4 nm red lines, however, are the strongest
and result in the best performance. The relative power of various lines is shown in this table.
Wavelength Relative Power
406.7 nm .036
413.1 nm .07
415.4 nm .02
468.0 nm .02
476.2 nm .016
482.5 nm .016
520.8 nm .028
530.9 nm .06
568.2 nm .044
647.1 nm .014
676.4 nm .048
Efficiencies of Krypton ion lasers is also low because of the large amount of input energy required
to ionize atoms and excite them to the proper state. The most general expression for the output
power of an ion laser indicates that the power increases approximately with the square of the
current density. Implying that smaller bores produce higher powers for the same current values.
Thus, ion lasers are constructed to have the smallest bore diameters possible without introducing
excessive diffraction loss or erosion.

Krypton lasers, like argon ion lasers, may be operated at gas pressures from 250 to 500 millitorr,
but the best operation is usually in the range of 300 to 350 millitorr. Specific systems are designed
to operate best at a specific gas pressure, and the laser power supply is matched to tube
characteristics at that pressure. If gas pressure is too low or too high, electrical characteristics of
the tube may become incompatible with the power supply, resulting in failure of the tube to ignite
or in unstable operation. The only two materials that are practical for such tubes are graphite and
Be0. The discharge tubes typically have an inner diameter of 2 to 5 mm., and a length of 350 to 450
mm. Passing a high-current discharge through a tube, in general, excites ion lasers. The discharge
is concentrated in a small-diameter bore at the center of the tube, which is where laser action
occurs. An initial spike of a few thousand volts breaks down the gas, then voltage drops to 90-400 V
while the current jumps to 10-70 A in the sustained discharge. An external magnet producing a
magnetic field parallel to the bore axis can help confine the discharge to the bore. Krypton
generates only 10%-30% as much power as argon used in the same tube. The strongest line of singly
ionized krypton (Kr
+
) is at 647.1 nm (red), but other lines in violet, yellow, green and red (416 nm,
530.9 nm, 568.2 nm, 676.4 nm, 752.5 nm, 799.3 nm) can produce up to one half or slightly less as
much power, The violet lines are important for dye laser pumping; the red and yellow lines are
important for displays. Doubly ionized krypton (Kr
2+
) has three near-UV lines. Laboratory lasers have
also been shown operating on Kr
3+
lines, which have generated CW powers at 242 to 266 nm and
wavelengths as short as 219 nm.

The output power of Krypton ion laser also depends on the magnetic field strength. If there is no
field, current density in the center of the bore is reduced and more energy is being lost through
collisions with the walls of the tube. An increase of magnetic field strength increases current
density and output power. The optimum value of the magnetic field is in a range of 600 to 1,200
gausses

When a gas is subjected to a strong magnetic field, each of its energy levels splits into several
closely spaced levels due to Zeeman effect and is proportional to the strength of the magnetic
field. The magnetic field in ion lasers results in a broadening of the laser gain curve that is
proportional to the applied magnetic field strength. At field strengths below about one kilogauss,
this produces a broadened output spectrum with more cavity modes and higher output power.
Above about one kilogauss, the gain curve becomes so broadened and flat that its edges fall below
the lasing threshold and the output power and spectral lines will both begin to drop. Each laser line
has an optimum magnetic field strength.

Krypton ion and argon ion lasers are very similar - they are both rare gas ion lasers, their basic
principles of operation are similar, and the same basic hardware configuration and power supplies
can usually be used. Differences are primarily in gas fill of the plasma tube and the mirrors/prisms
for selecting the output wavelength. Sealed plasma tube with internal or external mirrors and high
current regulated power supply. Combined Ar/Kr produces lines in red, green, and blue, and is
therefore considered a 'white light laser'.

Normally, optics is selected to support the mission of the laser. For example, surgery wants only
the blue lines; ophthalmology needs green, red, and yellow; Raman Spectroscopy needs 647 and
676 nm; laser shows use argon for blue, green, and violet, and krypton for red and yellow. Mixed
gas lasers use optics selected for 55-60 % red, 20% green, and 20 - 25% blue and violet. To suppress
a line, one of the optics is made more then 15% transmission for that line.

Since the krypton and argon lasing mediums have substantial gain at several spectral lines, a given
laser can be set up to output on a single line or more than one at the same time depending on how
the optics are designed and adjusted. The tube current also affects this to some extent as
increasing the current will bring in progressively more lower gain lines.

A laser set up for multi-line operation will usually result in highest total output power but there are
many applications like holography where a monochromatic beam is required. Single line operation
is achieved by replacing the multi-line rear mirror with an intracavity prism assembly as mentioned
in the case of Argon ion lasers. This assembly consists of an internal prism aligned to properly
deflect the intra-cavity optical path to the High Reflector. Because of the dispersive properties of
the prism, only one wavelength at a time will be properly aligned and produce lasing. The
wavelength selector thus allows easy tunability and selection of any of the individual lasing
wavelengths. As mentioned earlier using special optics sets coated to transmit more then 15% for
the lines to be suppressed can also be used to implement single line operation, thus stopping them
from oscillating.

Multi-line operation requires a set of mirrors with reflectivities designed to achieve laser operation
for all the desired spectral lines. Any intracavity prisms are removed.

Beam quality is very high and one can achieve TEM
00
mode Gaussian beam, for all lines using
suitable optics.

White Light Lasers
The term 'white light laser' typically refers to one that is capable of producing a set of wavelengths
which if mixed in the proper proportion can 'simulate' the effect of a white light source in full color
displays and laser shows and also for some spectroscopy applications. However, they generally don't
produce a broad spectrum like an incandescent light bulb.

Though under some conditions krypton lasers as such can produce wavelengths over the full visible
spectrum with lines in the red, yellow, green and blue. However, the most common white light
lasers are large frame ion types with a mixture argon and krypton for the gas fill.

White light lasers are now even available in air-cooled format. All use a mix of argon and krypton.
Many are made for a roughly 60:20:20 ratio of red, green, and blue lines for proper white balance.

Applications:
The applications of Krypton ion lasers are almost the same as those of Argon ion lasers. These
include areas such as very high performance printing, copying, typesetting, photo-plotting, image
generation, forensic medicine, general and ophthalmic surgery, laser shows for entertainment,
holography, electro-optics research, optical 'pumping' source for other lasers, spectroscopy etc.
Krypton lasers are also used in medicine for example for coagulation of retina.

Nitrogen Lasers
Nitrogen laser was developed as one of the first ultraviolet lasers in 1963. These
lasers are convenient and economical sources of short, nanosecond, ultraviolet
(337.1 nm) pulses. The gain medium is nitrogen molecules in the gas phase. The
nitrogen laser is a 3-level laser: the upper laser level is directly pumped, imposing
no speed limits on the pump. These lasers are based on a fast electrical discharge
through N
2
gas. Traditional designs require vacuum pumps and flowing gas.
Smaller sealed tubes, a more recent variant, are much more convenient to handle.
These lasers are based on pure nitrogen, nitrogen-helium mixture, and sometimes
even simply air. Emission typically occurs at 337.1 nm. The high gain leads this to
relatively efficient super-radiant pulsed molecular laser. Superluminescent
emission implies that laser can works even without a laser resonator. As a
superluminescent source, it has a very low temporal coherence. It contains a laser
gain medium, which is excited in order to emit and then amplify luminescent light.
Since it has a large emission bandwidth of about 0.1nm compared to most other
lasers: that is why its temporal coherence is very low. Nitrogen lasers are relatively
easy to build and operate, and have been made by many hobbyists without refined
laboratory equipment.

Although nitrogen lasers have been operated over a range of partial pressures from
a few Torr to more than 1 atmosphere, it is common to divide them into two
categories: low pressure and atmospheric pressure. The upper-state lifetime of
nitrogen is inversely related to pressure; it is approximately 40 nsec at pressures of
a few Torr, decreasing to around 2 nsec at 1 atmosphere. However, the lower laser
level has much longer lifetime thus causing the laser as self-terminating. This
effect seriously limits both the duration of the pulse and the efficiency of the laser.
There are two versions a nitrogen laser, which may be constructed. The first
approach is a low-pressure design - it is more 'traditional' and requires a vacuum
pump. It produces a pulse of 5 to 10nS in duration, which has a cross-section of
about 10mm by 2mm. The power output and beam shape are quite suitable for
pumping a dye laser. The second approach is a TEA version of the nitrogen laser.
TEA lasers (for Transverse Electrical-discharge at Atmospheric pressure) do not
require a vacuum system at all as they operate at atmospheric or even greater
pressures. Either laser, if built efficiently, can even operate using regular air as the
lasing medium. In the case of the TEA laser using air, no gas housing is required.
Although the idea of a TEA laser is tempting, since no vacuum pump required,
construction of this type of laser is bit difficult than the type employing a vacuum
pump. Ultra-fast discharges are required for the TEA laser (10 times faster than a
'normal' low-pressure nitrogen laser).

Nitrogen lasers are capable of generating peak power output of few megawatts,
with a pulse width of 10 nsec, at rep rate 1000 Hz. at 337.1 nm in the UV region,
with average energy of hundreds of milliwatts. Since the life times of it's upper and
lower laser levels are about 40 n sec and 10 microseconds respectively, CW
operation is not possible. The energy level diagram of the Nitrogen laser is shown
below.

A fast high-voltage
discharge populates the
upper laser level, an
excited electronic state
with 40-ns lifetime,
which emits at 337.1
nm when it drops to
the lower laser level as
shown in the figure.
The transition is a
vibronic one, in which
both electronic and
vibrational energy
levels change, making
it broadband .The
lower level has a 10-
microsecond decay time, much longer than the upper level, and drops to a
metastable state with a lifetime of the order of seconds. This implies that laser
action is possible only if a fast electric discharge populates the upper N
2
level very
efficiently. Pumping is normally provided by direct electron impact; the electrons
must have sufficient energy, or they will fail to excite the upper laser level.
Typically reported optimum values are in the range of 80 to 100 eV per Torr-cm
pressure of nitrogen gas.

A fast strong electrical pulse does this where electron collisions cause the
preferential population of the upper energy band first. After about 20nSec, the
population of molecules at the upper laser level starts decaying to the lower laser
level where it will stay because of much longer life time thereby quickly ceasing
the laser action after the electrical pulse. Nitrogen lasers are hence self terminating.
The pulse length of the low-pressure Nitrogen laser, then, is limited by the lifetime
of the upper laser level i.e. 20nS. After this time, population inversion is no longer
possible since half of the molecules in the upper energy state have decayed to the
lower state

The lifetime of the upper-lasing level is dependent on the pressure in the laser tube.
As pressure rises, the lifetime shortens according to:

t = 36/( 1+12.8*p(bar)) ns

Or

t = 36/(1+p(torr)/58) ns
There is 40 ns upper limit of laser lifetime at low pressures and the lifetime
becomes shorter as the pressure increases. For TEA nitrogen laser where the
pressure is 760 torr (one atmosphere) the lifetime is about 1 - 3 ns.

These features result in making N
2
lasers very high gains during its short pulses;
small signal gain is typically 1-2 cm
-1
. This avoids the need for a high-quality
resonator. The laser gain is extraordinarily high, so much so that a single pass of
light down the laser tube amplifies radiation enough to produce a powerful output
beam. No mirrors are required for this laser - this is why, it is called a super radiant
laser. The output beam simply passes through a thin glass microscope slide to exit
the laser tube. This also eliminates mirror alignment problems mostly encountered
with most other types of lasers. Though all nitrogen lasers can operate in super-
radiant mode without cavity mirrors, but output can be enhanced significantly
typically more than double, with a simple cavity with 100 percent reflective rear
mirror. Further the use of rear mirror ensures that the output is emitted from the
opposite end. Use of a high-reflectance rear mirror not only increases the peak
power output but also decreases beam divergence, and improves beam
homogeneity. Cavities are normally are 15 to 50 cm long.

The greatest challenge is the need to deliver a pulse of 15 to 40 kilovolts (kV) with
rise time less than 10 ns. Previous designs involved the use of spark gaps, however,
in recent designs, high efficiency thyratron switch provides the high energy
required for pumping.

Some other important features of nitrogen lasers are:
- Strong laser emission is there at 337.1 nm, whereas weak emission
has also been reported at 357.6
- Wall-plug efficiency of N
2
lasers is typically of the order of 0.1
percent.
- Pulse length dependent on both gas pressure and the discharge circuit.
Pulse lengths range from about 300 picoseconds (ps) at atmospheric
pressure to about 10 ns at 20 torr. Repetition rates range from 10 to
100 hertz (Hz) in most of the lasers, though 1000 Hz has also been
demonstrated.
- A number of different geometries for N
2
laser resonators can be
employed. Usually a channel of narrow, rectangular cross section is
used as a resonator. Though both transverse and longitudinal
excitation has been used: but the most common technique is to excite
the channel by electrical discharges transverse to the direction of
coherent light output, i.e., the optical axis. Glass plates form the top
and bottom of the channel. Long electrodes, sometimes called
distributed electrodes, are sandwiched between the plates to form the
sides of the resonator. The beam, like the channel itself, is of
rectangular cross section.
- The energy storage/discharge circuit of an N
2
laser generally consists
of five basic elements: External high-voltage power supply, Capacitor
bank, Fast switch like thyratron, Impedance-matching network and
Laser channel.
- Energy is stored in a capacitor bank charged by the external power
supply. A trigger pulse then is applied to the grid of a hydrogen
thyratron used for switching. When the thyratron conducts, the high-
voltage pulse travels through the transmission line and appears across
the electrodes of the laser channel. This results in a rapid discharge
that excites most of the nitrogen molecules in the active medium. The
excited nitrogen has an extremely high gain and lases for a few
nanoseconds. This produces a high-peak-power pulse, but quickly
destroys the population inversion.
- Beam profile is not so good. Low-power nitrogen lasers have beams
as small as a millimeter or two across. Higher-power lasers typically
have oval or rectangular beams up to 6 by 32 mm across. Beams
derive this shape of oval or rectangular in cross section because of
discharge cavity shape. Divergence ranges from 1 by 2 mrad to 4 by 6
mrad.
- Standard-purity nitrogen is adequate because N
2
lasers are not very
sensitive to impurities. The nitrogen supply can be either of a
standard gas grade, supplied through a gas cylinder, or from liquid
nitrogen. Even some studies have shown the use of just air, which is
78% nitrogen. However, the efficiency is low in the case of air.
- The electronics is a circuit composed of a spark gap and a capacitor.
The speed of this circuit is increased by reducing the inductance of
the circuit.
- The ratio of electric field to pressure, E/p, of the gas is an important
factor. Nitrogen lasers have been reported to operate over a wide
range of E/p values however it is generally acknowledged that the
optimal E/p is around 120 to 300V/cm-torr. For a low-pressure design
typically 100 torr, with a 1cm gap the operating voltage is of the
order of 15kV.
- The important properties can be summarized as follows:
o Wavelength 337.1 nm
o Spectral bandwidth 0.1 nm
o Pulse width (FWHM) < 3.5 ns
o Pulse energy upto 300 J
o Rep rate upto 100 Hz
o Beam size 3 7 mm
o Small signal gain: 1-2 cm
-1

o Saturation intensity; 50 KW/cm
2

o Beam divergence 4 6 mrad
o Long tube life - 10
8
shots per fill
o Spark gap or DC heated thyratron triggered discharge

- Important applications include:
o Pumping source for dye lasers
o Measurement of air pollution using LIDAR
o Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry
o DNA Sequencing
o Laser Ablation
o Production of fast, dense pulse of photoelectrons for materials
testing
o Biomedical diagnostics
o Study of fluorescence effects
o Studies related to Raman scattering
o Measurement of particle size by light scattering
o Use in optical coherence tomography (OCT) in the medical
sector
o For device characterization such as gyroscopes and fiber optic
sensors.
References:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TEA_laser
- http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasercn2.htm
- http://www.fineartradiography.com/hobbies/lasers/nitrogen/
- http://192.197.62.35/staff/mcsele/lasers/LasersTEA.htm


Excimer Lasers
The name excimer refers to the electronically excited species such as monomers,
dimers and other complexes, which exist in the electronically excited state only.
Excimers are characterized by short radiative lifetimes of the order of nanoseconds
and large cross sections for stimulated emission, which enables an efficient laser
operation. N. G. Basov et al. obtained the first experimental evidence of excimer
lasing by exciting liquid xenon in 1971. However, the excimer lasers, which we
know today like rare gas halides were first, demonstrated in Xenon bromide
(XeBr) by Searl and Hart in 1975. The term excimer stands for 'excited dimer'
where a dimer refers to a molecule of two identical or similar parts. In the case of
excimer lasers as we know which consists of noble gas halides, both the molecules
are different. In this case exciplex should be used for 'excited complex'. Most
"excimer" lasers are of the noble gas halide type, for which the term excimer is
strictly speaking a misnomer. The correct name for these lasers is exciplex laser.
However, we all know these lasers as excimer lasers. The excimer laser is really an
exotic laser in the sense that the lasing molecule exists only in the excited state and
separates in to the original atoms in the ground state. Excimer laser molecule
contains a noble gas atom (Argon, Krypton, Xenon etc) and a halogen atom
(Fluorine, Chlorine, Bromine, Iodine etc). Excimer lasers are based on electronic
transitions and emit mainly in the UV spectral range. These lasers are gas lasers
that emit pulses of light with duration of about 10 ns in the ultraviolet (UV)
spectral range. They are the most powerful lasers in the UV. While a lot of
different excimer laser transitions have been used to generate light pulses at
various wavelengths between 126nm and about 660nm, the most commonly used
excimer lasers are krypton fluoride (KrF, 248 nm), argon fluoride (ArF, 193 nm),
xenon chloride (XeCl, 308 nm) and xenon fluoride (XeF, 351 nm). The relative
power of various lasers are given below:
Wavelength Active Gas Relative Power
248nm Krypton Fluoride 100
193nm Argon Fluoride 60
308nm Xenon Chloride 50
351nm Xenon Fluoride 45


Laser action in an excimer molecule occurs because it has a bound excited state,
but a repulsive ground state. This is because inert gases such as xenon and krypton
do not usually form chemical compound. However, when in an excited state, they
can form temporarily-bound molecules with themselves or with halogens such as
fluorine and chlorine. This bound state is the upper laser level in the case of
excimer laser. The excited compound can give up its excess energy by undergoing
spontonaneous or stimulated emission, resulting in a strongly repulsive ground
state molecule which very quickly dissociates back into two unbound atoms. Since
the excimer molecule returns to the unexcited ground state and separates into
atoms, the population inversion condition is achieved the moment excited state is
created, since the population of ground level is nil. The lifetime of the excited state
is of the order of 10 n sec.

The excimer laser contains about 90-95 % helium or neon, less than 0.2% of
halogen, the rest being the corresponding noble gas. The entire laser unit consists
of discharge chamber (gas tube), an optical resonator, high voltage system, and the
system serving for pumping and mixing of gases. The electrical high voltage
discharge is transverse with respect to the length direction of the gas tube.
Therefore the output beam of an excimer laser normally has a rectangular cross-
section. To break the halogen and noble gas molecules to form the excited state, it
is necessary to pass short duration high power electric pulses, sometimes of the
order of megawatts / cm
3
. As the gain of the laser medium is high, it is sufficient to
use a fully reflecting rear mirror and an ordinary window as the output coupler.
The wavelength output of an excimer laser can be changed simply by changing the
gas mixture. However, the laser mirrors may have to be replaced to obtain
maximum output.

The energy
level diagram
of excimer laser
is shown here.
The general
principle of the
excimer laser
transitions is
shown in the
adjoining Fig.
For example, in
case of KrF, the
upper laser
level is an
ionically bound
charge transfer
state of the rare gas positive ion and the halogen negative ion. For example for
Krypton fluoride lasers, it is
2
P rare gas positive ion (Kr+) and the
1
S halogen
negative ion (F
-
). The upper laser level is populated by a three-body collision
involving Kr
+
, F
-
, and a third collision partner (called buffer gas, for example Ne or
He). While we can see that there is a minimum in the potential energy curve in the
upper state it is still rather unstable. The excited laser molecules decays after
several nanoseconds via emission of a photon into individual atoms like Kr and F.
These form the ground state, which is covalently bonded and consists of separate
Kr and F atoms for large internuclear separations.

Some of the important characteristics of excimer lasers include:
- With time, the corrosive gases used in excimer lasers chemically react
with the laser tube and its components. This process can significantly
limit the lifetime of a gas fill and can affect laser beam quality and
pulse energy stability. Further, corrosion also limits overall tube
lifetime and increases the frequency of routine optics component
cleaning and replacement. The development of ceramic technology
has helped to extend the life of excimer lasers. Specifically, all
insulators and high voltage feed-throughs in the laser chamber are
made from corrosion resistant high-density ceramics.
- For the gas flowing based systems, the supply of gases like Ar, Kr,
Xe, He etc is simple and risk free but the supply of halogens like
chlorine, fluorine etc requires special precautions. Though one can
use gas cylinders for these gases and can handle with a great care, the
alternative approach that has emerged recently to install system,
which supply the gas when required only. For example fluorine can
be generated from solid K
2
NiF
6
.KF at 300
o
C as per the following
reaction:

2K
2
NiF
6
.KFK
3
NiF
6
+ F
2


However, ultimate choice is the sealed version of these lasers.
- Noble gases, being inert, require very high-energy input to raise them
to the ionized state. Excimer lasers are excited by a current flow
through a gas mixture that contains both the inert gas atoms and the
halogen gas atoms. High current densities are achieved by the use of
short-duration discharges or electron beams. However, electron
beams are difficult to handle and are extremely expensive and thus
have not been used for industrial applications. For industrial
applications, the excimer laser pumped with a gas discharge has
found increasing use. High voltage pulsed power circuits consists of
electrical discharge circuit including high voltage switch, capacitors
for energy storage and transfer, pre-ionization arrangement and
electrodes. The pulsed power circuit must switch tens of kilovolts
within a nanosecond. The initial excimer lasers used thyratrons as fast
high voltage switches but later on magnetic switch control (MSC)
was successfully used in conjunction with thyratrons for transferring
the electrical energy efficiently into the laser chamber. Recently
semiconductor devices like thyristors have replaced thyratron.
- The bandwidth of excimer lasers is bit large of the order of 0.3 - 0.5
nm. However, for the application of excimer lasers as light sources in
submicron line lithography, requires narrower spectral laser
bandwidth, higher spectral purity, significantly improved energy
stability and higher repetition rate. The cavities of such excimer lasers
include highly efficient line-narrowing elements such as high-
resolution optical gratings and etalons to achieve bandwidths less
than 1pm (0.001 nm).
- The efficiency of these lasers is relatively quite high (2-4%) as a
result of the high quantum efficiency and the high efficiency of the
pumping processes.
- The small signal gain and saturation intensity of excimer lasers is
typically in the range of 0.02 - 0. 1 cm
-1
and (10
5
- 10
6
)
W/cm
2
respectively. The high gain of the excimer medium requires
output-coupling reflectivities of 10-30 % for most efficient energy
extraction. Most excimer lasers are used with stable resonators,
consisting of a high reflectivity Al or dielectrically coated mirror and
a plane CaF
2
or MgF
2
window as output mirror. The divergence with
stable resonator is of the order of (2-4 mrad). However, when lower
divergence is required, the lasers may be equipped with unstable
resonators that reduce the beam divergence to 200-400 rad in a
beam with 60-70% of the pulse energy obtained with a conventional,
stable resonator.
- Since the pressure of the gas mixture is above atmospheric pressure,
Excimer lasers can be operated only in a pulsed regime. Typically for
the case of the KrF laser, the gas mixture consists typically of 6% Kr,
0.2% F
2
and the remainder is a buffer gas (Ne), reaching a total
pressure between 2 and 3 bar. At this high pressure it is impossible to
ignite a continuous discharge, since after a short period, a
homogeneous discharge will reverse into an arc or spark discharge,
which is not suitable for laser generation. Consequently, the excimer
laser can only be operated in pulsed high-voltage discharge.
- The pulse length of excimer laser typically ranges from a few
nanoseconds (nS) to about 100nS. This is a relatively short pulse
length and leads to high peak power output from excimer lasers. The
pulse energies range from few mJ up to 1 J for the powerful units at
pulse repetition rates up to about 100 Hz. Excimer lasers can reach a
peak power of about 5 MW at UV wavelengths. Typically a 1000 mJ
laser with a 20 nS pulse width will yield 5 MW of peak power.
- The lifetime is defined as the number of pulses, which can be
obtained from the laser when operated in the constant energy mode at
50%, rated power at maximum repetition rate, on a single gas fill. A
typical value for the number of shots is about 30 - 100 million pulses.
- Most of the applications of excimer lasers are in industry and
Medical. They account for more than 90 % of the applications
whereas rest 10 % is in research.
- Over the last few decades the excimer laser has obtained the key
position among lasers in various sectors of micromachining. Excimer
lasers have developed into powerful manufacturing tools mainly
because of the reasons that it has short wavelengths and offers
excellent quality of machining
- Major industrial applications of excimer lasers are based on
micromaching of different materials as polymers, ceramics and
glasses, applied for example in the production of ink jet cartridges by
drilling the nozzles and printed circuit board drilling. Theses lasers
are also used to drill small precision holes (5 - 10 micron) in various
types of plastic and metal packages such as metal containers from the
beverage industry, foil packages from the medical device industry or
blister packs and plastic ampoules from the pharmaceutical industry.
These lasers are excellent for machining repetitive patterns because
the use of the mask allows for a series of holes or slits to be processed
at the same time. This method is much more efficient than the use of
a CO
2
or Nd:YAG lasers, which require that each hole or slit be cut
individually. For example, an excimer laser can drill 5000 holes in a
polymer sheet in approximately 3 seconds, while the same process
would require about 50 seconds with a CO
2
or Nd:YAG laser
- Excimer lasers are typically used in machining materials which are
hard to machine with other types of lasers, or where very high
precision is required. These lasers are also useful for cutting
biological tissue where a clean cut is required without thermal
damage to the surrounding tissue.
- Excimer lasers can cut any solid material, from Diamond to the
cornea of the eye. The material, the laser wavelength and the average
power and / or the repetition rate of the laser determine the rate of
most excimer laser machining processes.
- The largest application of excimer lasers for medical use is in
refractive laser surgery. As an ophthalmological tool, excimer laser
has been widely used for photoablation process. The precision of
excimer laser and, more important, the lack of damage to surrounding
tissue, are instrumental for correction of refractive errors or optical
problems of the eye, including nearsightedness, farsightedness, and
astigmatism. Excimer laser light is typically absorbed in less than a
nanometer of tissue. By means of intense excimer pulses, the surface
of the human cornea is reshaped to change its refractive power and
thus to correct for short or long sightedness.
- Another medical application where excimer lasers are being used is
dermatology for treating a variety of dermatological conditions
including psoriasis, vitiligo, atopic dermatitis, alopecia areata and
leukoderma.
- The KrF laser has been of interest in the nuclear fusion energy
research in inertial confinement experiments. This laser has high
beam uniformity, short wavelength, and the ability to modify the spot
size to track an imploding pellet. Lasers with energies as high as 4.5
10
3
joules has been used in the laser confinement experiments.
- Excimer laser radiation is also being used for changing the structure
and properties of materials as oxides, silicon or glass in bulk or thin
films, as applied for the production of polycrystalline-silicon thin film
transistor (TFT) and active matrix LCD monitors.
- Synthesis of polysilicon from amorphous silicon can be realized by
exposing it to UV light generated by excimer laser. The light is
absorbed by the amorphous layer, which melts and crystallizes in
polysilicon while cooling.
- Other important application of excimer lasers is in photolithography
for the production of computer chips with critical dimensions below
0.25 m.
- Other applications include their use in fabrication of fiber Bragg
gratings in telecommunication, high temperature superconducting
films, the spectroscopic surface diagnostic, pigment analysis and
ablative laser cleaning of stone objects and also varnish removal on
paintings, in basic scientific research, as pump sources for tunable
dye lasers, mainly to excite laser dyes emitting in the blue-green
region of the spectrum.
References:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excimer_laser
- http://www.mrl.columbia.edu/ntm/level2/ch02/html/l2c02s11.html
- http://web.phys.ksu.edu/vqm/laserweb/Ch-6/F6s1t8p1.htm
- http://cer.ucsd.edu/LMI/TUTORIALS/excimer-primer.pdf


Helium-Cadmium Lasers
The helium-cadmium laser was discovered by William Silvast in 1966 at the
University of Utah (Salt Lake City). The transitions in Helium-Cadmium laser are
between energy levels of singly ionized Cadmium atoms, and there are about
twelve lines. These wavelengths are in the shorter wavelength region, violet and
Ultra-Violet (UV). The most prominent wavelengths are 441.6 nm and 325 nm.
The helium buffer gas plays basically the same role for He-Cd as it does in the
helium-neon laser. Excited helium in the discharge couples extremely well to the
upper laser level of the cadmium ion. Helium-cadmium lasers typically have less
than 10 Torr of helium constrained in a bore of the order of 1 mm in diameter, with
vaporized cadmium at about 0.1% of the helium concentration.

The main mechanism identified for the laser transitions is a process known as
Penning ionization, in which highly excited helium atoms transfer their energy to
cadmium in a way similar to the operation of He-Ne laser. However, in this case
cadmium ions are produced in the process, instead of neutral atoms as in the case
of neon, owing to much lower ionization potential of cadmium than of neon. That
is why Helium-Cadmium lasers can be categorized either in Metal vapor Lasers
since cadmium is a metal and the lasing action in Helium Cadmium laser occurs
between energy levels of cadmium ions OR a Gas Laser since the properties of
Helium-Cadmium laser are similar to those of Helium Neon Laser, which is a
neutral
atom gas
laser.
Excitation
energy for
the helium-
cadmium
laser is
provided by
a direct-
current
discharge
passing
through the
laser
tube. Typic
al discharges are around 700 - 2000 volts, with current densities in the small-
diameter bore (2 -mm) of the order of 3 - 5 amperes per square centimeter of cross
section. Helium atoms in the laser gas absorb energy from the discharge and then
transfer that energy to cadmium ions. The energy levels of cadmium and helium
involved in the principal He-Cd lines are shown in the adjoining figure. The most
prominent transitions, which can be easily, produced are 441.6-nm (blue transition)
and the 325-nm (ultraviolet transition).

The most important energy transfer mechanism for the narrow-bore tubes mainly
used for blue and ultraviolet lasers is Penning ionization. Penning ionization is a
form of chemi - ionization, an ionization process involving reactions between
neutral atoms and/or molecules. The process is named after the Dutch physicist
Frans Michel Penning, who first reported it in 1927. Chemi-ionization is the
formation of an ion through the reaction of a gas phase atom or molecule with an
atom or molecule in an excited state and should not be confused with chemical
ionization.

In Penning ionization, energy from an excited helium atom ionizes a cadmium
atom:

He
*
+Cd He + Cd
+
+ e
-


The energy levels of cadmium and helium involved in the principal He-Cd lines
are shown in the above figure. The 441.6-nm blue transition and the 325-nm
ultraviolet transition, which are closely related, are the easiest to produce and the
most widely available. Considerably more energy is needed to raise Cd+ ions to
the upper laser levels of the red and green transitions which themselves are also
closely related. In practice, different discharge conditions are necessary. The blue
and ultraviolet lines can be generated in the positive column of the discharge, the
region from the middle of a discharge to the anode where the electric field is not
steeply graded and the electrons are not accelerated rapidly. The higher energy
needed to produce the red and green lines is available only in the region near the
cathode, where there is a larger change in electric field and a stronger electron
acceleration. This difference means that special tube designs are needed to generate
the red and green lines.

Because helium's lowest excited energy level is well above the ground state of
Cd+, Penning ionization produces excited cadmium ions. The metastable helium
excited states transfer energy to the levels of Cd+, which have lifetimes of the
order of 100 nanoseconds (ns). The lower levels of Cd+ also receive some energy
but are quickly depopulated because of their very low lifetime of the order of 1ns.
The result is a population inversion between different states of cadmium, allowing
laser action on either the 442- or 325-nm lines. The prism combination can be used
to select the wavelength required for a particular application.

Cadmium, a metal, is solid at room temperature and for lasing it needs to be
sufficiently heated to have required partial pressure of cadmium vapors in the
discharge tube. Normally a uniform vapor is obtained within a chamber placing the
vapor source either liquid or solid, and heating the entire chamber uniformly. In
case of cadmium, it is not practical to heat the complete chamber to approximately
260
o
C because of the other components like mirrors, windows, electrodes etc.
present in the chamber. Thus the challenge in making HeCd lasers operate
continuous-wave (CW) is dealing with cataphoresis. This is the term given to the
migration of the positively charged metal ions toward the cathode where they may
condense, depleting the supply of vapor and contaminating tube components and
optical surfaces. A critical breakthrough has been achieved to put cataphoresis to
good use in distributing vaporized cadmium evenly throughout the discharge,
which has made possible CW operation of the UV line. This is achieved by using
cataphoresis to control the cadmium vapor distribution. In this process the
cadmium metal is heated and vaporized at the anode (which is at positive potential)
end of the discharge and is transported towards the cathode end of the discharge by
the electric field acting upon the cadmium ions that are produced by the discharge
current. The practical problem in Helium-Cadmium laser is to maintain
homogeneous distribution of the metal vapor inside the electrical discharge tube.
Once the vapors go out of the bore, it may deposit on cold surfaces. Thus it is
important that its vapor remains at proper areas. In order to prevent coating of the
windows with Cadmium, cold traps are put before the laser windows. The
cadmium atoms then condense in a pocket near the cathode region. The laser
species are mainly flowing down the capillary at a very slow rate: typically one to
two gms per 5000 hours. The discharge current heats the gain region sufficiently so
that cadmium does not condense in that region while it is being transported through
the capillary.

The construction of helium cadmium (HeCd) lasers is far more complex than that
of other helium based lasers. The laser tube contains a reservoir for cadmium and a
heater to vaporize the metal. As a result, a heated filament cathode is often used in
placed of the cylindrical tube that comprises a HeNe laser. Additionally, the laser
itself needs to sustain a higher level of internal pressurization allowing the
vaporized cadmium to remain in the tube. The lifetime of a specific helium
cadmium laser is dictated by the amount of cadmium in the reservoir. Once the
cadmium supply is exhausted, the tube must be replaced.

He-Cd laser tubes are more complex than those used for He-Ne lasers. In addition
to often using a heated filament/cathode, they also include a reservoir for the
cadmium metal and a heater to control its vapor pressure, a mechanism to add
helium as needed to maintain correct pressure, possibly an overall heater and
thermal insulation to control tube temperature, and various sensors inside the
envelope to monitor these parameters for use by several feedback loops in the
power supply. The power supplies are also correspondingly more complex with
multiple feedback loops and power sequencing logic.

Some common features of He - Cd lasers are:
- The largest portion of the gas fill is helium (essentially 100 percent at
startup), which sustains the electrical discharge and excites the
cadmium vapor. Overall helium pressure is regulated via closed loop
feedback. There may be a helium reserve with helium added as
needed to maintain correct pressure. Unlike a He-Ne laser where
there is no need to replenish helium over the life of the laser, a HeCd
laser must periodically add helium to maintain the correct pressure.
The partial pressure of helium is order of 1,000 times that of
cadmium during operation
- Like He-Ne lasers, He-Cd laser tubes also have a thick-walled tube
with a small hole in it where the main discharge and laser gain
actually takes place. But in He-Cd lasers, this may be made of fused
silica or quartz instead of glass due to the higher current and bore
temperature. The discharge current through this using the process
cataphoresis assures that Cd vapor only travels down the bore to the
cadmium condenser near the cathode, and not to the anode area and
mirror where it could condense.
- In addition to the gas fill of helium, there is a cadmium reservoir and
wrap-around resistance heater to maintain a specific (closed loop
controlled) Cd vapor pressure in the tube. At startup, the cadmium is
at ambient temperature with negligible vapor pressure. A minute or
two after the heater is energized to increase the temperature to around
260
o
C; cadmium pressure begins to increase noticeably. Feedback
may be based on tube voltage or simply Cd temperature. During
warm-up, residual cadmium remaining in the bore from previous
operation may vaporize and momentarily produce some lasing, which
then disappears until the cadmium reservoir begins to approach
operating temperature. After the laser operation, cadmium is directed
to end up in a generally cool place and may have a magnet to help
direct the Cd.
- Overall wall-plug conversion efficiency for blue emission from a He-
Cd laser runs from 0.02 to about 0.003 percent, higher than argon ion
but below helium-neon. Efficiency of He-Cd on the ultraviolet line is
about one-half that in the blue.

Applications:
- Lithography
- Stereo lithography in which the ultraviolet laser is used to make
computer-generated models in a plastic material.
- The blue wavelength is used for printing on photosensitive materials.
- Flow cytometry
- Making CD masters
- Microchip inspection
- Fluoroscence analysis
- Diffraction grating fabrication
- Spectroscopy
- Nondestructive testing,
- Laser tumor cancer diagnoses

Important properties of He-Cd laser can be summarized as follows:
- Laser wavelengths: 441.6, 353.6, 325 nm
- Small signal gain coeff : 0.2 - 0.3 m
-1

- Saturation intensity: 0.4 W cm
-2

- Gas mixture : He:Cd :: 100:1
- Gas pressure : 5 - 10 torr
- Laser gain medium length: 20 - 200 cm
- Output power : Upto 200 mW
- Mode : TEM
oo
or Multimode
- Life time : Upto 6000 Hrs
- Starting voltage: 10 kV DC
- Operating voltage: 700 - 2000 V DC
- Operating current : Upto 100 mA
- Beam diameter :0. 3 mm for single mode and 2 - 3 mm for multimode
- Divergence 1 - 2 mrad
- M
2
: 1.3- 1.5 for single mode and 4 - 5 for multimode.
- Coherency length: approx. 30cm
- Overall wall-plug conversion efficiency : 0.003 - 0.02 percent

References:
- http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/laserhec.htm#hectoc
- William T . Silfvast , Handbook of Laser Technology and
Applications : Edited by Julian D . C . Jones and Colin E . Webb ;
Taylor & Francis 2003 , Pages 921-927
- http://www.kimmon.com/cgi-bin/search/index.cgi


Metal vapour lasers
In this system, vapour of metal atoms is the active lasing medium. Copper vapour
laser 510.6 nm (green), 578.2 nm (yellow), Gold vapour laser 627.8 nm (red),
Helium-selenium (HeSe) metal-vapour laser up to 24 wavelengths between red and
UV, Helium-silver (HeAg) metal-vapour laser 224.3 nm, Strontium Vapour Laser
430.5 nm, Neon-copper (NeCu) metal-vapour laser 248.6 nm belong to this group
of neutral metal atom vapour lasers. Most popular among them are Copper vapour
laser (CVL) and Gold vapour laser (GVL) and are being discussed here.

Copper vapour laser

Copper vapour laser (CVL), invented in 1965 by scientist William Walter, is three-
level laser and uses copper vapours as the lasing medium. It produces green laser
light at 510.6 nm and yellow laser light at 578.2 nm. It consists of a sealed zirconia
tube filled with neon gas at a pressure of 25-40 torr. A solid block of pure copper
metal is kept in the middle of the tube. Copper is heated above 1083
0
C (laser
operating temperature is about 1650
0
C) to generate copper vapour, which is the
active laser medium. High voltage is applied between the two electrodes at the end
of the zirconia tube. As a result, the temperature rises inside the tube cavity to
about 1400 - 1700
0
C, until the Copper evaporates, and the vapour pressure of the
Copper is about 0.1 torr. During the laser operation only a small fraction of the
copper atoms are ionized, and they move toward the ends of the tube because of
electrical attraction. There, the vapour cools down, and transforms to solid metal,
which reduces the quantity of copper in the tube. To continue the operation of the
laser, it is necessary to replenish the copper metal in the tube after few hundred
hours of operation. Electrons, accelerated by the high voltage applied to the
electrodes, collide with the copper vapour molecules, exciting them into one of the
available high laser energy levels. The lasers are self-heated such that most of the
energy provided by the discharge current provides heat to bring the plasma tube to
the necessary
temperature. Excitati
on occurs by
electrons colliding
with neutral copper
atoms to excite them
to the relevant laser-
related energy levels.
Inelastic collisions
of electrons with
copper vapour atoms
causes excitation of
the copper atoms, so
the inversion
population occur and
laser oscillation due to electron transition from upper level (P
1/2
, P
3/2
) to the lower
meta-stable level (D
5/2
, D
3/2
) take place at the 578.2- and 510.6nm, respectively.
Two principal outputs having wavelengths of 510.6 nm (green line
2
P
3/2
-
2
D
5/2
)
and 578.2 (yellow line
2
P
1/2
-
2
D
3/2
) are obtained. The lower laser levels (2D) are
metastable leading to self-termination of the laser action. Upper and lower laser
levels are shown in the energy level diagram.

The Copper Vapour Lasers (CVL) can be realized by two different ways. First one
is the development of lasers using copper as such and the second one involves the
vapours of copper-bearing compounds, mainly the copper halides, CuCl, CuBr,
CuI. In case of copper based CVL lasers, Copper must be heated to 1400 to 1700
o
C
in order to achieve a suitable vapour pressure. However, in case of CVL utilizing
copper based compounds, it is possible to achieve a sufficient copper concentration
for lasing in the 300 to 600
o
C range depending upon the type of compound.
Typically Halide based lasers such as copper bromide (CuBr), copper chloride
(CuCl) and copper iodide (CuI) lasers are necessary to be heated to 400, 500,
600
o
C, respectively. The use of copper halide instead of pure copper as the active
medium not only reduces the requirement for the heating but also is much easier to
handle in terms of materials involved for the resonator and cooling requirements
for electrodes and windows or mirrors. The benefit of the copper halide however
has the disadvantage, of a more complex power supply. To dissociate the copper
from its halogen atoms, a double pulse power supply is needed that is capable of
firing two HV pulses within the recombination time of the copper halide molecule.
Typically two energizing pulses in quick succession are required, the first to
dissociate vapour molecules, and the second to cause the dissociated ions to lase.
The first pulse provides copper atoms by dissociating the halide. The second pulse
is delayed until an adequate copper atom concentration has built up. The second
pulse is a fast discharge pulse that pumps the copper atoms to the upper laser levels
by electron collisions. For better performance, the laser requires fast excitation
pulses of rise time of the order of 100ns or less. The time gap between dissociation
pulse and excitation pulse should be dependent on how fast the chloride and copper
atoms recombine to copper halide. So HV pulse power supplies operating in the
kHz range require fast switching devices such as hydrogen thyratrons.

Some of salient features of Copper Vapour Lasers are:
- In order to have copper vapours, the metal needs to be at very high
temperatures, so the tube is made of Alumina or Zirconia, which are
high temperature resistant materials.
- The tube diameter is 10-100 mm, and it contains Neon gas at a
pressure of 25-50 torr.
- Compared to the pure copper vapour laser (CVL) that requires one
HV pulse for stimulated emission, the copper halide laser (CHL)
needs two. Therefore the power supply design is complex. The delay
time of the two HV pulses is in the range of 100 s to 280 s,
depending on the halide used.
- The heating is done by three 600 W IR heating elements, which are
arranged in 120
o
angle around the tube. Around the heating elements
a ceramic housing forms the constant temperature oven. The oven
contains also a temperature sensor and insulating material.
- An unstable resonator is normally used for a copper vapour laser.
However, for short cavity, flat - flat can work as well. Usually Rear
mirror is a high-reflector -mirror 99.8% and front mirror is an output
coupler with reflector of 2 - 4%. Since copper vapour is high gain, in
very large units a normal glass with 4 % reflectivity can be used as an
effective output coupler. For smaller lasers, a partially reflective
mirror of about 2 % may be used.
- Since the energy levels are separate, the two emission wavelengths
(510 nm and 578 nm) operate simultaneously. A dichroic mirror as a
spectral filter is used to isolate both lines of the laser from each other.
- The output power depends on length, diameter, excitation voltage,
temperature and pressure in the cavity.
- The maximum average output power for CVLs ranging in tube bore
from 10 to 60mm, is given by

P
max, aver
(Watts) = LD/100

D is diameter in millimeters and discharge length L in centimeters.
- Though both wavelengths are produced simultaneously, the energy
per pulse of green emission interestingly depends on the frequency of
the applied electrical pulse, whereas it is independent of the same in
the yellow emission.
- The green: yellow ratio is dependent on plasma tube temperature. In
general, higher temperature results in less green and more yellow.
Typical values are 1.5: 2.0 for green to yellow at discharge
temperature around 1500
o
.
- Neon is the best buffer gas and next best is helium.
- Copper vapour lasers are generally flowing buffer gas systems,
particularly for high power applications. However with the flowing
gas design, the large diameter beam, their size and weight, copper
rods have to be replenished quickly at regular intervals. Nevertheless
small sealed tube lasers are also possible with power levels of 5 - 10
W with small diameter beams. The life of these portable lasers is of
the order of 300 - 800 hours.
- Using singly ionized species of Cu, researches have also
demonstrated copper vapour lasers that are CW (continuous-wave),
i.e., not pulsed, and lase at deep ultraviolet wavelengths. These lasers
can provide average UV powers of several mW and are potentially
useful for analytical instruments and spectroscopy. CW copper-
vapour laser efficiency is of the order of 0.1% relative to the
discharge power.

Typical Parameters of Copper Vapour Lasers:
- Average Power (W): Upto 200 W
- Peak Power: 50 - 500 kW
- Pulse repetition rate: 2 - 40 kHz
- Green/Yellow ratio 1.5:1
- Pulse width (ns) 5 - 50 nS
- Efficiency (%) Greater than 1
- Small signal gain g0 = 0.05 - 0.1 cm
-1

- Saturation intensity = 9 - 12 W/cm
2

- Beam Diameter: 5 - 15 mm
- Divergence: 3 - 5 mrad
- Tube diameter: 10 - 100 mm
- Tube length: 50 - 150 cm
- Warm up time: 45 - 90 min
- Lifetime: 300 - 800 hours
- Buffer gas: 25 to 50 Torr of neon

Applications:
- Pumping source for tunable dye lasers and solid-state laser materials
such as Ti:sapphire to obtain pico second and femto second ultrashort
pulses
- High-speed flash photography and high-speed imaging with high
spatial resolution and temporal resolution
- Precision material Processing
- Underwater applications
- Holography
- Particle imaging velocimetry
- Spray Pattern Measurement
- Flow Visualization
- Photodynamic therapy and detection of forensic evidence
- Laser beam can be absorbed by biological tissue components, which
may be selectively destroyed. In oncology, the photodynamic therapy
based on the effect of simultaneous photochemical reaction between
an appropriate sensitize, laser light and oxygen, is used for a selective
destructions of pathological tissues
- Dermatology
- Copper vapour lasers emitting light at 511 nm (green) ad 578 nm
(yellow) have been useful for treating pigmented and vascular
lesions, respectively.
- Nonlinear frequency conversion to the ultraviolet. Harmonic
generation can produce 255 and 289 nm from the fundamental copper
lines or tunable ultraviolet light from CVL-pumped dye lasers. So one
can get pico-second and femtosecond pulses. They are particularly
useful for studying Time-spatial resolved spectroscopy.
- High Resolution spectroscopy
- Frequency doubled CVL can be used for fabrication of fiber Bragg
gratings (FBGs)
- Copper vapour lasers has an important application in atomic vapour
isotope separation (AVLIS) as a pumping source to excite tunable
dye lasers

Gold vapour laser (GVL)
The principle of operation and structure of the GVL is quite similar to CVL. Even
the same laser tube and power supply can be used for both lasers. The only change
is that instead of solid copper metal, gold wire is employed to produce gold vapour
and it lases at 627.8 nm in the red region. The laser head can withstand a
temperature of about 1700
o
C. The discharge circuit, like CVL, makes use of the
thyratron.

Typical efficiency of GVL (627.8 nm) is 0.2 % and the frequency doubled GVL
(312.2 nm) is 0.02%.

As compared to Cooper Vapour Lasers, which can emit more than 200 W of
average power, Gold vapour can produce few tens of Watts only.

Gold vapour lasers find their main applications in dermatological and experimental
cancer treatment of photodynamic therapy

References:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_vapor_laser
- http://www.rfidknow.com/
- http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/laserccb.htm
- http://stwww.weizmann.ac.il/lasers/laserweb/Ch-6/F6s1t2p2.htm