(optics) A laser in which the active medium is a discharge in a gas contained in a glass or quartz tube with a Brewster-angle window at each end; the gas can be excited by a high-frequency oscillator or direct-current flow between electrodes inside the tube; the function of the discharge is to pump the medium, to obtain population inversion.
Gas laser
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(′gas ′lā·zər)
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| Wikipedia: Gas laser |
A gas laser is a laser in which an electric current is discharged through a gas to produce light. The first gas laser, the Helium-neon, was co-invented by Iranian physicist Ali Javan and American physicist William R. Bennett, Jr. in 1960.
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Advantages
- High volume of active material
- Active material is relatively inexpensive
- Almost impossible to damage the active material
- Heat can be removed quickly from the cavity
Applications
- He-Ne laser is mainly used in making holograms.
- In laser printing He-Ne laser is used as a source for writing on the photosensitive material.
- He-Ne lasers are used in reading the Bar Code which is imprinted on the product.
Types of gas laser
See also
References
- Yariv, Amnon (1989). Quantum Electronics (3rd Edition ed.). Wiley. ISBN 0-4716-0997-8.
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 | gas-discharge laser (optics) |
| helium-neon laser (optics) |
| carbon monoxide laser (optics) |
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- carbon monoxide laser (optics)
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- neon-helium laser (optics)
- nuclear laser (optics)
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- TEA laser (optics)
- E beam (physics)
- flame laser (optics)
- gas dynamic laser (optics)
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