History of lasers History of Lasers Inventors: Gordon Gould, Charles Townes, Arthur Schawlow, Theodore Maiman By Mary Bellis,

A out!com Guide The name LASER is an acronym for Li"ht Am#lification y the Stimulated Emission of Radiation! In $%$&, Al ert 'instein first theori(ed a out the #rocess which ma)es lasers #ossi le called *Stimulated 'mission!* Before the Laser there was the Maser In $%+,, Charles Townes and Arthur Schawlow invented the maser -microwave am#lification y stimulated emission of radiation., usin" ammonia "as and microwave radiation / the maser was invented efore the -o#tical. laser! The technolo"y is very close ut does not use a visi le li"ht! 0n March 1,, $%+%, Charles Townes and Arthur Schawlow were "ranted a #atent for the maser! The maser was used to am#lify radio si"nals and as an ultrasensitive detector for s#ace research! In $%+2, Charles Townes and Arthur Schawlow theori(ed and #u lished #a#ers a out a visi le laser, an invention that would use infrared and3or visi le s#ectrum li"ht, however, they did not #roceed with any research at the time! Many different materials can e used as lasers! Some, li)e the ru y laser, emit short #ulses of laser li"ht! 0thers, li)e helium/neon "as lasers or li4uid dye lasers emit a continuous eam of li"ht! See / How a Laser 5or)s 6u y Laser In $%78, Theodore Maiman invented the ru y laser considered to e the first successful o#tical or li"ht laser! Many historians claim that Theodore Maiman invented the first o#tical laser, however, there is some controversy that Gordon Gould was the first! Gordon Gould / Laser Gordon Gould was the first #erson to use the word *laser*! There is "ood reason to elieve that Gordon Gould made the first li"ht laser! Gould was a doctoral student at Colum ia 9niversity under Charles Townes, the inventor of the maser! Gordon Gould was ins#ired to uild his o#tical laser startin" in $%+2! He failed to file for a #atent his invention until $%+%! As a result, Gordon Gould:s #atent was refused and his technolo"y was e;#loited y others! It too) until $%&& for Gordon Gould to finally win his #atent war and receive his first #atent for the laser!

Nobel Prizes in Physics 5e tend to use thin"s without thin)in" a out them! Has it ever occurred to you that every time you listen to a C< or #oint with a laser #ointer, you are holdin" the discovery of a =o el >ri(e Laureate in >hysics, in your hand? 5ell, if you haven:t, you:re not really alone! 1964 Townes, Basov and Prokhorov shared the #ri(e for their fundamental wor), which led to the construction of lasers! They founded the theory of lasers and descri ed how a laser could e uilt, ori"inatin" from a similar a##liance for microwaves called the MAS'6 that was introduced durin" the :+8s -The MAS'6 has not een used as much as the laser.! However, the first functionin" laser was not uilt y them, ut y aiman in $%78!

How does this affect you? This was the wor) that resulted in the i" and rather clumsy lasers uilt in the e"innin" of the :78s! Still, their theory for the laser effect is the one that fundamentally descri es all lasers! 'very time you listen to a C< or #oint with a laser #ointer, you hold their discovery in your hand! 19!1 "abor -alone. was "iven the #ri(e, havin" founded the asic ideas of the holo"ra#hic method, which is a famous and s#ectacular a##lication of laser technolo"y! At first *@ust* a method of creatin" A/< #ictures, it has since ecome a useful tool for the o servation of vi ratin" o @ects! Much of what we today )now a out how musical instruments #roduce their tones is due to the use of holo"rams! How does this affect you? In addition to holo"rams that can e ou"ht and hun" on a wall, sim#ler holo"rams can e found on many other thin"s where you mi"ht not e;#ect to find them! Small holo"rams are #resent on many credit cards and identity cards in order to ma)e them more difficult to for"e! 19#1 Bloember$en and Schawlow received the #ri(e for their contri ution to the develo#ment of laser s#ectrosco#y! 0ne ty#ical a##lication of this is nonlinear o#tics which means methods of influencin" one li"ht eam with another and #ermanently @oinin" several laser eams -not @ust mi;in" them / com#are the difference etween mi;in" two su stances and ma)in" them chemically react with one another.! These #henomena mean that a li"ht eam can in #rinci#le e steered y another li"ht eam! If in the future someone intends to uild an o#tical com#uter -that could e much faster and much more efficient in storin" data., it would have to e ased on a nonlinear o#tic! How does this affect you? 5hen usin" o#tical fi ers, for e;am#le in road and a##lications, several of the switches and am#lifiers that are used re4uire nonlinear o#tical effects! 199! %h&, %ohen'Tanno&()i and Philli*s et al! received the #ri(e for their develo#ments of methods to cool and tra# atoms with laser li"ht which is a method for inducin" atoms to relin4uish their heat ener"y to laser li"ht and thus reach lower and lower tem#eratures! 5hen their tem#erature sin)s very close to a solute (ero, atoms form a""re"ates -ma)e clum#s. in a way that reveals some of the innermost as#ects of nature! And that is the im#ortant a##lication of laser coolin", namely to ma)e us understand more of nature! Bery soon after the discovery other scientists started to use the techni4ue to further develo# closely related areas! How does this affect you? Short answer: =ot at all, today! 5hen the laser came in $%78 no one, e;ce#t for a small "rou# of #hysicians, )new anythin" a out its a##lications! Laser technolo"y was a solution loo)in" for its #ro lem! +,,,

Al-erov and .roemer were "iven the #ri(e for their develo#ment within the field of semiconductor #hysics, where they had studied the ty#e of su stances that was first used to uild semiconductor lasers, that is, the )ind of miniature lasers that today have ecome the chea#est, li"htest and smallest! The idea is to #roduce oth the li"ht source and ener"y su##ly and #lace the mirrors in one crystal -less than $ mm facet, with many se4uences.! This has ecome not only the asis for many chea# and #orta le a##liances, ut also the foundation in o#tical information networ)s! How does this affect you? The C< #layer, laser writer, laser #ointer and the ar code reader the cashier at the su#ermar)et uses, are all ased on their discovery! LASER /0ST1R2 Stimulated 'mission / $%$& Al ert 'instein first #ro#osed the #rocess that ma)es lasers #ossi le called *Stimulated 'mission!* Holo"ra#hy / $%,& Ga or develo#ed the theory of holo"ra#hy, that re4uires laser li"ht for its reali(ation! He received the $%&$ =o el >ri(e in >hysics for this wor)! C Maser / $%+, The first #a#ers a out the maser were #u lished in $%+, as a result of investi"ations carried out simultaneously and inde#endently y Townes and his co/wor)ers at Colum ia 9niversity in =ew Dor) and y Basov and >ro)horov at the Le edev Institute in Moscow! Their wor) continued throu"hout the :78s and the :&8s! Eor this wor) they were awarded the $%7, =o el >ri(e in >hysics! C Laser / $%+2 The o#tical maser or the laser dates from $%+2, when the #ossi ilities of a##lyin" the maser #rinci#le in the o#tical re"ion were analy(ed y Schawlow and Townes as well as in the Le edev Institute! Laser s#ectrosco#y was develo#ed y Schawlow and his co/wor)ers at Stanford 9niversity and, around the same time, Bloem er"en and his co/wor)ers develo#ed nonlinear o#tics which is a very s#ecial a##lication of lasers#ectrosco#y! Eor this they were awarded the $%2$ =o el >ri(e in >hysics! C 6u y Laser / $%78 The first laser was o#eratin" in $%78! It was a ru y laser "eneratin" stron" #ulses of red li"ht! Semiconductor / $%7A Alferov and Froemer #ro#osed in $%7A, inde#endently of each other, the #rinci#le for semiconductor heterostructures to e used later in semiconductor laser which today, y far, is the most common laser! Eor this wor) they were awarded the 1888 =o el >ri(e in >hysics! C Cornin" Glass / $%&8 0#tic fi er made of cornin" "lass has such low losses that tele#hone calls and telecommunication can e transferred for )ilometers with the hel# of laser li"ht! Laser Coolin" / $%28 In the :28s Chu, Cohen/Tannoud@i and >hilli#s wor)ed with laser coolin" of

atoms! Eor this wor) they were awarded the $%%& =o el >ri(e in >hysics! C The #hysicist Al ert 'instein had descri ed the theory of stimulated emission as early as $%$&, ut it would still ta)e A8 years efore en"ineers e"an to utili(e this #rinci#le for #ractical #ur#oses! Scientists were ama(ed y this technical rea)throu"h ut laser technolo"y itself had no real #ur#ose! This is not e;ce#tional, discoveries may need time efore ein" #ut to use! Today laser is used in communication, industry, medicine, and environmental care and research! Laser has ecome one of the most #owerful tools for scientists in #hysics, chemistry, iolo"y and medicine throu"hout the world! 0ne area that is considered to e very interestin" is in the different methods to cool and ca#ture atoms y usin" laser! 5e don:t )now yet what this )nowled"e and technolo"y will e used for in the future, ut we do )now that future a##lications will e ased on today:s research!

3ha4 is a Laser5 Most #eo#le )now the word laser, ut do they )now what it really is? 5hat:s the difference etween ordinary li"ht and laser and what does laser really stand for? Let:s start with the last 4uestion! Laser is an acronym, which is a word made u# of initial letters! Dou could use the com#lete name: li"ht am#lification y stimulated emission of radiation ut that:s a it aw)ward, let:s )ee# to laser! Almost everyone #ro a ly )nows that the #olice use laser when they measure s#eed! At least many drivers that have e;ceeded the s#eed limit )now a out it, ut how many )now that you also use laser several times durin" an ordinary day? Dou:ll find it in C< #layers, laser #rinters and much, much more! Dou often find laser in action movies where the hero has to esca#e the laser eams when he:s tryin" to solve a thrillin" #ro lem! The #ower contained in laser is oth fascinatin" and fri"htenin"! /ow 6oes Laser Li$h4 6i--er -rom 14her Li$h45 Li"ht is really an electroma"netic wave! 'ach wave has ri"htness and color, and vi rates at a certain an"le, so/called #olari(ation! This is also true for laser li"ht ut it is more #arallel than any other li"ht source! 'very #art of the eam has -almost. the e;act same direction and the eam will therefore diver"e very little! 5ith a "ood laser an o @ect at a distance of $ )m -8!7 mile. can e illuminated with a dot a out 78 mm -1!A inches. in radius! As it is so #arallel it can also e focused to very small diameters where the concentration of li"ht ener"y ecomes so "reat that you can cut, drill or turn with the eam! It also ma)es it #ossi le to illuminate and e;amine very tiny details! It is this #ro#erty that is used in sur"ical a##liances and in C< #layers! It can also e made very monochromic, so that @ust one li"ht wavelen"th is #resent! This is not the case with ordinary li"ht sources! 5hite li"ht contains all the colors in the s#ectrum, ut even a colored li"ht, such as a red L'< -li"ht emittin" diode.

contains a continuous interval of red wavelen"ths! 0n the other hand, laser emissions are not usually very stron" when it comes to ener"y content! A very #owerful laser of the )ind that is used in a laser show does not "ive off more li"ht than an ordinary streetli"htG the difference is in how #arallel it is! S4im&la4e( Emission =ormally atoms and molecules emit li"ht at more or less random times and in random directions and #hases! All li"ht created in normal li"ht sources, such as ul s, candles, neon tu es and even the sun is "enerated in this way! If ener"y is stored in the atom and li"ht of the correct wavelen"th #asses close y somethin" else can ha##en! The atom emits li"ht that is totally synchronous with the #assin" li"ht! This means that the #assin" li"ht has een am#lified which is necessary for the oscillation ta)in" #lace etween the mirrors in a laser!

Li"ht is normally emitted from atoms or molecules that meet with two conditions! / They have stored ener"y ori"inatin" from heat or #revious a sor#tion of li"ht / A time has #assed since the ener"y was stored Li"ht emitted in this way "oes in random directions, with random #hases and at random times! Al ert 'instein #redicted early in the $%88s that there is also another way for li"ht to e emitted! It can am#lify a #assin" eam, #rovided three conditions are met: / 'ner"y is stored in the atom -same as a ove. / Li"ht #asses close enou"h to the atom efore the time has e;#ired and the li"ht is emitted in the random fashion descri ed a ove / The #assin" li"ht has a wavelen"th suita le for the atom! The #rocess ta)in" #lace in this case is called Stimulated 'mission, which, to"ether with feed ac) in a resonant cavity etween mirrors, forms the conditions for laser!

A cited and researched article tracin" the ori"in and history of the LAS'6 from radar technolo"y -MAS'6:s.includin" ma@or advancements over the years! LAS'6 is an acronym for Li"ht Am#lification y the Stimulated 'mission of 6adiation! The conce#t consists of an e;cited state atom encounterin" a #hoton of the same ener"y that corres#onds to the <' etween the e;cited and "round states of the atom! 5hen such a #hoton is encountered, it causes the emission of another #hoton of the same ener"y! Al ert 'instein first su""ested this #henomenon in a $%$7 #a#er #rovin" >lan):s law of radiation! The idea, however, was considered odd and the event of #hoton interaction with an e;cited state atom rare! 0nly much later did

scientists e"in to create inverted #o#ulations with more atoms in the e;cited state than the "round state so that a sor#tion would not dominate the #rocess and stimulated emission could occur! The #recursor to the laser was the maser! The maser am#lified electroma"netic radiation of much shorter wavelen"ths in the microwave ran"e -thus the M instead of L in maser.! The im#etus for the develo#ment of the maser seems to e the interest in microwave radiation followin" the utility it found in radar technolo"y in 5orld 5ar II! After the war, many scientists who had wor)ed on develo#in" the radar continued their investi"ations into microwave radiation usin" much of the military sur#lus microwave e4ui#ment! The first maser was created y Charles H! Townes -#u lished in $%+,. who alon" with Hames Gordon and Her ert Iei"er succeeded in #roducin" an inverted #o#ulation y isolatin" e;cited ammonia molecules! The e;cited molecules were aimed into a cavity resonant at the 1,/"i"ahert( fre4uency of the ammonia transition where stimulated emission occurred! Since there was a #hysical se#aration of e;cited state molecules, however, after emission, the maser action ended! Thus the first maser was inca#a le of continuous out#ut! In order to achieve continuous out#ut, new systems with more than two ener"y levels had to e desi"ned! These systems could release stimulated emission without fallin" to the "round state, thus maintainin" a #o#ulation inversion! =i)olai Basov and Ale;ander >ro)horov of the 9SS6 first develo#ed this idea! To"ether, Basov, >ro)horov, and Townes shared the $%7, =o el >ri(e in >hysics for develo#in" the maser conce#t! Soon after masers ecame a reality, #eo#le e"an to loo) at the #ossi ility of stimulated emission in other re"ions of the electroma"netic s#ectrum! Townes, alon" with Arthur Schawlow, e"an investi"atin" the #ossi ility of o#tical and I6 masers! To"ether they #u lished the first detailed #ro#osal for uildin" an o#tical maser -later to e renamed a laser. in a <ecem er $%+2 issue of >hysical 6eview! The o stacles to creatin" a wor)in" laser, however were "reat! The much smaller wavelen"ths of visi le li"ht and the difficulty of findin" an a##ro#riate e;citation medium meant that much more accurate measurements needed to e made and that error in settin" u# the a##aratus had a much more crucial effect on the function of a laser! It was not until $%78 that Theodore Maiman created the first wor)in" laser! Maiman:s laser was a *#in)* ru y rod with its ends silvered #laced inside a s#rin"/sha#ed flashlam#! Maiman:s laser, however, was only ca#a le of #ulsed o#eration due to its A ener"y level transitions! Soon afterwards, in $%78, >eter Soro)in and Mire) Stevenson develo#ed the first , level laser -uranium do#ed calcium floride. which was ca#a le in theory of continuous out#ut althou"h in solid state, a continuous out#ut could not e achieved! The develo#ment of laser technolo"y had e"un! Hust efore the end of $%78 -#u lished $%7$., Ali Havan, 5illiam Bennet, and <onald Herriot made the first "as laser usin" helium and neon! This ty#e of laser -a He/=e laser. ecame the dominant laser for the ne;t 18 years until chea# semiconductor lasers too) over in the mid/28:s! The He/=e laser is used in such a##lications as readin" 9>C #roduct codes, surveyin" e4ui#ment, etc! The He/=e laser made two crucial ste#s! 0ne, it was the first laser to emit a continuous eam! And two, the lasin" action could e initiated y an electric dischar"e rather than the intense dischar"e of #hotons from a flashlam#! Atomic "as lasers were limited in #ower, so C! Fumar =! >atel e"an wor)in" with car on dio;ide -#u lished $%7,. and car on mono;ide lasers which he mi;ed with nitro"en, helium and water to fine tune the laser #ro#erties! Thus >atel made the first hi"h #owered "as lasers! 'arl Bell then discovered the ion laser when he #laced mercury ions in helium to create lasin" action -#u lished $%7,.! Althou"h the mercury ion laser has never seen much a##lication, it

was a direct #redecessor to the ar"on/ion laser develo#ed y 5illiam Brid"es! The "as ion lasers then led to the develo#ment of metal va#or lasers y many #eo#le who wor)ed with different metal va#ors! Some further laser develo#ments were as follows: usin" chemical reactions instead of electric currents to "enerate a lasin" effect, usin" ra#id coolin" throu"h e;#ansion to cause e;citation, usin" dyes as a medium to tune the laser across a ran"e of wavelen"ths, and usin" #/n @unctions in semiconductors or a free electron medium to create lasin" effects! Juic)ly after their ince#tion the utility of lasers were reali(ed and their conceived uses s)yroc)eted! After around $%7,, however, e;citement a out lasers e"an to su side! Althou"h new uses had een conceived for them, some of the #ro@ected a##lications were #rovin" difficult to achieve and many lasers were #rovin" difficult to ma)e! Eor instance, there was little success in develo#in" a continuous, room/ tem#erature semiconductor laser for com#utin" #ur#oses! Laser #ower also seemed limited, disillusionin" the 9!S! "overnment in its #otential military a##lications! Lasers were du ed *a solution loo)in" for a #ro lem!* The first uses of lasers consisted more or less of re#lacin" less efficient li"ht sources, i!e! ;enon arc lam#s in #hotocoa"ulators and mercury arcs in interferometers! Laser research slowly continued and increased its readth! There were a variety of im#rovements in laser desi"n which increased laser lifetime, focused eam width, im#roved continuity of out#ut, re"ulated and shortened #ulse duration, etc! Anthony <eMaria:s develo#ment of mode/loc)ed neodymium/do#ed "lass lasers with thousands of me"awatts #ea) #ower and #icosecond durations, im#roved laser #erformance to standards necessary for hi"h/s#eed #hoto"ra#hy and scientific a##lications such as the study of #hysical and chemical #henomena! A series of social factors affected laser develo#ment in the 9!S! The dentente etween the 9S and 9SS6 rou"ht a decline in military s#endin" and thus a decline in funds for develo#in" laser eam wea#ons and hi"h #owered lasers! However, more mundane military interests in Bietnam led to the develo#ment of laser radar, tar"etin", and reconnaissance systems! 'nvironmental and later ener"y concerns -the 0>'C oil crisis. led to increased fundin" for laser research investi"atin" thin"s such as air/ #ollution monitorin" and ener"y a##lications! Communications ecame one of the i""est arenas in which lasers were thou"ht to have a##lication! Increasin" tele#hone use, electronic transmission, relayin" of television si"nals, and the need for communication in s#ace all contri uted to the em#hasis #laced on laser technolo"y toward communications! The initial attraction to lasers for communications came from the fact that the amount of coherent information that an electroma"netic wave can carry if #ro#ortional to its fre4uency! 0#tical li"ht has fre4uencies $8% times lar"er than radio waves and $8+ times lar"er than microwaves! Lasers seemed li)e an ideal solution to the overcrowdin" of e;istin" communication technolo"y! The technical com#lications to usin" lasers in communications were "reat, and it too) many years for other technolo"ies to e invented which made laser communication #ractical! The first invention was the discovery in $%&8 y Charles Fao and Geor"e Hoc)ham that "lass fi ers could transmit laser li"ht efficiently! Also in $%&8, a method was invented to im#rove the #/ n @unctions in semiconductors which reduced the current densities needed for semiconductor lasin" from $88,888 am#eres3cm1 to 2888 am#eres3cm1 and then down to $888 / A888 am#eres3cm1! These two technolo"ies com#limented each other and "ave a new oost to laser a##lication!

5ith increasin" #ower and decreasin" #ulse duration -the develo#ments associated with C!F!=! >atel and Anthony <eMaria. the a##lications of lasers to chemistry e"an to increase! =ow lasers were tuna le to a sufficient level to ma)e them reasona le and advanta"eous for s#ectrosco#ic uses! 0ver the years, the su stitution of lasers for other li"ht sources has im#roved sensitivity, selectivity, and limits of detection y several orders of ma"nitude! In I6 s#ectrosco#y, which is used lar"ely for "as analysis and or"anic structural determination, lasers, with their hi"h intensity and narrow andwidths, have solved the lon"standin" #ro lems in I6 s#ectrosco#y of #oor detector sensitivity and low source intensity! A##lication of lasers to 9B/Bis a sor#tion s#ectrosco#y has een more limited since the narrow andwidths associated with lasers are unnecessary in most 4uantitative 9B/Bis a sor#tion e;#eriments! Lasers have im#roved the L0< in very low concentration sam#les for 9B/Bis, however! In fluorescence s#ectrosco#y, the emission is #ro#ortional to the e;citation intensity / thus, lasers would seem to have an inherent a##lication! In reality, a laser can saturate the sam#le with li"ht intensity to such an e;tent that the limitin" factor for emission intensity is no lon"er the e;citation intensity, ut rather other factors limit the sensitivity and L0< for fluorescence! Lasers are #articularly useful, however in #roducin" the narrow andwidths useful in atomic fluorescence! Lasers, however, have also led to several new forms of s#ectrosco#y which would e im#ossi le without the laser! 6aman s#ectrosco#y was a #ractical im#ossi ility without the advent of lasers! 6aman s#ectrosco#y is ased on the 6aman effect, a #henomenon involvin" inelastic -or ener"y chan"in". scatterin" of li"ht! 6aman s#ectrosco#y is essentially usin" visi le li"ht to cause vi rational transitions in molecules! The 6aman effect is a very wea) #henomenon, and only one incident #hoton in $8& #roduces a 6aman transition! This calls for a very intense source of li"ht that must e monochromatic since the 6aman effect #roduces very small relative ener"y chan"es! It is o vious then that lasers were a necessary technolo"y for 6aman s#ectrosco#y to e #ractical! Lasers have also o#ened u# the realm of nonlinear s#ectrosco#y, or the concerted interaction of two or more #hotons with a molecule! Multi/#hoton events of this sort re4uire very intense sources of li"ht and actually were not e;#erimentally demonstrated until the advent of #ulsed lasers! Since the #rocess must e concerted, it is necessary for two #hotons to #ass almost simultaneously throu"h a re"ion of s#ace containin" one molecule! This )ind of s#ectrosco#y is called nonlinear ecause the usual Beer/Lam ert Law does not hold! Some interestin" as#ects of nonlinear s#ectrosco#y have turned it into a hi"h/information yieldin" techni4ue! Eor one, the two/#hoton selection rule only #ermits transitions etween states of the same #arity! The two/#hoton #rocess can also cancel <o##ler shifts y counter#ro#a"atin" the laser eams! In addition, the two/#hoton #rocess is hi"hly sensitive to the #olari(ation of the laser eam! By chan"in" the #olari(ation and ta)in" measurements, the ty#es of transitions res#onsi le for the s#ectrum can e investi"ated! Another chemical techni4ue that is the result of the advent of lasers is laser/induced chemistry -a su set of #hotochemistry.! In s#ectrosco#ic methods, the laser induces no chemical chan"e in the sam#le / it sim#ly causes short/lived chan"es in the electron #o#ulations of different ener"y levels! 6ecently much effort has een directed to a more dynamic use of lasers in chemistry where the laser li"ht induces a chemical chan"e in the system! The #owerful intensity of lasers can e used to overcome ener"etic arriers to reaction, since it is electronic ener"ies which are involved in the formation and ru#ture of chemical onds! The a ility to #ulse laser

radiation, however, creates a means for inducin" and monitorin" ultrafast #hotochemical reactions! It is #ossi le to identify short/lived intermediate s#ecies in solution with lasers that have ever/decreasin" #ulse duration! There has even een some #ro"ress in monitorin" the rotational and steric action as well as electron transfer rates of s#ecies in solution usin" #icosecond and femtosecond laser techni4ues! The future of lasers is a #romisin" one! Hud"in" from the 4uic) develo#ment of lasers in the #ast and continuin" laser research, there does not a##ear to e a slowin" of laser research in the near future! Althou"h lasers have found use in s#ectrosco#ic techni4ues, it is really the new methods that resulted from laser develo#ment that indicate the #otential fruitfulness of laser research! Laser induced #hotochemistry, the monitorin" of chemical intermediates with #icosecond and femtosecond lasers, and nonlinear s#ectrosco#y re#resent merely the e"innin" of innovative techni4ues for lasers in chemistry! As time #ro"resses, there will dou tless e new scientists with new ideas and new e;#eriments which will e;#and the role of lasers in chemical research! 6eferences -$. htt#:33www!achilles!net3K@tal ot3history3inde;!html -1. Andrews, <avid L! Lasers in Chemistry! -S#rin"er/Berla", =ew Dor), $%27.! -A. Bertolotti, M! Masers and Lasers: An Historical A##roach! -Adam Hil"er, Bristol, $%2A.! -,. Brom er", Hoan Lisa! The Laser in America, $%+8/$%&8! -MIT >ress, Cam rid"e, MA, $%%$.! -+. 'vans, <!F! ed! Laser A##lications in >hysical Chemistry! -Marcel <e))er, =ew Dor), $%2%.! -7. 'vans, Ted 6! ed! A##lications of Lasers to Chemical >ro lems! Techni4ues of Chemistry Bolume LBII! -Hohn 5iley M Sons, =ew Dor), $%21.! -&. Eo;, Marye Anne and Michael Chanon eds! >hotoinduced 'lectron Transfer: >art B / ';#erimental Techni4ues and Medium 'ffects! -'lsevier, =ew Dor), $%22.! -2. Gordon, H!>!G Iei"er, H!H!G Townes, C!H! >hys! 6ev!, %+, 121, $%+,! -%. Hecht, Heff! Laser >ioneers! -Academic >ress, Boston, $%%1.! -$8. Maiman, T!H! =ature! $2&, ,%A, $%78!

$%$& Theory o- s4im&la4e( emission Al ert 'instein #ro#oses the theory of stimulated emissionNthat is, if an atom in a hi"h/ener"y state is stimulated y a #hoton of the ri"ht wavelen"th, another #hoton of the same wavelen"th and direction of travel will e created! Stimulated emission will form the asis for research into harnessin" #hotons to am#lify the ener"y of li"ht! $%+, 7 aser7 (evelo*e( Charles Townes, Hames Gordon, and Her ert Iei"er at Colum ia 9niversity develo# a *maser* -for microwave am#lification y stimulated emission of radiation., in which e;cited molecules of ammonia "as am#lify and "enerate radio waves! The wor) ca#s A years of effort since Townes:s idea in $%+$ to ta)e advanta"e of hi"h/fre4uency molecular oscillation to "enerate short/wavelen"th radio waves! $%+2 %once*4 o- a laser in4ro(&ce( Townes and #hysicist Arthur Schawlow #u lish a #a#er showin" that masers could e made to o#erate in o#tical and infrared re"ions! The #a#er e;#lains the conce#t of a laser -li"ht am#lification y stimulated emission of radiation.Nthat li"ht reflected ac) and forth in an ener"i(ed medium "enerates am#lified li"ht! $%78 1*erable laser inven4e( Theodore Maiman, a #hysicist and electrical en"ineer at Hu"hes 6esearch La oratories, invents an o#era le laser usin" a synthetic #in) ru y crystal as the medium! 'ncased in a *flash tu e* and oo) ended y mirrors, the laser successfully #roduces a #ulse of li"ht! >rior to MaimanOs wor)in" model, Colum ia 9niversity

doctoral student Gordon Gould also desi"ns a laser, ut his #atent a##lication is initially denied! Gould finally wins #atent reco"nition nearly A8 years later! $%78 %on4in&o&sly o*era4in$ heli&m'neon $as laser inven4e( Bell La oratories researcher and former Townes student Ali Havan and his collea"ues 5illiam Bennett, Hr!, and <onald Herriott invent a continuously o#eratin" helium/ neon "as laser! The continuous eam of laser li"ht is e;tracted y #lacin" #arallel mirrors on oth ends of an a##aratus deliverin" an electrical current throu"h the helium and neon "ases! 0n <ecem er $A, Havan e;#eriments y holdin" the first tele#hone conversation ever delivered y a laser eam! $%7$ "lass -iber (emons4ra4ion Industry researchers 'lias Snit(er and 5ill Hic)s demonstrate a laser eam directed throu"h a thin "lass fi er! The fi erOs core is small enou"h that the li"ht follows a sin"le #ath, ut most scientists still consider fi ers unsuita le for communications ecause of the hi"h loss of li"ht across lon" distances! $%7$ 8irs4 me(ical &se o- 4he r&by laser In the first medical use of the ru y laser, Charles Cam# ell of the Institute of 0#hthalmolo"y at Colum ia/ >res yterian Medical Center and Charles Foester of the American 0#tical Cor#oration use a #rototy#e ru y laser #hotocoa"ulator to destroy a human #atientOs retinal tumor! $%71 "alli&m arseni(e laser (evelo*e( Three "rou#sNat General 'lectric, IBM, and MITOs Lincoln La oratoryN simultaneously develo# a "allium arsenide laser that converts electrical ener"y directly into infrared li"ht and that much later is used in C< and <B< #layers as well as com#uter laser #rinters! $%7A /e4eros4r&c4&res >hysicist Her ert Froemer #ro#oses the idea of heterostructures, com inations of more than one semiconductor uilt in layers that reduce ener"y re4uirements for lasers and hel# them wor) more efficiently! These heterostructures will later e used in cell #hones and other electronic devices! $%77 Lan(mark *a*er on o*4ical -iber Charles Fao and Geor"e Hoc)ham of Standard Telecommunications La oratories in 'n"land #u lish a landmar) #a#er demonstratin" that o#tical fi er can transmit laser si"nals with much reduced loss if the "lass strands are #ure enou"h! 6esearchers immediately focus on ways to #urify "lass! $%&8 1*4ical -ibers 4ha4 mee4 *&ri4y s4an(ar(s Cornin" Glass 5or)s scientists <onald Fec), >eter Schult(, and 6o ert Maurer re#ort the creation of o#tical fi ers that meet the standards set y Fao and Hoc)ham! The #urest "lass ever made, it is com#osed of fused silica from the va#or #hase and e;hi its li"ht loss of less than 18 deci els #er )ilometer -$ #ercent of the li"ht remains after travelin" $ )ilometer.! By $%&1 the team creates "lass with a loss of , deci els #er )ilometer! Also in $%&8, Morton >anish and I(uo Hayashi of Bell La oratories, alon" with a "rou# at the Ioffe >hysical Institute in Lenin"rad, demonstrate a semiconductor laser that o#erates continuously at room tem#erature! Both rea)throu"hs will #ave the way toward commerciali(ation of fi er o#tics!

$%&A %hemical va*or (e*osi4ion *rocess Hohn MacChesney and >aul 0OConnor at Bell La oratories develo# a modified chemical va#or de#osition #rocess that heats chemical va#ors and o;y"en to form ultratrans#arent "lass that can e mass/#roduced into low/loss o#tical fi er! The #rocess still remains the standard for fi er/o#tic ca le manufacturin"! $%&+ 8irs4 commercial semicon(&c4or laser 'n"ineers at Laser <iode La s develo# the first commercial semiconductor laser to o#erate continuously at room tem#eratures! The continuous/wave o#eration allows the transmission of tele#hone conversations! Standard Tele#hones and Ca les in the 9nited Fin"dom installs the first fi er/o#tic lin) for interoffice communications after a li"htnin" stri)e dama"es e4ui#ment and )noc)s out radio transmission used y the #olice de#artment in <orset! $%&& Tele*hone com*anies -iber o*4ic 4rials Tele#hone com#anies e"in trials with fi er/o#tic lin)s carryin" live tele#hone traffic! GT' o#ens a line etween Lon" Beach and Artesia, California, whose transmitter uses a li"ht/emittin" diode! Bell La s esta lishes a similar lin) for the #hone system of downtown Chica"o, $!+ miles of under"round fi er that connects two switchin" stations! $%28 8iber'o*4ic cable links ma)or ci4ies ATMT announces that it will install fi er/o#tic ca le lin)in" ma@or cities etween Boston and 5ashin"ton, <!C! The ca le is desi"ned to carry three different wavelen"ths throu"h "raded/inde; fi erNtechnolo"y that carries video si"nals later that year from the 0lym#ic Games in La)e >lacid, =ew Dor)! Two years later MCI announces a similar #ro@ect usin" sin"le/mode fi er carryin" ,88 its #er second! $%2& 76o*e(7 -iber am*li-iers <avid >ayne at 'n"landOs 9niversity of Southam#ton introduces fi er am#lifiers that are *do#ed* with the element er ium! These new o#tical am#lifiers are a le to oost li"ht si"nals without first havin" to convert them into electrical si"nals and then ac) into li"ht! $%22 8irs4 4ransa4lan4ic -iber'o*4ic cable The first transatlantic fi er/o#tic ca le is installed, usin" "lass fi ers so trans#arent that re#eaters -to re"enerate and recondition the si"nal. are needed only a out ,8 miles a#art! The shar)/#roof TAT/2 is dedicated y science fiction writer Isaac Asimov, who #raises *this maiden voya"e across the sea on a eam of li"ht!* Lin)in" =orth America and Erance, the A,$,2/mile ca le is ca#a le of handlin" ,8,888 tele#hone calls simultaneously usin" $!A/micrometer wavelen"th lasers and sin"le/ mode fi er! The total cost of PA7$ million is less than P$8,888 #er circuitG the first transatlantic co##er ca le in $%+7 costs P$ million #er circuit to #lan and install! $%%$ 1*4ical Am*li-iers 'mmanuel <esurvire of Bell La oratories, alon" with <avid >ayne and >! H! Mears of the 9niversity of Southam#ton, demonstrate o#tical am#lifiers that are uilt into the fi er/o#tic ca le itself! The all/o#tic system can carry $88 times more information than ca le with electronic am#lifiers!

$%%7 All'o*4ic -iber cable 4ha4 &ses o*4ical am*li-iers is lai( across 4he Paci-ic 1cean T>C/+, an all/o#tic fi er ca le that is the first to use o#tical am#lifiers, is laid in a loo# across the >acific 0cean! It is installed from San Luis 0 is#o, California, to Guam, Hawaii, and Miya(a)i, Ha#an, and ac) to the 0re"on coast and is ca#a le of handlin" A18,888 simultaneous tele#hone calls! $%%& 8iber 1*4ic Link Aro&n( 4he "lobe The Ei er 0#tic Lin) Around the Glo e -ELAG. ecomes the lon"est sin"le/ca le networ) in the world and #rovides infrastructure for the ne;t "eneration of Internet a##lications! The $&,+88/mile ca le e"ins in 'n"land and runs throu"h the Strait of Gi raltar to >alermo, Sicily, efore crossin" the Mediterranean to '"y#t! It then "oes overland to the ELAG o#erations center in <u ai, 9nited Ara 'mirates, efore crossin" the Indian 0cean, Bay of Ben"al, and Andaman SeaG throu"h ThailandG and across the South China Sea to Hon" Fon" and Ha#an!

Settin" the scene: Cor#uscular Theory of Li"ht

In o#tics, the cor*&sc&lar 4heory o- li$h4, set forward y Sir Isaac =ewton, states that li"ht is made u# of small discrete #articles called *cor#uscles* -little #articles. which travel in strai"ht line with a finite velocity and #ossess )inetic ener"y! =ewton:s cor#uscular theory rules out the #resence of any medium for #ro#a"ation of li"ht! In its contem#orary incarnation, the theory of #hotons, this idea e;#lains many #ro#erties of li"ht, in #articular the #hotoelectric effect! However, it fails to e;#lain other effects, such as interference and diffraction! It was therefore su#erseded y the wave theory of li"ht, later understood as #art of electroma"netism, and eventually su##lanted y modern 4uantum mechanics and the waveQ#article duality! =ewton:s theory remained in force for more than $88 years and too) #recedence over Huy"ens: wave front theory, #artly ecause of =ewtonOs "reat #resti"e! However when the cor#uscular theory failed to ade4uately e;#lain the diffraction, interference and #olari(ation of li"ht it was a andoned in favour of Huy"en:s wave theory!R$S =ewton:s cor#uscular theory was an ela oration of his view of reality as interactions of material #oints throu"h forces! =ote Al ert 'instein:s descri#tion of =ewton:s conce#tion of #hysical reality: R=ewton:sS #hysical reality is characterised y conce#ts of s#ace, time, the material #oint and force -interaction etween material #oints.! >hysical events are to e thou"ht of as movements accordin" to law of material #oints in s#ace! The material

#oint is the only re#resentative of reality in so far as it is su @ect to chan"e! The conce#t of the material #oint is o viously due to o serva le odiesG one conceived of the material #oint on the analo"y of mova le odies y omittin" characteristics of e;tension, form, s#atial locality, and all their :inner: 4ualities, retainin" only inertia, translation, and the additional conce#t of force!R1SRAS

Model 0ne: Juantum Theory of Li"ht

Juantum theory evolved as a new ranch of theoretical #hysics durin" the first few decades of the 18th century in an endeavour to understand the fundamental #ro#erties of matter! It e"an with the study of the interactions of matter and radiation! Certain radiation effects could neither e e;#lained y classical mechanics, nor y the theory of electroma"netism! In #articular, #hysicists were #u((led y the nature of li"ht! >eculiar lines in the s#ectrum of sunli"ht had een discovered earlier y Hose#h von Eraunhofer -$&2&/$217.! These s#ectral lines were then systematically catalo"ued for various su stances, yet no ody could e;#lain why the s#ectral lines are there and why they would differ for each su stance! It too) a out one hundred years, until a #lausi le e;#lanation was su##lied y 4uantum theory! Juantum theory is a out the nature of matter! In contrast to 'instein:s 6elativity, which is a out the lar"est thin"s in the universe, 4uantum theory deals with the tiniest thin"s we )now, the #articles that atoms are made of, which we call *su atomic* #articles! In contrast to 6elativity, 4uantum theory was not the wor) of one individual, ut the colla orative effort of some of the most rilliant #hysicists of the 18th century, amon" them =iels Bohr, 'rwin SchrTdin"er, 5olf"an" >auli, and Ma; Born! Two names clearly stand out: Ma; >lanc) -$2+2/$%,&. and 5erner Heisen er" -$%8$/$%&7.! >lanc) is reco"nised as the ori"inator of the 4uantum theory, while Heisen er" formulated one of the most eminent laws of 4uantum theory, the 9ncertainty >rinci#le, which is occasionally also referred to as the #rinci#le of indeterminacy! >lanc):s constant: 'ner"y is not continuous!

Around $%88, Ma; >lanc) from the 9niversity of Fiel concerned himself with o servations of the radiation of heated materials! He attem#ted to draw conclusions from the radiation to the radiatin" atom! 0n asis of em#irical data, he develo#ed a new formula which later showed remar)a le a"reement with accurate measurements of the s#ectrum of heat radiation! The result of this formula was so that ener"y is always emitted or a sor ed in discrete units, which he called 4uanta! >lanc) develo#ed his 4uantum theory further and derived a universal constant, which came to e )nown as >lanc):s constant! The resultin" law states that the ener"y of each 4uantum is e4ual to the fre4uency of the radiation multi#lied y the universal constant: 'UfVh, where h is 7!7A V $8'/A, Hs! The discovery of 4uanta revolutionised #hysics, ecause it contradicted conventional ideas a out the nature of radiation and ener"y! The atom model of Bohr! To understand the "ist of the 4uantum view of matter, we have to "o ac) to the $%th century:s #redominant model of matter! Scientists at the time elieved /li)e the Gree) atomists/ that matter is com#osed of indivisi le, solid atoms, until 6utherford #roved otherwise! The British #hysicist 'rnest 6utherford -$2&$/$%A&. demonstrated e;#erimentally that the atom is not solid as #reviously assumed, ut that it has an internal structure consistin" of a small, dense nucleus a out which electrons circle in or its!

=iels Bohr -$22+/$%71. refined 6utherford:s model y introducin" different or its in which electrons s#in around the nucleus! This model is still used in chemistry! 'lements are distin"uished y their *atomic num er*, which s#ecifies the num er of #rotons in the nucleus of the atom! 'lectrons are held in their or its throu"h the electrical attraction etween the #ositive nucleus and the ne"ative electron! Bohr ar"ued that each electron has a certain fi;ed amount of ener"y, which corres#onds to its fi;ed or it! Therefore, when an electron a sor s ener"y, it @um#s to the ne;t hi"her or it rather than movin" continuously etween or its! The characteristic of electrons havin" fi;ed ener"y 4uantities -4uanta. is also )nown as the 4uantum theory of the atom! The a ove model ears a stri)in" similarity with the =ewtonian model of our solar system! 'lectrons revolve around the nucleus, @ust as #lanets revolve around the Sun! It is therefore not sur#risin" that #hysicists tried to a##ly classical mechanics to the atomic structure! The forces etween nucleus and electrons were e4uated with the "ravitational forces etween celestial odies! This idea wor)ed 4uite well for the hydro"en atom, the sim#lest of all elements, ut it failed to e;#lain the ehaviour of more com#le; atoms! If matter is not infinitely divisi le, why should ener"y e? The idea that ener"y could e emitted or a sor ed only in discrete ener"y 4uanta seemed odd, since it could not e fitted into the traditional framewor) of #hysics! The 4uantum ehaviour of electrons in atoms contradicted not only classical mechanics, ut also Ma;well:s electroma"netic theory, which re4uired it to radiate away ener"y while or itin" in a 4uantum ener"y state! 'ven Ma; >lanc), who was a conservative

man, initially dou ted his own discovery! The traditional view was that ener"y flows in a continuum li)e a smooth, un ro)en stream of water! That there should e "a#s etween the discrete entities of ener"y seemed wholly unreasona le! In fact, >lanc):s idea only "ained credence when 'instein used it in $%8+ to e;#lain the #hotoelectric effect! / After all, if matter is not infinitely divisi le, why should ener"y e? In the course of time, #hysicists descended dee#er into the realm of the atom! Bohr:s atom model was remar)a ly successful in descri in" the s#ectrum of the hydro"en atom y usin" >lanc):s formula to relate different ener"y levels of electrons to different fre4uencies of li"ht radiation! 9nfortunately, it did not wor) well for more com#le; atoms, and so a more so#histicated theory had to e develo#ed! The #ro lem seemed to e rooted in the assum#tion that an electron rotates around the nucleus li)e a massive o @ect revolves around a centre of "ravity! <e Bro"lie, SchrTdin"er, and Heisen er" showed that classical mechanics had to e a andoned in order to descri e the su atomic world ade4uately! In an inference not less dramatic than >lanc):s discovery of 4uanta, they stated that #articles don:t really have a tra@ectory or an or it, much less do they ehave li)e a all that is shot throu"h a corridor or is whirled around on the end of a cord! The wave/#article duality! Hust as li"ht is thou"ht to have a dual nature, sometimes showin" the characteristic of a wave, and sometimes that of a #article -#hoton., 4uantum theory attri utes a similar dual wave/#article nature to su atomic #articles! 'lectrons that or it around the nucleus interact with each other y showin" interference #atterns, not unli)e those of wave interference! If the velocity of the electron is thou"ht of as its wavelen"th, the crests of nei"h ourin" electron waves am#lify or cancel each other, there y creatin" a #attern that corres#onds to Bohr:s allowed or its!

Bohr:s model of the atom was su#erseded y the #ro a ility cloud model that descri es #hysical reality etter! The or ital clouds are mathematical descri#tions of where the electrons in an atom are most li)ely to e found, which means the model shows the s#atial distri ution of electrons! The -sim#lified. #icture to the left shows electron #ro a ility clouds in a water molecule! 'ven cloud models are only a##ro;imations! The com#utation of the actual distri ution of electrons in an atom is e;tremely la orious and the result is too com#licated to e illustrated in a sin"le layer A< model! A out mis ehaved electrons, or: the #ro a ility cloud model! The nature of electrons seems odd! Seemin"ly they e;ist in different #laces at different #oints in time, ut it is im#ossi le to say where the electron will e at a "iven time! At time t$ it is at #oint A, then at time t1 it is at #oint B, yet without movin" from A to B! It seems to a##ear in different #laces without descri in" a tra@ectory! Therefore, even if t$ and A can e #in#ointed, it is im#ossi le to derive t1 and B from this measurement! In other words: There seems to e no causal relation

etween any two #ositions! The conce#t of causality cannot e a##lied to what is o served! In case of the electrons of an atom, the closest we can "et to descri in" the electron:s #osition is y "ivin" a num er for the #ro a ility of it ein" at a #articular #lace! Moreover, #articles have other *distur in"* #ro#erties: They have a tendency to decay into other #articles or into ener"y, and sometimes /under s#ecial circumstances/ they mer"e to form new #articles! They do so after indeterminate time s#ans! Althou"h we can ma)e statistical assertions a out a #article:s lifetime, it is im#ossi le to #redict the fate of an individual #article! 5hat does 4uantum #hysics say a out the universe? Can we derive any new )nowled"e a out the universe from 4uantum #hysics? After all, the entire universe is com#osed of an unima"ina le lar"e num er of matter and ener"y! It seems to e of "reat im#ortance to understand 4uantum theory #ro#erly in view of the lar"e/scale structure of the cosmos! Eor e;am#le, an interestin" 4uestion in this conte;t is why the o serva le matter in the universe is #ac)ed to"ether in "ala;ies and is not evenly distri uted throu"hout s#ace! Could it have to do with the 4uantum characteristics of ener"y? Are 4uantum effects res#onsi le for matter formin" discrete entities, instead of s#readin" out evenly durin" the irth of the universe? The answer to this 4uestion is still ein" de ated! If cosmolo"ical conclusions seem la oured, we mi"ht e a le to derive #hiloso#hical insi"hts from 4uantum #hysics! At least Erit@of Ca#ra thin)s this is #ossi le when he descri es the #arallels etween modern #hysics and ancient 'astern #hiloso#hy in his oo) The Tao of >hysics! He holds that in a way, the essence of modern #hysics is com#ara le to the teachin"s of the ancient 'astern #hiloso#hies, such as the Chinese Tao Te Chin", the Indian 9#anishads, or the Buddhist Sutras! 'astern #hiloso#hies a"ree in the #oint that ultimate reality is indescri a le and una##roacha le, not only in terms of common lan"ua"e, ut also in the lan"ua"e of mathematics! That is, science and mathematics must fail at some sta"e in descri in" ultimate reality! 5e see this e;em#lified in the 9ncertainty >rinci#le, which is elucidated in the followin" section! Molecules and atoms cannot e s#lit into inde#endent units! All #arts interact at all levels! The oriental scri#tures a"ree in the #oint that all o serva le and descri a le realities are manifestations of the same underlyin" *divine* #rinci#le! Althou"h many #henomena of the o serva le world are seemin"ly unrelated, they all "o ac) to the same source! Thin"s are intertwined and interde#endent to an unfathoma le de"ree, @ust as the #articles in an atom are! Althou"h the electrons in an atom can e thou"ht of as individual #articles, they are not really individual #articles, ecause of the com#licated wave relations that e;ist etween them! Hence, the electron cloud model descri es the atomic structure more ade4uately! The sum of electrons in an atom cannot e se#arated from its nucleus, which has a com#ound structure itself and can neither e re"arded a se#arate entity! Thus, in the multi#licity of thin"s there is unity! Matter is many thin"s and one thin" at the same time! The 'astern scri#tures say that no statement a out the world is ultimately valid -*The Tao that can e told is not the eternal Tao!* Tao Te Chin", Berse $., since not even the most ela orate lan"ua"e is ca#a le of renderin" a #erfect model of the universe! Science is often com#ared to a tree that ranches out into many directions! The dis#osition of #hysics is that it follows the tree u#ward to its ranches and leaves, while meta/#hysics follows it down to the root! 5hether the ranches of )nowled"e stretch out indefinitely is still a matter of de ate! However, it a##ears that most scientific discoveries do not only answer 4uestions, ut also raise new ones!

The German #hiloso#her, EriedrichHe"el formulated an idea at the e"innin" of the $%th century that descri es this #rocess! He #ro#osed the dialectic triad of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis, in which an idea -thesis. always contains incom#leteness and thus yields a conflictin" idea -antithesis.! A third #oint of view -synthesis. arises, which overcomes the conflict y reconcilin" the truth contained in oth, thesis and antithesis, at a hi"her level of understandin"! The synthesis then ecomes a new thesis, "enerates another antithesis, and the #rocess starts over! In the ne;t section, we shall see how 18th century #hysics em odies He"el:s dialectical #rinci#le! 5e will also ta)e a close loo) at the #hiloso#hical im#lications of Heisen er":s 9ncertainty >rinci#le!

6'E'6 T0 B00F

Model Two: Theory of Stimulated 'mission

Stimulated emission 0ne oson in a state can stimulate or induce another oson into the same state, causin" a 4uantum event -e"! an atomic transition.! *A s#lendid li"ht has dawned on me a out the a sor#tion and emission of radiation!!!* Alber4 Eins4ein, letter to Michele An"elo Besso =ovem er $%$7 5hat 'instein had reali(ed is that li"ht shined on an atom which is in an e;cited state can induce the atom to ma)e a downward transition -emittin" a #hoton. if the incomin" li"ht:s fre4uency matches the atomic transition ener"y! The incomin$ *ho4on is a boson9 an( -or 4his reason i4 s4im&la4es 4he emission o- a secon( *ho4on in 4he same s4a4e, inducin" an atomic transition! -0therwise the *s#ontaneous emission* would ha##en randomly!. Thus, in stimulated emission we have an e;am#le of *4uantum causality!* This #rocess com ined with reflection can yield many #hotons in the same state: coherent li"ht! Stimulated emission underlies the laser! Actually, its all stimulated!!! Erom the #oint of view of 4uantum field theory, even random 4uantum 4uantum events such as so called :s#ontaneous emission: are really :stimulated: y the vacuum:s zero *oin4 ener$y:

*5hen you come ri"ht down to it, there is really no such thing as truly s#ontaneous emissionG its all stimulated emission! The only distinction to e made is whether the field that does the stimulatin" is one that you #ut there or one that God #ut there!!!* 6avi( "ri--4hs9 Introduction to Quantum Mechanics *Erom the #ers#ective of 4uantum electrodynamics, s#ontaneous emission is a ty#e of stimulated emission induced y fluctuations in the electroma"netic field of the vacuum! Confinin" an e;cited atom or molecule to a sufficiently small enclosure si"nificantly modifies the fluctuations of the vacuum, and therefore also the s#ontaneous decay rate of a 4uantum stateG see <! Fle##ner, Inhi ited S#ontaneous 'mission, Phys. Rev. Lett. 47 (1981 !"".#

This Month in >hysics History 'instein >redicts Stimulated 'mission The laserOs invention launched a multi/ illion dollar industry! Lasers are used to remove unwanted tattoosG to correct vision defects in laser eye sur"eryG to cut throu"h steel and other materials in industrial assem ly linesG to scan #rices in su#ermar)ets and de#artment storesG for o#tical communications and o#tical data stora"eG and in electronic devices li)e C< and <B< #layers! The root of all this technolo"ical innovation lies in fundamental #hysics research, s#ecifically, a $%$& #a#er y Al ert 'instein on the 4uantum theory of radiation! WLaserX is an acronym for Li"ht Am#lification y Stimulated 'mission of 6adiation!

'instein with his second wife, 'lsa! It descri es any device that creates and am#lifies a narrow, focused eam of li"ht whose #hotons are coherent! In a laser, the atoms or molecules of the lasin" mediumQ either a crystal li)e ru y or "arnet, or a "as or li4uidQare W#um#ed,X so that more of them are at hi"her ener"y levels than at the "round state! The end result is a sudden urst of coherent li"ht as the atoms dischar"e in a ra#id chain reaction! This #rocess is called Wstimulated emission!X Al ert 'instein first roached the #ossi ility of stimulated emission in a $%$& #a#er, havin" turned his attention the year efore from "eneral relativity to the inter#lay of matter and radiation, and how the two could achieve thermal e4uili rium! 'instein devised an im#roved fundamental statistical theory of heat, em racin" the 4uantum of ener"y! Eirst, 'instein #ro#osed that an e;cited atom in isolation can return to a lower ener"y state y emittin" #hotons, a #rocess he du ed s#ontaneous emission! S#ontaneous emission sets the scale for all radiative interactions, such as a sor#tion and stimulated

emission! Atoms will only a sor #hotons of the correct wavelen"th: the #hoton disa##ears and the atom "oes to a hi"her ener"y state, settin" the sta"e for s#ontaneous emission! Second, his theory #redicted that as li"ht #asses throu"h a su stance, it could stimulate the emission of more li"ht! 'instein #ostulated that #hotons #refer to travel to"ether in the same state! If one has a lar"e collection of atoms containin" a "reat deal of e;cess ener"y, they will e ready to emit a #hoton randomly! However, if a stray #hoton of the correct wavelen"th #asses y -or, in the case of a laser, is fired at an atom already in an e;cited state., its #resence will stimulate the atoms to release their #hotons earlyQand those #hotons will travel in the same direction with the identical fre4uency and #hase as the ori"inal stray #hoton! A cascadin" effect ensues: as the crowd of identical #hotons moves throu"h the rest of the atoms, ever more #hotons will e emitted from their atoms to @oin them! It wasnOt until the $%,8s and $%+8s that #hysicists found a use for the conce#t, even thou"h all that was re4uired to invent a laser was findin" the ri"ht )ind of atom, and addin" reflectin" mirrors to fortify the stimulated emission #rocess y #roducin" a chain reaction! Charles Townes had wor)ed on radar systems durin" 5orld 5ar II! After the war ended, he turned his attention to molecular s#ectrosco#y, a techni4ue that studies the a sor#tion of li"ht y molecules! Hust li)e radar, molecular s#ectrosco#y om ards the surface of molecules with li"ht and analy(es the scattered radiation to determine the moleculeOs structure! But the techni4ue was limited y the wavelen"th of the li"ht #roduced: in this case, the microwave re"ime of the electroma"netic s#ectrum! Townes noticed that as the wavelen"th of the microwaves shortened, the more stron"ly the li"ht interacted with the molecules, and the more one could learn a out them! He thou"ht it mi"ht e #ossi le to develo# a device that #roduced li"ht at much shorter wavelen"ths! The est way to do this, he thou"ht, would e to use molecules to "enerate the desired fre4uencies throu"h stimulated emission! Townes mentioned the idea to a collea"ue -later his rother/in/law., Arthur Schawlow, who #ro#osed that the #rototy#e laser e fitted with a #air of mirrors, one at each end of the lasin" cavity! >hotons of s#ecific wavelen"ths would then reflect off the mirrors and travel ac) and forth throu"h the lasin" medium! By doin" so, they would in turn cause other electrons to rela; ac) into their "round states, emittin" even more #hotons in the same wavelen"th! So only #hotons in the selected wavelen"th and fre4uency ran"e would e am#lified! The two men wrote a #a#er detailin" their conce#t, #u lished in the <ecem er $%+2 issue of the Physical Revie$, althou"h they had yet to uild a wor)in" #rototy#e! They received a #atent for their desi"n two years laterQthe same year that the first wor)in" laser was uilt y Theodore Maiman at Hu"hes Aircraft Com#any!

Model Three: Eirst Lasers and Laser Theory

6u y laser

<ia"ram of the first ru y laser! A r&by laser is a solid/state laser that uses a synthetic ru y crystal as its "ain medium! The first wor)in" laser was a ru y laser made y Theodore H! *Ted* Maiman at Hu"hes 6esearch La oratories on May $7, $%78! 6u y lasers #roduce #ulses of visi le li"ht at a wavelen"th of 7%,!A nm, which is a dee# red color! Ty#ical ru y laser #ulse len"ths are on the order of a millisecond! ReditS <esi"n

A ru y laser rod! Inset: The view throu"h the rod is crystal clear See also: A ru y laser most often consists of a ru y rod that must e #um#ed with very hi"h ener"y, usually from a flashtu e, to achieve a #o#ulation inversion! The rod is often #laced etween two mirrors, formin" an o#tical cavity, which oscillate the li"ht #roduced y the ru y:s fluorescence, causin" stimulated emission! 6u y is one of the few solid state lasers that #roduce li"ht in the visi le ran"e of the s#ectrum, lasin" at 7%,!A nanometers, in a dee# red color, with a very narrow linewidth of 8!+A nm! The ru y laser is a three level solid state laser! The active laser medium -laser "ain3am#lification medium. is a synthetic ru y rod that is ener"i(ed throu"h o#tical #um#in", ty#ically y a ;enon flashtu e! 6u y has very road and #owerful a sor#tion ands in the visual s#ectrum, at ,88 and ++8 nm, and a very lon" fluorescence lifetime of A milliseconds! This allows for very hi"h ener"y #um#in", since the #ulse duration can e much lon"er than with other materials! 5hile ru y has a very wide a sor#tion #rofile, its conversion efficiency is much lower than other mediums! In early e;am#les, the rod:s ends had to e #olished with "reat #recision, such that the ends of the rod were flat to within a 4uarter of a wavelen"th of the out#ut li"ht, and #arallel to each other within a few seconds of arc! The finely #olished ends of the rod were silveredG one end com#letely, the other only #artially! The rod, with its reflective ends, then acts as a Ea ryQ>Yrot etalon -or a Gires/Tournois etalon.! Modern lasers often use rods with antireflection coatin"s, or with the ends cut and #olished at Brewster:s an"le instead! This eliminates the reflections from the ends of the rod! ';ternal dielectric mirrors then are used to form the o#tical cavity! Curved mirrors are ty#ically used to rela; the ali"nment tolerances and to form a sta le resonator, often com#ensatin" for thermal lensin" of the rod!

Transmittance of ru y in o#tical and near/I6 s#ectra! =ote the two road lue and "reen a sor#tion ands and the narrow a sor#tion and at 7%, nm, which is the wavelen"th of the ru y laser! 6u y also a sor s some of the li"ht at its lasin" wavelen"th! To overcome this a sor#tion, the entire len"th of the rod needs to e #um#ed, leavin" no shaded areas near the mountin"s! The active #art of the ru y is the do#ant, which consists of chromium ions sus#ended in a sa##hire crystal! The do#ant often com#rises around 8!8+Z of the crystal, and is res#onsi le for all of the a sor#tion and emission of radiation! <e#endin" on the concentration of the do#ant, synthetic ru y usually comes in either #in) or red! ReditS A##lications 0ne of the first a##lications for the ru y laser was in ran"efindin"! By $%7,, ru y lasers with rotatin" #rism 4/switches ecame the standard for military ran"efinders, until the introduction of more efficient =d:DAG ran"efinders a decade later! 6u y lasers were used mainly in research! The ru y laser was the first laser used to o#tically #um# tuna le dye lasers and is #articularly well suited to e;cite laser dyes emittin" in the near infrared! 6u y lasers are rarely used in industry, mainly due to low efficiency and low re#etition rates! 0ne of the main industrial uses is drillin" holes throu"h diamond! 6u y lasers have declined in use with the discovery of etter lasin" media! They are still used in a num er of a##lications where short #ulses of red li"ht are re4uired! Holo"ra#hers around the world #roduce holo"ra#hic #ortraits with ru y lasers, in si(es u# to a meter s4uare! Because of its hi"h #ulsed #ower and "ood coherence len"th, the red 7%, nm laser li"ht is #referred to the +A1 nm "reen li"ht of fre4uency/ dou led =d:DAG, which often re4uires multi#le #ulses for lar"e holo"rams! Many non/destructive testin" la s use ru y lasers to create holo"rams of lar"e o @ects such as aircraft tires to loo) for wea)nesses in the linin"! 6u y lasers were used e;tensively in tattoo and hair removal, ut are ein" re#laced y ale;andrite and =d:DAG lasers in this a##lication! ReditS History

Maiman:s ori"inal ru y laser The ru y laser was the first laser to e made functional! Built y Theodore Maiman in $%78, the device was created out of the conce#t of an *o#tical maser,* a maser that could o#erate in the visual or infrared re"ions of the s#ectrum! In $%+2, after Charles Townes and Arthur Schawlow #u lished an article in the Physical Revie$, re"ardin" the idea of o#tical masers, the race to uild a wor)in" model e"an! 5hile attendin" a conference in $%+%, Maiman listened to a s#eech "iven y Schawlow, descri in" the use of ru y as a lasin" medium! Schawlow stated that #in) ru y, havin" a lowest ener"y/state that was too close to the "round/state, would re4uire too much #um#in" ener"y for laser o#eration, su""estin" red ru y as a #ossi le alternative! Maiman, havin" wor)ed with ru y for many years, and havin"

written a #a#er on ru y fluorescence, felt that Schawlow was ein" *too #essimistic!* His measurements indicated that the lowest ener"y level of #in) ru y could at least e #artially de#leted y #um#in" with a very intense li"ht source, and, since ru y was readily availa le, he decided to try it anyway! Also attendin" the conference was Gordon Gould! Gould su""ested that, y #ulsin" the laser, #ea) out#uts as hi"h as a me"awatt could e #roduced!

Com#onents of ori"inal ru y laser As time went on, many scientists e"an to dou t the usefulness of ru y as a laser medium! Maiman, too, felt his own dou ts, ut, ein" a very *sin"le/minded #erson,* he )e#t wor)in" on his #ro@ect in secret! He searched to find a li"ht source that would e intense enou"h to #um# the rod, and an elli#tical #um#in" cavity of hi"h reflectivity, to direct the ener"y into the rod! He found his li"ht source when a salesman from General 'lectric showed him a few ;enon flashtu es, claimin" that the lar"est could i"nite steel wool if #laced near the tu e! Maiman reali(ed that, with such intensity, he did not need such a hi"hly reflective #um#in" cavity, and, with the helical lam#, would not need it to have an elli#tical sha#e! Maiman constructed his ru y laser at the Hu"hs 6esearch La oratory, in Mali u California! He used a #in) ru y rod, measurin" $ cm y $!+ cm, and, on May $7, $%78, fired the device, #roducin" the first eam of laser li"ht! Theodore Maiman:s ori"inal ru y laser is still o#erational! It was demonstrated on May $+, 18$8 at a sym#osium co/hosted in Bancouver, British Colum ia y the <r! Theodore Maiman Memorial Eoundation and Simon Eraser 9niversity, where <r! Maiman was Ad@unct >rofessor at the School of 'n"ineerin" Science! Maiman:s ori"inal laser was fired at a #ro@ector screen in a dar)ened room! In the center of a white flash -lea)a"e from the ;enon flashtu e., a red s#ot was riefly visi le! The ru y lasers did not deliver a sin"le #ulse, ut rather delivered a series of #ulses, consistin" of a series of irre"ular s#i)es within the #ulse duration! In $%7$, 6!5! Hellwarth invented a method of 4/switchin", to concentrate the out#ut into a sin"le #ulse! In $%71, 5illard Boyle, wor)in" at Bell La s, #roduced the first continuous out#ut from a ru y laser! 9nli)e the usual side/#um#in" method, the li"ht from a mercury arc lam# was #um#ed into the end of a very small rod, to achieve the necessary #o#ulation inversion! The laser did not emit a continuous wave, ut rather a continuous train of #ulses, "ivin" scientists the o##ortunity to study the s#i)ed out#ut of ru y! The continuous ru y laser was the first laser to e used in medicine! It was used y Leon Goldman, a #ioneer in laser medicine, for treatments such as tattoo removal, scar treatments, and to induce healin"! <ue to its limits in out#ut #ower, tuna ility, and com#lications in o#eratin" and coolin" the units, the continuous ru y laser was 4uic)ly re#laced with more versatile dye, =d:DAG, and ar"on lasers!

Model Eour: Lasers

0NTR16;%T01N
The word *laser* is an acronym for Li"ht Am#lification y Stimulated 'mission of 6adiation! Lasers are findin" ever increasin" military a##lications // #rinci#ally for tar"et ac4uisition, fire control, and trainin"! These lasers are termed ran"efinders, tar"et desi"nators, and direct/fire simulators! Lasers are also ein" used in

communications, laser radars -LI<A6., landin" systems, laser #ointers, "uidance systems, scanners, metal wor)in", #hoto"ra#hy, holo"ra#hy, and medicine! In this document the word laser will e limited to electroma"netic radiation emittin" devices usin" li"ht am#lification y stimulated emission of radiation at wavelen"ths from $28 nanometers to $ millimeter! The electroma"netic s#ectrum includes ener"y ran"in" from "amma rays to electricity! Ei"ure $ illustrates the total electroma"netic s#ectrum and wavelen"ths of the various re"ions!

Figure 1. Electromagnetic Spectrum

The #rimary wavelen"ths of laser radiation for current military and commercial a##lications include the ultraviolet, visi le, and infrared re"ions of the s#ectrum! 9ltraviolet radiation for lasers consists of wavelen"ths etween $28 and ,88 nm! The visi le re"ion consists of radiation with wavelen"ths etween ,88 and &88 nm! This is the #ortion we call visi le li"ht! The infrared re"ion of the s#ectrum consists of radiation with wavelen"ths etween &88 nm and $ mm! Laser radiation a sor ed y the s)in #enetrates only a few layers! In the eye, visi le and near infrared radiation #asses throu"h the cornea, and is focused on and a sor ed y the retina! It is the wavelen"th of the li"ht that determines the visi le sensation of color: violet at ,88 nm, red at &88 nm, and the other colors of the visi le s#ectrum in etween! 5hen radiation is a sor ed, the effect on the a sor in" iolo"ical tissue is either #hotochemical, thermal, or mechanical: in the ultraviolet re"ion, the action is #rimarily #hotochemicalG in the infrared re"ion, the action is #rimarily thermalG and in the visi le re"ion, oth effects are #resent! 5hen the intensity of the radiation is sufficiently hi"h, dama"e to the a sor in" tissue will result!

LASER T/E1R2 AN6 1PERAT01N

A asic understandin" of how a laser o#erates hel#s in understandin" the ha(ards when usin" a laser device! Ei"ure 1 shows that electroma"netic radiation is emitted whenever a char"ed #article such as an electron "ives u# ener"y! This ha##ens every time an electron dro#s from a hi"her ener"y state, , to a lower ener"y state, , in an atom or ion as occurs in a fluorescent li"ht! This also ha##ens from chan"es in the vi rational or rotational state of molecules!

The color of li"ht is determined y its fre4uency or wavelen"th! The shorter wavelen"ths are the ultraviolet and the lon"er wavelen"ths are the infrared! The smallest #article of li"ht ener"y is descri ed y 4uantum mechanics as a #hoton! The ener"y, ', of a #hoton is determined y its fre4uency, , and >lanc):s constant, h! -$. The velocity of li"ht in a vacuum, c, is A88 million meters #er second! The wavelen"th, , of li"ht is related to from the followin" e4uation: -1. The difference in ener"y levels across which an e;cited electron dro#s determines the wavelen"th of the emitted li"ht!

Figure 2. Emission of radiation from an atom by transition of an electron from a higher energy state to a lower energy state

%1 P1NENTS 18 A LASER
As shown in fi"ure A, the three asic com#onents of a laser are: Lasin" material -crystal, "as, semiconductor, dye, etc!!!. >um# source -adds ener"y to the lasin" material , e!"! flash lam#, electrical current to cause electron collisions, radiation from a laser, etc!. 0#tical cavity consistin" of reflectors to act as the feed ac) mechanism for li"ht am#lification

Figure 3. Solid State Laser Diagram

'lectrons in the atoms of the lasin" material normally reside in a steady/state lower ener"y level! 5hen li"ht ener"y from the flashlam# is added to the atoms of the lasin" material, the ma@ority of the electrons are e;cited to a hi"her ener"y level // a #henomenon )nown as #o#ulation inversion! This is an unsta le condition for these electrons! They will stay in this state for a short time and then decay ac) to their ori"inal ener"y state! This decay occurs in two ways: s#ontaneous decay // the

electrons sim#ly fall to their "round state while emittin" randomly directed #hotonsG and stimulated decay // the #hotons from s#ontaneous decayin" electrons stri)e other e;cited electrons which causes them to fall to their "round state! This stimulated transition will release ener"y in the form of #hotons of li"ht that travel in #hase at the same wavelen"th and in the same direction as the incident #hoton! If the direction is #arallel to the o#tical a;is, the emitted #hotons travel ac) and forth in the o#tical cavity throu"h the lasin" material etween the totally reflectin" mirror and the #artially reflectin" mirror! The li"ht ener"y is am#lified in this manner until sufficient ener"y is uilt u# for a urst of laser li"ht to e transmitted throu"h the #artially reflectin" mirror! As shown in fi"ure ,, a lasin" medium must have at least one e;cited -metasta le. state where electrons can e tra##ed lon" enou"h -microseconds to milliseconds. for a #o#ulation inversion to occur! Althou"h laser action is #ossi le with only two ener"y levels, most lasers have four or more levels!

Figure 4.

hree le!el laser energy diagram

A J/switch in the o#tical #ath is a method of #rovidin" laser #ulses of an e;tremely short time duration! A rotatin" #rism li)e the total reflector in fi"ure A was an early method of #rovidin" J/switchin"! 0nly at the #oint of rotation when there is a clear o#tical #ath will li"ht ener"y e allowed to #ass! A normally o#a4ue electro/o#tical device -e!"!, a #oc)els cell. is now often used for a J/switchin" device! At the time of volta"e a##lication, the device ecomes trans#arent, the li"ht uilt u# in the cavity y e;cited atoms can then reach the mirror so that the cavity Juality, J, increases to a hi"h level and emits a hi"h #ea) #ower laser #ulse of a few nanoseconds duration! 5hen the #hases of different fre4uency modes of a laser are synchroni(ed -loc)ed to"ether., these modes will interfere with each other and "enerate a eat effect! The result is a laser out#ut with re"ularly s#aced #ulsations called *mode loc)in"*! Mode loc)ed lasers usually #roduce trains of #ulses with a duration of a few #icoseconds to nanoseconds resultin" in hi"her #ea) #owers than the same laser o#eratin" in the J/ switched mode! >ulsed lasers are often desi"ned to #roduce re#etitive #ulses! The #ulse re#etition fre4uency, #rf, as well as #ulse width is e;tremely im#ortant in evaluatin" iolo"ical effects!

T2PES 18 LASERS

The laser diode is a li"ht emittin" diode with an o#tical cavity to am#lify the li"ht emitted from the ener"y and "a# that e;ists in semiconductors as shown in fi"ure +! They can e tuned y varyin" the a##lied current, tem#erature or ma"netic field!

Figure ". Semiconductor laser diagram

Gas lasers consist of a "as filled tu e #laced in the laser cavity as shown in fi"ure 7! A volta"e -the e;ternal #um# source. is a##lied to the tu e to e;cite the atoms in the "as to a #o#ulation inversion! The li"ht emitted from this ty#e of laser is normally continuous wave -C5.! 0ne should note that if rewster an"le windows are attached to the "as dischar"e tu e, some laser radiation may e reflected out the side of the laser cavity! Lar"e "as lasers )nown as "as dynamic lasers use a com ustion cham er and su#ersonic no((le for #o#ulation inversion!

Figure #. $as laser diagram

Ei"ure & shows a dye laser dia"ram! <ye lasers em#loy an active material in a li4uid sus#ension! The dye cell contains the lasin" medium! Many dyes or li4uid sus#ensions are to;ic!

Figure %. &ommon Dye Laser Diagram

Eree electron lasers such as in fi"ure 2 have the a ility to "enerate wavelen"ths from the microwave to the L/ray re"ion! They o#erate y havin" an electron eam in an o#tical cavity #ass throu"h a wi""ler ma"netic field! The chan"e in direction e;erted y the ma"netic field on the electrons causes them to emit #hotons!

Figure '. Free Electron Laser Diagram

Laser eam "eometries dis#lay transverse electroma"netic -T'M. wave #atterns across the eam similar to microwaves in a wave "uide! Ei"ure % shows some common T'M modes in a cross section of a laser eam!

Figure ( &ommon

E) laser beam modes

A laser o#eratin" in the

mode could e considered as two lasers o#eratin" side

y side! The ideal mode for most laser a##lications is the mode and this mode is normally assumed to easily #erform laser ha(ards analysis! Li"ht from a conventional li"ht source is e;tremely road and -containin" wavelen"ths across the electroma"netic s#ectrum.! If one were to #lace a filter that would allow only a very narrow and of wavelen"ths in front of a white or road and li"ht source, only a sin"le li"ht color would e seen e;itin" the filter! Li"ht from the laser is similar to the li"ht seen from the filter! However, instead of a narrow and of wavelen"ths none of which is dominant as in the case of the filter, there is a much narrower linewidth a out a dominant center fre4uency emitted from the laser! The color or wavelen"th of li"ht ein" emitted de#ends on the ty#e of lasin" material ein" used! Eor e;am#le, if a =eodymium:Dttrium Aluminum Garnet -=d:DAG. crystal is used as the lasin" material, li"ht with a wavelen"th of $87, nm will e emitted! Ta le $ illustrates various ty#es of material currently used for lasin" and the wavelen"ths that are emitted y that ty#e of laser! =ote that certain materials and "ases are ca#a le of emittin" more than one wavelen"th! The wavelen"th of the li"ht emitted in this case is de#endent on the o#tical confi"uration of the laser!
able 1. &ommon Lasers and heir *a!elengths

LASER T2PE
Ar"on Eluoride Lenon Chloride Lenon Eluoride Helium Cadmium 6hodamine 7G Co##er Ba#or Ar"on

3A<ELEN"T/ =Nanome4ers>
$%A A82 and ,+% A+A and ,+% A1+ / ,,1 ,+8 / 7+8 +$$ and +&2 ,+& / +12 -+$,!+ and ,22 most used.

Ere4uency dou led =d:DAG +A1

Helium =eon Fry#ton 6u y Laser <iodes Ti:Sa##hire Ale;andrite =d:DAG Hyd"ro"en Eluoride 'r ium:Glass Car on Mono;ide Car on <io;ide

+,A, +%,, 7$1, and 7A1!2 AA&!+ / &%%!A -7,&!$ / 7&7!, most used. 7%,!A 7A8 / %+8 7%8 / %78 &18 / &28 $87, 1788 / A888 $+,8 +888 / 7888 $8788

Li"ht from a conventional li"ht source diver"es or s#reads ra#idly as illustrated in fi"ure $8! The intensity may e lar"e at the source, ut it decreases ra#idly as an o server moves away from the source!

Figure 1+. Di!ergence of &on!entional Light Source

In contrast, the out#ut of a laser as shown in fi"ure $$ has a very small diver"ence and can maintain hi"h eam intensities over lon" ran"es! Thus, relatively low #ower lasers are a le to #ro@ect more ener"y at a sin"le wavelen"th within a narrow eam than can e o tained from much more #owerful conventional li"ht sources!

Figure 11. Di!ergence of Laser Source

Eor e;am#le, a laser ca#a le of deliverin" a $88 mH #ulse in 18 ns has a #ea) #ower of + million watts! A C5 laser will usually have the li"ht ener"y e;#ressed in watts, and a #ulsed laser will usually have its out#ut e;#ressed in @oules! Since ener"y cannot e created or destroyed, the amount of ener"y availa le in a vacuum at the out#ut of the laser will e the same amount of ener"y contained within the eam at some #oint downran"e -with some loss in the atmos#here.! Ei"ure $1 illustrates a ty#ical laser eam! The amount of ener"y availa le within the sam#lin" area will e considera ly less than the amount of ener"y availa le within the eam! Eor e;am#le, a $88 m5 laser out#ut mi"ht have ,8 m5 measured within $ sam#le area! The irradiance in this e;am#le is ,8 m53 !

Figure 12. ,llustration of ,rradiance

%/ARA%TER0ST0%S 18

ATER0ALS

Materials can reflect, a sor , and3or transmit li"ht rays! 6eflection of li"ht is est illustrated y a mirror! If li"ht rays stri)e a mirror, almost all of the ener"y incident on the mirror will e reflected! Ei"ure $A illustrates how a #lastic or "lass surface will act on an incident li"ht ray! The sum of ener"y transmitted, a sor ed, and reflected will e4ual the amount of ener"y incident u#on the surface! A surface is s#ecular -mirror/li)e. if the si(e of surface im#erfections and variations are much smaller than the wavelen"th of incident o#tical radiation! 5hen irre"ularities are randomly oriented and are much lar"er than the wavelen"th, then the surface is considered diffuse! In the intermediate re"ion, it is sometimes necessary to re"ard the diffuse and s#ecular com#onents se#arately!

Figure 13. Light -ay ,ncident to $lass Surface

A flat s#ecular surface will not chan"e the diver"ence of the incident li"ht eam si"nificantly! However, curved s#ecular surfaces may chan"e the diver"ence! The amount that the diver"ence is chan"ed is de#endent on the curvature of the surface! Ei"ure $, demonstrates these two ty#es of surfaces and how they will reflect an incident laser eam! The diver"ence and the curvature of the reflector have een e;a""erated to etter illustrate the effects! =ote that the value of irradiance measured at a s#ecific ran"e from the reflector will e less after reflection from the curved surface than when reflected from the flat surface unless the curved reflector focuses the eam near or at that ran"e! A diffuse surface is a surface that will reflect the incident laser eam in all directions! The eam #ath is not maintained when the laser eam stri)es a diffuse reflector! 5hether a surface is a diffuse reflector or a s#ecular reflector will de#end u#on the wavelen"th of the incident laser eam! A surface that would e a diffuse reflector for a visi le laser eam mi"ht e a s#ecular reflector for an infrared laser eam -e!"!, .! As illustrated in Ei"ure $+, the effect of various curvatures of diffuse reflectors ma)es little difference on the reflected eam! If li"ht is incident u#on an interface se#aratin" two transmittin" media -as an air/"lass interface., some li"ht will e transmitted while some will e reflected from the surface! If no ener"y is a sor ed at the interface, T [ 6 U $ where T and 6 are the fractions of the incident eam intensity that are transmitted and reflected! T and 6 are called the transmission and reflection coefficients, res#ectively! These coefficients de#end not only u#on the #ro#erties of the material and the wavelen"th of the radiation, ut also u#on the an"le of incidence! The amount of the incident li"ht eam that is reflected and the amount transmitted throu"h the material is further de#endent on the #olari(ation of the li"ht eam! The an"le that an incident ray of radiation forms with the normal to the surface will determine the an"le of refraction and the an"le of reflection -the an"le of reflection e4uals the an"le of incidence.! The relationshi# etween the an"le of incidence and the an"le of refraction :. is -A. .

where n and n: are the indices of refraction of the media that the incident and transmitted rays move throu"h, res#ectively -see fi"ure $A.!

Figure 14. Specular -eflectors

Figure 1". Diffuse -eflectors