submitted by P Ganesh Reddy-18709A0512 J Bhargav Raj -18709A0506
DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
ANNAMACHARYA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCES (AUTONOMOUS) (Affiliated to J.N.T. University Anantapur, Anantapur) RAJAMPET-516 126 (A.P) Contents: Laser applications Tera hertz device Diode lasers Yellow lasers Ultrafast lasers Terahertz • One of the hottest areas of the electromagnetic spectrum being explored today is the terahertz (THz) range. Terahertz waves, lying between microwave and optical frequencies, offer improved performance for a variety of applications in everyday life. For instance, THz waves can carry more information than radio/microwaves for communications devices. They also provide medical and biological images with higher resolution than microwaves, while offering much smaller potential harm of exposure than X-rays Terahertz • Cornell researchers have developed a new method of generating terahertz signals on an inexpensive silicon chip, offering possible applications in medical imaging, security scanning and wireless data transfer. • Terahertz radiation, the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum between microwaves and infrared light, penetrates cloth and leather and just a few millimeters into the skin, but without the potentially damaging effects of X-rays. Terahertz scanning can identify skin cancers too small to see with the naked eye. Many of the complex organic chemicals used in explosives absorb terahertz radiation at particular frequencies, creating a "signature" that detectors can read. And because higher frequencies can carry more bandwidth, terahertz signals could make a sort of super-Bluetooth that could transfer an entire high-definition movie wirelessly in a few seconds. Terahertz • Current methods of generating terahertz radiation involve lasers, vacuum • tubes and special circuits cooled near absolute zero, often in room-sized apparatus costing thousands of dollars. Ehsan Afshari, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, has developed a new method using the familiar and inexpensive CMOS chip technology, generating power levels high enough for some medical applications. With further research, higher power will be possible, Afshari said, enabling such devices as handheld scanners for law enforcement Diode lasers • During the last decades laser technology has continuously developed. New types of lasers as ultra-short pulsed lasers in the femtosecond regime entered medical applications in ophthalmology. Diode lasers became more powerful and smaller with a broader range in wavelengths. In future new sources will also be used in medicine, fibre lasers, LEDs and organic LEDs (OLED). Plastic foils as surface emitters could become important as irradiation source in PDT. But not only progress in light sources opened new fields in medical laser applications, application development with optimised applicators and tool holders widened the spectrum of applications for the same laser, e.g. in dentistry. Microsurgery is still a challenge where nanosurgery in cells already appears. Also new technology in medical diagnostics enter the scene. Optical coherence tomography with high resolution opens the view into the skin or new sophisticated fluorescence microscopy techniques image metabolism of cells. Online diagnosis in combination with laser treatment will open the market and stimulate further development Yellow lasers • The yellow laser in medical lasertherapy (worldwide innovation): • After several years of research and development efforts, Weber Medical is finally able to introduce the first yellow laser worldwide for the use in intravenous and interstitial laser therapy. So far, a yellow laser with 5mW 589nm is ready to be used in intravenous treatments while the one with 50mW 589nm can be used for interstitial treatments. The new modules can be connected to all Weber Medical ‘endolaser’ devices without any problems. Both power and frequency can be adjusted individually. Yellow lasers • Huge benefits in various fields • There is a wide range of opportunities for applying this technology. “For example, in today’s eye surgeries, surgeons use green laser light to control the photocoagulation process. However, yellow light would be more advantageous since it is absorbed better by haemoglobin,” Guina explains. “Affordable and practical yellow lasers could also revolutionise other medical applications and be used, for example, to reduce cholesterol levels, remove tattoos and enable local cancer treatment.” Ultrafast lasers • Ultrafast laser processing has fundamentally changed the way of materials microprocessing with lasers. This approach provides unique advantages such as the suppression of thermal diffusion, nonlinear multiphoton excitation of carriers, deterministic optical breakdown threshold, internal modification of transparent materials and reproducible nanoscale resolution Ultra fast lasers • Scanning of tightly focused ultrafast laser pulses in transparent materials enables the formation of 3D micro- /nanostructures with limitless geometries and configurations, which makes it possible to produce functional components and devices for integrated optics and lab-on-a-chip applications. Besides fundamental research, ultrafast lasers have also been employed for several practical and industrial applications, such as photomask repairs, ink nozzle drilling and medical stent fabrication. These lasers are now also used in the electronics industry for scribing, patterning and texturing of glass and semiconductors (e.g., photovoltaic cells and light emitting diode displays