LASER 101 InGaAsP(active) transmitter oe ode (a) (b) © Fig. 3.42, Basic elements of a fibre optic communication system. (a) In GaAsP laser transmitter, (b) Optical fibre for transmitting light ; (c) PIN photodetector. ¢ Direct beam IR LANs. This is referred to as line of sight links which involves the transmission of highly focused narrow IR beam that connect one terminal to another. Obviously the receiver and transmitter must be properly aligned. It gives longer range and higher data rates upto 10 Mbps. It is best suited for fixed terminals and specially for large file transfers. Different optical arrangements used for this purposes are shown in Fig. 3.43. Receiver Transmitter ee Lens Lens Fst Receiver ‘Mirror @) Mirror Fig. 3.43. Various optical systems used for expanding the electromagnetic signal for free space communication (A) Transmissive (B) Reflective.102 3.6. OPTICAL FIBRES AND Lage, LANs. It provides ease of installation as the transmission of signals ay, + Diffused IR LANs. It pr ved, data transmission rates an, ultiple paths involved, in all ieee ms neal a sometime, laptops a aa IR teascine i " axes » Print sip ohioh abe ammunition between portable apt: and fixed terminal, mn ipheral. The main advantage of using vantag eae range, i.e., transmission is interrupted when obstacles ar, vantage is we n preeont| because infrared does not penetrate solid matter. THE POWER RANGE OF LASER ee Table 3.5 displays the characteristics of typical lasers and their various uses. A glance at the table shows that some lasers generate kilowatts of continuous wave power and some others are capable of producing megawatts, gigawatts and even terawatts of pulsed peak power Table 3.5 : Characteristics of different types of lasers Type of Peak Pulse Wavelength Uses Laser Power Nature* Gas HeNe 1mw cw 633 nm Supermarket Scanners, hologram, alignment operations, industries nondestructive testing (like surface flaw), roughness, medical applications and communication Argon 10W cw 488 nm Entertainment, Medical (eye) Spectroscopic, material processing holographic work co, 200 W cw 10.6 wm Cutting and Welding, open air commu- nication, LIDAR, surgery co, TEA | 5 Mw P 10.6 pm Heat treating Nitrogen | 0.01MW] Pp 337 nm Scientific studies Semiconductor GaAs 5mW cw 840 nm CD players, measuring instruments, optical communication AlGaAs 50 mw cw 760 nm Li aser printers GalnAsP 20 mw cw 13 - Am Fibre communications |_ Solid State 7 Ruby 100 Mw | P 694 nm | NaYAG cow ow Live holography, Medical applications _ 1.06 pm | Semiconductor Processing, Material Processing, OphthalmologyOPTICAL FIBRES AN % LASE i orative Uses 3.5.11. Application in 080078 she innovator and the largest reanifacturer of, Universal laser systems Ine a jaser system is y available for q,,’*y right ‘es, The computer CO ‘eco tiles. ‘rial uses a8 ve etching, pen and gifts, pl «like, rubber stamp, decorativ aes and ay, padges, desk accessories, leather and glass a 7 tke par coding, identification tags and @ Marking a wend, acrylic, rubber, leather, fabric, paper, laminated Plastie ti © Cutting = Tike, wott' tretal glass, stencils, patterns and gaskets film, ceramic, co ar. It is a direct digital method fop is very popul , Raber stamp Saag tarvoa a labour intensive photographic process, Once he rubber stamps wit inted by the Universal laser » igned in the graphics software, they are printe ystem (ys Ears Sitter is engraved. ULS provides special software and hardware to allow i, z systems to perform this job. 3.5.12, Application in Meteorology ‘The introduction of lasers, specially visible wavelength ses I » has dramaticg, increased the scope of optical meteorology. Advantages of optical meteorology are high resi, urem tion, ‘non-contact’ capability, high scanning speed, measurement in inaccessible sites, mx. pulse urement in severe and aggressive environments, lightness and ease in setting UP. Sensing’: ‘meteorology is based on interference and heterodyne frequency shifting. Various applicatn, are as follow : A. Optical alignment : The brightness of a 1-5 mW HeNe laser is sufficient as beam is easily visible in an ambient background or daylight upto a distance of several huni: meters from the laser. This feature alone has led to a large number of relatively stragh forward alignment applications. Very accurate settings in the direction of alignment can obtained using quadrant detector as illustrated in Fig. 3.35. In this type of detectors, the phot sensitive area is divided into four quadrants, each of them produces signal when laser hear falls on it. For laser beam of small diameter, a small displacement between the quadras detector and the beam produces a large imbalance output signal which is of great hel fe alignment setting. Fig. 3.96 shows another type laser scanner system used for leveling purpoe ‘The beam expander expands the beam and the pentaprism turns the laser beam through decorative piect follow : purposes and indus Engraving oy Quadrant detector Position indicator (Horizontal) Laser Fig. 3.: i 9- 3.38. Schematic diagram of a laser alignment system.Plastig ducing L ( UL) lasey atically resolu. Meas. Sing in cations as the undred traight can be 2 photo r beam adrant elp for rpose. ough a LASER 97 right angle. This type of system can be used during the installation period of wall or ceiling tiles. ureme! Penta prism LI Detector — Laser Fig. 3.36. Diagram of a laser scanner system used for leveling. B. Distance measurement : The most common application of laser is distance meas- nt. Direct optical interferometry is used over short distances and beam modulation echo- pulse technique is used for long distances. © Interferometric Technique. The basic interferometric technique (Fig.3.37) utilises a modified Twyman-Green Interferometer. The collimated output beam is split equally by a beam splitter oriented at 45° to the wavefront. The separated plane wavefront beams are reflected upon themselves by cube corner prisms behaving like mirrors and recombined by another beamsplitter. If the two separated beams travel a differ- ent total path, they will interfere with each other when recombined. BS, a - > >— M: Mirror BS : Beam splitter a oo He Fig. 3.37. Mach Zehnder Modulation. YY e Beam Modulation Technique. Due to atmospheric turbulence, interferometric measuring methods are limited to distance of not more than about 100 m. For greater distances, amplitude modulation method is better. ‘The beam from an HeNe or GaAs dulated at a certain frequency and projected to the target whose rrget is received by a telescope hase of the modulation of the laser is amplitude mo’ distance is to be measured. The light reflected by the tai and sent to a detector as illustrated in Fig. 3.38. The p|OPTICAL FIBREg AN \ f the emitted beam because of the time ¢, © Path different from ee e ack. The phase shift is related to th, 1 to the target an return beam is the light to travel 2L by | A, petecor Lens wee |e —— Diode laser SPliter Diffusive ‘surface T st Fig. 3.38. Diagram of a laser finder that uses an amplitude modulated laser, 6 is the phase shift of the modulated beam. he © = 2n(2nLVy co where n is the refractive index of the atmosphere and is the modulation 9 a length of laser in vacuum. © Pulse-Echo Technique. Distance can also be measured by timing the rounds transit time for a very short pulse of light reflected from a distance target, The cansists of a pulse laser, a telescope to collect the reflected light, a photo detector an accurate timer as depicted in Fig. 3.34. An accura possible in this method. cy of 5 m in ranges of 5-10 ke Within the region of over] , the fringes , 8 is given by overlapping beams, fringes will be formed, The distance bet S= M2 sin (6/2) If a particle passes across the direction perpendicular to the fines rte field with a component of velocity V (cm/sed) # frequency S° Held, the signal at the detector will be modulated at =a eoAcoustic optical ‘modulation Minor 3 Y} Focusing lens Beam | splitter 2 (4 Fig, 3.39. Block diagram of a laser doppler system that uses the reference beam technique to measure the velocity of a moving object. f = 2V[sin (0/2) x 10°/632.8] Hz The output from the detector is fed to a spectrum analyser whose output is recorded on a storage oscilloscope or chart recorder. D. Angular rotation measurement : The measurement of the rate of rotation using laser gyroscope is now quite well established and the so called ring gyro is used in military and commercial aircraft. The gyro has a ring configuration using an equilateral triangle, in which two laser beams travel in opposite directions as illustrated in Fig. 3.40. The wavelength of ve. operation of laser to adjusted such that total distance around the path is an integral number Y Mirror 9) Detector rip em nd is 0 Fig. 3.40. Sagnac interferometer for rotation measurement. of wavelengths. Any change in the length of the ring results in a change in wavelength. The 2 axis of rotation is through the point which is junction of the perpendicular bisectors of the sides of the triangle and normal to the plane of the triangle. The two counter rotating beams e n have slightly different wavelengths and frequencies to satisfy the condition that the round tripOPTICAL FIBREg any 100 . The difference , f iple of wavelength. ice in frequeng: path length should be an integral” ae together at the output point is a Mean LasE! can be detected by beating the Te og rotation. jentific Research 3.5.13. Application in Sci «but certainly not the least, of the human endeavours in which lasers Last, bu id of scientific research. This encompasses physic, P, an important role is the entire Felt 1 example, lasers offer an opportunity tg invent ite i .d various atomic studies. biology and various fiom of atoms and molecules with electromagnetic waves of high ,@t#4 ting the various isotopes of an element. Thi us’ (ly i red for separal cee Gat tas conta use for the large scale enrichment of uranium in power reactors. Even, genetic research using laser is quite popular. The most promi Which is perhaps atomic fusion, which ushered in the hope of becoming a new source gf for mankind, In inertial confinement fusion, a powerful burst of fusion energy is prog, focusing high powered laser beam on a tiny pellet of fuel as illustrated in Fig. 3.41 need use of laser radiation is to cool atoms and atomic ions to very low temperatures ang ee done by suitable arrangement of the frequency and position of the laser beam. The laura cs ‘small specimens to very low temperatures, in some cases about 1 microkelvin, Incoming laser beam Pellet core Ablation surface imploding fuel peltetLeta bali 1 | Infrared is invisible to the eye, so while using infrared lasers a visible | used to fix the target plane. An important point is that precautions ‘shouldbe taken fer oeng lasers in medical science. Lasers giving outputs in various wavelengths and of various powers are used in different fields of medical science. Not only the power and wavelength of the laser, but also the type (pulse or continuous) and the duration of exposure may affect tissues with different physical phenomenon. Fig. 3.25 is the schematic diagram of an instrument used in medical science for detection and surgical works. All these are related to laser and optical fibre ei are used either to illuminate the spot or to transport laser to burn the unwanted ele- ments. f ; a, 3.25. The schematic diagram of an optical fibre related instrument used in medical surgery. 3.5.3. Applications in Three-Dimensional Imaging by Holography A conventional photograph is only a flat record of a real image projected onto a photographic film. The three dimensional character (i.e., the phase information) of the object. is almost entirely lost during such photographic recording process. A hologram on the other hand is a special three-dimensional photography, a ‘photograph’ of an object that retains information about the phases of waves coming from the object through the use of laser. During the recording process, two waves superimposes, one coming from the object and another coherent reference wave, both originating from the same laser source. These two waves produce interference fringes in the plane of the photographic medium. This record carrying the information of amplitude and phase of the object is known as hologram, which means “whole” in Greek language. In the reconstruction process of image, the hologram is illuminated by the same type of laser wave which is used in the recording of hologram. Fig. 3.26 (a) and Fig 3.26(b) respectively demonstrate the experimental arrangements for producing hologram and reproducing image from the hologram using same laser.OPTICAL FIBRES ayy ive 3D image [ photographic wan fim taser LA ~ \ Laser : beam ar) Hovooram Hoogtam formed | ons to diverge the laser beam (>) @ ment for making a hologram ; (b) Experimental Fig. 3.26. (a) Experimental arranQNr oe using same laser source arrangement for viewing 3 asinvented by Dennis Gabor in 1947 but its use became pouiy |e, Today, it is used in a multitude of ways including th, fingerprint identification and laser beam scanning cjg (Fig. 3.27) printed on them. They make the cards y, book, now-a-days, prefers to use holop., ‘The idea of holography W: only after lasers were availabl dimensional representation of objects, cards often have reflection holograms difficult for forgers to copy. Also, the publisher of a to establish the genuineness of the publication. Pye Cod.e 4929123 456 Fig. 3.27. Hologram on a credit card. 3.5.4. Applications in Entertainment Industry (Audio, Video Compact Disc) The entertainment industry too uses lasers in the form of audio , video compact disso laser show. All information, whether pictorial, verbal, alphabetical or numerical is redustd strings of binary “zeros” and “ones”. The Fig. 3.28(a) shows a compact disc. Compact dil (nai, idea or data storage ) uses a laser (GaAlAs) for writing very high density digital the same ace etl bismuth compound, the recording medium. For reading the dit obtsized belieriagt cite oe Re @ means of ablation. A tiny circular matt are storing while the unburnt location denotes a ine bismuth layer represents “one” as di! zero”. The data are recorded on a continuo uth base. On the top of both surfaces of the CD: # “ning and protective purposes. The data holes ha'* LasER diameter of sponds to a Fic Ac Bytes, 1B why now calculatior required. of ~ 10 wo bytes = 1¢ one comp: content of microfilm reduced t Th focus on t to rotate optical as Th not wear is no dir being re: basis ofsible hres. redit very ram and d to lisk isk, nto rea tal uss ass ea R LAS! 91 diameter of 0.6 im and the distance in between the tracks is 1.6 um. This arrangement corre- sponds to a bit density of 3 x 10" bits/mm?. Fig. 3.28(b) shows cross section of pits. Cross section | of apit |}] Panmee ° |] ] wages vow yy The spiral track @ © Fig. 3.28. Schematic diagram of (a) Compact disc with player, (b) Cross section of a pit. ‘A compact disk is having capacity of 640 million Bytes (1 million Byte = 1 MB = 10° Bytes, 1 Byte = 8 bits). It can even store information contained in an encyclopaedia and that is why now encyclopedia is available in compact disk (CD). To explain this fact, we can do calculation roughly like this : for storing one letter or character for 8 bit system, one byte is required. Therefore, for the contents of one page of having ~ 20 lines and each line containing of ~ 10 words and each word of approximately 5 characters, we need at least (1 x 5 x 10 x 20) bytes = 1000 bytes, i.e., 1 kilo bytes (1 KB ) storage capacity. Thus it is clear (Table 3.4) that one compact disk having capacity of 640 MB (1 million Byte = 10° Bytes) can hold the text content of 1280 books, each of 500 pages, which by itself is a small library. Therefore, first the microfilm, then the magnetic disks and now the optical compact disk (CD) have drastically reduced the volume required for information storage. The CD player consists of a set of servo systems that make the laser beam accurately focus on the surface of the CD and track across the fine surface of the CD when the CD is made to rotate at a correct speed. Motors perform simple mechanical operations to drive the CD, optical assembly and the loading/unloading system, The main advantage of using a CD is that its fine track is not easily damaged and does not wear out in use as there is no hard needle or stylus touching the surface of the CD. There is no direct contact between the reading mechanism and the disk surface as the signals are being read from the disk through a reflected beam of laser light. Fig. 3.29 demonstrates the basis of readout from an optical disc.92 Photodiode oPTic, detector re inside. re collap: fi high 5 is techni Read beam us eee from laser Beam e manu om splitter 8) 2.10.2 ™ > is of eac ar the or dc conta tr by usi ti ‘Transparent of the protective layer glass ‘Surface containing pits diffus and t] tical disk. The laser beam j ic the basis of read out from an opt m is focusey ao Fe he nuca 8 GD canaiing infomation in forms of pits. The reflected laser beam is ames’ aoe ra vavtodieds wish tact te riformation i tho Ft af elected digital pulses ay onthe Linas dust particles on the protective layer do not affect the read out, Table 3.4 : Capacity of Compact Disk 3 evel teps. Capacity of one Floppy (514) 1.2 MB Capacity of one Floppy (3%) > 1.44 MB o Capacity of one Compact Disk (CD) -> 640 MB af 1 Letter/Character — 1 Byte ct 1x5 =5 Bytes in 10 Words (= 1 Line) 5x 10 = 50 Bytes 20 lines (= 1 Page) — 50 x 20 = 1000 Bytes = 1kB 00 Pages ( = 1 Book) ~ 1KB x 500 = 500 kB = 0.5MB i 1,280 Books (1 Small Library) — 0.5 x 1280 = 640 MB be by Additional advantages of CDs are that the listener/viewer can skip from one songividsm frame to another with great precision. There is another type of new optical storage disks Pl called Digital Versatile Disk (DVD). Unlike CDs, it contains two layers of data pits. Adjustmal el ee of & — eae the player to read information from either the upper “ information layer of a DVD. Pl ie . pI 35.5 Applications in Supermarket’s Bar Code, the Librarian's magic wand N A -and-whi : . _ 2 re pet, white stripes (Fig. 8.20) which would look like a miniature xb ° onsumer goods from the beginning of the decaéed!video disks, tment per or LASER 93 -g0s" and by now, its presence on the supermarket goods is almost universal. Reading a bar code by a scanner is much faster and more accurate than keying in the information in the cash register by looking at the text label given on the article. Advantages of using bar codes in other fields include increased patient safety through label checks on medicine bottles. The bar code is also widely used by libraries in lending and returning books. Several codes are at present in use. The most frequently encountered one is the Universal Product Code (UPC). This bar code can be read in both the left-to-right and right-to-left directions. In addition, the beauty of the system lies in the method of decoding the information. The laser bar-code scanner has two major parts : a laser (LED chip) and a detector (a photo diode + transistor chip). The bar code is held in front of the laser beam. The laser light is absorbed by the black lines of the bar code and is reflected by the white lines of the bar code. Finally the reflected light is reaching the detector which transforms it into an electrical signal made of low and high states which is translated into digital signal and get fed into the computer enabling viewing of the informa- tion on the computer screen or taking out a print. ut Fig. 3.30. A diagram of UPC version of bar code. 3.5.6. Applications of laser as a sensor device Light is having wave character, therefore it can demonstrate the physical properties like interference and wave modulation. As laser light has a well-defined phase, @ wide variety of applications are possible based on interference or wave modulation. Such applications in- clude sensing and measuring of various kinds of physical parameters like temperature, me- chanical pressure, frequency and electrical current intensity ete. Some discussions are made in this respect in chapter 2 and the experiments are included in chapter 5 3.5.7. Applications in Laser Printing Laser is also used in printer to get high quality printing. A schematic diagram of a laser printer in shown in Fig. 3.31. The laser printer is based on the principle of xerography. The laser printers are page printers. A page of text or pictures is composed at a time. The image to be printed is broken up into dots and these dots are projected through a semiconductor laser beam and a series of lenses onto a revolving drum having a light sensitive surface. This modulated laser light is focused and scanned repeatedly across a rotating drum having a photosensitive surface made up with selenium/cadmium sulphide (CdS) which is initially viectrostatically charged by corona discharge method at the ‘surface charging station’. When the modulated laser beam strikes the surface, selenium/CdS becomes conducting due to the phenomenon of photo conductivity and hence the charges leak away from the struck region producing a ‘charge image’ corresponding to the pattern carried by the scanned laser beam. Next the rotating drum passes through the ‘developing station’ where it comes into contactke OPTICAL FIBRES rn i 0 \ a real black and white image 94 | toner an 7 pon particles of the transferred to the rotating paper under j, the with charged oe it, This image * then takes place finally on the paper, Th, eating am oe e reg, pattern is forme This es, prin ally on “ at the ‘transfer station ee Pr of 00 dP ( dota P ; we re print image can be mo sutra sry station cleane, “> i writing oy Photosensitive beam Paper ii / Pretose station 1 ~ surta S- | ] Drum [ rotation \ Developing station Transter station Paper feed Fig. 3.31. Schematic diagram of a photoconductive drum assembly used in a Laser Printer. 3.5.8. Application in Law Enforcement Lasers have also several uses in law enforcement like detection of violation of, limit by individual vehicles, detection of finger print. Police uses laser speed gun ip accurately how fast a vehicle is moving by detecting the time lapse between the (canny of the laser beam and reception of the reflected beam coming from the movir ny Fig. 3.32). ear (as an Private Car Laser beam LA 3.5 sys rev the the atn Fig 3.5 in be por desRettected ey pulse Tigger Transmitted pulse — Target display Fig. 3.33. Binocular equipped with pulsed laser. 3.5.9. Application in Environmental Study ee ee feredae ie is an acronym of Light Detection and Ranging. It is used mainly bing mosphere i.e., for Weather forecasting and pollution study. Lidar tem essentially study the laser beam scattered from the atmosphere. The arrival of laser poeneeenee a atmospheric study using coherent light beams. Pulses of laser are sent and fees ion aay is scattered by various particles present in the atmosphere are picked up by receiver. The scattered light gives the information regarding the particles present in the atmosphere with a sensitivity that is much more than that obtainable from microwave radars Fig, 3.34 represents the block diagram of a lidar system. An excimer based Lidar system can give information of ozone levels in the atmosphere. ee it Receiver nit Tranemitter Linear response photo detector Beam splitter Laser Oscilloscope Fig. 3.34. Block diagram of a pulsed LIDAR system. go 25-10. Application in Military Activities o ‘The extremely concentrated power of laser can be used for destructive purpose also. the use of a laser for military applications. Thus, there are certain inherent possibilities in Since the light beam is capable of sharp be directed at a satellite or missile tha portable battlefield device. For military purposes, ra destruction system. focus , from its position above the earth, the beam can tis to be destroyed. Thus the laser may be used as a dar can also be combined with a missile aihem gas why hich Hon. ters: lies axis ical reat port LASER 3 halogens (F, Cl, Br, I) is due to the relatively efficient production of their excited state by electron beam collisions and the fact that their emission wavelengths lie in the ultraviolet (0.2. 1 em. and the different types of lasers operate at infrared and optical wavelengths. Hence, there remained a big void of sources in the range 1 cm > 2 > 30 um. Free electron laser emerged as versatile _ device of megawatt power that filled the entire void and proved to be suitable for satellite communications, precision radar and plasma heating in thermonuclear fusion device. FEL also produces tunable radiation at infrared, optical wavelengths and even much shorter wavelengths upto X-rays. In a Free Electron Laser (FEL), the kinetic energy of a relativistic electron beam is transformed into laser radiation. This transformation takes place when the electron beam passes through an alternating magnetic field that forces the electron to move in an oscillatory path. The resultant electromagnetic radiation (Laser) travels along the system axis. The electron Acelarated electron beam { Electron beam source [Undutator| Laser [Undulator] 1 t Optical Partial cavity mirror mirror 3.19. Schematic representation of a free electron laser.OPTICAL FIBRES ay. Uy = * ator and the magnetic field is produced by 8 Seg ER accelerate FEL is shown in the Fig. 3.19 ey, LAS of beam is produced by a particle snl designed magnet. A schematic : itside 3.4.4.6 Chemical 4 ulated by chemical reactions paeee tie gy Some lasers are stim en eetive media " ; Loa Some chemical | are excited energy states capa rats (of 10, on pulses of energy as enormous a8 200 BWA hydrogen cy HP) and den “ important chemical Tasers | laser molecule. These devices of er sey ral a tractive tae fluoride (DF) as oe ace Joed operation; fairly large output powers; shorter 1p rh in oo Ghemieal lasers are becoming increasingly important as q ree Chemie: wavelengths (3-4 um) vi ial market r future, .d probably will be available in the commercial market in the neai and prob: 3.5. VARIOUS APPLICATIONS OF LASER From its invention in 1960, laser has provided magic solutions to numerous prot, Applications of lasers exist throughout our society, and new uses are discovered almost daily Starting from measurement of the distance to the moon. ee eatin aeruracy, it can a, . ‘ repair detached retinas in the human eye, can stop bleeding deep inside a patient's body ang ; even can be used in cancer treatment and genetic engineering. It slices through heavy sted ag . if it were cheese and that is why it is having lots of applications in industry too. Lasers rea b Supermarket bar code labels in automatic cash registers and register books in modern libra, oF As weapons for defensive purposes, powerful lasers can also destroy air planes. It ig also us a widely to promote scientific progress, like its use in fusion Power plants which can provide te © human race with much of its required energy for the years to come. el The uses of lasers today is so far reaching and widespread that a comprehensire b enumeration is impossible. A major application of laser in the field of communications will be ie discussed separately in the following chapter. The following are a few of the thousands of a applications for lasers : 3.5.1. Applications in Industry ° f Ofcourse, the laser beam used in industry is invisible but laser tools can cut a variety d es aaa, als, Because of laser, it is possible to weld, cut and drill metals perfectly for industria m use. Laser machining/welding is being performed with efficient high power CO, laser bean ch (Fig. 3.20). Advantages are like low noise dust, fume and vibration levels, the ease of starting st ao Fae ret ne and so on. It also eliminates the need for a wide range it m is using laser are ; ar © Surfing : Lasers are very effective for heatin, erally Fi 1.0 kW CW CO, laser is used i tserete areas very rapidly. Ge The import © Welding : Two types of laser welding i is Le.,CW dNé parameters YAG lasers having power 500 W or moe 4 PHsed are done with CO, 2 LLMirror ty Laser beam tion di a _ Focusing ‘st lens rium ire9, Sing Shieldin i os Nozzle Workpiece Fig. 3.20. Schematic diagram for beam focusing head design for laser welding, ia e Cutting : Industrial cutting is done with CW or pulsed CO, with high repetition rate, Nd : YAG laser is specially used in the manufacture of aircraft engine parts and ans = © Drilling : Low power CO, lasers are used to perforate polythene to make air beds for eal burn patients, drilling holes in babies bottle nipples, aerosol nozzles, etc. ary. ‘© Resistor trimming : Laser triming consists essentially of vaporising the material ead away from many electronic components and circuits. It can also be used for scrabing the ceramics. It is normally done with a Q-switched CW Nd : YAG laser Laser Marking : Nd : YAG lasers are increasingly used for marking a variety of materials where controlling is done by computer. Among its wide ranging applications sive i be are vernier calipers, gauges, thimbles, labels made of plastic laminates, reactor and a aircraft components , electronic components, radio and car dash logos, typewriter keyboards, ball bearing races, turbine blades ete. © Laser soldering : By using laser, high and reliable quality joints are obtained. Both co, and Nd : YAG are suitable for this. Surface alloying and cladding + Alloying is a process by which the surface ofa rial material is first melted, then additional elements are added to the melted area, thereby changing the composition of the surface. Common substances are low alloys steel or aa stainless steel with coating materials like cobalt or nickel. Cladding thickness using 2 of multi-kilowatt lasers are between 0.1 and 5.0 j1m in a single pass. The e Others : Other uses include deposition of thin films using ablative sputtering, annealing, photolithography for the production of integrated circuit chips ete. ally Fig. 3.21(a) and Fig. 3.21(6) show the above mentioned industrial applications of laser. The important point is that the interaction of a laser beam with the workpiece depends on the Yd- Parameters of laser and material. Laser beam parameters are wavelengths, laser nature (i. pulsed or continuous), focused spot size, mode structure etc. Material parameters are reflectance,oa ee OPTICAL Fieneg AND 1 diffusivi al conductivity, thermal diffusivity, jy 86 1 ecific heat, | t therm ’ absorption coefficient, sP melting point etc. Beam dithering (b) heat treatment in workpiece for heat laser beam used treatment. ty Fon oor peam is used for application of surface (0) Focu c 1 c has to be transmitted to the laser beam | ° § , industrial uses of laser, workpiece. In this resper eee cer raced a a ee: assemblies used forma workstat 7 shown in Fig. 3.22. ap i optic deieery. pa nis wee as shown in sheathing, which includes a flexible stee! tube af are protected by nylon jacket. Focusing tens Laser beam Optical fibre’ Focusing lens Laser beam Fig. 3.22. A fibre optic beam delivery system. Major advantages of using laser in industry are : 5 © There is no mechanical contact between the tool and the work ; hence there Possibility of breakage or wear of tool © Precision location is ensured by focusing of the beam ¢ Very small holes can be drilled i morse etuce m very hard materials like diamond © Large mechanical forces are not exerted upon the work pieceLASER 87 ¢ The laser head need not be in close proximity for performing cutting and drilling operations in locations of difficult accessibility . Any solid material which can be melted without deposition can be cut with the laser am ‘The limitations are © It cannot be used to cut metals that have high conductivity or high reflectivity eg., aluminium, copper and their alloys S © Work tables should be made from metal which is not affected by laser beam ‘© Output energy from laser is difficult to control precisely 3.5.2. Applications in Medicine and Surgery As laser light can be concentrated into spots, the laser has found applications not only in diagnosis but also in surgery and other forms of treatment. Laser surgery has been known since the mid-1960s, when the first retinal lesions were being successfully repaired. Today, laser surgery is a vast field of activity as a cutting tool. Fig. 3.23 shows the schematic diagram of beam delivery system used in surgery with CO, lasers. The various application areas cover erous gynaecology, tonsils removal, drilling and cutting bone tissues, stopping of gastric bleeding, ‘fibre removal of birth marks and dermatology. The laser scalpel attacks fewer cells than a steel ‘Iding knife and evaporates them quickly. Since laser beam can be sent down readily through optical @ and fibres and fibres can be introduced into arteries using catheters, it becomes possible to treat Rotatable mirrors Laser beam Focusing lens Fig. 3.23. Schematic diagram for CO, laser beam delivery system in surgery. coronary artery blockages using lasers (Fig. 3.24). The optical fibres transmitting the laser beam can remove the plaque, a fatty material built up on the arterial wall, blocking the blood flow. In addition, laser has extensive use in R & D activities in medical science. The laser beam induces changes in cells, but is opposed to destroying them ; as such this is applicable in 510 senetic engineering. Beside this, in laser acupuncture, the thousand-year-old silver and gold needles are replaced by fine, micro manipulator-oriented laser beams. Again because of its high level of precision, excimer laser can change the shape of the cornea to change its refrac- tive power to the desired state and thus correcting the refractive error of eyes with minimal thermal damage to the surrounding tissues. Even in root canal therapy, the dentist can insert‘ea e« nts ur th d ior ro} OPTICAL FIBRES py, 0 88 gy di, ramove tne infected tissue BY vaporising jg, LASER the laser fibre into the root canals TT ng infection. All these things are done te, tally and eecively te ster Se oath of the patient. The Table 33 2% Ss to hea ce int Pale at Careers hs of the lasers used in medical science. J joing Nore weminae Arterial plaque - Laser beam Artery wall through fore Fig. 324. Removal of arterial plague using laser radiation carried down an optical ae peered int the artery. A viewing fibre bundle is also incorporated, ‘Table 3.3 : Different Types of Lasers Used in Medical Science Laser Wavelength (nm) ‘Nature 002 10,600 Infrared EriXAg) 2,940 Infrared Ho:YAG 2,060 Infrared Na: YA c 1200 Infrared Nd: YAG R 1,064 Infrared 3.5.3. aby 5.3. m 694 Ral Dye Ste Red photos 377 is alm Yellow bend EEN = Green inform a 632 Rea the re Gold vapour a en refere Cu vapour z Red interf 632 Red inform Krypton a ec in Gre Argon Green same #8 = 3.26(b ee. Teproc Excimer Green Free electron uv VariablePTH nsid olla ‘igh echr ters nan 10, fea he o ont: y Us f th lass nd ‘ion rot ass OPTICAL FIBRES ayy ‘ k's energy disty : .e with the Planc sing diation density must agre Above equaton for ra sao ition a5 radiation formula for black 1 anh? 1 a= oo(2t) 1 two equations, By = Ba ission is same aS ie., the probability of stimulated emission 16 Comparing the above that of stimulated absorption Brhv* d A,, _ 8nhv? An Sth" an gens é instein coefficients”. ‘The coefficients Ay,, B,, and B,, are known as “Bins 3.4, DIFFERENT TYPES OF LASERS } , ae There are many ways to define the types of laser. Based on its pumping scheme, ala, can be classified as Q An optically pumped laser where excitation is made by a strong source of light ‘ © An electrically pumped laser where excitation by electron impact is done ‘ GA chemical pumped laser where excitation by chemical reaction is performed, Fur ( example, hydrogen ean combine with fluorine (H, + F, —> 2HF] and the reattin generates enough heat to pump a CO, laser and s Q Pumped by another laser. (On the basis of the operational mode, laser falls into classes of either Q continuous wave lasers or (© pulsed lasers : Pulsed laser output is obtained through techniques such as Q Switet- ing (QS) or Mode Locking (ML) or Transverse Electrical Atmosphere (TEA). According to the materials used to produce laser light, lasers ean be divided in three categories : Q gas lasers O solid state lasers and semiconductor lasers or diode laser © Besides, there are other types of laser devices in use like ¢ Ion and metal vapour laser © Carbon dioxide (CO,) laser T © The excimer laser e © The liquid (dye) laser le © The free electron laser he © Chemical laser and othersme, a laser ‘light ormed. For he reaction ivided into 7 LASER Characteristics of lasers can be vastly different considering different aspects which vary as follows 0 Size : from tenths of millimetres to tens of meters Q Power : from microwatts (10~ watt) to gigawatts (10° watt) Q Cost : from few hundred to many millions of rupees Q Pulse duration : from 10“ second to continuous wave. ‘All the above mentioned lasers work on the same principle but the lasing material or the mechanism for energy pumping vary. An overview of different types of lasers are given below, 3.4.1. Gas Laser Gas lasers generally have a wide variety of characteristics. For example, some gas lasers emit feeble power below 1 mw, but other commercial gas lasers emit power of the order of kilowatts, Some lasers can emit continuous beam for years ; others emit pulses lasting a few nanoseconds. The output wavelengths may vary from deep ultraviolet (UV) through the visible and infrared (IR) to millimetre waves. Most common example is Helium Neon laser. 3.4.1.1 Helium-neon (HeNe) Laser ‘The schematic diagram for HeNe laser is shown in Fig. 3.9. HeNe laser at wavelength of 632.8 nm is the most common of all the visible output lasers and this red wavelength has become the standard for HeNe laser. Commercially available HeNe lasers operating at the 632.8 nm [nm = Nanometer = 10-? meter] wavelength can be obtained with continuous wave (CW) outputs ranging from 0.5 mW to 50 mW and because of this power range, these lasers are ‘safe for laboratory experiments and artistic displays. Some HeNe lasers have interchangeable sets of mirrors for operation at 1.15 im and 3.39 um. The laser medium is a mixture of helium and neon gases. An electrical discharge is used to excite the medium to a higher energy level. Ho-Ne mixture ‘1 mm Hg of He (0.1 mm Hg of Ne 99.9% reflective 89% redeailva, flat mitror concete Sain) Parallel beam RF power source Fig. 3.9. Typical He-Ne gas Laser. ‘The pumping action takes place in a complex and indirect manner. First the helium atoms are excited by the discharge to two of the excited energy levels as shown in Fig. 3.10. These two Tevels happen to be very close to the 3s and 2s levels of the neon atoms. When the excited helium atoms collide with the neon atoms, energy is exchanged, pumping the neon atoms to the respective levels. The atoms at the neon 3s level eventually drops down to the 2p level ; asOPTICAL FIBRES ay ge, 78 and light of wavelength 632.8 nm is em : rH ission is taking Plac® to the 2p level by emitting light at wt a result, stimulated emi the other hand, ee drop down to the 3p level, by emittin lon id atoms atthe 28 level on the Te instea ein q However, the atoms at the : 3.39 mm, \e : le sional NE x ee Caton Bs 322M ap " s— ——* “os 92.8 nm . te > Asisim7 7 av 5 : a Ground Helo Neon state Fig, 3.10. Energy levels of Helium neon laser. 3.4.2. Solid State Laser / " A solid state laser is one in which the atoms that emit light are fixed within a crystal, a glassy material. In the community of laser scientists, semiconductor (though crystalline t material, old lasers belong toa separate category. Ruby laser, the first laser invented}, . Maiman in 1960, was a solid state laser. Another example of solid state laser is Neodymiug yttrium-aluminium-garnet (Nd:YAG). 3.4.2.1 Ruby Laser The atoms that emit light in solid state lasers are dispersed in a crystal or a piece glass that contains many other elements. The ruby, the solid state laser (694 nm) was the fist laser constructed by T.H.Maiman at the Hughes Laboratories, California in 1960. Ruby s basically Al,O, crystal containing about 0.05% (by weight) of chromium atoms. Al°* ions inthe crystal lattice are substituted by Cr** ions. Cr3* ions constitute the active centres whereas the aluminium and oxygen atoms are inert. Although the operation of solid state lasers has bee tefined greatly since then, the same basic princi iples underlie the operation of the entire family of solid state lasers. Arrangement of the laser i is shown in Fig. 3.11. The crystal is shaped inty a rod, with reflecting mirrors placed at each end. Light from an external source (like a pulsed Coolant Xenon flash lamp adtant fii ata vrai wor AN Tee Laser beam rat laser Ly) Poet sure Fig. 3. - Schematic diagram of a Pulsed ruby laser. Las flas ligh the The witl com with ioni tran pur diag 3.4.3 is th havi tionrystal or talline ented by dymium piece of the first Ruby is 1s in the reas the as been e family ped into 2 pulsed 79 LASER flash lamp, a bright continuous arc lamp, or another laser) enters the laser rod and excites the light-emitting atoms. The two mirrors which form a resonant cavity in the laser rod, provides the feedback needed to generate a laser beam that finally emerges through the output mirror. ‘The energy level diagram is shown in Fig. 3.12. Ruby lasers are operated in pulsed fashion with repetition rates of one pulse per second and energy as high as 100 joules per pulse. Pump band Upper laser level Lasing transition Ground level Fig. 3.12. Energy level diagram for Ruby laser. 3.4.2.2 The Neodymium yttrium-aluminium-garnet (Nd :YAG) ‘The Neodymium-aluminium-garnet (Nd -YAG) laser is a good example of the most commonly used solid state lasers. The laser medium is made up of yttrium- aluminium-garnet, with trivalent neodymium ions present as impurities. The neodymium-YAG laser uses triply ionised Nd as lasant and the crystal YAG (yttrium-aluminium-garnet) as the host. The laser transition involved, corresponds to a wavelength of 1.06 um, in the near infrared region and is pumped optically using high pressure gas-discharge lamps or diode laser. The energy level diagram is shown in Fig. 3.13. These lasers are capable of average power outputs up to 1 KW. Pump band Upper loser level Lasting transition Lower loser level Ground level Fig. 3.13. Energy level diagram for Nd in YAG. 3.4.3. Semiconductor Laser ‘most important type of laser in terms of opto- electronics applications is the semiconductor laser. For the uniqueness of its qualities, semiconductor diode laser is having numerous applications such as two way video, audio and data transmission, informa: tion storage and processing etc. Its uniqueness is for the following factors : © miniature in size (mm x mm x mm) and so natural integration capabilities with mi- cro electronic circuitry A.unique and the QO efficient Q inexpensiveOPTICAL FIBRES AND [Ag ER PT 80 rical currents Lasi .d by elect asic can be directly driven and modulated He ar UV) olle O covering a wide spectral range aR, vie milli Watt to a few Watt igh 2 availability of powers ranging from ® Pe ech, ; ath den: 7 large gain spectral wi som dove 2 : Angstrot . ; van O tunability over several 100 APEEHOM ng tke ultra violet, red and Semiconductor laser emits light at vari "blue and green semiconductor lasey Mra. red and research is underway for development ns a) * ification by the process of stimulated emission 15 not exactly in the f ve ‘The light amplification by stity special properties of the transition reg e that is discussed earlier. A semiconductor laser Tn semiconducto Teg nes arene tunction of petype and a n-type semicandveie 7 Fe eras, as 3 fe i 6 fgy between atoms, the energy levels form b result of the extensive jnteraction of energy veonductors are depicted ands, - Energy band diagrams for an n-type and a P-tYP© semicon picted in Fig. 314 lass ‘Conduction band Conduction band Conon band Fermi evel the i ior tran 1 the 01 a radi ass Valence band Valence band i (a) 0) the ve Fig. 3.14. Energy band diagram : (a) a mtype semiconductor, (b) a p-type semiconductor. As a ope ‘The energy gap between the valence band and the conduction band is designated by E, andis thel a enert) Set eronvolts. The Fermi level Eis the level that divides the occupied from th tice unoccupied levels. on Ina p-njunction, as shown in Fig. 3.15, the energy levels readjust so thi the same throughout the junction. The valence band E, and the weaitettion band Britthen type semiconductor are higher than the corresponding bands of the n-type semiconductor h case of forward bias ic, ifa postive voltage is applied on the p side, the electrons on then sie Gail be attracted by the applied voltage and will erose into the junction region. There ‘efombine wit the holes tht have ben pushed iat the junction region by the positive tin is process will continue as long as the external circuit i re that have reombined an aantamaly oylaitbeds 7” cn ne eens anlbte =" g 5 5 ype junction ptype Fig. 3.15. A p-n junction energy band diagra When the electrons and h orem 5 ‘les recombine, they emi , they emit energy in the form of photons. junction transition region in which this and may be viewed as equivalent to the E. eae takes place is therefore the source of radisti®® 'yandE, transition levels as discussed earlier Fis: ** 01AND Lage dand infra. aser, in the form, sition region terials, as q form bands in Fig. 3.14 luctor. by B, and is ied from the he E, band is 1 B, of the p- conductor. In on then side .. There they positive bias, ons and holes photons. Th of radiation rlier (Fig: LASER fl ‘To obtain stimulated emission and amplification from this region, the equivalent of the population inversion needs to be created, for which a high density of electrons and a high density of holes must exist simultaneously in the junction region. To achieve this, heavily doped p-n junctions are used in semiconductor lasers. Fig. 3.16(a) and (b) show respectively Fig. 3.16. Energy band diagram : A heavily doped p-n junction, (a) without and (b) with an applied bias voltage. the resultant energy levels of a heavily doped p-n junction without biasing voltage and the transition region with a high concentration of electrons and holes with a forward bias across the p-n junction. This region serves as a population inverted medium, which amplifies the radiation emitted within it through electron - hole recombination. Ap-n junction semiconductor laser is illustrated schematically in Fig, 3.17. The shaded area is the transition region where the laser action takes place. This region is about 1-2 mm thick, and tens of micrometers long. ‘Asa result, the emission is squeezed into a thin plane, leading to an elliptical cross-section of the beam, An example of semiconductor laser is Gallium Arsenate (GaAs) laser, itisp-n junction tliode laser with the p-type and n-type regions heavily doped. Fig. 3.18 illustrates (a) simple homojunction and (b) double heterojunction semiconductor GaAs laser respectively. ‘acting region Radiation pattern Fig. 9.17. A p-n junction semiconductor laser. Tansee 7 _Longitudinal Metal ™— | tact ona Pe as. PALGa AS. N\ A Gas nas Po eo (a) Leaser beam Fig, 3.18. Semiconductor laser (a) Simple homojunction GaAs laser, (b) Double heterojunction (DH) GaAs laserOPTICAL FIBRES any uf % veful for : asers are US Specifically semiconductor dio Optical fibre communication system like r 's for audio, © Information transmissio! tical dik a oe : Information storage : for exam? i @ Inj disk data storage system d processing like, laser printers, laser bar-code on c process : ‘on collection and P @ Informati ‘urement systems ast and image scanning and me: 3.4.4, Other Laser devices pour Laser “ee eee a mne implies, use ionised rare gases as the active meqiy ‘The ion lasers, as the nan i in the lasing process. Examples are . the excited states of the ions that ae operated at high temperatue’ in argon (Ar), xenon (Ke) and keypton Fee ee a nsyraviolet regions. The power level vi produce lage HE 2 een, a ral watts. Excitation is a two collision process. lasers vary from nom, the second provides the necessary excitation. Transitions buy,” highly sxcited state ofthe singly onised argon atom can be used to obtain number of (or near visible ) wavelengths between 0.35 mm and 0.53 mm s nee ser 18 one of 4, most important lasers in use today. Some gas lasers are “ ‘ 0 te oe . a ur lasers are there, e.g., HeCd and HeSe which are the m, perce Sal ace “The HeCd laser has wavelengths at 0.441 um in the blue a 0.325 um in the UV. The power output of these metal vapour lasers is in the range, 50-100 mW range. Some applications of such lasers are light shows, full colour image gener tion, spectroscopy ete. 3.4.4.2 Carbon Dioxide Laser (CO,) There are several types of carbon dioxide gas lasers but the active medium in all of ther is usually a mixture of carbon dioxide, nitrogen and other gases like helium. Most CO, gx lasers can produce pulses of laser having power in billions of watt at 10.6 jum and that is wh itt is capable of vaporising any material. The carbon dioxide laser is a molecular laser in whit molecular vibrations rather than electronic transitions provide the mechanism for lasing actin There are several types of CO, lasers. One type of CO, laser of increasing importance is the so-called “TEA” laser; the letter denote a system “Transversely Excited at Atmospheric pressure.” The name of the laser implis the special structure. In a TEA CO, laser, the gas mixture is near atmospheric pressure int rectangular shaped transverse discharge tube. Actually the gas flows at right angle to the ax of the laser tube. It means that the electrical discharge direction is perpendicular to the op 8 ‘aser cavity at a much faster rate and it allows exces to be removed quickly. THA lasers are having various sizes and they produce intense, shi" Pulses of microsecond duration. It is used in industry for heat treatment. am, It 3.4.4.3 The Excimer Laser They also belong to a family of gas lasers t at UV region (308, 248 or 193 nm ) of e] gases. The interest in excimer lasers that produce nanosecond long powerful pu lectromagnetic spectrum, These lasers use mix" mineipally of heavy noble gases (Ke, Kr, Ar) and LASE halog electr (0.2 < impo chlor 3.4.4, awid select (uv)! active (antif like a Thee to 65: lense types used | 3.4.4, differ big ve devie: comm also wavel transf passe path.OPT insid colla high tech: eters man 2.10. ofea the cont: by w of th glass and | atior hrot jlass eve OPTICAL FIBRES ANo Ugg R > L 70 sic wave. The word “Light” does not mean only a etic wave ie Vis , infrared or ultraviolet light what n electromal felectromagn' Light. Light is light, it may be any other form 0 aed s gain in intensity. In LASER, the light is Amplification. Amplification means Bain in veer adiation, ified ty a particular process called stimula\ amplified by a particula : Next the question ced the ea is better tion”. Now to explain this, it is : bsorption, Spontaneous emission before Stimulate aan aan Stimulated absorption. We know that electrons exist a nergy leve'g oa etevacterate of a particular atom or molecule as shown in Fig. 32, yy." =, anes be imagined as orbits around the nucleus of an atom. Usually the someone in the lowest energy state i.e., ‘ground state’. Now, electrons of the atoms from the ground state can be pumped to higher energy levels i.e., outer orbits 5, 1m the grou : iadvliing Ghergy in different ways. This is depicted in Fig. 3.3, where two energ, being f the statement “stimulated emission of aq, ude discussions on the processes, Stim .d emission as follows gE Fig. 3.2. Energy level diagram of an atom with various allowed states. ‘The lowest energy state, E,, is the ground state. All others are excited states. Ground state Excited state &, E, Sa se & E, (a) (b) ? Paes eee (©) represent the states before and after the stimulated absorption i ge atom respectively The dots represent electrons. One electron © ground state to the excited stat e wi absorbs a photon whose ener ee