oundations

In 1917, Albert Einstein established the theoretic foundations for the laser and the maser in the paper Zur Quantentheorie der Strahlung (On the Quantum Theory of Radiation); via a re-derivation of Max Plancks law of radiation, conceptually based upon probability coefficients (Einstein coefficients) for the absorption, spontaneous emission, and stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation; in 1928, Rudolf W. Ladenburg confirmed the existences of the phenomena of stimulated emission and negative absorption;[8] in 1939, Valentin A. Fabrikant predicted the use of stimulated emission to amplify short waves;[9] in 1947, Willis E. Lamb and R. C. Retherford found apparent stimulated emission in hydrogen spectra and effected the first demonstration of stimulated emission;[8] in 1950, Alfred Kastler (Nobel Prize for Physics 1966) proposed the method of optical pumping, experimentally confirmed, two years later, by Brossel, Kastler, and Winter

Helium-Neon Lasers
[Note to reader: topic sentences are in green; remaining weakness in red.] ABSTRACT
The design of the helium-neon laser is not complex by modern standards. They consist of only three essential components and operate by the process of stimulated emission and light amplification. Because of their many advantages over other types of lasers, heliumneon lasers are used for many applications in research and industry. The typical helium-neon laser consists of three components: the laser tube, a high-voltage power supply, and structural packaging. The laser tube consists of a sealed glass tube which contains the laser gas, electrodes, and mirrors. Depending on the power output of the laser, the tube may vary in size from one to several centimeters in diameter, and from five centimeters to several meters in length. The laser gas is a mixture of helium and neon in proportions of between 5:1 and 14:1, respectively. Electrodes, situated near each end of the tube, discharge electricity through the gas. Mirrors, located at each end of the tube,

increase efficiency. The power supply provides the high voltages needed (10kV to start laser emission and 1-2kV to maintain it.) The structural packaging consists of mounts for the laser tube and power supply. The laser may also include safety shutters to prevent random exposure and external optics to fine-tune the beam. [Paragraph below this is my revision of it.] The acronym, LASER, stands for Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation. The processes of light amplification and stimulated emission make the helium-neon laser work. Stimulated emission occurs when electricity is discharged into the laser gas. Electrons in the discharge collide with gas atoms imparting energy to them. These energized atoms are left in an unstable state in which some of their electrons have moved to a higher energy level. Excited atoms will quickly return to their ground state as their electrons drop to their normal levels. Each time an electron drops in level, it will emit a photon equal in energy to the difference between the levels. This type of emission is referred to as spontaneous emission. Stimulated emission occurs when a photon of the proper energy strikes an already excited atom, creating an identical photon. These photons will travel through the laser gas causing even more stimulated emission. This ever-increasing reproduction of photons is called light amplification. Using this process, the laser can effectively generate large numbers of photons from relatively few spontaneous emissions. [Note revision, in navy incorporates the following concepts: (1) Familiar material is put at the beginning of each sentence; unfamiliar at the end. (2) In particular, each scientific term is mentioned after it is explained, at the end of a sentence. (3) The end of one sentence tends to lead to the subject of the next sentence.] The basic processes in a helium-neon laser are mirrored in the acronym laser, Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. In the laser tube, the electrodes discharge energetic electrons which subsequently transfer energy to the laser-gas atoms. These energized atoms, necessarily unstable, quickly return to their ground state. In the simplest case of a single excited level the excited atom spontaneously emits a photon equal to the energy difference between the excited and ground states; this process is called spontaneous emission. More importantly, such a spontaneously emitted photon can itself stimulate another excited atom to emit a photon. This "stimulated emission of radiation" is the second half of the acronym. Moreover since the energy difference between the excited and ground state of the atom equal the photon's energy, these photons are particularly effective at stimulating the emission of additional photons. As the spontaneously emitted photons travel through the gas encountering exited atoms. they strongly stimulate the emission of photos, thus leading to an amplification in the number of photons. This second process is denoted "light amplification" in the acronym laser. In helium-neon lasers, the neon atoms are the source of laser light. Because stimulated emission only takes place when there are excited neon atoms available, the process will quickly come to an end unless the neon atoms are replenished with energy. The helium atoms in the laser gas carry out the process of re-energizing the neon. Helium is perfect for this task because it has a meta-stable state (does not decay as quickly) corresponding to the energy required to re-energize the neon. Therefore, not only do the helium atoms

have the proper energy to re-energize the neon, they can hold onto that energy long enough to transfer it. The amount of radiation that the neon atoms can emit is insufficient to produce a powerful beam without using some form of amplification. Much like a light bulb, the photons in the laser gas travel in random directions making it impossible to create a focused beam. The randomness of the photon paths also makes the laser inefficient because many photons may escape the tube before stimulating further emission. This problem is solved by placing mirrors at either end of the laser tube. Although many photons continue to escape the tube without being productive, those photons that are emitted parallel to the axis between the mirrors will be reflected many times. Each time the photons are reflected through the laser gas, they can cause more photons to be emitted in the same direction. In a short period of time, the dominant direction of emission will be along the axis between the mirrors. In standard configurations, one of the mirrors is totally reflective while the other can transmit one percent of all incident light. The beam is formed by the photons that escape through the partially transparent mirror. While not the most powerful or efficient laser, the helium-neon laser has many advantages over other types of lasers. Most lasers have an efficiency of about 1 percent, about ten times the efficiency of the typical helium-neon laser. Most lasers are capable of delivering power far in excess of the helium-neon laser's 75 milliwatt limit. The advantages of helium-neon lasers are that they can emit visible light, are affordable and have good beam quality. While most lasers cannot efficiently emit visible light, heliumneon lasers usually emit at 632.8nm, producing a red beam. Helium-neon lasers do not require any consumables (sapphire rods or cryogenic gases for example), nor do they generate enough heat to require special cooling devices. They also have good beam quality, that is, their beams stay tightly focused even over long distances. Helium-neon lasers are versatile devices that have many useful applications. They are often found in integrated bar code readers (the hand-held bar code readers use red semiconductor lasers or red LEDs.) Because they can emit visible light, helium-neon lasers are used in laser surgery to position the powerful infrared cutting beams. Surveyors take advantage of the helium-neon laser's good beam quality to take precise measurements over long distances or across inaccessible terrain. Red helium-neon lasers are also used in holography. -----------------------------------------

Chapter 4 : He-Ne laser 40

There are several different lasers which are used in the production process for holograms. The most common lasers used in holography are Helium-neon (He-Ne), Heliumcadmium (He-Cd), Argon-ion (Ar+) and Krypton-ion (Kr+) lasers.38 Many types of CW lasers can also be operated in a pulsed mode, though so far none of them seems to be suitable for holography. Monocrystalline aluminium oxide doped with lanthanide elements such as yttrium ( yttrium aluminium garnet, or YAG crystal ) can be used to change the wavelength of a laser. A semiconductor laser is a special kind of light-emitting diode. It produces a beam of light in the near infrared with a divergence of about 15o, but the cone of emitted light is elliptical rather than circular, so that the beam appears to have originated from a line rather than a point. If the astigmatism of this beam is corrected by means of aspherical optics, a spatially-coherent beam can be obtained, and this has been used experimentally for making holograms. The main attraction of semiconductor lasers is that they are cheap and very small. They also operate at comparatively low voltages and art similar power range to that of He-Ne lasers. There are a number of things to be considered in the choosing of a laser. A laser used to produce holograms needs good stability, and must be free from vibrations.37 The laser beam must be as plane as possible. A laser beam with multi modes is useless for making holograms. We want that the laser should have a circular beam diameter without any noise. The beam diameter is the important parameter in the calculation of the pinhole of the spatial filter. The coherence length of the laser should be as large as possible. If the coherence length is small, the requirements of the path difference between the object and reference beam become harder to meet. This means that the path difference between these beams must be nearly zero. The number of modes in the laser is also an important parameter. In holography we prefer a laser with as few as possible modes. If we use a multi mode laser, we have problems with low visibility and the contrast in the hologram will be low.

4.1 The laser principle50

The laser consists mainly of three parts. The resonator, an active medium in the resonator and an energy source for activating the medium. With these components it constitutes a self-excited oscillator.

Figure 4-1 The basic element of the laser Three basic interaction process of light with matter are important for the laser.40 These are absorption, stimulated emission, and spontaneous emission. We assume that two states, of energies E1 and E2, take part in the interaction.7 Absorption is when a photon of energy hv strikes an atom of the laser medium in the state E1 and disappears, exciting the atom to the higher state E2. The photon can only be absorbed, if the absorption energy is hv E2 E1. When no suitable energy level is available, no absorption takes place, and the medium is transparent for photons of this energy. We have stimulated emission when the atomic system has absorbed the energy hv and thus the upper level is occupied, a second photon of energy hv may cause this energy to be emitted as a photon.33 Then two photons having identical properties leave the atom. Upon absorption, the atomic system starts from the state of lower energy, upon stimulated emission it starts from the state of higher energy. The transmission probability is equal for both processes. In spontaneous emission the atomic system in the state of higher energy, E2, decays into a state of lower energy, E1, by the emission of a photon. The word spontaneous indicates that the transition take place with the randomness that is characteristic for quantum processes. Where the frequency is given by

(4.1) E1 Energy level 1, also called ground level. E2 Energy level 2, also called excited level. h Planck constant v frequency The helium-neon laser, usually abbreviated to He-Ne, is the most common type of gas laser. The tube contains helium gas at a pressure of about 1 torr and neon pressure of about 0.1 torr. (a torr is a unit of pressure equivalent to 1/760 of an atmosphere). The main purpose of the helium is to act as a continuos reservoir of energy (supplied with electrical discharge) for the neon. This laser is the one that is best suited to generalpurpose holography.

Figure 4-2 Internal design of a modern helium-neon laser He-Ne lasers as used for holography operate at a wavelength of 632.8 nm, with a power ranging from 0.5 mW to 100 mW. The randomly-polarised type are unsuitable for serious holography, as the direction of polarisation27 is an important factor for obtaining optimum image quality. A laser with Brewster angle windows has a somewhat lower output than its randomly-polarised equivalent, but it has a completely stable plane of polarisation. In this thesis work has the choice of laser fell on red He-Ne lasers. In the beginning of the experimental work there was used a 12 mW red He-Ne laser. During the experimental work this laser was changed to a new and more powerful red He-Ne laser with an output power of 24 mW. The reason for the choice of this type of laser is the He-Ne laser's advantage in laser beam stability, laser modes, beam diameter, coherence length, output power and price. Another reason is that most of the literature recommends the use of HeNe laser in the production of holograms.

Figure 4-3 Energy levels of He and Ne involved in the He-Ne laser.

4.2 Measurements of laser beam stability 37

During the recording process for holographic multi-stereograms, it is important that each of the 70 part holograms are evenly exposed. If the exposure of the film is varied, there will be areas of the hologram that are brighter than other and the quality of the hologram will not be as good as desired. This can also happen if some of the part holograms are under-exposed. The power stability of the laser beam is not decisive for the visibility of the hologram, because the ratio between the reference and the object beam will still be constant. For each part of the hologram the exposure time is constant, and it is then important that the laser's output power is constant to get the same exposure. For measuring the power stability of the 24 mW He-Ne laser the following set-up was arranged on the optical table.

Figure 4-4 Optical set-up for measuring of laser power stability.

The neutral density filter was used to reduce the laser's output power with 50 %, to a readable value for the laser power meter. To detect the power of the laser, the laser power meter reads the data continuously. This data is then logged in the PC 28 by the data logging software program PICO ADC-1236. The data is logged for two different sampling rates and time lags. The values from ADC-12 are then converted to LOTUS 1-2-3 to make it possible to present the data in a suitable way. The first measurement is a short time logging made with sample pr. 100 ms in 10 seconds. The other measurement is a long time logging made with 1 sample pr. second in 30 minutes. The idea behind two different measures is to see how the laser works during holographic recordings (short time) and how stable the lasers output power is over time.

Figure 4-5 Laser beam stability for 24 mW He-Ne laser with sample each 100 ms in 10 seconds. Laser output power data from sample rate at 100 ms in 10 seconds (short time). Average value : 680.6 Standard deviation : 13.1 The laser output power stability for this measurement is about 1.9 %. From Melles Griot product catalog34 the laser output power stability is given by 2.5 %.

Figure 4-6 Laser beam stability for 24 mW He-Ne laser with sample each second in 30 minutes. Laser output data from sample rate at 1 second in 30 minutes (long time). Average value : 673 Standard deviation : 2.8 The output power stability for this measurement is about 0.4 % During the production of a holographic transmission multi-stereogram, where 70 different part holograms are exposed onto the film, each exposure is about 10 seconds and the entire recording process takes about 30 minutes. From figure 4-5 can we see that the laser power stability for one part exposure of the film is good, and the measurement agrees with the data from the manufacturer, Melles Griot34. In practice, the spikes measured in the short time of measurement should not reduce the hologram's visibility. From figure 4-6 can we see that the output power from the laser is quite stable over the whole recording process of 30 minutes. This means, that each of the part holograms on the multi-stereogram are evenly exposed on the film. The possibility of getting good results in the holographic multi-stereogram production with the use of this laser is good. The laser was turned on at least 3 hours before the measurement was taken. It is very important that the laser is heated and becomes stable before the recording of holography is started.

4.3 Laser modes

Laser resonators have two distinct types of modes, transverse and longitudinal. Transverse modes manifest themselves in the cross-sectional profile of the beam, that is, in its intensity pattern. Longitudinal modes correspond to different resonance's along the

length of the laser cavity which occur at different frequencies or wavelengths within the gain bandwidth of the laser. A single transverse mode laser that oscillates in a single longitudinal mode is oscillating at only a single frequency. Transverse modes are classified according to the number of noughts that appear across the beam cross section in two directions. The lowest-order, or fundamental mode, where intensity peaks at the centre, is known as TEM00. The mode with a single nought along one axis and no nought in the perpendicular direction is TEM01 or TEM10, depending on orientation. A sampling of these modes, which is produced by stable resonators, is shown in figure 4-7.50

Figure 4-7 Lower-order laser modes that can be produced by a stable resonator. For most applications for example like holography, the TEM00 mode is considered most desirable, but multi-mode beams can often deliver more power in a poorer-quality beam, and thus are acceptable for some uses. The multiple longitudinal mode structure gives rise to a power fluctuation phenomenon termed mode sweeping. All unstabilized helium neon lasers exhibit this effect, which is due to thermal instability causing variation in the cavity length. As the cavity length changes, there is a small change in mode spacing which is typically 10 kHz or less under normal conditions.

However, the absolute wavelength of each cavity mode is also changed by variation in tube length. This is typically 2.5 10-3 nm/C; i.e., 2103 MHz/C, depending on the glass type used for the tube. In effect, the comb of longitudinal modes drifts with respect to the Doppler broadened line centre, repeating its initial relative position in less than 1K. Because of the non-flat, Gaussian profile of the gain curve, the overall power output changes. If the mode spacing is very small, as with a long laser tube, these changes may be very small. On the other hand, a short laser tube may have only one or two cavity modes under the Doppler profile, and the sum of their position on the Gaussisan gain curve. This effect is almost identical for all unstabilized commercial TEM00 tubes and is a function of cavity length. The overall amplitude fluctuations are typical a few percent. In the production of holographic multi-stereograms, where the recording process can be long, it is very important that the laser is thermal stable. If there is thermal instability and the output power is changing, the hologram can be unevenly exposed.

4.4 Coherence and visibility 6 29

Ordinary light is disorganised, not capable of producing interference. Such light is called incoherent. Light from a laser is highly organised, and easily produces interference. Such light is called coherent. Some electromagnetic radiation such as microwaves, radio waves as well as sound waves, water waves and other mechanical waves can be generated as an infinite number of waves, one after another. Light wave cannot, because light waves always come in wave trains. The wave trains are of finite length, and each train containing only a limited number of waves. The length of a wavetrain is called the coherence length.

Figure 4-8 Wavetrain from a laser Coherence length can be expressed as the product of the number of waves, N, contained in the train and their wave length, . The formula for coherence length is then given by s = N (4.2)

Since the velocity is the distance travelled per unit of time, it takes a wave train of length s a certain length of time, t, to pass a given point and we get therefore

(4.3) where c is the velocity of light, and the length of time t is called the coherence time. In holography it is important that the path difference between the reference and objectbeam is zero, or very small. If the path different between these waves is too long, as long as the coherence length, the contrast of the image will be very weak and it is impossible to see the image.

4.4.1 Measurements of coherence length

To find the coherence length of the laser, we have to know how many modes the laser has. That can be done with help of Michelson interferometer,7 41 and plotting the visibility as a function of the path difference between these waves. With the knowledge of the coherence length and the visibility plot shown in figure 4-10 it is possible to find the difference of the laser beam distance between the reference and object beam, which reduces the holograms contrast.

Figure 4-9 The Michelson interferometer.

The light from the laser is divided into two beams by the cube splitter ( 50 : 50 splitting ratio). One beam is reflected back onto itself by a fixed mirror, the other one is also reflected back by a mirror, but one that can be shifted along the beam. Both reflected beams are divided again into two by the beam splitter, whereby one beam from each mirror propagates to a screen. On this screen the light intensity is measured by a laser power meter. When the position of the adjustable mirror is changed, the interference fringes on the screen also change. The light intensity from the laser is measured for several different positions of the adjustable mirror. The light intensity from the laser is measured for 30 different path lengths of the laserinterferometer arm. The adjustable mirror on Michelson interferometer is changed from zero path difference to a total of 150 cm path difference, at a step rate of 5 cm. The data from the measurements is logged with the help of a software program called Picolo.36 The data was logged for one sample for every 100 ms, and a total of 2000 samples. From this data it is possible to find the coherence length of the laser. The visibility of the fringes is defined as

(4.4) Because of the light from the background, this must be corrected.

(4.5) The theoretical visibility for a laser with 3 modes is given by

(4.6) The visibility data from the Michelson interferometer visibility measurement and the theoretical visibility is plotted in figure 4-10.

Figure 4-10 Visibility plot for theoretical and measured data. From figure 4-10 can we see that the experimental data correspond quite well with the theoretical visibility of a 3-mode laser. This means that the 24 mW He-Ne laser used in this thesis has 3 modes. The practical definition of coherence length is the distance travelled by the laser beam where the visibility is reduced to 1/e2, measured with Michelson interferometer. The plot of measured data shows the coherence length is around 30 cm. The visibility maximum occur when the path difference is 0 and 115 cm. It means that (2L=115cm). From the technical data for the laser, the longitudinal mode spacing is given as 257 MHz. The formula for the distance between two longitudinal modes is given by

, and

. (4.7)

The measured value for the distance between two longitudinal modes fits the value for the fabrication data of the laser. The coherence length for a 3-mode laser is given by Lk 0.596 L (4.8) From the measured data of visibility plot we know that 2L = 115 cm.

Thus the He-Ne laser has a coherence length of 34 cm. In holography this is an important value because the visibility plot gives us an idea of the contrast of the hologram. From the visibility plot of the laser, we can see that the contrast will fall to 0.6 if the different between the object and reference beam is 10 cm. The best result is obtained when the difference between the beams is 0 or 115 cm, when the visibility (contrast) is maximum.

How the Helium-Neon Laser Works?

Fig.1

Fig.2

Fig.3

Fig.4 There are three principal elements of a laser, which are (1) an energy pump, (2) an optical gain medium, and (3) an optical resonator. These three elements are described in detail below for the case of the HeNe laser . (1) Energy pump. A 1400 V high voltage, DC power supply maintains a glow discharge or plasma in a glass tube containing an optimal mixture (typically 5:1 to 7:1) of helium and neon gas, as shown in Fig. 1 and indicated in the diagram of Fig. 2. The discharge current is limited to about 5 mA by a 91 k ballast resistor. Energetic electrons accelerating from the cathode to the anode collide with He and Ne atoms in the laser tube, producing a large number of neutral He and Ne atoms in excited states. He and Ne atoms in excited states can deexcite and return to their ground states by spontaneously emitting light. This light makes up the bright pink-red glow of the plasma that is seen even in the absence of laser action. The process of producing He and Ne in specific excited states is known as pumping and in the HeNe laser this pumping process occurs through electron-atom collisions in a discharge. In other types of lasers, pumping is achieved by light from a bright flashlamp or by chemical reactions. Common to all lasers is the need for some process to prepare an ensemble of atoms, ions or molecules in appropriate excited states so that a desired type of light emission can occur. (2) Optical gain medium.

To achieve laser action it is necessary to have a large number of atoms in excited states and to establish what is termed a population inversion. To understand the significance of a population inversion to HeNe laser action, it is useful to consider the processes leading to excitation of He and Ne atoms in the discharge, using the simplified diagram of atomic He and Ne energy levels given in Fig. 3. A description of the rather complex HeNe excitation process can be given in terms of the following four steps. (a) An energetic electron collisionally excites a He atom to the state labeled 21S0 in Fig. 3. A He atom in this excited state is often written He*(21S0), where the asterisk means that the He atom is in an excited state. (b) The excited He*(21S0) atom collides with an unexcited Ne atom and the atoms exchange internal energy, with an unexcited He atom and excited Ne atom, written Ne*(3S2), resulting. This energy exchange process occurs with high probability only because of the accidental near equality of the two excitation energies of the two levels in these atoms. (c) The 3S2 level of Ne is an example of a metastable atomic state, meaning that it is only after a relatively long period of time - on atomic time scales - that the Ne*(3S2) atom deexcites to the 2P4 level by emitting a photon of wavelength 6328 . It is this emission of 6328 light by Ne atoms that, in the presence of a suitable optical configuration, leads to lasing action. (d) The excited Ne*(2P4) atom rapidly deexcites to its ground state by emitting additional photons or by collisions with the plasma tube walls. Because of the extreme quickness of the deexcitation process, at any moment in the HeNe plasma, there are more Ne atoms in the 3S2 state than there are in the 2P4 state, and a population inversion is said to be established between these two levels. When a population inversion is established between the 3S2 and 2P4 levels of the Ne atoms in the discharge, the discharge can act as an optical gain or amplification medium for light of wavelength 6328 . This is because a photon incident on the gas discharge will have a greater probability of being replicated in a 3S2-->2P4 stimulated emission process (discussed below) than of being destroyed in the complementary 2P4-->3S2 absorption process. (3) Optical resonator or cavity. As mentioned in 2(c) above, Ne atoms in the 3S2 metastable state decay spontaneously to the 2P4 level after a relatively long period of time under normal circumstances; however, a novel circumstance arises if, as shown in Fig. 2, a HeNe discharge is placed between two highly reflecting mirrors that form an optical cavity or resonator along the axis of the discharge. When a resonator structure is in place, photons from the Ne* 3S2-->2P4 transition that are emitted along the axis of the cavity can be reflected hundreds of times between the two highly reflecting end mirrors of the cavity. These reflecting photons can interact with other excited Ne*(3S2) atoms and cause them to emit 6328 light in a

process known as stimulated emission. The new photon produced in stimulated emission has the same wavelength and polarization, and is emitted in the same direction, as the stimulating photon. It is sometimes useful for purposes of analogy to think of the stimulated emission process as a "cloning" process for photons, as depicted in Fig. 4. The stimulated emission process should be contrasted with spontaneous emission processes that, because they are not caused by any preceding event, produce photons that are emitted isotropically, with random polarization, and over a broader range of wavelengths. As stimulated emission processes occur along the axis of the resonator a situation develops in which essentially all 3S2-->2P4 Ne* decays contribute deexcitation photons to the photon stream reflecting between the two mirrors. This photon multiplication (light amplification) process produces a very large number of photons of the same wavelength and polarization that travel back and forth between the two cavity mirrors. To extract a light beam from the resonator, it is only necessary to have one of the two resonator mirrors, usually called the output coupler, have a reflectivity of only 99% so that 1% of the photons incident on it travel out of the resonator to produce an external laser beam. The other mirror, called the high reflector, should be as reflective as possible. The small diameter, narrow bandwidth, and strong polarization of the HeNe laser beam are determined by the properties of the resonator mirrors and other optical components that lie along the axis of the optical resonator.

Helium-Neon Laser
The most common and inexpensive gas laser, the helium-neon laser is usually constructed to operate in the red at 632.8 nm. It can also be constructed to produce laser action in the green at 543.5 nm and in the infrared at 1523 nm.

Index Laser concepts Laser types

The collimation of the beam is accomplished by mirrors on each end of the evacuated glass tube which contains about 85% helium and 15% neon gas at 1/300 atmospheres pressure (Metrologic). These mirrors could be both flat, but this requires great precision in alignment, so the common laboratory He-Ne

lasers are manufactured with the semiconfocal mirror arrangement shown.

The helium gas in the laser tube provides the pumping medium to attain the necessary population inversion for laser action.

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Heliumneon laser
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia A heliumneon laser or HeNe laser, is a type of gas laser whose gain medium consists of a mixture of helium and neon inside of a small bore capillary tube, usually excited by a DC electrical discharge.

[edit] History of HeNe laser development

The first HeNe laser emitted at 1.15 m in the infrared and was the first gas laser. However a laser that operated at visible wavelengths was much more in demand, and a number of other neon transitions were investigated to identify ones in which a population inversion can be achieved. The 633 nm line was found to have the highest gain in the visible spectrum, making this the wavelength of choice for most HeNe lasers ever manufactured. However other visible as well as infrared lasing wavelengths are possible, and by using mirror coatings with their peak reflectance at these other wavelengths,

HeNe lasers could be engineered to employ those transitions; this includes visible lasers appearing red, orange, yellow, and green.[1] Lasing transitions are known from over 100 m in the far infrared to 540 nm in the visible. Since visible transitions at wavelengths other than 633 nm have somewhat lower gain, these lasers generally have lower output powers and are more costly. The 3.39 m transition has a very high gain but is prevented from lasing in an ordinary HeNe laser (of a different intended wavelength) since the cavity and mirrors are lossy at that wavelength. However in high power HeNe lasers having a particularly long cavity, superluminescence at 3.39 m can become a nuisance, robbing power from the lasing medium, often requiring additional suppression. The best known and most widely used HeNe laser operates at a wavelength of 632.8 nm in the red part of the visible spectrum. It was developed at Bell Telephone Laboratories in 1962,[2] 18 months after the pioneering demonstration at the same laboratory of the first continuous infrared HeNe gas laser in December 1960.[3]

[edit] Construction and operation

The gain medium of the laser, as suggested by its name, is a mixture of helium and neon gases, in approximately a 10:1 ratio, contained at low pressure in a glass envelope. The energy or pump source of the laser is provided by a high voltage electrical discharge passed through the gas between electrodes (anode and cathode) within the tube. A DC current of 3 to 20 mA is typically required for CW operation. The optical cavity of the laser usually consists of two concave mirrors or one plane and one concave mirror, one having very high (typically 99.9%) reflectance and the output coupler mirror allowing approximately 1% transmission.

Schematic diagram of a heliumneon laser Commercial HeNe lasers are relatively small devices, among gas lasers, having cavity lengths usually ranging from 15 cm to 50 cm (but sometimes up to about 1 meter to achieve the highest powers), and optical output power levels ranging from 0.5 to 50 mW. The red HeNe laser wavelength of 633 nm has an actual vacuum wavelength of 632.991 nm, or about 632.816 nm in air. The wavelength of the lasing modes lie within about 0.001 nm above or below this value, and the wavelengths of those modes shift within this range due to thermal expansion and contraction of the cavity. Frequencystabilized versions enable the wavelength of a single mode to be specified to within 1 part in 108 by the technique of comparing the powers of two longitudinal modes in opposite

polarizations.[4] Absolute stabilization of the laser's frequency (or wavelength) as fine as 2.5 parts in 1011 can be obtained through use of an iodine absorption cell.[5]

Energy level diagram of a HeNe laser The mechanism producing population inversion and light amplification in a HeNe laser plasma [6] originates with inelastic collision of energetic electrons with ground state helium atoms in the gas mixture. As shown in the accompanying energy level diagram, these collisions excite helium atoms from the ground state to higher energy excited states, among them the 23S1 and 21S0 long-lived metastable states. Because of a fortuitous near coincidence between the energy levels of the two He metastable states, and the 3s2 and 2s2 (Paschen notation[7]) levels of neon, collisions between these helium metastable atoms and ground state neon atoms results in a selective and efficient transfer of excitation energy from the helium to neon. This excitation energy transfer process is given by the reaction equations: He*(23S1) + Ne1S0 He(1S0) + Ne*2s2 + E and He*(21S) + Ne1S0 + E He(1S0) + Ne*3s2 where (*) represents an excited state, and E is the small energy difference between the energy states of the two atoms, of the order of 0.05 eV or 387 cm1, which is supplied by kinetic energy. Excitation energy transfer increases the population of the neon 2s2 and 3s2 levels manyfold. When the population of these two upper levels exceeds that of the corresponding lower level neon state, 2p4 to which they are optically connected, population inversion is present. The medium becomes capable of amplifying light in a narrow band at 1.15 m (corresponding to the 2s2 to 2p4 transition) and in a narrow band

at 632.8 nm (corresponding to the 3s2 to 2p4 transition at 632.8 nm). The 2p4 level is efficiently emptied by fast radiative decay to the 1s state, eventually reaching the ground state. The remaining step in utilizing optical amplification to create an optical oscillator is to place highly reflecting mirrors at each end of the amplifying medium so that a wave in a particular spatial mode will reflect back upon itself, gaining more power in each pass than is lost due to transmission through the mirrors and diffraction. When these conditions are met for one or more longitudinal modes then radiation in those modes will rapidly build up until gain saturation occurs, resulting in a stable continuous laser beam output through the front (typically 99% reflecting) mirror.

Spectrum of a helium neon laser illustrating its very high spectral purity (limited by the measuring apparatus). The .002 nm bandwidth of the lasing medium is well over 10,000 times narrower than the spectral width of a light-emitting diode (whose spectrum is shown here for comparison), with the bandwidth of a single longitudinal mode being much narrower still. The gain bandwidth of the HeNe laser is dominated by Doppler broadening rather than pressure broadening due to the low gas pressure, and is thus quite narrow: only about 1.5 GHz full width for the 633 nm transition.[4][8] With cavities having typical lengths of 15 cm to 50 cm, this allows about 2 to 8 longitudinal modes to oscillate simultaneously (however single longitudinal mode units are available for special applications). The visible output of the red HeNe laser, long coherence length, and its excellent spatial quality, makes this laser a useful source for holography and as a wavelength reference for spectroscopy. A stabilized HeNe laser is also one of the benchmark systems for the definition of the meter.[5] Prior to the invention of cheap, abundant diode lasers, red HeNe lasers were widely used in barcode scanners at supermarket checkout counters. Laser gyroscopes have employed HeNe lasers operating at 0.633 m in a ring laser configuration. HeNe lasers are generally present in educational and research optical laboratories.

[edit] Applications
Red HeNe lasers have many industrial and scientific uses. They are widely used in laboratory demonstrations in the field of optics in view of their relatively low cost and ease of operation compared to other visible lasers producing beams of similar quality in terms of spatial coherence (a single mode gaussian beam) and long coherence length (however since about 1990 semiconductor lasers have offered a lower cost alternative for many such applications). A consumer application of the Red HeNe laser is the LaserDisc player, made by Pioneer. The laser is used in the device to read the optical disk

The acronym laser stands for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation." Lasers work as a result of resonant effects. The output of a laser is a coherent electromagnetic field. In a coherent beam of electromagnetic energy, all the waves have the same frequency and phase. In a basic laser, a chamber called a cavity is designed to internally reflect infrared (IR), visible-light, or ultraviolet (UV) waves so they reinforce each other. The cavity can contain gases, liquids, or solids. The choice of cavity material determines the wavelength of the output.

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At each end of the cavity, there is a mirror. One mirror is totally reflective, allowing none of the energy to pass through; the other mirror is partially reflective, allowing approximately 5 percent of the energy to pass through. Energy is introduced into the cavity from an external source; this is called pumping. As a result of pumping, an electromagnetic field appears inside the laser cavity at the natural (resonant) frequency of the atoms of the material that fills the cavity. The waves reflect back and forth between the mirrors. The length of the cavity is such that the reflected and re-reflected wave fronts reinforce each other in phase at the natural frequency of the cavity substance. Electromagnetic waves at this resonant frequency emerge from the end of the cavity having the partially-reflective mirror. The output may appear as a continuous beam, or as a series of brief, intense pulses. The ruby laser, a simple and common type, has a rod-shaped cavity made of a mixture of solid aluminum oxide and chromium. The output is in pulses that last approximately 500 microseconds each. Pumping is done by means of a helical flash tube wrapped around the rod. The output is in the red visible range. The helium-neon laser is another popular type, favored by electronics hobbyists because of its moderate cost. As its name implies, it has a cavity filled with helium and neon

gases. The output of the device is bright crimson. Other gases can be used instead of helium and neon, producing beams of different wavelengths. Argon produces a laser with blue visible output. A mixture of nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and helium produces IR output. Lasers are one of the most significant inventions developed during the20th century. They have found a tremendous variety of uses in electronics, computer hardware, medicine, and experimental science. A helium-neon laser beam has a wavelength in air of 633nm. It takes 1.38 ns for the light to travel through 30cm of an unknown liquid. What is the wavelength of the laser beam in the liquid?

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Laser Applications
Medical applications Welding and Cutting Surveying Garment industry Laser printing Heat treatment Laser nuclear fusion Communication CDs and optical discs Spectroscopy Barcode scanners Laser cooling

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Medical Uses of Lasers

The highly collimated beam of a laser can be further focused to a microscopic dot of extremely high energy density. This makes it useful as a cutting and cauterizing instrument. Lasers are used for photocoagulation of the retina to halt retinal hemorrhaging and for the tacking of retinal tears. Higher power lasers are used after cataract surgery if the supportive membrane surrounding Index the implanted lens becomes milky. Photodisruption of the membrane often can cause it to draw back like a shade, almost instantly restoring vision. A Laser focused laser can act as an extremely sharp scalpel for delicate surgery, concepts cauterizing as it cuts. ("Cauterizing" refers to long-standing medical practices of using a hot instrument or a high frequency electrical probe to singe the Reference tissue around an incision, sealing off tiny blood vessels to stop bleeding.) The Boraiko cauterizing action is particularly important for surgical procedures in bloodrich tissue such as the liver. Lasers have been used to make incisions half a micron wide, compared to about 80 microns for the diameter of a human hair. Laser applications HyperPhysics***** Quantum Physics ***** Optics
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Welding and Cutting

The highly collimated beam of a laser can be further focused to a microscopic dot of extremely high energy density for welding and cutting. The automobile industry makes extensive use of carbon dioxide lasers with powers up to several kilowatts for computer controlled welding on auto assembly lines. Index Laser concepts

Garmire points out an interesting application of CO2 lasers to the welding of Reference Ohanian stainless steel handles on copper cooking pots. A nearly impossible task for conventional welding because of the great difference in thermal conductivities Essay X between stainless steel and copper, it is done so quickly by the laser that the thermal conductivities are irrelevant. Laser applications HyperPhysics***** Quantum Physics ***** Optics
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Surveying and Ranging

Helium-neon and semiconductor lasers have become standard parts of the field surveyor's equipment. A fast laser pulse is sent to a corner reflector at the point to be measured and the time of reflection is measured to get the distance. Index Laser concepts

Some such surveying is long distance! The Apollo 11 and Apollo 14 astronauts put corner reflectors on the surface of the Moon for determination Reference of the Earth-Moon distance. A powerful laser pulse from the MacDonald Ohanian Observatory in Texas had spread to about a 3 km radius by the time it got to the Moon, but the reflection was strong enough to be detected. We now know Essay X the range from the Moon to Texas within about 15 cm, a nine significant digit measurement. A pulsed ruby laser was used for this measurement. Laser applications HyperPhysics***** Quantum Physics ***** Optics
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Lasers in the Garment Industry

Laser cutters are credited with keeping the U.S. garment industry competitive Index in the world market. Computer controlled laser garment cutters can be programmed to cut out 400 size 6 and then 700 size 9 garments - and that Laser might involve just a few cuts. The programmed cutter can cut dozens to concepts hundreds of thicknesses of cloth, and can cut out every piece of the garment in a single run. Reference Ohanian The usefulness of the laser for such cutting operations comes from the fact Essay X that the beam is highly collimated and can be further focused to a microscopic dot of extremely high energy density for cutting. Laser applications HyperPhysics***** Quantum Physics ***** Optics
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Lasers in Communication

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Fiber optic cables are a major mode of communication partly because multiple signals can be sent with high quality and low loss by light Reference propagating along the fibers. The light signals can be modulated with the Ohanian information to be sent by either light emitting diodes or lasers. The lasers have significant advantages because they are more nearly monochromatic and Essay X this allows the pulse shape to be maintained better over long distances. If a better pulse shape can be maintained, then the communication can be sent at higher rates without overlap of the pulses. Ohanian quotes a factor of 10 advantage for the laser modulators. Telephone fiber drivers may be solid state lasers the size of a grain of sand and consume a power of only half a milliwatt. Yet they can sent 50 million pulses per second into an attached telephone fiber and encode over 600

simultaneous telephone conversations (Ohanian). Laser applications

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Heat Treatment
Heat treatments for hardening or annealing have been long practiced in metallurgy. But lasers offer some new possibilities for selective heat treatments of metal parts. For example, lasers can provide localized heat treatments such as the hardening of the surfaces of automobile camshafts. These shafts are manufactured to high precision, and if the entire camshaft is heat treated, some warping will inevitably occur. But the working surfaces of the cams can be heated quickly with a carbon dioxide laser and hardened without appreciably affecting the remainder of the shaft, preserving the precision of manufacture. Laser applications HyperPhysics***** Quantum Physics ***** Optics
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Barcode Scanners

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Supermarket scanners typically use helium-neon lasers to scan the universal Laser barcodes to identify products. The laser beam bounces off a rotating mirror and scans the code, sending a modulated beam to a light detector and then to a concepts computer which has the product information stored. Semiconductor lasers can Reference also be used for this purpose. Garmire Laser applications

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