CONTENT

Topic

Slide No.

Introduction to Laser

3-6

Brief History of Laser

7-9

How Laser Works

10-13

Applications of Laser

14

Advantages of Laser

15 - 19

Disadvantages of Laser

20 - 22

Conclusion

23

Introduction to laser
Many might think including me that Laser is just a word...
But it is not so. It is a acronym.
L - Light
A - Amplified by
S - Stimulated
E - Emission of
R - Radiation

Now let us see some 3 sources of light

From the above Table we can say that :

(a) The Sun has high light power but has less density or
intensity.
(b) But Laser has very high intensity but less power. This
makes laser a powerful device.
Laser has some of its own properties. Some are :
(a)
It is nearly 100% monochromic i.e. it travels for
long distance in a uniform frequency & wavelength,
(b) It is nearly 100% perfectly directional i.e. it travel
only in a particular direction without diverging.
(c) It is 100% coherent i.e. the distance between each
wave is equal at a given point on the line which is
perpendicular to the base of laser source.

Monochro
mic

Directiona
l

Brief History of laser

Year

Name

Achievement

1900

Max Plank

Said that light is a form of

electromagnetic radiation

1916

Albert Einstein

Theory of light emmision

1951

Charles H Townes
Joseph Weber
James P. Gordan

The inventor of MASER (Microwave

Amplification of Stimulated Emission of
Radiation)

1957

Gordon Gould

First document defining a LASER

1959

John D. Myers

First stroboscopic X-Ray system.

16/05/196
0

Theodore Maiman

Invented first working LASER based on

Ruby.

1960

Peter P Sorokin
Mirek Stevenson

First Uranium LASER

Year

Name

Achievement

1960

Ali Javan,
William Bennett
Donald Herriot

First helium-neon LASER

1961

Elias Snitzer

First glass LASER

1961

Leo F. Johnson,
K. Nassau

First neodymium crystal LASER

1962

Robert Hall
Nick Holonyak

Invention of semi-conductor LASER

1962

Alan White
Dane Rigden

First helium neon (HeNe) visible CW

LASER

1964

William Bridges

Invention of Argon Ion LASER

1965

John D. Myers

First dual frequency LASER

1965

George Pimentel
J V V Kasper

First chemical LASER

1965

John D. Myers

First frequency-doubled LASER

rangefinder

Year

Name

Achievement

1966

John D. Myers

First plane position indicating LASER

radar

1967

Bernard Soffer
B. B. McFarland

First wavelength tunable dye LASER

1969

G M Delco

First industrial installation of three

LASERS
for automobile application

1980

Geoffrey Perts
Group

First report of X-ray using LASER action

1984

Dennis
Matthews
Group

Demonstration of X-ray using laser

1985

John D. Myers

First commercial LASER eye surgery

1996

Wolfgang Keterle

First pulsed atom LASER at MIT

2006

John Bowers

First silicon LASER

2010

First 10 Petawatt LASER

How Laser Works

Animation

Spontaneous Emission
a. Excited atoms normally emit light spontaneously
b. Photons are uncorrelated and independent
c. Incoherent light
Stimulated Emission
a. Excited atoms can be stimulated into duplicating passing light
b. Photons are correlated and identical
c. Coherent light
Laser Amplification
a. Stimulated emission can amplify light
b. Laser medium contains excited atom-like systems
c. Photons must have appropriate wavelength, polarization, and
orientation to be duplicated
d. Duplication is perfect; photons are clones

Applications of Laser
Medical Uses

Laser Cooling

Cutting and Welding

Nuclear Fission

Surveying and Ranging

Photochemistry

In Garment Industry

Lunar Laser Ranging

In Communication

Microscopy

Heat Treatment

Targeting

Barcode Scanners

Arms and Weapons

Metrology

Spectroscopy

Military

Advantages of Laser
Laser Surgery:
a.Results are good in cosmetic sense
b.Multiple lesions could be treated with laser

surgery
c.Birthmarks and pigmented lesions could also
be treated with laser which was considered as
untreatable in past
d.Less complication after treatment.

Laser Beam Cutting

(a) Due to rapid rate of operation, the (heat)
distortion to the base metal is minimum.
(b) The narrowness and accuracy of the cut
together with relatively shallow HAZ with
negligible surface cracking are major
advantages of this process.
(c) Even most complicated profiles can be cut.
(d) Very hard material like silicon carbide,
friable material like glass, sticky material like
confectionery etc., can be cut by laser.
(e) Laser is a faster process than sawing or
nibbling and is very efficient.

Laser

Beam Cutting

Operation on eye using Laser:

(a) Being able to see well without having to
wear glasses or contacts
(b) Improved appearance
(c) Greater choices in sunglasses styles
(d) Not having to worry about losing or
breaking glasses
(e) No worries about having to buy expensive
cleaning solutions for contacts or new contacts
every few months

Gas Detection with a Laser.

(a) Because of the very narrow 0.3 nm line width of the laser emission, there
is no
interference from other gases.
(b) Response times are in the order 1 second. This allow for fine
resolution/control when making process measurements.
(c) The intense laser light concentrated at the absorption wavelength enables
path lengths up to 1 km to be measured.
(d) An average measurement is taken over the total path so that a narrow
plume of gas has less chance of escaping detection.
(e) The range of measurement can be up to 4 orders of magnitude, enabling
concentrations of 0.1 ppm to 1000 ppm to be measured.
(f) Because of the internal reference cell, the system is self calibrating.
(g) There is no poisoning or degradation of the instrument with long term
exposure to a gas.
(h) Can easily be conformed to be Intrinsically Safe.
(i) Low maintenance and low operating costs.
(j) Reliable technology.

Disadvantages of Laser
Laser Surgery:
(a) Laser surgery is costly as equipment are
very costly.
(b) Repeated laser treatment could be required.
(c) Any type of local infection could complicate
laser
treatment.
(d) Scarring or altered skin texture is also a
possibility.

Operation on eye using Laser:

(a) Expensive. The greater the correction, the
higher the
cost
(b) Not everybody can benefit from it. Those with
thin
corneas or large pupils are considered
to be poor
candidates for it
(c) Bad night vision. Many people complain about
the halo effect or seeing star bursts around lights
(d) Dry eyes. It can be permanent in some people
(e) Overcorrection or undercorrection
(f) Results often don't last and for older people,
they likely
will need glasses again
(g) It permanently weakens the cornea and
increases its
risk for rupture

Laser Beam Cutting

(a) The limit on thickness of section (6 mm in
plain carbon steel; for other metals it is still lesser)
and the fact that workpiece must be moved
relative to the rather cumbersome equipment
restrict the use of gas-jet laser cutting.
Gas Detection with a Laser.
(a) Only one gas can be measured with each
instrument.
(b) When heavy dust, steam or fog blocks the
laser beam,
the system will not be able to take
measurements. This
is also the case when
a person or vehicle blocks the
path.

Conclusion
From the above slides we understand :
a.Invention of Laser
b.How laser works
c.Its application
d.Its Advantages & Disadvantages
Last but not the least, I want to say that Lasers are nowadays
used in many places as it time saving & very efficient even
though it is costly. Laser has disadvantages but has many
advantages due to which it has become popular.