Download Presentation about lasers - Repol

2010: A Laser Odyssey
Short presentation about lasers
by the Université Laval OSA and SPIE Student Chapters
In science fiction, lasers are powerful weapons
In everyday life, lasers have many uses
• Laser hair removal
• Laser pointers
• CD/DVD players
• Barcode readers
• Micro-fabrication
• Medical treatments
What is light composed of?
• Light can be seen as photons
of many colors
What is light composed of?
• Light can also be seen as waves
of different lengths
In nature, there are
different kinds of waves
• Water waves
• Sound waves
• Light waves (electromagnetic waves)
Most of the light waves are invisible
LASER is an acronym
L ight
A mplification by the
S timulated
E mission of
R adiation
A laser emits photons of the same color,
travelling in the same direction
Directional and monochromatic light
A laser has three parts
The gain medium
The pumping system
The resonant cavity
Lasers consist of a gain medium, a resonant
cavity and a pumping system
Pumping system
System that provoques the
emission of radiation
Gain medium
Material in which
photons are
produced
Resonant cavity (2 mirrors)
Cavity in which the light rays bounce
back and forth and are amplified
There are many different kinds of gain media
The gain medium, in which the
light rays are produced, could be:
Crystal
Gas
Optical fiber
Pumping can be done in different ways
• a flash
• another laser
• electricity
=
The resonant cavity consists of two mirrors
One mirror
reflects all light
The other one
reflects partially
The mirrors are placed at each
end of the gain medium
And all this happens at the speed of light:
1 080 000 000 km/h!
May 16th, 2010: 50th anniversary of the
invention of thefirst laser by Theodore Maiman
First laser: Ruby laser built by Maiman
Maiman
and the 1st
working
laser
Publicity
photo
Thank you for your
attention!
Please contact us if you
have any questions
www.repol.copl.ulaval.ca