A ruby laser is a type of solid-state laser that uses a synthetic ruby crystal as its gain medium. It was the first successful laser developed, invented by Theodore Maiman in 1960.
The operation of a ruby laser is based on the principle of stimulated emission of radiation. When a flash lamp is used to excite the ruby crystal, a population inversion is created, which means that more electrons are in the excited state than in the ground state. When one of the excited electrons spontaneously decays to the ground state, it emits a photon of light. This photon stimulates other excited electrons to emit more photons of the same wavelength and direction, creating a chain reaction of stimulated emission. This process amplifies the light until it is powerful enough to be emitted as a coherent beam of light through the ruby crystal.
Ruby lasers are typically operated in the red part of the spectrum, around 694 nanometers. They are used in a variety of applications, including spectroscopy, holography, and as a tool for cutting and welding metals. However, they have largely been superseded by more efficient and versatile laser technologies such as diode lasers and fiber lasers.
Construction:
- The heart of the ruby laser is the ruby crystal, which is typically cylindrical in shape and is about the size of a pen. The crystal is doped with a small amount of chromium atoms (about 0.05%), which act as the lasing medium.
- The crystal is placed inside a flashlamp-pumped optical resonator, which consists of two mirrors placed at either end of the crystal. One of the mirrors is fully reflective, while the other is partially reflective, allowing some of the light to escape.
- The flashlamp is a cylindrical tube that surrounds the ruby crystal. When a high-voltage electrical pulse is applied to the flashlamp, it emits a short burst of intense white light. This light excites the chromium atoms in the ruby crystal, causing them to emit photons.
Working Principle:
- When the chromium atoms are excited by the flashlamp, they become "pumped" into a higher energy state. As they relax back down to their original state, they emit photons of light.
- The photons bounce back and forth between the mirrors in the optical resonator, being amplified with each pass through the ruby crystal. This process is known as optical feedback, and it creates a highly coherent beam of light.
- As the light builds up in intensity, some of it escapes through the partially reflective mirror, creating the laser beam.
In summary, the working principle of a ruby laser involves using a flashlamp to excite chromium atoms in a ruby crystal, which then emit photons of light as they relax back down to their original state. The photons are amplified through repeated reflections between two mirrors in an optical resonator, creating a highly coherent laser beam.
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