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HeHg or HeSe laser pics anyone?

LordKaramazov

LordKaramazov

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Hey

I was wondering (as my attempt to find some pics was very bad) if anyone here on the forum had pics or even owned one of this badass lasers!

I dont know if i should post this here or in multimedia, but i would really like to see a bare tube discharge, beam, lines etc. of those lasers...or even only one...doesnt matter much...just to awe in amazement (does that exist?? :p)

thanks for reading, and hopefully some great pics will appear on this thread! :D
 





Yes! Either Helium-Mercury or Helium-Selenium lasers!

Dunno if just a plain Mercury laser also exists, as maybe it has no way to achieve a depopulation of the lower lasing level (i think thats why the Helium is there not sure though).

But in the end yeah it would be a mercury laser with lines in the 567.7 and 615nm.

The selenium has them from the IR to the UV range!
 
I've never seen anything of the sort (in RL or on LPF/PL). If someone here had one, they surely would have bragged about it. Have you asked on PL?
 
I dont know PL...is it Powercandle forums?? i was reading stuff on Sams laser faq and bumped into those...and people who actually did them...theres even a pic of a bore tube still with no mirrors, discharging (Pic here and HeHg laser construction here)


*edit* photo of lower wavelengths of selenium here

and they say it has 24 lines between red and violet!!

and it doesnt look that hard to make (just lots of hour and a some 3K$ id say)
 
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PL is Photonlexicon
Beware that mercury and selenium are both quite toxic. Fortunately you don't need much of it, but still dangerous none the less.
 
yeah, i found out about PL yesterday...

And yes, they are toxic, but it doesnt really matter...u just need to have them in a sealed container, and when ur ready to get them in the tube, just wear a mask and gloves and get them in the tube container, and seal the tube...not a big problem there actually...people also have the Argon and Krypton lasers that have that berilium (think its berilium...not really recalling now) ceramic that is quite dangerous! And it doesnt keep people from having them...
 
The tube material for argon/krypton lasers is BeO, which can be fatal when inhaled, so you'd have to break the tube to experience the toxic effects of it.
 
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actually i read somewhere that the contact with it is also dangerous...it would be strange that a solid that is surrounding something would only be dangerous if broken...

if im not mistaken BeO is a ceramic with a very high thermal conductivy and stiffness...good for geting the heat out of the laser...

i just read wikipedia, it just says that Beryllium is carcinogenic and the dust of it cant be messed with...in solid form is good to handle... So, not only inhalled, but also particles on the skin, etc. in dust form...thats more right.

And i dont get why would be a laser made of Hg or Se more dangerous than an Argon...the Hg and Se would be in a sealed tube...only dangerous part would be getting them inside the tube.

Actually ive been dreaming for the last few days of building one when i have my own money...gonna have to save money for the mirrors xD
 
Be Metal, Toxic.

BeO, not toxic unless ground into dust and inhaled. I have handled it for years.

HeHG, per the Scientific American design, produces about 15 mW Average power. If you build the Bloom and Bell design, with a thyratron, probably a watt of average power.

HeSe, up to around 150 mW is the record, but that is going to be several kilovolts and around 100-200 mA to reach that., I have a pound of Se scrounged for the purpose and a flanged tube with glassblowing done, made up. However I never bothered to finish it.

Steve
 
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A watt of 567.7 and 615? I'd really like to see a pic of that as well. heh.
 
oct10_ScientificAmerican.jpg
 
Anyone know the gain on the HeSe lines?

Seems like something that could be made into a kit or group buy with a decent design.

The boiling point is higher than for mercury, but both are inside the operating ranges for a number of fairly low cost materials (e.g. quartz tubing, tungsten heaters), though the lower efficiency might be an issue for some (realistically, though... it's the neat multiline spectrum that's appealing about HeSe, right?).
 
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