Here is a copy of part of Dakotas report. It may have some bugs in it but he wrote it and I think he did a great job I posted some new pics of his project. We want to thank everyone for all there help. He will respond when he gets a break. Its been a long weekend finishing up the project display and writing the report. I am not sure when he will get a grade but when he does he will post it here. Thanks again.
What is a Laser?
Laser stands for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.
A laser is a device that projects a highly concentrated narrow beam of light which is amplified to great brightness using stimulated radiation. Also know as DPSS stands for Diode-pumped Solid-State laser.
Lasers are commonly used for dental drills, laser-guided tools, laser pointers, CD players, DVD players, surgical procedures, bar code scanners and many other applications.
Basics of Lasers
What do atoms have to do with lasers? Atoms are the basic building blocks of all matter in this universe and are an essential part of how lasers work. The center of an atom is called the nucleus. The nucleus is composed of protons and neutrons.
Lasers are composed purely of photons, the basic unit of electromagnetic radiation and light. Photons are always in motion and travel at the constant speed of light.
Core Components of a Laser
The basic laser only needs three components to function. These principle components are an energy source commonly known as the pump source, the gain medium, and two or more mirrors that make up an optical resonator.
The pump source provides energy to the lasers system. This is the initial energy needed to excite the atoms within the gain medium.
The gain medium is the active laser medium or the source of atoms used to achieve stimulated emission and population inversion. This medium is the major determining factor for the laser’s operational wavelength, the lasers color.
The optical resonator, or optical cavity, in its simplest form is two parallel mirrors placed on opposing ends between the gain medium.
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Simple Explanation:
The gain medium is built into the 808nm pump diode (pump source) and the Nd: YVO4 (crystal). The gain mediums in both cases are the same as the optical resonator. The semiconductor chip in the 808nm and the crystal make up the optical resonator and form two parallel mirrors placed on opposing ends between the gain mediums. The pump focusing lens and the expanding lens focuses the beam into the collimating lens producing a straight focused laser beam of photons.
He worked on his report today, laser safety, things you can do with a laser etc. Yesterday he worked on What is a Laser, etc. Little bits at a time. Its all good.
