Unit-1 Lasers

Introduction:

Laser is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of

Radiation. The theoretical explanation for laser oscillation was given by
A L Schawlow and C H Townes in the year 1958. The first laser, namely,
ruby laser was demonstrated by T H Maiman, in the year 1960. The
discovery of laser made an enormous impact in the scientific world and
showed that the function of optics was very much alive.

The laser beam has the properties given below which distinguish it
from an ordinary beam of light.

(i) Directionality
The light beam can travel as a parallel beam up to a distance of d2/λ, where d is
the diameter of the aperture through which the light is passing and λ the
wavelength of the light used. After travelling the distance d2/λ, the light beam
spreads radially. In an ordinary light beam, the angular spread is given by Δθ =
λ/d.
For a typical laser beam, the angular d spread is 1 mm per 1 m, but for an
ordinary source of light, the angular spread is 1m per 1 m. This shows the
directionality of the laser beam. For example, the laser beam can be focused to
moon from the earth with an angular spread of a few
kilometres.

(ii) Intensity
The intensity of the laser beam is very high. If a person is allowed to
observe an ordinary light, emitted by a 100 W bulb at a distance. One foot from
the source, he can perceive only one thousand watt of light. While, if the person
is allowed to observe the laser beam from the same distance, the entire laser
beam penetrates through his eye. It will
damage the eye of the observer. This shows high intensity of laser beam.

(iii) Monochromaticity
The laser beam is strictly monochromatic (single frequency) than any other
conventional monochromatic source. The bandwidth (Δv = 0) of the laser beam
is narrow, while ordinary light spreads over wide range of frequencies.
Obtaining absolute monochromaticity is difficult; however, one can get high
degree of monochromaticity in laser beam with very small bandwidth, of about
one kilocycle per second. For example, the line width Δλ emitted by ruby laser is
5 X 10-4 Å.
(iv) Coherence
The degree of coherence of laser beam is very high than the other sources. The
coherence of laser emission results in extremely high power (5 X 1012 W cm-2 ).
The light from a laser source consists of wave trains that are identical in phase
and directions of propagation. Further, it can be focused to a very small area of
0.7 mm thickness.

It is, indeed, these properties, that differentiate the laser beam from other
conventional light beams.

Principle of laser
From the theory of interaction of radiation with matter, we can get an idea
regarding the working of laser. Consider an atom that has only two energy levels,
E1 and E2 . When it is exposed to radiation having a stream of photons, each with
energy hn, three distinct processes can take place.
(i) Absorption
(ii) Spontaneous emission, and
(iii) Stimulated emission

(i) Absorption
An atom or molecule in the ground state E1 can absorbs a photon of energy hv
and go to the higher energy state E2 . This process is known as absorption.

The rate of upward transition R12 from ground state E1 to excited state E2 is
proportional to the population of the lower energy level N1 (number of atoms
per unit volume) and to the energy density of radiation ρv ,

R12 ∝ρv
∝N1
Thus R12 = B12 ρv N1 (11.1)
where B12 is the probability of absorption per unit time.
Normally, the higher energy state is an unstable state and hence, the atoms will
make a transition back to the lower energy state with the emission of a photon.
Such an emission can take place by one of the two methods given below.

(ii) Spontaneous Emission

In spontaneous emission, the atoms or molecules in the higher energy state E2
eventually return to the ground state by emitting their excess
energy spontaneously. This process is independent of external radiation. The
rate of the spontaneous emission is directly proportional to the population of
the energy level E2,

i.e. R21 (SP) ∝N2

R21 (SP) = A21 N2 (11.2)

where A21 is the probability per unit time that the atoms will spontaneously fall
to the ground state and N2 the number of atoms per unit volume in the state
E2 .

(iii) Stimulated Emission

In stimulated emission, a photon having energy E, equal to the difference in
energy between the two levels E2 and E1 , stimulate an atom in the higher state
to make a transition to the lower state with the creation of a second photon
The rate of stimulated emission R21 (ST) is given as,
R21 (ST) = B21 ρv N2 (11.3)

where B21 is the probability per unit time that the atoms undergo transition
from higher energy state to lower state by stimulated emission.

Under conditions of thermal equilibrium, the population of energy levels obey

Boltzmann’s distribution function.

Einstein’s Theory Of Stimulated Emission

In 1917, Einstein proposed a mathematical expression for the existence of

stimulated emission of light. This expression is known as Einstein’s expression.
Consider a two-level energy system (E1 and E2). Let N1 and N2 be the number of
atoms in the ground state and excited state, respectively. Let us assume that
only the spontaneous emission is present and there is no stimulated emission of
light. At thermal equilibrium condition, the rate of absorption = the rate of
emission of light
From Eqs (11.1) and (11.2), we can write,

(11.4)

According to Boltzmann’s distribution function, the population of atoms in the

upper and lower energy levels are related by,

(11.5)

Substituting N2/N1 in Eq. (11.4), we get,

(11.6)
According to black-body radiation, the energy density

(11.7)

where h is the Planck’s constant and c the velocity of light. Comparing the above
two equations [Eqs (11.6) and (11.7)], one can observe that they are not in
agreement.

To rectify this discrepancy, Einstein proposed another kind of emission known

as stimulated emission of radiation. Therefore, the total emission is the sum of
the spontaneous and stimulated emissions of radiation.

At thermal equilibrium condition, rate of absorption = rate of emission

From Eqs (11.1), (11.2) and (11.3),

(11.8)

Dividing each and every term on R.H.S. of Eq. (11.8.) by N2 , we get,

Substituting for N1/N2 from Eq. (11.5), we get,

We know that E2 – E1 = hv

(11.9)

The coefficients A21 , B12 and B21 are known as Einstein’s coefficients.
Comparing the above equation with Eq. (11.7), we get,
 (11.10)

From Eqs (11.7) and (11.9), the ratio of the stimulated emission to spontaneous
emission is given by,

(11.11)

From Eq. (11.11), Einstein proved the existence of the stimulated emission of
radiation.

The spontaneous emission produces incoherent light, while the stimulated

emission produces coherent light. In an ordinary conventional light source, the
spontaneous emission is dominant. For laser action, stimulated emission should
be predominant over spontaneous emission and absorption. To achieve this, an
artificial condition, known as population inversion, is required.

Population Inversion

Consider a two-level energy system (E1 and E2 ). Suppose a photon of energy

equal to the energy difference between the two levels is incident on the system,
then Einstein showed that under normal circumstances, both the processes are
equally probable.

In a system containing a very large number of atoms, the dominant process will
depend on the virtual number of atoms in the upper and lower states. A large
population in the upper level (N1 < N2 ) will result in stimulated emission
dominating over the absorption. If there are more number of atoms in the
lower level, i.e., ground state (N1 > N2 ), there will be more absorption than
stimulated emission.

Under conditions of thermal equilibrium, Boltzmann’s distribution function

relating N1 and N2 given by Eq. (11.5) is obeyed.

(11.12)
where k and T are the Boltzmann’s constant and the absolute temperature,
respectively. For stimulated emission to dominate, it is necessary to increase
the population of the upper energy level, so that it is greater than that of the
lower energy level. This is known as population inversion.

In the above equation, if T is negative, then stimulated emission would

dominate over absorption. Such a condition is practically not possible. The
population inversion can be obtained even at room temperature by several
methods.

Methods Of Achieving Population Inversion (Sources Of Excitation)

There are several methods for achieving the condition of population inversion
necessary for the laser action to takes place. Some of the most commonly used
methods are as follows:

(i) Optical pumping

In case of optical pumping, an external optical source like xenon flash lamp is
employed to produce a high population in the higher energy level
of the laser medium.

This method of excitation, is used in solid state lasers of which the ruby laser is a
prototype.

(ii) Direct electron excitation

The direct electron excitation in a gaseous discharge may be used to produce
the desired inversion. This method is used in some of the
gaseous ion lasers, such as an argon laser. In this type of excitation, the laser
medium itself carries the discharge current under suitable conditions of
pressure and temperture.

In this method, the electrons directly excite the active atoms to achieve higher
population in certain higher energy levels compared to a lower energy level.

(iii) Inelastic Atom–Atom Collisions

Here, electric discharge method is employed to cause collision and excitation of
the atom (which is directly converted into radiation that occurs in LED’s and
type of semiconductor laser). In this method, a combination of two types of
gases is used, say A and B, both having the same excited state A* and B* that
coincide or nearly coincide.

In the first step, during electric discharge, A gets excited to A* (metastable) due
to collision with electrons.

(11.13)
The excited A* atoms now collide with B atoms so that
the latter atom gets excited to higher energy B * . This type of transition is used
in the He–Ne laser.

(iv) Chemical reactions

In this method, the molecules undergo chemical changes in which one of the
products of the reaction is a molecule or an atom that is left in an excited state
under appropriate conditions. Under such conditions, population inversion can
occur. An example for this type of lasers is hydrogen fluoride chemical laser, in
which hydrogen fluoride molecules in the excited state result from the following
chemical reaction:

______
H 2 + F2 > 2HF (11.14)

Active Medium

The amplitude of the light beam must be amplified in order to get the laser
action.Schawlow and Townes discussed the necessary conditions for achieving
the laser action. The material in which population inversion can takes place is
called active medium. This medium may be a gas, liquid or solid, in which light
amplification takes place and is placed in between the two mirrors of which one
is partial reflecting, while the other one is 100% reflecting. The light beam
bounds back and forth between the two mirrors and hence, the intensity of the
beam gets increased. However, there will be losses in each reflection but one
can obtain a threshold condition for the laser action to takesplace.
Resonant Cavity

In order to achevie LASER action the active medium is placed in between two
mirrors, one of which is 100% reflecting and the other one semitransparent.
This arrangement is called as resonant cavity or resonant system. In the active
medium, the emitted photons have to stimulate further emissions, this is
achieved using the resonant cavity. The emitted photons, travelling parallel to.
cavity axis suffer reflections and travel back and forth inducing a large number
of emissions making the number of photons to increase enormously. After a
strong built of photons,they came out through the semitransparent mirror as
highly coherent LASER beam. The photons travelling in direction other than the
direction parallel to the optic axis simply leave the active medium. This results in
a highly directional LASER beam. In some cases instead of mirrors, the ends of
the active medium are made reflecting and it becomes a resonant cavity. The
end faces may be silvered or coated with a suitable material to get the quite’
reflection. So the resonant cavity gives the directional selectivity
andcamplification of photons which results in LASER light.
Solid State Laser

Nd _ YAG LASER (Neodymium __ Yttrium Aluminium Garnet LASER)

The Nd-YAG laser is an optically pumped solid state laser and

is used to produce very high power emission. Nd–YAG Rod YAG is an acronym
for yttrium aluminum garnet (Y3 Al5 O12 ) and Nd means neodymium (rare earth
element) yttrium ions (Y3+ ). The yttrium aluminum garnet is doped with a rare
earth neodymium (Nd3+ ) which acts as a active centre resulting in a crystalline
structure. It is a four-level laser with high power, more gain and low threshold
pump power.

Resonating Cavity
In the Nd-YAG laser, a rod of 5 to 10 cm length and 6 to 9 mm diameter is used.
A cylindrical rod is cut from the crystal and is used as an active medium. The
ends of the rod are polished and made optically flat and parallel. One end of the
rod is coated with silver to get 100% reflecting mirror while the other end as a
partial reflecting mirror. The set-up acts as a resonator and is used to amplify
the radiation energy after the stimulated emission of radiation. The length of
the rod is used to vary the power out.
Principle
Flash Tube
The principle behind Nd–YAG laser is optical pumping. In this laser, the active
medium is Nd-YAG. The population inversion is achieved by a flash light either
employing a xenon or krypton flash tube. As a result, Nd3+ ions are transported
into the excited energy levels.

The laser transition from metastable state to ground state takes place with the
emission of a laser beam in the infrared region. The rod and flash tube are kept
inside a highly reflecting elliptical cavity.

A close coupling between the flash tube and rod is made by placing the flash
tube nearer to the centre of the rod. The necessary potential is applied to flash
tube and the same is controlled through the power supply.
When the flash tube is energised, the rod absorbs energy due to the elliptical
cavity arrangements. The energy of the flash tube is produced through the
capacitor which is included in the circuit.

When the flash tube is on, a large amount of heat is produced in the elliptical
cavity. A very less quantity of energy is required to achieve optical pumping for
laser action. Thus, excess heat increases the temperature of the cavity. The
temperature inside the cavity is controlled using water or air-cooling
arrangements.

Working
When-flash lamp is
switched on,
neodymium ions acquire energy from the flash light. The neodymium ions are
excited to energy levels E3 and E4. The transition from the ground state to E3 and
E4 are due to absorption of energy with wavelengths of respectively 0.73 µm
and 0.80 µm.

The Nd3+ is not stable in the excited state, it makes a non-radiactive transition
from E3 and E4 states to a metastable state E2. The metastable state is not a
stable state. Therefore, Nd3+ ions are in this state until the population inversion
is achieved.

When the population inversion is achieved between E2 and E1 , a stimulated

emission takes place from the energy levels E2 to E1 . The emitted energy is
amplified between the resonators and then radiates a pulsed laser beam at a
wavelength of 1.064 µm in the infrared region.

Further, Nd3+ ions take a very rapid non-radiactive transition from E1 to E0 . One
can produce a maximum output power of 70 W either in continuous or pulsed
mode of operation using the Nd-YAG laser.
Applications
The following are applications of Nd-YAG laser:
 Communication applications such as transmitting signals

 Remote sensing applications

 Medicines for endoscopic applications to detect cancer cells

 Applications like drilling, welding, cutting, micromachining, resistor trimming,

scribing, etc.

 It plays an important role in range finder and target destination

 Medical surgery, dental surgery, etc.

Molecular Gas Laser

The construction of molecular gas lasers is simple and the output of these lasers
are continuous. In molecular gas lasers, the laser oscillations are achieved by the
transition between the vibrational and rotational levels of the molecules.

Carbon dioxide lasers (CO2)

It is the (first molecular laser and it was developed by C K N Patel)

Principle
In order to understand the working of this laser, one has to recall the rotational
and vibrational spectrum of CO2 molecules. The three atoms can be considered
as a ring over a straight line, the outer atom being O with a carbon atom C at
the centre. There are three modes of vibrations and in each mode the centre of
gravity remains fixed.
(a) The carbon atom is fixed in its position and each oxygen atom can vibrate in
the opposite direction symmetrical to the carbon atom with each other along a
straight line and is known as the symmetric mode of vibration. The
corresponding frequency is called symmetric stretching frequency.

(b) The oxygen atom and the carbon atom may vibrate at right angles to the line
passing through the centre of gravity.This is known as the bending mode and
the corresponding frequency is bending frequency.

(c) As shown in Fig. 11.13c, in the asymmetric mode of operation, the two
oxygen atoms may vibrate about the central C atom asymmetrically, and at the
same time, the carbon atom also vibrates from its mean position.The
corresponding frequency is called as asymmetric stretching fequency.

In addition to these three vibrational modes, the molecule can also rotate and
therefore, quantised rotational energy levels are also possible. A series of
rotational levels is associated with each vibrational level and are denoted by J
values.

Construction
The special feature of the CO2 laser is the dependence of radiation power, i.e.,
output power on the diameter of the tube. The output power can be raised by
increasing the tube diameter. In a powerful CO2 laser, the length of the
discharge tube is in several metres and its diameter will be several centimetres
The laser is powered with an ac supply of frequency 50 cycles or dc supply. In
order to get a high power output, a metallic mirror of gold is employed for
proper reflection. The lasers are either water-cooled or air-cooled. The
efficiency of the CO2 laser is about 30%. The gas mixture can be pumped either
longitudinally or transversely into the gas discharge tube.

Working
The CO2 laser generally uses two additional gases, N 2 and He. The nitrogen
plays a similar role as that of the He in case of He–Ne laser. The N2 molecules go
into an excited state by collision of the first kind with the electrons.

N2 + e1 ____> N2* + e2

The excited N2 atom undergoes a collision of the second type and makes the
CO2 molecules to be excited.

N2* + CO2 ____> CO2* + N2

The frequency of the CO 2 laser can be pictured in an energy level diagram

Since the 001 energy level of CO2 is very close to the excited level of N2 atom,
the population of 001 level of CO2 increases rapidly than the other lower energy
levels 100 or 010. Thus, the population inversion between 001 level and the
lower levels 020 and 100 is achieved resulting in output radiations of 9.6 and
10.6 µm.
Due to various factors, the most powerful transition in CO2 laser at normal
operating temperature occurs at 10.6 µm. The operating temperature plays an
important role in determining the output power of the laser.

The contamination of carbon monoxide and oxygen will also have some effect
on the laser action. The unused gases can be pumped out and fresh CO2 must be
pumped in.

The temperature can be reduced by restricting the tube diameter and also the
addition of helium to the mixture of N2 and He. The helium serves not only to
improve the conductivity of heat to the walls of the tube, but also in decreasing
the population in the lower levels. The power output coming from this laser is
10 kW.

Semiconductor Laser (Semiconductor Diode Laser)

The most compact of all laser is the semiconductor diode laser, also called the
Injection laser. In its simplest form, the diode laser consists of a p–n junction
doped in a single crystal of a suitable semiconductor such as gallium- arsenide.
Principle When a forward bias is applied to the diode, the holes are injected into
the p-side of the junction and electrons are injected into the n-side. The
recombination of holes and electrons within the junction region results in
recombination radiation. If
the junction current density is large enough, a population inversion can be
obtained between the electron levels and hole levels. Stimulated emission can
be obtained for laser action when the optical gain exceeds the loss in the
junction layer. In a diode laser, this layer is very thin, typically of the order of
few microns and the end faces of the crystal are made partially reflecting to
form an optical resonator.

To produce laser action, the following conditions should be satisfied.

(i) Population inversion
(ii) Stimulated emission, and
(iii) Cavity resonator

The laser transition is possible only in direct band gap semiconductors.

Therefore, the direct band gap semiconducting materials like Ga–As are used for
laser action. Since Si and Ge are said to be indirect band gap semiconductors,
they are not used for laser action.

At absolute zero, the conduction band of an intrinsic semiconductor has no

electron. However, heavily doped semiconducting materials consist of filled
electron states in the conduction band.

If the heavily doped material is irradiated with a radiation having energy greater
than Eg but less than the separation of the quasi fermi level
(EFC – EFV ), the incident photon can induce a downward transition of an electron.
This electron combines with a hole in the valence band and hence the
recombination energy is produced in the form of light. This photon, in turn, may
induce another electron in the conduction band and
thereby stimulate the emission of the another photon.

The population inversion in a p–n junction is achieved by heavily doping the

p-type and n-type materials, so that the fermi level lies within the conduction
band in the n-type material and it lies within the valence band in the p-type
material. Figure represents the energy band diagram of a heavily doped p–n
junction device at thermal quilibrium.

If the junction is forward biased with an applied voltage nearly equal to the
band gap voltage, direct conduction takes place. This results in high injection
current density leading to the generation of an active region near the depletion
layer where the condition of population inversion is achieved. At this juncture, if
a radiation having frequency v, where
Eg /h < (v) < (EFC – EFV)/h is made to incident on the p–n junction device,
the stimulated emission is produced and hence the radiation of this frequency,
which is confined to the active region will be amplified.

Another requirement of the laser action is the cavity resonator. In a p–n

junction device, the end faces of the junction diode are polished so that they act
as an optical cavity. Other sides of the p–n junction device is made as rough
surfaces so as to prevent the leakage of light from them.

Ga–As Laser
It is a p–n junction diode with the p-type and n-type regions heavily doped.
Under large applied forward bias, electrons and holes are injected into and
across the transition region in considerable concentration. As a result, the
region around the junction contains a large number of electrons within the
conduction band and a large number of holes within the valence band. When
the population density is
high enough, a condition of population inversion is achieved and recombination
may be stimulated resulting in laser action. If the emission is not stimulated, the
device is called a light emitting diode. To convert an LED into a laser diode, a
high current is required to achieve the population inversion and mirrors are
used to cause a feedback. In case of semiconductor laser, there is no need of
external mirrors. In a germanium or silicon semiconductor, due to such a
recombination, only heat is generated.

The Ga–As laser was constructed by Hall. A typical Ga–As semiconductor laser is
as shown in Fig.

In case of gallium–arsenide, we get a light radiation in the infrared region. Thus,

a Ga–As laser convert electricity into light. The efficiency can go up to 100%
when the temperature is reduced to 100 K. The operating current is supplied
from a pulse generator up to 5–20 ms. The energy separation between the
conduction band and the valence band is 1.4 eV and hence, the wavelength of
light emitted is 8874 Å at room temperature.

Advantages
1. The efficiency is more than 10% and it can be increased by decreasing
the temperature alone.
2. It can have a continuous wave output or pulsed output.
3. The modulation of the output is possible.
4. Tuning the output is easily possible by applying a magnetic field or me-
chanical pressure.
5. It is highly economical, and further, the arrangement is compact.

Disadvantage
The spatial and temporal coherence are very poor.

Homojunction And Heterojunction Injection Laser

(i) Homojunction
A p–n junction made up of the same material with two regions of different
conductivities, n-type and p-type, is known as a homo junction.
Consider a p–n junction formed by p-type and n-type Si crystals, then it is said to
be a homojunction. The junction is formed at the region where the conductivity
changes from one type to another type.

A homojunction p–n junction may have abrupt or graded junction depending

upon the method of preparation. If a p–n junction is formed by diffusing a
suitable pentavalent impurity from the upper portion of a Si crystal and
diffusing another suitable trivalent impurity from the bottom portion of the Si
crystal, a p–n junction of the Si crystal is formed. This will produce a graded
junction. An abrupt Si is coated on a substrate followed by the coating of n-type
material using suitable thin film deposition technique.

The homojunction device lacks in carrier containmnet and hence, it is an

inefficient light source. The devices like LED, GaAs homojunction laser, etc., are
fabricated with homojunction. The basic structure of a homojunction injection
laser is shown

The cleaved ends of the crystal acts as reflecting mirrors so as to amplify the
light sources. This homojunction GaAs laser device had a high threshold current
density (greater than 10-4 A cm-2 ) due to lack of carrier containment and hence,
it is an inefficient light source. Therefore, the homojunction lasers are operated
in a pulsed mode in order to minimise junction tempera ture and hence, to
avoid damage.

(ii) Heterojunction
A heterojunction is an interface between two adjoining single crystal
semiconductors with different band gap energies. There are two types of
heterojunctions, namely, isotype and anisotype heterojunctions.

If the junction is made up of two different materials having same type of

conductivity (n–n or p–p), then it is said to be isotype heterojunction.

If two different materials having different types of conductivity are joined

together, then it is known as anisotype heterojunction.

An isotype heterojunction is used to confine the minority carriers to a small

active region. It reduces the carrier diffusion length, and hence the volume in
which the radiative recombination takes place. The isotype heterojunction is
mostly used for the preparation of injection lasers and highly radiative LEDs.

The anisotype heterojunctions with sufficiently large band gap differences

improve the injection efficiency of the charge carri ers (holes and electrons).
Both types of heterojunctions provide dielectric steps due to different refractive
indices at either side of the junction. This property is used to confine the radia
tion in the active region. A typical
double heterojunction laser is shown in Fig a and b represents, respectively, the
layer structure shown with applied forward bias and the energy band diagram
of two heterostructures: (i) p–p at the left, and (ii) p–n at the right. The variation
of refractive index and electric field distribution with distance is shown in Fig.

The requirement of a good quality heterojunction are (i) the lattice constant of
the p-type and n-type material should be nearly equal (i.e. lattice matching), (ii)
the electron affinities of these two materials should be compatible, and (iii) the
thermal expansion coefficient should be close. If there is lattice mismatching
and the thermal expansion
coefficient is not very close, it leads to interfacial dislocation at the
heterojunction interface. The dislocation produces energy discontinuity in the
form of a spike in one or both sides of the energy bands.
Applications Of Lasers

Laser beams have found wide application due to their high intensity, high
monochromaticity, high coherence and high directionality.

Three Dimensional Profiling

The process of storing and retrieving the three-dimensional image of an object
by using laser scanner and computer software is known as three dimensional
(3D) profiling.
The principle involved in storing the three dimensional images is same as that of
holography. When a highly coherent, monochromatic and directional light such
as a laser beam is incident on an object, it produces secondary wavelets. Each
point on the object acts as a source for secondary wavelets. These waves spread
over in all the directions and form an interference pattern. The interference
pattern characterises the object.
The observed interference pattern is recorded using a suitable technique. The
recorded image is again illuminated by using another identical coherent laser
source.

Thus, the three dimensional image of the object is reproduced due to the
interference of the two lights which incorporate the variation in amplitude and
intensity.

The block diagram of a simple 3D profiling using laser beam is shown in Fig.

The following are the important parts of the 3D profiling system:

(i) Laser source
(ii) Detector array and scanner
(iii) Computer

A high-intensity and monochromatic laser beam is generated using a laser

source (S). The laser source is movable on circular scale (C) and it can be
positioned at any desired angle over 360°.

The laser beam from the source is made to fall on the object (O) which is kept
fixed at the centre of the orbit of the laser source as shown in Fig. Thus, the
reflected light (R) from the surface of the object spreads in all directions.

The reflected light from the source is collected by using light-sensing diodes.
These diodes are known as detectors. These diodes produce an equivalent
amount of current depending on the intensity of the light incident on it. These
diodes are arranged in the form of an array known as detector (D) to receive the
reflected light from the source.

In order to record the reflected light from the source in all directions, a detector
scanner is fitted in such a way that it moves along the three planes. The
received signals by the scanner are converted into digital form using an analog
to digital convertor unit which is attached with the scanner. The received signal
carries both amplitude and phase variation which reflects the nature of the
object. Thus, the optical signal is
converted into electrical signal and is stored in the microcomputer.

The information stored in the computer is in the form of matrix. Using the signal
processor software available with the computer, one can reconstruct the 3D
image of the object from the stored data. The resolution of the 3D images can
be increased by using the software controlled by the computer.

Drilling
Drilling is the first production application of laser light. The first commercial
application developed in drilling is the drilling of gemstones for wire dies,
watches and jewels.

A high-energy laser beam is used to obtain small holes in materials at high

speed with good quality. When a high-intensity laser beam is used to drill the
material, a large number of physical processes, ablation mechanisms, etc., take
places depending on
materials and irradiation condition.

The schematic representation of a typical laser drilling process is shown in

Fig.The high-energy laser beam radiation is made incident on the surface of the
material. When the laser radiation hits the material surface, the material is
removed by means of two processes.

In the first process, when the radiation is incident on the material surface, the
temperature of the material is raised and it reaches the vaporisation
temperature. When the material is vaporised, it creates a cavity in the material.
When the process continues, the vaporisation increases and hence, the
pressure of vapour also increases. When the vapour pressure reaches the
required pressure level, say 100 Kpa.
The second process namely melt expulsion, takes place. The high-pressure
vapour escapes from the area after producing a high recoil pressure on the
molten materials, which are present at the bottom of the hole. After acquiring
the required pressure, the molten materials overcome the surface tension, and
hence, they are forced out to the surface of the hole.

These molten materials, i.e., the liquid metal, is ejected vertically out of the hole
through its sides as shown in Fig. The energy required to remove material by
melt expulsion is very less when compared with vaporisation. Thus, it is clear
that the recoil pressure and vaporisation temperature are more essential
parameters in laser drilling.

Based on the applications, the laser drilling parameters are selected using the
relationship between the drilling parameters and hole parameters. For any
industrial applications, the relationships between the above parameters are
given in Table.

There are
different drilling methods for any particular drilling applications. The available
drilling methods are single pulse, percussion, parallel percussion, trepanning,
helical trepanning, imaged and angled. Lasers such as Nd–YAG and CO2 are used
for industrial drilling purposes due to their high energy output as well as
continuous operations.
Advantages
The following are the advantages of laser drilling:
• It is a non-contact processing method.
• It is used to drill micro holes and small holes with large aspect ratios.
• It generates very low heat in the material during drilling.
• It is possible to drill at different angles.
• It is highly flexible to drill over a wide range of materials.
• Its accuracy and consistency are very high.

Applications
The following are the application of laser drilling in industries:
• It is used in the electronic industry to make the printed circuit boards.
• In aerospace, it is used to make cooling holes in aircraft engine blades and
combustors.
• It is used to drill the inject nozzles, fuel injector nozzles, aerosol nozzles, etc.
• It is used to drill diamonds to remove imperfections.
• It is used to drill rocks.

Welding
Laser beam welding is a thermal technique, which is used to join two or more
metal parts. The joining of metals is established by solidification of metal at a
common melting point. The applications of laser welding are ever increasing
due to its deep weld penetration and minimizing heat inputs. This method also
facilitates to automate the process techniques.

Consider that the given two metal plates are to be welded using laser beam
welding. The two metal plates are held in contact at their edges as shown in Fig.
The focal spot for the welding on the surface of metal plate edges are identified.
The high intensity laser beam (Nd–YAG or CO2 or diode laser) is focused on the
spot employing the optical arrangements.

At the surface of the metal plate, the highly concentrated laser beam, i.e., high
energy is converted into thermal energy and thus it heats the spot in the metal
plates. Therefore, the surface of the metal plate starts melting and then
progresses through it by surface conductance.

Thus, the metal plates fuse together at the points of contacts. The energy of the
beam required to melt the metal plates are kept well below the vaporisation
temperature of the workpiece metal. When the intensity of the laser beam is
increased, the workpiece metal undergoes several phase changes, namely, solid
to liquid and then again to vaporisation. The laser welding station requires few
basic components, namely, good laser source,beam guiding,workpiece and
manipulating and workstations

A simple experimental set-up used for laser beam welding is shown in Fig.
The laser light output from the laser source is passed through the optical
instruments which helps to control the energy, focus the laser beam as well as
for automation. The optical assembly helps to get a fine laser beam. In addition,
at the laser focusing point, a shield gas is passed through the shielding gas jet.
The shielding gas is used to remove the molten material to favour vaporisation.

Further, it provides the necessary cooling effect at the spot which protects the
optical arrangements against environmental effects such as fumes. It also helps
to increase the adsorption of energy by the sample. The manipulating and
work-station on the laser welding systems helps to provide a relative motion
between the laser beams and the workpiece, either in two or three dimensions
at the required speed and accuracy.

Types of Laser Beam Welding

Even though quite a variety of laser beam weldings are available, the most
common types used for industrial applications are Nd–YAG, carbon dioxide
lasers and diode lasers. The wavelength of laser light produced by Nd–YAG and
CO2 laser is respectively 1.06µm and 10.6µm.
The CO2 laser source requires beam guiding systems to propagate the laser
beam from mirror to mirror. On the other hand, flexible glass fillers can be used
for the Nd–YAG laser source. The laser beam welding is used for materials
whose thickness is less than 0.80 inches.

Advantages
The following are the advantages of using laser drilling in industries:
• It is a non-contact processing method.
• It has the ability to weld smaller and thinner components.
• It gives a very low heat input into the materials.
• It provides an excellent metallurgical quality on the established weld.
• It has the flexibility to drill over a wide range of materials.
• It is used for doing deep and narrow welds.
• It has high accuracy and consistency.
• It is used to drill submicron and small holes with huge aspect ratios.
• It is used to drill at different angles.
• It can be carried to difficult terrains.
• It creates minimal heat affected zones during welding.

The main disadvantage of laser beam welding is its high cost.

Applications
The following are the applications of laser welding in industries:
• It is used to weld complex-shaped contours in a controlled manner.

• In automobile industries, it is mainly used for car body constructions, space

frames, etc.

• Further, it finds application in areas like aerospace, defence, electronics,

petro-chemicals, medicine, etc.