Short Lesson two - Some Types of Laser Sources

We can separate the types of laser sources into categories, according to the type of your active medium.

Gas Laser - They operate in the IR to UV spectrum. usually in the compositions: He-Ne, CO2, Ar, Kr, N2, He-Cd, He-Ag, Ne-Cu.

Excimers Laser - Excimers (of the terms excited and dimers), use reactive gases such as: chlorine and fluorine, mixed with inert gases such as: Ar, Kr or Xe. When electrically stimulated, a pseudo molecule (dimer) is produced. They emit in the UV.

Chemical Laser - They are powered by a chemical reaction and can reach high powers (megawatts) in continuous operation (chemical reaction forming gas). Usually in the composition DF-CO2 (F2 + ? D2 2DF).

DPSS Laser - Usually in the compositions: Nd3 +, HO3 +, Gd3 +, Tm3 +, Er3 +, Pr3 +, and Eu3 +, in CaWO4, Y2O3, SrMo4, LaF3, YAG and glass crystals. A solid state laser is a type of laser that uses a solid component as an active medium (such as ruby or neodymium: yttrium-aluminum garnet "YAG"), rather than using liquid or gaseous media, such as in dye lasers and lasers gas. They use crystal / glass as a means of gain. Continuous pulse: mW to kW; Pulsed: up to GW and PW

Dye Laser - It is a dye chemical substance, capable of performing the necessary excitation for the production of the laser. They are one of the most easily tunable lasers. They can also operate at high power with pulse lengths from CW to femtoseconds (10-15s). They are, however, extremely inefficient. Usually in the composition of the Rhodamine 6G dye, which can be adjusted from 635nm (orange red) to 560nm (greenish yellow).

Semiconductor Lasers (Diode Lasers) - Diode lasers are the most efficient devices for converting electrical energy into optical energy. The two states, electrons and orifices, come together in an active region defined at a p-n junction in a semiconductor material. Junction or laser diode, acting in the spectrum from 700nm to 1080nm, are diodes activated through electric current, normally in the compositions: GaAs (Gallium Arsenide), GaAIAs (Gallium and Aluminum Arsenide, GaInAsP (Indium Gallium Arsenide), InP (Indium Phosphide) The four material compositions used (Gallium Arsenide; Indium Phosphide; Zinc Selenide and Gallium Nitride), necessarily depend on the required spectrum area, where three of these compositions are formed by the so-called semiconductors of the type III-V and the fourth composition formed by type II-VI semiconductors.