Gas lasers

Christopher C. Davis

doi:10.1017/CBO9781139016629.009

8 - Gas lasers

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2014

Christopher C. Davis

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Christopher C. Davis: Affiliation:
University of Maryland, College Park

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Summary

Introduction

Gas lasers operate using a large number of different atomic and molecular gases and gas mixtures. On a macroscopic scale gases are intrinsically uniform, so the properties of the laser medium are immune to the defects and structural issues that affect lasers using solid materials. In addition, continuous variations of the composition and pressure of a gas medium offer a degree of flexibility in laser design. On the other hand, gases must be held in a container and lack the robustness offered by solid materials. Just as vacuum and gas-filled electronic tubes have been largely supplanted by solid-state devices, except in niche applications, gas lasers, especially atomic-gas lasers, have been largely replaced by lasers using solid active media. Even so, some gas lasers remain important in various applications, and the renewed interest in optically pumped gas lasers, which until relatively recently had seemed only of historical interest, suggests that no laser should necessarily be written off as “out-dated” prematurely. In this chapter we shall consider some of the fundamental processes which are used to produce, and maintain, population inversion in atomic gases. We shall see that the technological features of gas lasers, and the efficiency with which they can be made to operate, are intimately connected with the particular mechanism used to excite the upper laser level. Our attention will be concentrated on a consideration of gas lasers in which the laser action involves energy levels of a neutral or ionized atom.

Type: Chapter
Information: Lasers and Electro-optics
Fundamentals and Engineering
, pp. 206 - 231

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139016629.009 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2014

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