What is the meaning of laser?
laser ( ˈleɪzə) n 1. (General Physics) a source of high-intensity optical, infrared, or ultraviolet radiation produced as a result of stimulated emission maintained within a solid, liquid, or gaseous medium.
Why were lasers invented?
When lasers were invented in 1960, they were called "a solution looking for a problem". Since then, they have become ubiquitous, finding utility in thousands of highly varied applications in every section of modern society, including consumer electronics , information technology, science, medicine, industry, law enforcement , entertainment, and ...
What are the characteristics of laser light?
You can find a number of characteristics of laser light over ordinary light source:
- Coherence
- Directionality
- Monochromatic
- High intensity
What does the acronym LASER stand for?
The word "laser" is an acronym for " light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation ". The first laser was built in 1960 by Theodore H. Maiman at Hughes Research Laboratories, based on theoretical work by Charles Hard Townes and Arthur Leonard Schawlow.
What is laser Short answer?
The Short Answer: A laser produces a very narrow beam of light that is useful in many technologies and instruments. The letters in the word laser stand for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. The letters in the word laser stand for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.
What does laser mean in physics?
light amplification by the stimulated emission of radiationLaser is an acronym for “light amplification by the stimulated emission of radiation.”
What does a in laser stand for?
Light amplification by stimulated emission of radiationLaser / Full name
What are the 3 types of lasers?
These lasers are classified as:Atomic gas lasers which is He-Ne laser.Molecular gas lasers which is CO2 laser.Ion gas lasers that are Argon laser.
How do lasers work physics?
A laser is created when electrons in the atoms in optical materials like glass, crystal, or gas absorb the energy from an electrical current or a light. That extra energy “excites” the electrons enough to move from a lower-energy orbit to a higher-energy orbit around the atom's nucleus.
What is laser in physics BYJU's?
The full form of LASER is Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. LASER is a type of electromagnetic machine that can emit light that is an Electromagnetic Radiation. Such lights are both coherent and very weak. They are produced by a method named as optical amplification.
What is another word for laser?
What is another word for laser?beamrayfluorescenceeffulgencephosphorescenceglistenglisterlambencyluminosityrefulgence57 more rows
What is the acronym of NASA?
NASANASA / Short name
What does the acronym laser stand for quizlet?
Terms in this set (27) What does the acronym LASER stand for? light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.
Is laser visible light?
Ultraviolet radiation for lasers consists of wavelengths between 180 and 400 nm. The visible region consists of radiation with wavelengths between 400 and 700 nm. This is the portion we call visible light....LASER TYPEWAVELENGTH (Nanometers)Carbon Dioxide1060018 more rows
Is LED light the same as laser?
The biggest difference between LED and laser lights is the way each one functions. LEDs have a higher output with wider bandwidths, meaning that they can produce a broad range of less-concentrated light. Lasers have a lesser output and a small bandwidth, produced with a tiny pinpoint of light.
Do lasers use crystals?
Laser crystals are optical crystals – typically single crystals (monocrystalline optical materials) – which are used as gain media for solid-state lasers. In most cases, they are doped with either trivalent rare earth ions or transition metal ions....RP Services and ToolsConsultingSoftware
What does laser mean in science?
What Is a Laser? A laser produces a very narrow beam of light that is useful in many technologies and instruments. The letters in the word laser stand for L ight A mplification by S timulated E mission of R adiation. The letters in the word laser stand for L ight A mplification by S timulated E mission of R adiation.
What does the letter "laser" mean?
The letters in the word laser stand for L ight A mplification by S timulated E mission of R adiation. A laser is an unusual light source. It is quite different from a light bulb or a flash light. Lasers produce a very narrow beam of light. This type of light is useful for lots of technologies and instruments—even some that you might use at home!
How are lasers used in science?
NASA missions have used lasers to study the gases in Earth’s atmosphere. Lasers have also been used in instruments that map the surfaces of planets, moons, and asteroids. Scientists have even measured the distance between the moon and Earth using lasers! By measuring the amount of time it takes for a laser beam to travel to the moon and back, ...
Why are lasers so narrow?
Lasers produce a narrow beam of light in which all of the light waves have very similar wavelengths. The laser’s light waves travel together with their peaks all lined up , or in phase. This is why laser beams are very narrow, very bright, and can be focused into a very tiny spot.
Why do lasers travel so long?
Because laser light stays focused and does not spread out much (like a flashlight would), laser beams can travel very long distances. They can also concentrate a lot of energy on a very small area. This animation shows how a laser can focus all of its light into one small point. Credit: NASA. Lasers have many uses.
What is laser used for?
They can also be designed to help in delicate surgeries. Lasers are used for recording and retrieving information. They are used in communications and in carrying TV and internet signals.
Which light has a shorter wavelength?
For example, blue light has a shorter wavelength than red light. Sunlight—and the typical light from a lightbulb—is made up of light with many different wavelengths. Our eyes see this mixture of wavelengths as white light. This animation shows a representation of the different wavelengths present in sunlight.
What is a visible laser called?
For a while, the visible laser was actually called an optical maser, but that usage has fallen well out of common usage.) Similar methods have been used to create devices, such as an "atomic laser," which emit other types of particles in coherent states.
How does a laser work?
In simplest terms, a laser uses light to stimulate the electrons in a "gain medium" into an excited state (called optical pumping). When the electrons collapse into the lower-energy unexcited state, they emit photons.
What is laser beam?
A laser is a device which is built on the principles of quantum mechanics to create a beam of light where all of the photons are in a coherent state — usually with the same frequency and phase. (Most light sources emit incoherent light, where the phase varies randomly.)
What does "lase" mean in science?
There is also a verb form of laser, "to lase," which means "to produce laser light" or "to apply laser light to.". Also Known As: Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation, maser, optical maser. Cite this Article.
Who invented the laser?
Who Developed the Laser. This process is based on work by Albert Einstein in 1917 and many others. Physicists Charles H. Townes, Nicolay Basov, and Aleksandr Prokhorov received the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics for their development of the earliest laser prototypes.
Does a laser emit light?
The "light" of a laser does not need to be in the visible spectrum but can be any sort of electromagnetic radiation. A maser, for example, is a type of laser that emits microwave radiation instead of visible light. (The maser was actually developed before the more general laser.
What is laser light?
Lasers make very pure, intense light. Remember that light is made of waves. Normal light has many waves all bouncing around at different times. It looks like a choppy lake on a stormy day. Lasers are different. In a laser, all the waves bounce at the same time. The light is called coherent.
How does a laser work?
A laser works just like a fluorescent light. Inside a laser there is a tube filled with gas. When electricity flows through the gas it lights up. By using mirrors inside the tube, the light is made to bounce back and forth many times making it stronger and coherent.
What is a light pipe?
A light pipe is clear plastic or glass. When light shines into it, the sides of the light pipe act like many tiny mirrors. The laser beam reflects off the sides and can travel from one end of the tube to the other before it gets out. It can even travel in a curve, something light can’t normally do.
Can you see laser light?
Light can only be seen if it reflects off of something so you can’t normally see laser light . If there is some dust in the air, then a very fine laser beam can be seen. Another way to see a laser beam is to shine it into a light pipe (or light guide). A light pipe is clear plastic or glass.
What is the purpose of lasers?
Lasers. Lasers are light beams that are powerful enough to travel miles into the sky and cut through lumps of metal. Although they seem like a recent invention, they have been with us for half a century. The first practical laser was built by Theodore H. Maiman at Hughes Research Laboratories in 1960. At the time, lasers were an example of cutting ...
What are lasers used for?
Since then they have become ubiquitous finding utility in various applications of modern society ranging from consumer electronics to the military.
What is the difference between a laser and a flashlight?
Difference between a Flashlight and Laser. Light waves in a flashlight beam are all jumbled up ( the crests of some beams mixed with the troughs of others.) Light waves in a laser beam are aligned ( the crest of every wave is lined up with the crest of every other wave.)
When was the first laser invented?
The first practical laser was built by Theodore H. Maiman at Hughes Research Laboratories in 1960. At the time, lasers were an example of cutting edge technology. Today, we have lasers at our home, offices and shopping centres. Whether we realise it or not, all of us use lasers all day long.
Overview
A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The first laser was built in 1960 by Theodore H. Maiman at Hughes Research Laboratories, based on theoretical work by Charles Hard Townes and Arthur Le…
Fundamentals
Lasers are distinguished from other light sources by their coherence. Spatial (or transverse) coherence is typically expressed through the output being a narrow beam, which is diffraction-limited. Laser beams can be focused to very tiny spots, achieving a very high irradiance, or they can have very low divergence in order to concentrate their power at a great distance. Temporal (or longitudinal) coherence implies a polarized wave at a single frequency, whose phase is correlate…
Design
A laser consists of a gain medium, a mechanism to energize it, and something to provide optical feedback. The gain medium is a material with properties that allow it to amplify light by way of stimulated emission. Light of a specific wavelength that passes through the gain medium is amplified (increases in power). Feedback enables stimulated emission to amplify predominantly the o…
Laser physics
Electrons and how they interact with electromagnetic fields are important in our understanding of chemistry and physics.
In the classical view, the energy of an electron orbiting an atomic nucleus is larger for orbits further from the nucleus of an atom. However, quantum mechanical effects force electrons to take on discrete positions in orbitals. Th…
Continuous and pulsed modes of operation
A laser can be classified as operating in either continuous or pulsed mode, depending on whether the power output is essentially continuous over time or whether its output takes the form of pulses of light on one or another time scale. Of course even a laser whose output is normally continuous can be intentionally turned on and off at some rate in order to create pulses of light. …
History
In 1917, Albert Einstein established the theoretical foundations for the laser and the maser in the paper Zur Quantentheorie der Strahlung (On the Quantum Theory of Radiation) via a re-derivation of Max Planck's law of radiation, conceptually based upon probability coefficients (Einstein coefficients) for the absorption, spontaneous emission, and stimulated emission of electromagneti…
Types and operating principles
Following the invention of the HeNe gas laser, many other gas discharges have been found to amplify light coherently. Gas lasers using many different gases have been built and used for many purposes. The helium–neon laser (HeNe) is able to operate at a number of different wavelengths, however the vast majority are engineered to lase at 633 nm; these relatively low cost but highly coherent …
Uses
When lasers were invented in 1960, they were called "a solution looking for a problem". Since then, they have become ubiquitous, finding utility in thousands of highly varied applications in every section of modern society, including consumer electronics, information technology, science, medicine, industry, law enforcement, entertainment, and the military. Fiber-optic communication using l…
How A Laser Works
Who Developed The Laser
- This process is based on work by Albert Einstein in 1917 and many others. Physicists Charles H. Townes, Nicolay Basov, and Aleksandr Prokhorov received the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics for their development of the earliest laser prototypes. Alfred Kastler received the 1966 Nobel Prize in Physicsfor his 1950 description of optical pumping. On May 16, 1960, Theodore Maiman demon…
Other Types of Laser
- The "light" of a laser does not need to be in the visible spectrum but can be any sort of electromagnetic radiation. A maser, for example, is a type of laser that emits microwave radiationinstead of visible light. (The maser was actually developed before the more general laser. For a while, the visible laser was actually called an optical maser, but that usage has fallen well …
to lase?
- There is also a verb form of laser, "to lase," which means "to produce laser light" or "to apply laser light to." Also Known As: Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation, maser, optical maser