Lasers, solid-state neodymium laser

BNCP and its analogs are sensitive to light and may be detonated by laser pulses. Initial studies [43] report use of a variety of laser sources at 800 and 1,060 nm, with later activities, studying the sensitivity of pressed powders to a single pulse, using solid state neodymium laser (1,060 nm, 1.5 J, 2 ms, beam diameter 1 mm) [44]. BNCP analogs are evaluated as alternatives to substances such as hydrazino tetrazole mercury(II) perchlorate which is probably the most sensitive substance with respect to laser pulses (initiation time around 30 ns at 1.10 " J) [39]. 

Solid-State Lasers. Sohd-state lasers (37) use glassy or crystalline host materials containing some active species. The term soHd-state as used in connection with lasers does not imply semiconductors rather it appHes to soHd materials containing impurity ions. The impurity ions are typically ions of the transition metals, such as chromium, or ions of the rare-earth series, such as neodymium (see Lanthanides). Most often, the soHd material is in the form of a cylindrical rod with the ends poHshed flat and parallel, but a variety of other forms have been used, including slabs and cylindrical rods with the ends cut at Brewster s angle. 

The term solid-state laser refers to lasers that use solids as their active medium. However, two kinds of materials are required a host crystal and an impurity dopant. The dopant is selected for its ability to form a population inversion. The Nd YAG laser, for example, uses a small number of neodymium ions as a dopant in the solid YAG (yttrium-aluminum-gar-net) crystal. Solid-state lasers are pumped with an outside source such as a flash lamp, arc lamp, or another laser. This energy is then absorbed by the dopant, raising the atoms to an excited state. Solid-state lasers are sought after because the active medium is relatively easy to handle and store. Also, because the wavelength they produce is within the transmission range of glass, they can be used with fiber optics. 

Solid-state lasers using substitutional neodymium (Nd3+ ions) as the active defects are widely available. Practical lasers contain about 1% Nd3+ dopant. The most common host materials are glass, yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG), Y3A15012, and calcium tungstate, CaW04. In the crystalline host structures, the defects responsible for amplification are NdY and Ndca-... 

Solid-state lasers, such as the ruby laser, neodymium doped yttrium aluminium garnet (Nd-YAG) laser and the titanium doped sapphire laser. 

The fluorescence lifetime, r, of Nd + in Ca3Ga2Ge30i2 crystal (a solid state laser) is measured as a function of the neodymium concentration, Cnij, giving... 

The most important application of the nonlinear absorption characteristics of dye solutions is the so-called passive Q-switching of solid-state lasers, in particular ruby lasers emitting at 694.3 nm and neodymium lasers emitting at 1.064 /tm. 

Neodymium-YAG (Nd YAG) are solid-state lasers. The YAG, or yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Y3AI5O12), in rod shape is host to Nd3+ ions, which actually do the lasing. The lasers are made in both CW and pulsed formats. 

The neodymium laser is popular because it is a solid state laser. Trivalent neodymium ions are incorporated in a host crystal or glass, at about one atomic percent doping. In the solid state, high concentrations of ions are available as opposed to the gaseous state. Further the host crystal provides mechanical strength and chemical inertness. 

See argon ion, helium-cadmium, chemical, CO2 copper vapor, diode, dye, excimer, free electron, free-running, gas, helium-neon, krypton ion, mode-locked, neodymium, nitrogen, Q-switched, solid state, and ruby laser. 

Before the invention of lasers in 1960 (Maiman), radiation emitted by the mercury arc, especially at 435.8 and 404.7 nm, has been u.sed for exciting Raman spectra (Brandmiiller and Moser, 1962). Today, most types of lasers ( continuous wave (cw) and pulsed, gas, solid state, semiconductor, etc.), with emission lines from the UV to the NIR region, are used as radiation sources for the excitation of Raman spectra. Especially argon ion lasers with lines at 488 and 515 nm are presently employed. NIR Raman spectra are excited mainly with a neodymium doped yttrium-aluminum garnet laser (Nd YAG), emitting at 1064 nm. 

In a solid state laser, the active species is distributed throughout a solid, usually crystalline, material, although glass can also be used as a host. The lasers are robust and frequently tunable, though heat dissipation can sometimes be an issue. Certain types of solid state crystals, for example neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd YAG), can be pumped by diode lasers instead of by other lasers or by flashlamps, which is often the case for other materials. Such diode-pumped, solid state systems are reliable, economical, compact, and easy to operate—in fact, many commercial systems are turnkey, needing only to be plugged in and turned on to operate. 

J.R. Lu, et al., Neodymium doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Y3A15012) nanocrystalline ceramics - a new generation of solid state laser and optical materials.. /. Alloys Compd. 341(1-2), 220-225 (2002). 

The neodymium (NiF ) solid-state laser four-level lasers... 

Most of the interest in Y3AI5O12 (YAG) has been in its application as a host material for rare-earth ion lasers. As of 1981, Kaminskii, in his book Laser Crystals, lists 45 rare-earth ion lasers with YAG as the host material. The neodymium YAG laser is, beyond a doubt, the most popular solid-state laser in existence today (of the 45 lasers listed by Kaminskii, 23 are with neodymium). 

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