Gas Lasers

(part-II)

Reference:
R. F. Walter, “Gas Lasers (Optical Science and Engineering)”, CRC Press, 2006.

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Layout
• Argon Ion laser
• Krypton Ion laser
• 𝑁2 (nitrogen) laser
• Excimer laser
• He-Cd laser
• Copper vapor laser
• Gold vapor laser

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Aim
• To have a reasonable know how of some particular LASERs.
• To investigate and analyze the various types of LASERs and to compare their design parameters and
functions.
• To understand the design parameters and their corresponding effects in LASERs.
• To have the basic idea of design optimization.
• To cross relate and compare various types of LASERs.

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11.3 ION LASERS
• Laser transitions in atomic lasers, as He–Ne lasers occur between levels of atoms.
There is another class of lasers, in which lasing exists between excited levels of
ions. These lasers are called Ion lasers.

• The ion lasers operate on many high-power transitions (compared with the output
power of He–Ne lasers) discretely covering the spectrum from UV, through
visible, to NIR.
• Two of the most representative ion laser media are based on heavy rare gases—
Argon (Ar) and Krypton (Kr).
• In practice, all commercially available ion lasers are Ar, Kr, or their mixtures.

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Ion Lasers
The ion laser is still an atom laser, but it differs significantly in physics and technology. The main idea of ion lasers is shown
in Figure 11.10a. Generally, the laser transitions can occur between levels of single or multiple ionized atoms.
• Figure 11.10b gives a terminology of spectral ranges of excited atoms (AI), singly (AII or A+), doubly (AIII or A++), or
triply (AIV or A3+) ionized atoms. To obtain a large number of excited ions, most of the atoms have to be ionized. Hence,
the high current of the discharge has to flow over the medium to get population inversion, and gain conditions in an ion
laser.

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Typical ion laser discharge tube

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11.3.1 CONSTRUCTION AND SUPPLY SYSTEM OF ION LASERS

• The ion laser is mainly DC supplied.

• The qualitative difference between an atom and ion lasers is current density. Ion lasers operate at current
densities up to 10𝐴/𝑚𝑚2 compared with a current density of to10𝑚𝐴/𝑚𝑚2 for He–Ne lasers. Hence, the
temperature conditions make the construction of the ion laser tube with DC discharge much more
complicated.
• The view of a typical ion laser discharge tube is shown in Figure 11.11. The discharge is maintained between
electrodes, where the cathode has to be additionally heated (because of high discharge current). Therefore, it
requires effective cooling of the plasma discharge.
• An extra ceramic or glass tube forms the space for water-cooling through an external chiller.
• The construction has an additional concentric structure of magnets or solenoids as a source of axial magnetic
field.
• The high current discharge is developed between electrodes along bored disks.
• The space in a line array of metal disks (copper–tungsten or in the past—graphite) is centered coaxially to a
ceramic tube (beryllium or alumina) as shown in Figure 11.11b.
• The copper–tungsten disks form the main cooling structure.

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11.3.1 CONSTRUCTION AND SUPPLY SYSTEM OF ION LASERS (contd.)

• The copper–tungsten disks form the main cooling structure. These are electrically isolated from each other
and inserted into a ceramic tube.
• Because of high current flow, the electrons push neutral atoms along the tube toward the anode. The average
velocity of the main stream of discharge inside the tube can reach a value of couple of tens of centimeters per
second. The consequence of this is gas separation to the opposite ends of the tube. It causes a pressure
gradient along the tube, and it is a source of plasma instabilities.
• To avoid this problem, the gradient pressure is balanced by gas-return holes in the cooling copper disks
(Figure 11.11b).
• In this way, the bypass flow equalizes the pressure along the tube. The dimensions of the disks, holes in disks,
space between disks, and their mutual positions are very important subjects for optimization conditions.
• The structure has to give homogeneous and stable discharge without its jumping from one disk to another. The
ratio of the central hole diameter to disk thickness should be large enough for efficient gas-return circulation.

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Ion Laser- Operation and Optimization
• There are four candidates as ion media: Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe. However, a commercial level has been obtained
only by Ar and Kr, and their mixtures. There is no need to use extra buffer gases in ion lasers because of the
direct excitation of upper lasing levels by an impact electron effect.
• The laser tube is filled with relatively low gas pressure. Typical pressures for ion lasers are around or below 1
Torr, usually a few hundred of mTorrs. High current flow (tens of amperes), pressure, and the length of the
discharge in the tube determine the voltage applied between electrodes. For example, a typical voltage of
200–300 V applied to a 50 cm long tube causes a flow of 20–30 A current. Hence, the power delivered into
discharge reaches a value of 5–10 kW. The discharge resistance is quite low and a tube has to be connected
with a ballast resistor of a few ohms in order to obtain stable operation.
• The efficiency of the ion laser increases when a magnetic field is applied along the axis of a tube.
• The construction has an additional external composition of solid magnets or solenoids as a source of an axial
magnetic field. Because of a magnetic field, the trajectory of ion beams spirals, this mechanism prevents ions
to contact metal disks. The axial magnetic field is optimized for operation conditions (pressure, discharge
current) and its typical value is below 0.1 T (Tesla).
• It is clear that DC power supplies, water cooling systems, and magnetic field supply make the ion laser a
rather large device. It is particularly difficult to minimize dimensions of the power supply and cooling system.

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 11.3.2 PHYSICS OF ION LASERS—AR ION LASERS
• The main mechanism of the ion excitation in ion lasers is electron impact. The lasing species (in this case, an
ion) is excited by direct collisions of neutral atoms with highly energetic electrons or by collisions of ions
with energetic electrons. Following is the list of elementary mechanisms of Ar ion excitations (Figure 11.12).
These mechanisms can be symbolically written as reactions that are shown as follows :

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11.3.2 PHYSICS OF ION LASERS—AR ION LASERS

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 Excitation schemes

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Excitation schemes

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