New era is the era of tech. Technology can be a powerful tool for transforming learning. It can help affirm and advance relationships between educators and students, reinvent our approaches to learning and collaboration, shrink long-standing equity and accessibility gaps, and adapt learning experiences to meet the needs of all learners.
What is ND:YAG Laser?
Nd:YAG laser is the short form used for Neodymium-doped Yttrium Aluminium Garnet. It is a solid state and 4 level system as it consists of 4 energy levels. Nd ion is rare earth metal and it is doped with solid state host crystal like yttrium aluminium garnet (YAG – Y3Al5O12) to form Nd:YAG laser.
How does a Nd-YAG Laser works?
Nd: YAG is a four level laser system. The pumping of neodymium ions to upper state (E4) is done using krypton arc lamp. Thus optical pumping is used in this laser. The light of wavelength 7200 to 8200 angstrosm excites the ground state(E1) neodymium ions to E4 states. From E4 states, they make a non-radiative transition and come to E3 state,E3 is the metastable state so population inversion is achieved between the levels E3 and E2.
After this the process stimulatesd emission will occur. Thus, the laser emission will occur in between the levels E3 and E2 with the process of stimulated emission. So E3 is the upper laser level and E2 is the lower laser level. Then the neodymium ions come back to ground state E1 finally giving the Laser emission having wavelength of 1060 nanometer which occurs in infrared range of spectrum
Applications of Lasers?
Laser have found wide applications in following fields:
Medicine : Surgeons use laser to burn up brain tumors and remove tattoos. Blood vessels are reconnected by laser welding. He-Ne laser is used to stimulate nerves in the wrist and ankles for treatment of paralysis. Eye surgeons use laser to perform operation of common eye diseases e.g., glaucoma, cataract and diabetic retinopathy. Laser is becoming popular for treating some disorders and to relief pain.
Material Processing: For mechanical and Metallurgical engineers, a knowledge of laser technology is of great use, laser can cut, drill, weld, remove metal from surfaces and perform their operations even at surface in accessible by mechanical methods.
Communication: Laser play an essential role in using thin strands of glass fibers to transmit light signal that can be received and translated in to communication format. With the help of laser beam, the distance between the earth and moon has been measured within accuracy of an inch. Laser can be used in computers to transmit an entire memory bank from one computer to another.
Military Applications: Due to great quality of energy which the laser can can concentrate, it has been mentioned as potential ‘death day’ type of incendiary weapon for use against energy missiles much research has been done in the field of laser weaponry e.g., development of higher energy output devices at great efficiency and active destructive effects of laser beam.
Use of Laser in Optical fiber communication and how does it works?
Because laser light stays focused and does not spread out much (like a flashlight would). Laser beams can travel very long distances without the loss of much energy if its consideration is taken in account.
The fiber optics cable is made up of two separate parts. The main part of the cable—in the middle—is called the core and that’s the bit the light travels through. Wrapped around the outside of the core is another layer of glass called the cladding. The cladding’s job is to keep the light signals inside the core. Light travels down a fiber optic cable by bouncing repeatedly off the walls. Each tiny photon bounces down the pipe. Now you might expect a beam of light, traveling in a clear glass pipe, simply to leak out of the edges. But if light hits glass at a really shallow angle (less than 42 degrees), it reflects back in again—as though the glass were really a mirror. This phenomenon is called total internal reflection. It’s one of the things that keeps light inside the pipe.
Why is Laser Optical fiber preferred for communication over other modern communication systems? (Conclusion)
Laser light is used for fiber optics for the simple reason that it is a single wavelength light source. Sunlight or the light emitted by a light bulb is a mixture of many different wavelengths of light. Optical fiber communication are the technology of transmitting information through optical fibers using laser beam inside them. Huge data rates are achived with modern technology with signal security as well Fiber optics send information coded in a beam of light( Laser) down a glass or plastic pipe, apart from offering much higher capacity, optical fibers suffer less from interference, so offer better signal (picture and sound) quality; they need less amplification to boost signals so they travel over long distances; and they’re altogether more cost effective. It is able to carry significantly more data than cables or metal wires and that too with a faster data transmission rate with minimum electrical hazards. It has smaller physical size and is less susceptible to data loss. Unlike the metal cables these laser guided optical communication system are resistant to radiation and other natural variation like temperature etc.