Sam's Laser FAQ, Copyright © 1994-2021,
Samuel M. Goldwasser, All Rights Reserved.
I may be contacted via the
Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ
Email Links Page.
<==== Sam's Laser FAQ ====>
Comprehensive Table of Contents
Links to Every Chapter and Section
(03-Jan-21)
Reproduction of this document in whole or in part is permitted
if both of the following conditions are satisfied:
- This notice is included in its entirety at the beginning.
- There is no charge except to cover the costs of copying.
Introduction
This is a machine (script) generated set of links to every chapter and section
of Sam's Laser FAQ. Searching from within your Web browser (e.g., CTRL-F in
Netscape) will enable you to go direct to whatever it is that interests you
without dealing with all the intermediate steps. OK, so this may not be as
good as a real search engine but should be better than nothing. If someone
wants to volunteer to adapt an existing utility to do this in a more
sophisticated way, I won't object too strenuously. However, it must be a
program or script that runs locally on any likely host OS and there must not
be any advertising. :) (Note: Some systems apparently will not support cgi
scripts due to security issues.)
Note that the
Drexel Mirror
Site does include a search engine for the entire S.E.R FAQ so that
may be preferred.
In order to guarantee compatibility, the version number of this file
(lasertoc.htm) and the one in Sam's Laser FAQ Welcome
Page must be the same.
The Three Letter Abbreviations (TLAs) :-) on each link line below refer to the
last three letters of the name of the file containing the specific chapter or
section. Chapters and the start of major sections are in bold face;
others are in normal type and their links are indented.
Note: The links below open up a single new browser window
so the Comprehensive Table of Contents will remain present, sort of like
flexible frames. Comments, pro or con, welcome.
Welcome Page, Expanded ToC, Comprehensive ToC
Sam's Laser FAQ Main Table of Contents
- Foreword - How Sam's Laser FAQ evolved into what it is today and other tid-bits.
- Preface - Author & copyright, DISCLAIMER, acknowledgments, requests.
- Introduction - Scope, purpose, and organization of this document, related information.
- What is a Laser and How Does It Work? - The laser age, principles, types, on-line tutorial, lasers as a hobby.
- Laser Safety - Hazards to vision, other issues, 100 W light bulb versus 1 mW laser, safety classifications, links.
- Items of Interest - Laser power meters, Fabry-Perot and DFB types, wavelengths, speckle, collimation, etc.
- Laser Instruments and Applications - Rangefinders, interferometers, gyros, light shows, laser TV, Fourier optics.
- Laser Experiments and Projects - Basic to advanced including diffraction, interference, holography, display, more.
- Laser Information Resources - Books, magazines, collections, patents; Web newsgroups, lists, forums, links.
- Laser and Parts Sources - Walk-in, mail order, high quality, surplus, component and system manufacturers.
- Diode Lasers - Basic considerations, visible and IR (e.g., from CD player) types, testing, visibility, collimation.
- Diode Laser Power Supplies - Drive requirements, modulation, sample circuits for low and high power devices.
- Helium-Neon Lasers - Theory (simple), operation, sealed tube structure, characteristics, power requirements.
- Commercial Unstabilized HeNe Lasers - Specific models from Melles Griot, Spectra-Physics, Coherent, more.
- Stabilized HeNe Lasers - Intrinsic and extrinsic locking techniques, performance, design, implementation, testing.
- Commercial Stabilized HeNe Lasers - Specific Models from Hewlett Packard/Agilent, Zygo, Teletrac/Axsys, more.
- HeNe Laser Testing, Adjustment, Repair - Problems, testing, mirror alignment, collimation, polarization, refilling.
- HeNe Laser Power Supplies - Requirements, types, plug-n-lase, matching tube to PS, testing, problems, repair.
- HeNe Laser Power Supply Design - AC line powered, low voltage inverters, starters, regulators, modulators.
- Complete HeNe Laser Power Supply Schematics - more than 35 AC line and 25 inverter types, most you can build.
- Argon/Krypton Ion Lasers - General features and characteristics, basic power requirements, specific examples.
- Ar/Kr Ion Laser Testing, Maintenance, Repair - Tube life, problems, testing, general maintenance, alignment.
- Ar/Kr Ion Laser Power Supplies - Basic requirements, types, specific safety issues, testing, problems, repair.
- Ar/Kr Ion Laser Power Supply Design - AC line front-ends, igniters, linear and switchmode regulators, protection.
- Complete Ar/Kr Ion Laser Power Supply Schematics - Both linear and switching types using common parts.
- Carbon Dioxide Lasers - Characteristics and requirements, applications, small sealed tubes, gas fill, optics.
- Helium-Cadmium Lasers - Characteristics, power supplies, HeCd laser head and PSU troubleshooting.
- Solid State Lasers - Characteristics, types, pulsed/CW, Q-switching, frequency changing, common SS lasers.
- Commercial SS Lasers - Hughes M60, SSY1, C215/315/415M, C532, uGreen, MG-BLD/GSD, LWE-221, more.
- SS Laser Testing, Adjustment, Repair - Cleaning, cooling, alignment, tuning, beam quality and energy.
- SS Laser Power Supplies - Capacitor chargers, PFNs, PSUs using photoflash units, sources for special parts.
- Complete SS Laser Power Supply Schematics - Circuits for the Hughes ruby and YAG lasers, uYAG, more.
- Amateur Laser Construction - Resources, safety, the home laser lab, supplies, vacuums, glass working, more.
- Vacuum Technology for Home-Built Gas Lasers - Vacuum basics, pumps, gauges, components, testing, repair.
- The Home-Built Laser Assembly and Power Supply - Structure, optics, mirror mounts, electrical components.
- Home-Built Laser Types, Information, and Links - Introduction to laser descriptions and "Light and its Uses".
- Home-Built Helium-Neon (HeNe) Laser - Much like the original gas laser from 1962 produces a red beam.
- Home-Built Pulsed Argon and/or Krypton (Ar/Kr) Ion Laser - A similar gas laser produces multiple color beam.
- Home-Built Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Laser - High power (10 to 50 W or more) flowing gas infra-red laser.
- Home-Built Nitrogen (N2) Laser - Pulsed ultraviolet laser that is easy to construct without fancy equipment.
- Home-Built Helium-Mercury (HeHg) and Other He-Metal-Vapor Lasers - Operation at multiple visible wavelengths.
- Home-Built Copper Chloride (CuCl) and Copper Bromide (CuBr) Laser - Pulsed intense yellow and green beam.
- Home-Built Dye Laser - Generate almost any color of the spectrum depending on which chemical dye is used.
- Home-Built Pulsed Multiple Gas (PMG) Laser - Simple design uses O2, Xe, Ar, Kr, or Ne; maybe even plain air.
- Home-Built Pulsed Solid State (PSS) Laser - Basic ruby or Nd:YAG laser system using flashlamp pumping.
- Home-Built Diode Pumped Solid State (DPSS) Laser - Vanadate with KTP SHG for 1 mW to 5 W green output.
- Author and Copyright
- Use Without Permission or Acknowledgment Alerts
- DISCLAIMER
- Acknowledgments
- More on My Background and What I Do for a Real Job
- Sam's Laser Lab and Lasers
- Please Don't Scrap Your Unwanted or Broken Lasers or Laser Related Equipment and Parts!
- Request for Computer Resources in Support of Sam's Laser FAQ Development
- Scope and Purpose of This Document
- Organization of This Document
- Related Information
- A Brief Introduction to Lasers Principles and Structure
- The Laser Age
- General Physical Characteristics of Lasers
- Basic Laser Operation
- On-line Introductions to Lasers
- Characteristics of Some Common Lasers
- The Largest and Smallest Lasers
- Lasers for the Hobbyist and Experimenter
- Why Do People Get Into Lasers?
- Commercial Lasers Versus Amateur Laser Construction
- General Comments on Lasers as a Hobby
- Database of Equipment Containing Interesting Lasers
Laser Safety
Items of Interest
- Introduction to Items of Interest
- Brief Glossary of Common Laser Terms
- International System of Units (SI) Prefixes
- Web Site With Some Common Optical Calculations
- Laser Power, Photons, How Much Light?, Beam Profile
- About Laser Power Ratings
- Radiometry Primer: What is a Lumen, Lux, Nit, Candela?
- Conservation of Radiance
- So How Many Photons are Coming Out of My Laser?
- How Much Light Does a 5 W Laser Really Produce?
- How Dim a Laser Can be Seen by the Naked Eye?
- Laser Powered LEDs
- Pressure of Light
- Interaction of Beams of Light?
- Measuring the Beam Profile
- Photographing Laser Beams
- Laser Beam Power Inside and Outside the Laser
- Laser Power Meters
- What Makes a Laser Power Meter So Expensive?
- Types of Semiconductor Light Sensors
- Thermal Laser Power and Energy Meters
- Measuring Power of Short Pulses
- Extending the Range of a Laser Power Meter 1
- Extending the Range of a Laser Power Meter 2
- Home-Built Laser Power Meters
- Sam's Super Cheap and Dirty Laser Power Meter (SG-PM0)
- Simple Photodiode Sensor Units
- Sam's Photodiode Preamp 1 (SG-PP1)
- Sam's Dual Photodiode Preamp 1 (SG-PD1)
- Sam's Laser Power Meter 1 (SG-PM1)
- Sam's Laser Power Meter 2 (SG-PM2)
- Simple Laser Power Meter Using Photocell
- Comments on Home-Built Laser Power Meters
- Effect of Beam Size and Angle on Power Meter Reading
- Using a Photographic Exposure Meter as a Laser Power Meter
- Simple Thermal Laser Power Meters
- Photodetectors for Low Power Near-IR
- Commercial Laser Power Meters
- Coherent LaserCheck Hand-Held Laser Power Meter
- Repair of the Coherent LaserCheck
- Crash and Reboot of Coherent LaserCheck
- Coherent FieldMaster Laser Power and Energy Meter
- Spiricon MPE-2500 Laser Power and Energy Meter
- Newport Model 820 Laser Power Meter
- Sensor for a UDT Instruments Model 351 Power Meter
- Scientech Thermal Laser Power and Energy Meters
- EG&G Model 460-1A Laser Power Meter
- UDT Sensors Photops Photodiode/Preamp Hybrids
- Spectra-Physics Model 405 Pyroelectric Laser Power Meter
- Sper Scientific Model 840011 Pocket Laser Power Meter
- About Those IR Indicator Cards
- Gain, Stability, Efficiency, Life, FB versus DFB Laser
- Factors Affecting Laser Resonator Performance
- Common Laser Resonator Configurations
- Resonator Gain and Losses
- Resonator Stability
- Cavity Extension/FSR Reduction using Faraday Rotator
- Cavity Length Versus TEM00 Power
- Q Factor and Finesse of a Laser Resonator
- Laser System Efficiency
- Laser System Life
- Difference between Fabry-Perot and DFB lasers
- Ring Lasers
- What is Spatial Hole Burning?
- How to Determine Possible Lasing Wavelengths of a Laser Cavity
- Determining which Spectral Lines will Lase
- Changes to Spectra When Lasing is Present
- The Single Pass Gain Test
- Performing the Single Pass Gain Test
- Laser Relaxation Oscillations
- Pulsed/Average Power, Q-Switching, Ultra-Short Pulse Lasers
- Average Power from Pulsed Laser
- What is Q-Switching?
- Ultra-Short Pulse Lasers
- Air Breakdown
- Laser Optics
- Mirrors used for Lasers and Laser Applications
- Estimating Dielectric Mirror Spectral Reflectivity
- Commercial Laser Mirrors
- Melles Griot Laser Cavity Mirrors
- Spectra-Physics Laser Cavity Mirrors
- Adjustable Laser Mirror Mounts
- Mirrors for Ultra-Short Pulses
- Radioactive Laser Mirrors?
- Wavelength Selective Filters
- Neutral Density Filters
- What is a Brewster Window?
- George's Comments on Brewster Windows
- Index of Refraction and Brewster Angles for Various Materials
- Polarizing Materials and Optics
- Phil's Comments on Polarization
- Effects of Reflection on Polarization
- What is a Waveplate?
- Summary of Waveplate Behavior
- Adjustable QWP and HWP Waveplate Setup:
- Optical Isolators
- What is an Etalon?
- Perpendicular Uncoated Windows in a Low Gain Laser
- Why Laser Optics Collect Loads of Dust
- Variable Reflectance, Peak Wavelength, or Attenuation Using Dielectric Mirrors
- Comments on Optics for CW and Pulsed Lasers
- Laser Wavelengths
- Wavelengths of Some Common Lasers
- Dye Laser Dyes and Peak Emission Wavelengths
- What Determines the Wavelength of a Laser?
- Determining the Wavelength of a Laser
- Using a Diffraction Grating to Check Laser Wavelength(s)
- The Iodine Vapor Cell Wavelength Reference
- Spectral Differences Based on Isotope
- Wavelength versus Frequency
- Laser Visibility and Color
- Relative Visibility of Light at Various Wavelengths
- Comments on Beam Visibility
- Color Versus Wavelength
- Matching RGB Values to Wavelength
- Reproducing Visible Spectra
- Comments on Various Color Lasers
- Why Skyward-Directed Laser Beams Appear to Terminate in Mid-Air
- Using a Laser Pointer to Find Objects in the Night Sky
- Laser Beam Spectral and Other Effects
- Fluorescence in Common Materials
- Laser Light Reflects as Different Color(s)
- Laser Darkens Luminous Sign?
- The Bursting Balloon Inside a Balloon Trick
- Speckle, Coherence, Stability, Polarization, Noise
- What is Laser Speckle?
- Laser Speckle from Laser Pointer and Candle?
- Controlling Laser Speckle
- Reducing Laser Speckle in an Imaging System
- Comments on Spatial and Temporal Coherence
- Determining Coherence Length
- Testing a Laser for Single Frequency Operation
- Laser Instability
- Polarization
- Amplitude Noise
- Beam Collimation, Divergence, Focus
- How the Beam Diameter Varies with Distance
- Rayleigh Length
- What is M-Square (M2)?
- Modifying or Improving Collimation
- Problems with Laser Beam Divergence or Focus
- More on Laser Collimation and Focus
- Some Rules-of-Thumb for Spot Size and Divergence
- Coupling a Laser Beam into an Optical Fiber
- Laser Beam Profiles, Cleanup
- About Gaussian Beam Profiles
- Forcing a Laser to Produce a TEM00 Beam
- Possible Causes of Interference Patterns in Laser Beam
- Laser Beam Cleanup - the Spatial Filter
- More on Spatial Filters
- Laser Beam Splitting and Combining
- Splitting a Multiline Beam into its Individual Colors
- Combining Light from Multiple Lasers
- Heterodyning of Two Single Frequency Lasers
- Diffraction Gratings, Pattern Generation
- Diffraction Gratings
- Use of a CD, CDROM, CD-R, or DVD Disc as a Diffraction Grating
- Ken's CD and Other Diffractions Grating Tricks
- What About the Diffraction Grating in Optical Pickups?
- Cleaning Diffraction Gratings
- Generating Lines or Crosses of Light
- Projecting a 1-D or 2-D Grid of Dots or Lines
- Diffractive Pattern Generating Optics
- Additional Comments on Diffractive Pattern Generating Optics and DOEs in General
- Pattern Generation Using Conventional Optics
- Modulation and Deflection
- Acousto-Optic Modulators and Deflectors
- Testing a Surplus AOM
- The Dual Channel Xerox AOM
- Is There a Laser with Full Spectrum Wavelength Modulation?
- Full Color Modulation - The PCAOM
- Kerr Cell, Pockel's Cell, and Photo-Elastic Modulators
- Inexpensive Compact Piezo Modulator
- Spatial Light Modulators
- Comments on Mechanical Deflection
- Comments on High Speed Line and Raster Scanning
- The Photoelastic Modulator (PEM)
- Other Types of Lasers and Related Devices
- What About All Those Other Types of Lasers?
- How to Tell if It is a Laser?
- Whatever Happened to Masers?
- Excimer Lasers
- X-Ray Lasers
- Free Electron Lasers
- Optical Parametric Oscillators
- TEA HeNe or Ion Lasers?
- Titanium:Sapphire Lasers
- Raman Lasers
- Alkali Lasers
- Chemical Lasers
- Laser Myths and Fantasies
- Introduction to Laser Myths and Fantasies
- Some Common Myths of High Energy Weapons
- The Light Saber
- Laser Humor
- Introduction to Laser Humor
- The Ultimate Laser Pen
- Advertising using a Laser - On the Moon
- How Much Optical Power to Zap a Balloon or Bug?
- Phaser Quality Control
- Killing Flies (or Other Things) the Hard Way
- The High Tech Fly Immobilizer
- The Laser Physicist's Dictionary
- So You Think You Want to be an Optical (or Laser) Engineer
- How's This for a Useless Patent?
- Strange and Weird Things to do with a Laser
- What's in a Name?
- Tea Laser
- Victorian Nitrogen Laser
- Technopagan Blessing for a New HeNe Laser
- Using a HeNe Laser to Fix a Pitchfork
- Lasers in Movies (and TV)
- Assorted Photos and Cartoons
Laser Based Instruments and Applications