Nd-YAG Laser

Nd-YAG laser
 Introduction:
 Nd: YAG laser is a four-level solid-state laser.
 Nd stands for Neodymium (rare earth element)
and YAG stands for Yttrium Aluminum Garnet
(Y3Al5 O12).
 A small amount of Yttrium ions (Y3+) is replaced
by Neodymium ions (Nd3+) in the synthetic YAG
crystalline material.
 These lasers operate in both pulsed and
continuous modes.
Learning objective:
 After completion of the class, students will
know about the construction, working,
advantages, and applications of Nd: YAG laser.
Construction of Nd: YAG laser
 Nd: YAG laser consists of three important elements
namely an active medium, energy source, and optical
resonator.
 Active medium:
 The Neodymium doped with synthetic YAG crystalline
material is the active medium.
 The lower energy state electrons of the neodymium
ions are excited to the higher energy state of the
neodymium ions to provide lasing action in the active
medium.
 Energy source:
 In Nd: YAG laser, light energy sources such as a flash
tube or laser diodes are used as an energy s ource to
supply energy to the active medium.
 In the past, flash tubes are mostly used as pump
sources because of their low cost.
 However, nowadays, laser diodes are preferred
over flash tubes because of their high efficiency
and low cost.
 Optical resonator:
 The system consists of an elliptical house.
 The Nd: YAG cylindrical crystal of length 10cm
and 1.2cm in diameter is kept along one of the
focus lines of the two elliptical mirrors.
 Krypton flash lamp is kept along another focus
line. These elliptical mirrors are optically coated
or silvered.
 Each mirror is silvered or coated differently. One
mirror is fully silvered whereas, another mirror is
partially silvered.
 The fully silvered mirror will completely reflect the
light. On the other hand, the mirror which is partially
silvered will reflect most of the light but allows a
small portion of the output laser beam of light to
pass through it. This mirror is known as a partially
reflecting mirror.
 The light leaving one focus of the ellipse will pass
through another focus after reflection from the
silvered surface of the reflector.
 The entire radiation from the lamp gets focused on
the laser rod as shown in Figure – 5.10.
Simplified energy-level diagram of Nd: YAG laser
 When the krypton flash lamp is switched on,
the Nd3+ ions are excited from the energy level
E1 to the pumping bands E4 and E5.
 The Nd3+ ions make a downward transition from
these pumping bands to the meta-stable level
E3. This meta-stable level E3is quickly populated.
 The meta-stable level E3 is the upper lasing level
while E2 is the lower lasing level.
 The lower lasing level E2 is far away from the
ground energy level E1. Therefore population
inversion is readily achieved between the E3
level and E2 level.
 The suitable spontaneously emitted photon due
to the transition of an excited atom from the
energy level E3 to the energy level E2 is used to
trigger stimulation of the excited atoms in the
upper lasing level E3.
 The laser beam of wavelength 1.06μm is
produced due to the stimulated transition of
excited atoms from the energy level E3 to the
energy level E2.
 The Nd3+ ions return to the ground energy level
E1 from the lower lasing level E2 on their own
through non-radiative transitions (without
radiating energy in the form of photons).
 The Nd3+ ions are readily available for the next
cyclic excitation. The population inversion can be
maintained between E3 and E2 continuously.
Therefore, the laser operates in continuous
wave mode. It can also be made to operate in a
pulsed mode.
 Advantages of Nd: YAG laser:
 Low power consumption
 Nd: YAG laser offers high gain.
 Nd: YAG laser has good thermal properties.
 Nd: YAG laser has good mechanical properties.
 The efficiency of the Nd: YAG laser is very high
compared to the ruby laser.
 Applications of Nd: YAG laser in military:
 Nd: YAG lasers are used as laser designators
and laser rangefinders. A laser designator is a
laser light source, which is used to target
objects for the attack. A laser rangefinder uses
laser light to determine the distance to an
object.
 Applications of Nd: YAG laser in Medicine:
 Nd: YAG lasers are used to correct posterior
capsular opacification (a condition that may
occur after cataract surgery).
 Nd: YAG lasers are used to remove
skin cancers.
 Applications of Nd: YAG laser in
Manufacturing:
 Nd: YAG lasers are used for etching or marking
a variety of plastics and metals.

Nd-YAG Laser

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