A copper vapor laser (CVL) uses

vapor In physics, a vapor (American English) or vapour (Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is a substance in the gas phase at a temperature lower than its critical temperature,R ...

s of

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

as the

lasing medium The active laser medium (also called a gain medium or lasing medium) is the source of optical gain within a laser. The gain results from the stimulated emission of photons through electronic or molecular transitions to a lower energy state from ...

in a 4-level laser. It produces green

laser light A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word ''laser'' originated as an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radi ...

at 510.6 nm and yellow laser light at 578.2 nm. The pulse width is typically from 5 to 60 ns, and

peak power ''Peak power'' refers to the maximum of the instantaneous power waveform, which, for a sine wave, is always twice the average power. For other waveforms, the relationship between peak power and average power is the peak-to-average power ratio (PAP ...

from 50 to 5000 kW. Its pulse repetition frequencies can be 2 to 100 kHz. The ''average power'' of CVLs can range from 25 W to more than 2 kW. It is one of the lasers that can be home built. W.T. Walter et al. were first who received laser generation of the copper vapour lasers (Walter W.T., Piltch M., Solimene N., Gould G. Pulsed laser action in atomic copper vapor. Bull. Amer. Phys. Soc., 1966, vol. 11, no. 1, p. 113.). In 1971 A.A.Isaev, M.A.Kazaryan and G.G.Petrash have invented a self-heating concept which allowed to tremendously increase efficiency of the cooper (copper?) vapor laser and start their industrial production. (Isaev A.A., Kazaryan M.A., Petrash G.G. Effective Pulsed Copper-vapor Laser with High Average Generation Power. Zhurnal eksperimental'noi i teoreticheskoi fiziki, 1972, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 40–42. (English translation: JETP Letters, 1972, vol. 16, iss. 1, pp. 27–29.) http://jetpletters.ru/ps/753/article_11698.pdf ). Lasers using pure metal vapor produced from an elemental copper source are difficult to construct because of the extremely high temperature, about 1500 °C, necessary to create such vapor, severely limiting the materials for the vapor containment vessel and mirrors. Copper halides, specifically copper chloride, copper bromide and copper iodide, have been substituted since they form vapors at much lower temperatures, in the range 300 °C - 600 °C, but operation at such temperatures remains difficult. Copper compound vapors also increase the complexity of the pump signal applied to the device. Typically, two energizing pulses in quick succession are required, the first to dissociate vapor molecules, and the second to cause the dissociated ions to lase.

Operating temperature An operating temperature is the allowable temperature range of the local ambient environment at which an electrical or mechanical device operates. The device will operate effectively within a specified temperature range which varies based on the de ...

can be further reduced by the use of

copper nitrate Copper(II) nitrate describes any member of the family of inorganic compounds with the formula Cu( NO3)2(H2O)x. The hydrates are hygroscopic blue solids. Anhydrous copper nitrate forms blue-green crystals and sublimes in a vacuum at 150-200 °C ...

or copper acetylacetonate, whose vapors give peak laser output power at 180 °C and 40 °C, respectively. Using singly ionized species of Cu, research has also demonstrated copper vapor lasers that are CW (

continuous-wave A continuous wave or continuous waveform (CW) is an electromagnetic wave of constant amplitude and frequency, typically a sine wave, that for mathematical analysis is considered to be of infinite duration. It may refer to e.g. a laser or particle ...

), i.e., not pulsed, and lase at

deep ultraviolet Ultraviolet radiation, also known as simply UV, is electromagnetic radiation of wavelengths of 10–400 nanometers, shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation is present in sunlight and constitutes about 10% of t ...

wavelengths. These lasers can provide average UV powers of several mW and are potentially useful for analytical instruments and

spectroscopy Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets electromagnetic spectra. In narrower contexts, spectroscopy is the precise study of color as generalized from visible light to all bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. Spectro ...

. Copper vapor lasers are used in some

machining Machining is a manufacturing process where a desired shape or part is created using the controlled removal of material, most often metal, from a larger piece of raw material by cutting. Machining is a form of subtractive manufacturing, which util ...

and

laser cutting Laser cutting is a technology that uses a laser to vaporize materials, resulting in a cut edge. While typically used for industrial manufacturing applications, it is now used by schools, small businesses, architecture, and hobbyists. Laser cutt ...

applications. They can also be used in AVLIS

isotope separation Isotope separation is the process of concentrating specific isotopes of a chemical element by removing other isotopes. The use of the nuclides produced is varied. The largest variety is used in research (e.g. in chemistry where atoms of "marker" n ...

systems. In the AVLIS application the copper laser is used to excite tunable

dye laser A dye laser is a laser that uses an organic dye as the lasing medium, usually as a liquid solution. Compared to gases and most solid state lasing media, a dye can usually be used for a much wider range of wavelengths, often spanning 50 to 100 n ...

s. A review on copper-laser-pumped dye lasers is given by

Webb Webb may refer to: Places Antarctica *Webb Glacier (South Georgia) *Webb Glacier (Victoria Land) * Webb Névé, Victoria Land, the névé at the head of Seafarer Glacier * Webb Nunataks, a group of nunataks in the Neptune Range * Webb Peak (disa ...

in ''High Power Dye Lasers''. F. J. Duarte (Ed.), ''High Power Dye Lasers'' (Springer-Verlag, Berlin,1991) Chapter 5.

Art and Entertainment

A copper vapor laser illuminated an artistic display performed by sculptor Dani Karavan in an arts meeting held in Tel Hai(Israel) i
September 1980
The alternating green and yellow moving beams were controlled by S. Kamin using a set of mirrors and chromatic filters. Copper vapour lasers were first used for entertainment purposes by

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

on their 1994 tour, supporting their album, ''

The Division Bell ''The Division Bell'' is the fourteenth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 28 March 1994 by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and on 5 April by Columbia Records in the United States. The second Pink Floyd album re ...

''.

References

{{Lasers Gas lasers Vapor laser

Art and Entertainment

See also

References