Lasers for Scientists and Engineers by Wilmer Anderson & John Boffard

Author:Wilmer Anderson & John Boffard
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9789813224315
Publisher: World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
Published: 2017-06-19T04:00:00+00:00

8.2.6Uses of Diode Lasers

Diode lasers have many applications. Some of the most important applications are in the field of communications An important applications of diode lasers is to pump Er3+ glass or silica fiber lasers. It has been found that when Er3+ ions are doped into glass or silica the system can amplify light signals at appropriate wavelengths. This technique is now widely used in telecommunications where optical signals will diminish as they are transmitted through silica fibers over great distances unless they are amplified along the way. Diode lasers, as mentioned, are easily modulated and are used for the signal input for the glass fiber laser amplifiers. In this application another very important trait of diode lasers is critical. Diode lasers operated at reasonable temperatures have a very long operating lifetime. Without the long lifetime constant repairs to the signal lasers would make long distance communications much more difficult and expensive. Indeed the modern internet might be impossible. Applications such as streaming video would be very difficult.

Many consumer electronics also use diode lasers. CD players use a λ = 785 nm diode, DVD players a λ = 650 nm diode, and Blu-ray/HD DVD players and recorders use a λ = 405 nm GaN laser diode. Again the long lifetimes of laser diodes is essential, and it is very impressive how long devices such as CD players operate in regular use.

As mentioned diode lasers are regularly used for scientific experiments where the diodes are often used to excite particular atoms or molecules into a desired excited level. Of special note, widely available 780-785 nm laser diodes used for CD players/recorders can be modified to work at the 780.24 nm wavelength of the rubidium resonance line (5 2S1/2 − 5 2P3/2). This has promoted Rb to be a choice atom for optical pumping as well as atom trapping and cooling experiments since the widespread availability of low cost diode lasers starting in the late 1980s. Prior to this, the choice alkali atom for many similar studies had been sodium since the D1 and D2 lines (589.59 and 589.00 nm) had wavelengths near the peak efficiency of the Rhodamine 6G dye widely used in tunable dye lasers as described in Chapter 12.

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