🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Sep27.164608.13439@ucsu.Colorado.EDU> knapp@spot.Colorado.EDU (David Knapp) writes:
>In article <1992Sep25.122819.29025@alf.uib.no> sigurd@novaja.NoSubdomain.NoDomain (Sigurd Tjelmeland) writes:
>>I have understood that one of the most expensive parts
>>of a laser is the mirror that lets just a little light
>>through. What would happen if one substituted this
>>with a fully reflecting mirror with some small holes
>>drilled in it. Of course this would set up some
>>interference pattern on the beam, but would a laser
>>beam be produced this way?
>>
>>Just curious,
>>
>>Sigurd 
>>e-mail: sigurd@imr.no
>>

Sigurd,

My mail bounced to you again and I cannot finger that node. I'm sure
Norway has more than one computer!  ;-)

To you other questions, mirrors on lasers *do* aid in  making the beam
more directional, but are certainly not required. You can add mirrors
to the Nitrogen laser and simply use edge coupling (two reflective
mirrors with the beam 'leaking' over the edge)

You might try to check out a Scientific American article of several years
ago (maybe many years ago, now '79??) where a nitrogen laser is described
for home building in detail. It is certainly the most affordable and
easiest.

As far as CO2 lasers, I'm building one right now myself!  Their operating
wavelength requires the use of special material for the optics which can
be very expensive. ~300 to 500$ for the optics! This also operates at a 
vacuum (10-30torr) and requires a special gas mix (He, N2, CO2) which can
become cost prohibitive.

The lasing level of the CO2 lasers I am familiar with use a vibrational
state which is excited collisionally by electron impact and excited N2
impact, not from recombinatory processes of CO+O. If you have
references on that, I'd like to hear about it.

Check with your sysadmin about that email address of yours; perhaps then
I can email directly?

btw, I don't mind answering questions and helping out. I enjoy the subject.





-- 
David Knapp                                      University of Colorado, Boulder
Perpetual Student                                   knapp@spot.colorado.edu