Decoding the science of Ruby Laser
Channel: Physics Partner
Date: 14/03/2024

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A ruby laser is a solid-state laser that uses a synthetic ruby crystal as its gain medium. The first working laser was a ruby laser made by Theodore H. "Ted" Maiman at Hughes Research Laboratories on May 16, 1960. Ruby lasers produce pulses of coherent visible light at a wavelength of 694.3nm, which is a deep red color. The active elements of a ruby laser are Cr3+ ions, which are present as impurities in single-crystal Al2O3. The chromium ion, Cr+3, is introduced as a substitutional impurity replacing the aluminum ion Al+3 in the corundum structure of alumina. The corundum structure is hexagonal close packed (HCP), with its Al+3 ions in octahedral coordination filling two-thirds of the available sites in the HCP structure of the O2 ions. Ruby is a three-level laser, and optical pump radiation from a flashlamp (xenon in pulsed operation) between 400 and 600 nm is absorbed by the Cr+3 ions .

The principle of the ruby laser involves the use of a three-level solid-state system. The ruby crystal is placed inside a xenon flash lamp, and the flash lamp is connected to a capacitor which discharges a few thousand joules of energy in a few milliseconds. The pumping process leads to the achievement of laser, where a few of the chromium ions will come back from the metastable level to the ground level by the process of spontaneous emission, emitting photons with a wavelength of 6943 Angstroms. These photons travel through the ruby rod and, if moving in a direction parallel to the axis of the crystal, are reflected to and fro by the silvered ends of the ruby rod until they stimulate other excited ions and cause them to emit fresh photons in phase with the stimulating photons .

The uses of ruby lasers include applications in holography, industrial cutting, and welding. Ruby lasers have very high output power of the order of 104-106 watts and a wavelength of 6943 Angstroms  .

In summary, the science of the ruby laser involves the use of a synthetic ruby crystal as the gain medium, the absorption of optical pump radiation by Cr3+ ions, and the production of coherent visible light at a wavelength of 694.3nm. The principle of the ruby laser is based on a three-level solid-state system and the process of optical pumping, leading to the emission of photons with a specific wavelength. The uses of ruby lasers include applications in holography, industrial cutting, and welding 

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