Our staff of optical, electrical, and mechanical engineers is experienced in devising and implementing practical and cost-effective laser solutions. The word laser is an acronym of Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. A laser consists of a cavity filled with lasable material and fitted with mirrors at both ends. The molecules of a lasable material are capable of being excited or pumped to a semistable state by an electric discharge or light. The light emitted by a molecule as it drops back to the ground state releases light from other nearby, excited molecules.
Light oscillates back and forth between the mirrors and continually increases in intensity.
If one mirror is made to transmit part of the light, a brilliant beam of highly monochromatic, coherent radiation is emitted through the mirror. In our nitrogen lasers, a spark gap excites or pumps the nitrogen gas molecules in the laser cavity. When nitrogen molecules are pumped to the excited state, they de-excite first to an intermediate excited state and then to the ground state. By rapid pumping with a fast spark gap switch, the upper level is momentarily populated. Because the lower level has a much longer lifetime, it soon dominates and stops the laser amplification.