Copper vapor laser uses vapor

Vapor

A vapor or vapour is a substance in the gas phase at a temperature lower than its critical point....

s of copper

Copper

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...

 as the lasing medium in a 3-level laser. It produces green laser light 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 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.

Lasers using pure metal vapor produced from an elemental copper source are difficult to construct because of the extremely high temperature, about 1500 degrees 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 300-600 degrees 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

Operating temperature

An operating temperature is the temperature at which an electrical or mechanical device operates. The device will operate effectively within a specified temperature range which varies based on the device function and application context, and ranges from the minimum operating temperature to the...

 can be further reduced by the use of copper nitrate or copper acetylacetonate, whose vapors give peak laser output power at 180 and 40 degrees C, respectively.

Using singly ionized species of Cu, researches have also demonstrated copper vapor lasers that are CW (continuous-wave), i.e., not pulsed, and lase at deep ultraviolet wavelengths. These lasers can provide average UV powers of several mW and are potentially useful for analytical instruments and spectroscopy.

Copper vapor lasers are used in some machining

Machining

Conventional machining is a form of subtractive manufacturing, in which a collection of material-working processes utilizing power-driven machine tools, such as saws, lathes, milling machines, and drill presses, are used with a sharp cutting tool to physical remove material to achieve a desired...

 and laser cutting

Laser cutting

Laser cutting is a technology that uses a laser to cut materials, and is typically used for industrial manufacturing applications, but is also starting to be used by schools, small businesses and hobbyists. Laser cutting works by directing the output of a high-power laser, by computer, at the...

 applications. They can also be used in AVLIS

AVLIS

AVLIS Is an acronym which stands for atomic vapor laser isotope separation and is a method by which specially tuned lasers are used to separate isotopes of uranium using selective ionization of hyperfine transitions....

 isotope separation

Isotope separation

Isotope separation is the process of concentrating specific isotopes of a chemical element by removing other isotopes, for example separating natural uranium into enriched uranium and depleted uranium. This is a crucial process in the manufacture of uranium fuel for nuclear power stations, and is...

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

Dye laser

A dye laser is a laser which 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. The wide bandwidth makes them particularly suitable for tunable lasers and...

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

Colin Webb

Colin Edward Webb MBE FRS is a British physicist and former professor at the University of Oxford, specialising in lasers.-Life:Webb was born in 1937 and educated at the University of Nottingham and Oriel College, Oxford...

in High Power Dye Lasers.