Laser

A helium–neon laser demonstration. The glow running through the center of the tube is an electric discharge. This glowing plasma is the gain medium for the laser. The laser produces a tiny, intense spot on the screen to the right. The center of the spot appears white because the image is overexposed there.

Spectrum of a helium–neon laser. The actual bandwidth is much narrower than shown; the spectrum is limited by the measuring apparatus.

Lidar measurements of lunar topography made by Clementine mission.

Laserlink point to point optical wireless network

Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA) of the MESSENGER spacecraft

LASER notebook: First page of the notebook wherein Gordon Gould coined the acronym LASER, and described the elements required to construct one. Manuscript text: "Some rough calculations on the feasibility / of a LASER: Light Amplification by Stimulated / Emission of Radiation. /
Conceive a tube terminated by optically flat / [Sketch of a tube] / partially reflecting parallel mirrors..."

Graph showing the history of maximum laser pulse intensity throughout the past 40 years.

Wavelengths of commercially available lasers. Laser types with distinct laser lines are shown above the wavelength bar, while below are shown lasers that can emit in a wavelength range. The color codifies the type of laser material (see the figure description for more details).

A 50 W FASOR, based on a Nd:YAG laser, used at the Starfire Optical Range

A 5.6 mm 'closed can' commercial laser diode, such as those used in a CD or DVD player

Close-up of a table-top dye laser based on Rhodamine 6G

The free-electron laser FELIX at the FOM Institute for Plasma Physics Rijnhuizen, Nieuwegein

Lasers range in size from microscopic diode lasers (top) with numerous applications, to football field sized neodymium glass lasers (bottom) used for inertial confinement fusion, nuclear weapons research and other high energy density physics experiments.

The US–Israeli Tactical High Energy weapon has been used to shoot down rockets and artillery shells.

Device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation.

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HP LaserJet 4200 series printer, installed atop high-capacity paper feeder

Laser printing

Electrostatic digital printing process.

Gary Starkweather (seen here in 2009) invented the laser printer.

Applying a negative charge to the photosensitive drum

Laser light selectively neutralizes the negative charge on the photoreceptive drum, to form an electrostatic image

Laser unit from a Dell P1500. The white hexagon is the rotating scanner mirror.

Toner is fused onto paper with heat and pressure

Magnification of color laser printer output, showing individual toner particles comprising 4 dots of an image with a bluish background

Small yellow dots on white paper, generated by a color laser printer, are nearly invisible. (Click to see higher-resolution image)

It produces high-quality text and graphics (and moderate-quality photographs) by repeatedly passing a laser beam back and forth over a negatively-charged cylinder called a "drum" to define a differentially-charged image.

Optical disc drive

A removable internal Lenovo UltraBay slim type disc drive

Lenses from a Blu-ray writer in a Sony Vaio E series laptop

Optical pickup unit with two visible potentiometers

The optical sensor out of a CD/DVD drive. The two larger rectangles are the photodiodes for pits, the inner one for land. This one also includes amplification and minor processing.

The Z-CLV recording pattern is easily visible after burning a DVD-R.

Digital audio output, analog audio output, and parallel ATA interface

HP C4381A CD-Writer Plus 7200 Series (1998), showing parallel ports to connect between a printer and the computer

Internal mechanism of a DVD-ROM Drive. See text for details.

Comparison of several forms of disk storage showing tracks (not-to-scale); green denotes start and red denotes end. Some CD-R(W) and DVD-R(W)/DVD+R(W) recorders operate in ZCLV, CAA or CAV modes.

A half-height CD-ROM drive (without case)

In computing, an optical disc drive (ODD) is a disc drive that uses laser light or electromagnetic waves within or near the visible light spectrum as part of the process of reading or writing data to or from optical discs.

Arthur Leonard Schawlow

Arthur Leonard Schawlow (May 5, 1921 – April 28, 1999) was an American physicist and co-inventor of the laser with Charles Townes.

Theodore Maiman

One of Maiman's original synthetic ruby lasers, dimension 9x18mm

Shirley Rich Maiman, Theodore Harold Maiman (1927-2007), and daughter Sheri Maiman in Washington DC on 27 April 1966

Theodore Harold Maiman (July 11, 1927 – May 5, 2007) was an American engineer and physicist who is widely credited with the invention of the laser.

Laser rangefinder

Time-of-flight principles applied to laser range-finding.

An OLS-27 IRST with laser rangefinder on the Sukhoi Su-27

An American soldier with a GVS-5 laser rangefinder

A Dutch ISAF sniper team displaying their Accuracy International AWSM .338 Lapua Magnum rifle and VECTOR IV Leica/Vectronix laser rangefinder binoculars

This LIDAR scanner may be used to scan buildings, rock formations, etc., to produce a 3D model. The LIDAR can aim its laser beam in a wide range: its head rotates horizontally, a mirror flips vertically. The laser beam is used to measure the distance to the first object on its path.

Laser rangefinder TruPulse used for forest inventories (in combination with Field-Map technology)

A laser rangefinder, also known as a laser telemeter, is a rangefinder that uses a laser beam to determine the distance to an object.

Stimulated emission

Process by which an incoming photon of a specific frequency can interact with an excited atomic electron , causing it to drop to a lower energy level.

Such a gain medium, along with an optical resonator, is at the heart of a laser or maser.

Laser pointer

A 5 mW green laser pointer directed at a palm tree at night. Note that the beam itself is visible through Rayleigh scattering.

A laser pointer or laser pen is a small handheld device with a power source (usually a battery) and a laser diode emitting a very narrow coherent low-powered laser beam of visible light, intended to be used to highlight something of interest by illuminating it with a small bright spot of colored light.

In the lower picture, the light has been collimated.