Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Spectrum of Industrial and Scientific Lasers

The first laser ever made used a synthetic ruby crystal- a solid-state laser with an emission wavelength of 694 nanometers. 

Now, over 50 years later, lasers can be from solids, liquids, or gases. They span the electromagnetic spectrum from far-infrared to the edge of ultraviolet, and emit wavelengths from 3 micron to 157 nanometers.

The full diagram of commercial lasers here at Wikimedia Commons.

We made a new and revised chart from the data showing more specifically the industrial and scientific lasers used in micro-drilling applications.


click here to enlarge


From the description:

"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 height of 
the line gives an indication of the maximal power/pulse 
energy commercially available. For the Ar+-Kr+ laser 
only the most important lines are labeled...
Currently most of the data is taken from Weber's book 
"Handbook of laser wavelengths", with newer data in 
particular for semiconductor lasers."


From the original, we switched the bar around to go from longer to shorter wavelengths, instead of the other way around. Otherwise, it's the same data. It gives a nice visual overview of the laser spectrum and their myriad types.

Next week I'll be writing about an exciting research paper from NOAA for which we made 3 key parts. It connects atmospheric research, WWII planes, Hurricane Katrina, UV-LEDs, and Lenox Laser orifices all together! So be sure to check back.

And as always, check out past posts and our company website for even more information.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Laser-Drilling Applications Google Scholar Results




We are doing a lot this year in anticipation of our 2nd International Light Seminar in October as well as in commemoration of this our 30th anniversary. 

We decided that we wanted to get a better handle on where our parts have gone and how they are being used. I have already gone through Lenox Laser in space with NASA here. Now I want to take it back down to Earth.

In order see where our parts have been used and cited, I went to Google Scholar
and searched for "Lenox Laser." Here is the link to the results: Google Scholar. What I found was fascinating.


While not all of the results are accessible, those that are provide key insights into laser-drilling applications. The three broad categories are articles, patents, and theses and dissertations. In my research, I have broken them down accordingly and ordered them chronologically by publication year. The following graph illustrates the results:

click on the picture to enlarge

Here one can see a snapshot of Lenox Laser and how we are increasingly in demand. This also illustrates how laser-drilling and nano technologies have been growing.

I, and a few others, will be going through all of the articles we can and blog about them. We will give a summary of the article and the field that it relates to. However the key will be what part or parts we made and the applications.

We are working on improving our Newsroom on our company website. It will have a page where all the articles in which we are cited will be listed, as well as direct links. That will be up and running very soon.

So for now, please peruse through the Google Scholar results. You can even add keywords to specify your search, such as aperture or orifice. And, as always, please visit our website for more about Lenox Laser's products and services.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Use of SiC in a High Power Spatial Filter for Stray Light Reduction


     Thomson scattering measurement of the electron temperature and density profiles in high temperature plasmas is a well established experimental technique.  The existence of high levels of laser-line radiation (“stray laser light”) in the detected scattered light signal can lead to difficulty in system calibration.

     Spatial filtering is a standard technique for improving the spatial profile of low-power laser beams.  Focusing a beam through a pinhole aperture allows removal of spatial irregularities caused by nonlinear effects of amplification, dust or imperfect optics.

     Silicon carbide is often used as an aperture material due to its high damage threshold. 
Lenox Laser, Inc. of Glen Arm, Maryland, has laser drilled 210 micron apertures in SiC disks for such applications as stated above.  Experiments have shown that SiC apertures perform better than copper apertures.  It was found that the steady state stray light level for SiC was significantly less than for Cu.  Thus a silicon carbide aperture performed better than copper for irradiance at the spatial filter focus. 

    

A High Power Spatial Filter for Thomson Scattering Stray Light Reduction

http://serverapam.ap.columbia.edu/HBT-EP/wiki/lib/exe/fetch.php/papers:levesque_rsi_2011.pdf

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Lenox Laser and NASA- Pioneering in Space



For 30 years, Lenox Laser has been involved in numerous NASA missions, providing quality parts and expertise. 

Exoplanet conceptualization. Credit: NASA

So in anticipation of our 30th anniversary, we have put together those missions which we have been involved in. It is truly amazing that we have some of our parts out in distant space providing critical data about our universe.

Only a few years after its invention, the LASER was used in NASA's pre-Moon landing missions in 1967. The founder of our company, Joseph d'Entremont, was involved in the laser testing and laser measuring of the distance of the Moon from Earth. He provided the backup system, which was successfully used after the primary contractor's system failed. He recalls that the power of the return signal he received was somewhere between a giga or terawatt.



Hubble Space Telescope:
We have had several parts on Hubble over the years. Starting in 1981, Lenox Laser provided precision crosshair fiducials and slits for the Hubble Instruments. We then twice provided custom stainless steel discs with crosses- in 1989 and 1991.

Galileo spacecraft. Credit: NASA



Galileo Mission:
In 1985, Lenox Laser drilled precision holes in Hasteloy discs for the Galileo Mission to Jupiter. They were for the Helium Leak Detector on the spacecraft. Galileo spent 14 years in space- 
7 to travel to Jupiter, and then 7 orbiting Jupiter and its moons. 
Galileo was then intentionally crashed onto Jupiter at the end of its mission to prevent contamination.







Kepler Mission:
1999 brought us the unique and monumental task of making a custom Starfield Plate for the Kepler Mission. This then led to the design and production of another "starfield" in 2000 for NASA's "Starfield" Project. The project is part of a system that can find orbiting bodies around distant astronomical bodies by detecting miniscule changes in light intensity. 


Messenger Mission:
We then made High Power Ceramic Apertures for the Messenger Mission which were for spatial filtering. The Messenger, and our apertures, orbited Venus on the way to its goal Mercury, where it is currently gathering information about the planet. The parts were hand delivered to the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Light echo from a star. Credit: NASA Hubble
 
Mercury Laser Altimeter Project:
In 2003, Lenox Laser provided flight quality Alumina and Macor apertures for NASA's Mercury Laser Altimeter Project and the Space Lidar Technology Center.

STEREO Mission:
Most recently, we provided custom parts and consulting services for NASA's STEREO project which is providing revolutionary views of the Sun. The consulting was in support of testing the focus setting of one of the instruments during satellite integration at the Goddard Space Flight Center. As a result, Lenox Laser was awarded NASA's Instrument and Technology Division 2006 Contractor Team Spirit Award.

To read more about our pioneering with NASA and their missions, click through the following links:

General information

Hubble Space Telescope

Galileo Mission


Kepler Mission

Messenger Mission


STEREO Mission