How Laser Works

Lasers are such an interesting area of modern technology that they have gained significant popularity over the past several decades. Knowing how they work is something that will fascinate anyone who has ever seen one.

The first thing that is important to understand about Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation, or a LASER, is that they are relatively only one color of light, not multiple colors like other kinds of light. This is what allows them to produce a straight beam that does not expand nearly as much as other kinds of light after a certain amount of distance. Laser light does expand, but the beam divergence is extremely small compared to white light.

When normal white light hits an object the various colors in the light bend in different amounts. Since lasers have practically only one color, the light all bends the same amount when it hits an object. This is what allows it to keep its composure. So how do you get the light to generate only one color? It all has to do with the electrons. The "extra" energy that leaks out is what produces the given color of light. Then they produce a lot of light of the same color.

Those electrons in that material will absorb the light and shoot it right back out as one color. This can be done with various kinds of mirrors and lenses. There are all kinds of ways to energize the electrons to make a laser, and it can be very costly or not so costly, depending on the power and kind of the laser.

Lasers have so many different applications. When lasers are made, they are made with a certain application in mind. Although this article has discussed how a certain kind of laser works, it is important to note that not all lasers work the same way.