Lasers
A laser pointer that can create and shine lasers We use lasers in our printers
By. Matt Liang For: Mr. Yoshita For: Mrs. Sutherland
Due: May 3st, 2018
Table of Contents
Lasers ...................................................................................................................................................... 3
History .................................................................................................................................................... 4
Explanation Part A ................................................................................................................................... 5
Explanation Part B ................................................................................................................................... 5
Dangers and Cautionary Notes ................................................................................................................ 7
Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................ 8
Lasers
Lasers are a thing we use in our everyday lives and we may even not know it. For
example, do you know that most of us have printers that use lasers to print faster? We, humans,
use lasers in many ways such as, we use lasers for eye surgery and we use lasers for drilling.
Those are two very different things that are both used by lasers.
While we use lasers to help us in life like helping people with eyesight we also use lasers
for entertainment and decoration purposes. At some festivals or buildings, they shine lasers that
are in all different colours such as blue, purple, red and many other colours to make the festival
or building look a little bit more interesting. The colours make it more interesting because these
colours shining in the air are screaming to you “come here because something interesting is
here”. The shining and colourful lasers give the place some
colour or decoration because people like colours and a place
full of colours will give the area a better look. This picture
shows some buildings using lasers in the sky.
Though a place that has too many colors and lasers are not
good because if you have too many lasers you probably can't
see anything because the lasers are shining in your eye and you can’t see.
Would you be interested in a place that has a lot of colours and some bright shining
lasers? These are just some uses of lasers you probably didn't know about until now. Anyway,
now you know about some uses that lasers have in the world.
I chose to write to write about lasers because I really enjoy learning about lasers and their
difference form visible light. I think you will be interested in lasers very quickly because I think
lasers are not too complicated to understand. But some information about lasers are a little
challenging to understand and that is good because sometimes if something is challenging it will
be more fun to learn about. If something is to easy to learn about it gets boring to learn about
because if you challenge yourself to learn something you feel accomplished that you learned that
challenging thing but if you learned something easy you don't feel accomplished because what
you learned was to easy. That is why I like learning about lasers because they have the perfect
amount of challenging and uncomplicated.
You might be thinking about how lasers impact people and there are some ways that
lasers can impact people. One way a laser can impact a person is by inspiring them because what
if you saw a laser and you were really interested in it and wanted to learn more about it. Then
you kept on researching about lasers by going to the science museum reading a book or on a
website. When you graduated from a school you were still interested and you found a job about
lasers and light and you really enjoyed that job. Also, lasers can impact people by helping them
because laser eye surgery can help people with bad eyes.
History
So, the History of lasers started in 1917 where Einstein was the first one to think about
the process that the way lasers work by electrons emitting light and was the first one to think it
could work and the laser was possible to be made. The laser was made but it took nearly forty
years for scientists to invent and design the laser after Einstein's predictions. In 1951 a person
with the name Charles Hard Townes designed his maser and it works a little like the laser but it
uses microwave beams and we will be talking about how the laser works after. So, in 1954, these
people named Herbert J. Zeiger and James P. Gordon worked together to make the first maser
and demonstrate the maser. They made the maser because Einstein's predictions and the maser
can create a wavelength just over one centimeter and generates ten nanowatts of power. A
nanowatt is a unit of measurement to measure power.
While almost at the end of 1957 a person with the name Gordon Gould writes down his
ideas for the first laser in his notebook. It was the first time in history someone uses the word
laser which means Light Amplification and those words mean light getting stronger. Then the
other letters mean Simulated Emissions of Radiation which just means the light gets stronger
because of some particles of light bouncing into atoms and then the atom releases a particle of
light so the light gets stronger. If you did not know what an atom is, an atom is what the whole
world is made from.
So, in the 1960s the first laser was invented and made by this person with the name
Theodore H. The laser he made was made with a cylinder made of synthetic ruby that measured
one centimeter in diameter which is one centimeter in width. The cylinder was two-centimeters
long and the ends were coated in silver to make them more reflective. Then also in 1960, some
other people made a laser that used uranium cylinders instead of ruby cylinders.
Almost at the end of 1961, an important thing happened because on the day in 1961 the
first medical treatment using a laser on a human patient happened. The ruby laser was used to
destroy a type of cancer that is in the retina which is in the eye and is the eye’s light-sensitive
tissue which means its a tissue that is sensitive to light.
Then in 1962, another person invented another laser but this laser could generate powers
one hundred times of an ordinary ruby laser. This laser was first used to weld or attach springs
for watches. Also in the same year of 1962, a scientist made a laser that had visible coherent light
and usually coherent light is not visible.
Coherent means all the crests and troughs of the wavelength are rigidly inflexible. Today
we use visible coherent light in red LED lights and we use them in our CDs, DVD players, and
our cell phones. This is some of the many historical achievement
of lasers throughout history. There is many more uses for lasers
and different types of lasers yet to be invented.
This diagram shows what a crest or trough is in a wavelength.
Explanation Part A
Lasers work because of electrons emitting light called photons. Electrons are what atoms
are made of and the electron orbits the nucleus which is made of protons and neutrons. Electrons,
protons, and neutrons are what atoms are made from and the whole earth and universe are made
of atoms. Lasers are made when the atom's electrons are in some special glasses, crystals or
gases and they absorb energy from an electrical current or another laser.
When they absorbed the energy, they move from a lower energy orbit to a higher energy
orbit. This just means the electrons are orbiting faster around the nucleus which is the center of
an atom. After the higher energy orbit electrons start to calm down and return to their normal
orbit which is a low energy orbit. When they return to their low energy orbit they release
something called a photon which are just particles of light.
These photons are all the same wavelength and all the crests
and troughs are rigidly inflexible meaning it is coherent. Not like
coherent light, visible light has multiple wavelengths. The light that
is emitted by electrons and called photons is called laser light
Explanation Part B
There are many things we use lasers for. One such thing is for laser eye surgery. Laser
eye surgery is used to help farsighted people and
nearsighted people have normal eyes. This is an
eye and the last layer of the eye is the cornea .
The key goal in laser eye surgery is to shape the
cornea because the cornea is the part of the eye that
controls and focuses the entry of light into the eye.
People that are nearsighted or farsighted have
corneas that are not the regular shape of a cornea so
the laser should shape it. During laser eye surgery a
surgeon will use a laser to cut a thin flap in the
cornea, then he or she will remove some of the cornea using lasers and then he or she will close
the thin flap.
With nearsighted people (meaning they can see near but not far) they have corneas that are too
steep so the laser will flatten the cornea so it is round like a normal cornea. While with farsighted
people (meaning they can see far but not near) the laser needs to make the cornea’s sides steeper
by removing some of the cornea on the sides. This is how laser eye surgery can help people with
eyes.
Lasers can help people with bad eyes but they can also help with cutting. Laser cutting is a more
efficient way of cutting metal because lasers can cut much faster than other ways of cutting such
as drilling.
A laser cutter is much simpler than you think.
First, there is a laser that must be strong because it needs to
melt the metal or steel. The laser is reflected on a mirror to
where it needs to be which is on the metal. There is a
focusing lens that focuses the laser to a width that is not
big so the laser can melt some of the metal but not all.
Then the laser hits the metal or anything needed to be cut
and melts through the metal. But there is melted metal in between the place that the laser cut
through. So, a high-pressure system uses nitrogen which is a type of gas that is like air. The high-
pressure nitrogen is strong so it pushes all the molten metal away so when it hardens it won't
solidify into metal. The laser will cut through and the high-pressure nitrogen system will push it
away so there is a clean cut. That is how lasers can cut much faster than many other types of
cutting. Commented [M1]:
We use lasers for entertainment purposes too. We make laser pointers to shine them around
and reflect them off objects. I like to try to set up as many objects that can reflect a laser so when
I shine a laser at one object bounces around the room reflecting off objects. When you were
playing around with the laser have you ever wondered how it works?
Well now I know how it works and it is simple. First, an electric supply like a battery will
pump energy into a tube filled with atoms. Atoms are what the world is made of. The atoms will
start absorbing the energy and giving it to the electrons. The electron is a part of the atom and it
orbits around the nucleus which is made of protons and neutrons. The electrons will take the
energy and orbit the nucleus much faster.
When the electrons calm down and return to orbit slowly they release photons which are
particles of light. These photons are bouncing around the tube at the speed of light after they
were released by the electrons.
Sometimes they hit another electron that is orbiting around the nucleus faster than usually and
the electron releases another photon and gives back the photon that hit it.
Now the light has been doubled so it is stronger. After it keeps on bouncing around and hitting
other electrons the photons hit a mirror. The mirror bounces them out a tiny hole on the side of
the tube and the laser is created. That is how we make lasers and how laser pointers work.
Dangers and Cautionary Notes
I think lasers are interesting to learn about but also lasers are a little dangerous. Even
though lasers can help people with bad eyes through laser eye surgery. Lasers can hurt the
human eye. No cases have been reported that someone's eye has been damaged by lasers but
there are many serious concerns. First, companies that manufacture lasers and especially laser
pointers are not manufactured to federal specifications.
Second, there is a laser that is the colour green and that is more visible than the normal
red laser because the green laser pointer emits a beam at five hundred and thirty-two nanometers.
A nanometer is a unit of measurement. That wavelength is very close to five hundred and fifty-
five nanometers which is the wavelength the human eye is most sensitive to. Green lasers are
more visible than red lasers and can hurt your eye more than normal red lasers. So, this is another
important piece of information I got from a website about green lasers and it is that green lasers
are sometimes used to bring down airplanes.
Green laser pointers
Also, sometimes lasers can cause skin burns but not
often. If a person can act and move away from the laser causing
the burn it won't cause a skin burn. They will probably feel the
laser because if the laser is big enough to cause heat and burns
to a person then when the laser is concentrated on the person's
clothes or skin they will feel the heat of the laser and move
away. The problem is that a person with problems with their
nervous system might not feel the heat of the laser. If they can
not feel the heat they might get skin burns and even worse if anyone around the person does not
notice the burns and the laser beam.
Lasers are sometimes dangerous but that does not mean you should not be interested and
experiment with lasers. Lasers can hurt the eye but if you do use the laser pointer properly and
not shine it in anyone's eyes it is fine to use a laser pointer. If you want to experiment with lasers
don't use a green laser because green lasers can cause serious eye damage. Also, if you know you
have problems with a nervous system be careful around lasers because they might cause skin
burns if you an unaware of them.
Bibliography
Books
Jeff, H., & Dick, T. (1998). Laser Light of a Million Uses. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications,
Inc.
Breck, H., J. J. Ewing, & Jeff H. (2001). Introduction to Laser Technology Third Edition.
Piscataway, NJ: IEEE Press.
Helen, L., F. (2012). Uses of Light. New York, NY: AV2 by Weigl.
Websites
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. (2017). How Lasers Work. Retrieved from
https://lasers.llnl.gov/education/how_lasers_work
Photonics Media. (2017). A History of the Laser: A Trip Through Light Fantastic. Retrieved
From https://www.photonics.com/a42279/A_History_of_the_Laser_A_Trip_Through_the_Light
Scientific American. (2017). Can a Pocket Laser Damage the Eye? Retrieved From
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/can-a-pocket-laser-damage
Vance Thompson. (2017). LASIK and Laser Eye Surgery: A Complete Consumers Guide.
Retrieved From http://www.allaboutvision.com/visionsurgery/.
Colette DeHarpporte. (2013). Are Green Laser Pointers Dangerous? Retrieved From
http://laserclassroom.com/are-green-lasers-more-dangerous-than-red-lasers/.
