• Question: have you ever used a raser with ultra violet light?

    Asked by hophappy to Mike, Pip, Tianfu, Tim, Tom on 2 Jul 2012.
    • Photo: Philippa Bird

      Philippa Bird answered on 2 Jul 2012:

      No.
      UV lasers are most likely to blind you (but that’s not why I’ve never used one).

    • Photo: Tim Stephens

      Tim Stephens answered on 2 Jul 2012:

      I have.
      My colleagues who use lasers to make holes and cuts in glass and metal use UV lasers every day. They’re best at cutting glass and plastics because the laser energy is absorbed by the material, unlike visible lasers which just shine straight through.

    • Photo: Tom Lister

      Tom Lister answered on 2 Jul 2012:

      Laser eye correction generally uses excimer lasers, which are UV. They choose this partly because UV light won’t penetrate much through your cornea (so although it can cause damage to the front of your eye, which is the intention, it wont blind you).

      I have never used one though.

      Near UV light (close to violet in colour) can be a problem because it gets to the back of your eye but you will not blink to avoid it like you would visible light (hence Pip’s comment).

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