• Question: what type of particals make lasers

    Asked by ethanlolninjafishwideeyes to Tom on 27 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Tom Lister

      Tom Lister answered on 27 Jun 2012:

      You need to have a substance that is transparent to the light you are using and the particles need to have just the right energy levels. Some of our lasers have crystals like alexandrite or ruby, or those with chemical names like ‘Neodynium doped with Yttrium Aluminium Garsonite’ we also have ‘dye laser’ which uses a liquid material and there are gas lasers like Helium Neon or Carbon Dioxide.

Comments