Apr 25 2014
The aluminium gallium arsenide laser is a diode laser, having similar characteristics as that of the aluminium gallium indium phosphide laser. The structure of AlGaAs is the same as gallium arsenide, but with a larger band gap. The wavelength emitted by these laser diodes falls into the infrared region.
The wavelength range of these lasers is between 0.63 and 0.9µm. It is pumped using an electric discharge. The active region is AlGaAs, when pumped with a suitable electric source it emits wavelengths of 1064nm, which falls in the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum.
The physical properties and applications of this laser are discussed in the sections below.
Laser Properties
| Laser Properties |
| Laser type |
Solid |
| Pump source |
Electrical Discharge |
| Operating wavelength |
0.63-0.9µm |
Physical and Chemical Properties
| Physical and Chemical Properties |
| Chemical formula |
AlGaAs |
| Crystal structure |
Zinc Blende |
| Hardness |
5 |
| Young's modulus |
8.53 dyn/cm2 |
Applications
The primary application of the AlGaAs laser is in optical disc readers, DVD players, and Compact disc players.
Some of the other applications of the AlGaAs laser are listed below:
- Laser pointers
- Optical fiber communications
- Pumping sources
- Machining
References