TABLE OF CONTENTS Laser technologies are utilised in various fields like micromanufacturing, instrumentation, imaging, medicine, communications, etc. Although each of these fields is as important as others, we will limit our discussion to the application of laser technologies for manufacturing only.
Application of lasers to micromanufacturing has several advantages such as noncontact processing, capability of remote processing, automation, no tool wear, and the possibility of machining hard and brittle materials. In this chapter, the principle of laser light generation, laser beam properties, characteristics of practical laser systems, and examples of application technologies are discussed.
The word LASER is originally an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation'. The generation of laser light is achieved by an amplification of light intensity through a physical process called stimulated emission . Stimulated emission is a special form of light interaction with material in atomic scale.
Consider that a medium is irradiated with light, not necessarily a laser light but also sunlight or flash light. In a microscopic point of view, the interaction between the incident light and the medium can be described as an interaction between the light and the atoms consisting of the medium.
It is well known that atoms consist of a heavy, positively charged nucleus that takes most of the atomic mass and electrons of negligible mass orbiting the nucleus like the planets orbiting the sun.
