2. 2010: A Laser Odyssey Short presentation about lasers by the Université Laval OSA and SPIE Student Chapters

3. In science fiction, lasers are powerful weapons

4. In everyday life, lasers have many uses Laser hair removal Laser pointers CD/DVD players Barcode readers Micro-fabrication Medical treatments

5. What is light composed of? Light can be seen as photons of many colors

6. What is light composed of? Light can also be seen as waves of different lengths

7. In nature, there are different kinds of waves Water waves Sound waves Light waves (electromagnetic waves)

8. Most of the light waves are invisible

9. LASERLASER LASER is an acronym ight mplification by the timulated mission of adiation

10. A laser emits photons of the same color, travelling in the same direction Directional and monochromatic light

11. A laser has three parts The gain medium The pumping system The resonant cavity

12. Lasers consist of a gain medium, a resonant cavity and a pumping system Gain medium Material in which photons are produced Pumping system System that provoques the emission of radiation Resonant cavity (2 mirrors) Cavity in which the light rays bounce back and forth and are amplified

13. There are many different kinds of gain media Crystal Gas Optical fiber The gain medium, in which the light rays are produced, could be:

14. = a flash another laser electricity Pumping can be done in different ways

15. The resonant cavity consists of two mirrors One mirror reflects all light And all this happens at the speed of light: 1 080 000 000 km/h! The other one reflects partially The mirrors are placed at each end of the gain medium

16. May 16th, 2010: 50th anniversary of the invention of thefirst laser by Theodore Maiman First laser: Ruby laser built by Maiman Maiman and the 1st working laser Publicity photo

17. Thank you for your attention! Please contact us if you have any questions www.repol.copl.ulaval.ca