Most common and inexpensive gas laser, the helium-neon laser is usually constructed to operate in the red at 632.8nm. Collimation of the beam is accomplished by mirrors on each end of an evacuated glass tube which contains about 85% helium and 15% neon gas at 1/300 atmospheric pressure. A typical helium-neon laser consists of three components: laser tube, a high-voltage power supply and structural packaging. The laser tube consists of a sealed glass tube which contains the laser gas, electrodes and mirrors. Depending on the power output of the laser, the tube may vary in size.
The laser is constructed in such a way that is safe to use under any circumstances. Laser tube along with its power supply is housed in thick powder coatedAluminium box.
Specifications:
Output Power
:
2/5/10/12 mW
Polarization
:
Random/Linear
Operating wavelength
:
632.8 nm (RED)
Beam diameter
:
0.8 mm
Beam divergence
:
<=1m rad
Mode
:
TEMoo
Output power stability
:
+/- 2.5%
Power input
:
220V AC, 50Hz
Min. operating lifetime
:
15,000 Hrs
He-Ne laser advantages
He-Ne lasers provide superior optical characteristics. While laser diodes must take advantage of external optics to yield a high quality output beam, He-Ne output is well-collimated and does not require external optics. He-Ne lasers also offer excellent coherence lengths (10cm to several meters).
