In-depth articles written by our editorial team focusing on the latest developments in materials science and technology
Most of the commercially available dye lasers are either Fluorescein or Rhodamine laser dyes. Rhodamine dyes have efficient fluorescent characteristics, and can be detected using fluorometers.
Er:YAG lasers are solid-state lasers that have erbium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet as a lasing medium. These lasers emit infrared light at a wavelength of 2940 nm.
Helium mercury laser falls into the category of metal-vapour lasers. It is similar in operation to the helium-neon or the Argon/Krypton lasers. It is also known as the ‘mercury vapour ion laser’ due to its operating principle based on the ionic transitions of mercury.
A helium–neon laser or HeNe laser is a gas laser consisting of a mixture of neon and helium within a small bore capillary tube, which is excited by a DC electrical discharge.
A nitrogen laser is a gas laser operating in the ultraviolet (UV) range by using molecular nitrogen as its gain medium. Nitrogen lasers were first developed in 1963, and began to be used commercially in 1972.
Large OLED displays have been promised for a long time, but are only now beginning to come to market. Are OLEDs really better than LCDs, and why are they so difficult to commercialize?
By Will Soutter
15 Nov 2012
3D movies and 3D TVs could be here to stay. This article explains the principles behind the different kinds of 3D display.
By Will Soutter
29 Aug 2012
Raman spectroscopy is a widely used technique that can help identify chemicals or materials by the way in which they scatter light.
By Will Soutter
22 Aug 2012
A monochromator is an optical component which is used to produce a
beam of light with a very narrow bandwidth - effectively light of a
single colour.
By Will Soutter
17 Aug 2012
This article gives an introduction to Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy, a technique which is a key tool in the analytical arsenal of NASA's Curiosity rover on Mars.
By Will Soutter
9 Aug 2012