RF or Microwave Power Supply for HeNe Laser?
Excitation of a laser using radio frequency or microwave power is possible and has been used commercially for several types of lasers including HeNe and CO2. (with patents granted on many others including ion lasers). However, you aren’t likely to get much just by sticking a HeNe laser tube in the family microwave oven other than glass shards all over the place. 🙁 Nor can you insert your HeNe tube into the antenna coil connected to the 2 kW final amp of your Ham radio transmitter. The main problem is that you have to get the discharge intensity high enough inside the bore – that 1 mm or so diameter capillary tube where the action takes place. In a typical internal mirror HeNe tube, 98 percent or more of the cross sectional area is outside the bore. Since this is also gas filled, it will happily glow at equal or greater intensity than the bore, sucking up power and getting very hot in the process – while contributing nothing to the output. So, the light show may be spectacular (until t
