J
Joe Higashi
I was looking at 'Sam's Laser FAQ'. His section on Solid State Lasers was
nice, but it always involved buying the lasing medium ( Ruby/Nd:Glass/etc )
I am not really interesting in making a laser, but an answer to this
question might have applications for amateur/High school student laser
tinkerers.
I would like to eventually make a piezoelectric device that must also
fluoresce.
Natural tourmaline has been suggested since it is strongly piezoelectric,
but natually fluorescent tourmaline is rare. My application would not be
economically viable unless it could be grown artificially. Since
tourmaline is one of the more complex minerals, growing it artificially
might be impossible.
Since a piezoelectric substance is usually ( always as far as I know ) a
crystal, and every naturally occurring fluorescent mineral I have come
across is fluorescent because of an impurity, the device would be a
naturally piezoelectric crystal like quartz or tourmaline doped with a
fluorescent impurity that ( hopefully ) wouldn't ruin the piezoelectric
properties too badly.
Giving up on trying to grow tourmaline, and concentrating on quartz, large
crystals of which are regularly grown for industrial uses, I looked all
over the internet for doped quartz. The only thing I found was doped
quartz glass used in UV lamps which, being amorphous would not be
piezoelectric. I found some mentions of doped quartz crystals but not of
what they were doped with, or how they were doped or of what uses they had
- a dead end. I looked for other minerals that might work and found
fluorapatite, but it is not transparent, and I do not know if it could be
grown easily or if it is more than slightly piezoelectric. Methinks quartz
would be ideal.
But I am not a crystal expert ( or even very knowledgeable about them ) I
do know that crystalization is used by chemists to purify chemicals so one
would think that growing a crystal would exclude any dopants. However I
see doped crystals for sale like rubies for instance, so I know doping of
crystals is not an impossibility.
I would like to learn more about doping artificially grown crystals so I
could know how to proceed next in my 'quest' for a fluorescent
piezoelectric crystal that can be grown artificially. Being a
nonscientist, ( I was a math major in college ) I think a little project
might help me learn about it. Maybe growing a doped crystal of salt,
sugar, alum or some other water soluable substance in my kitchen would
teach me some of what is possible and how it would be possible.
Fluorescent doped crystals are used in solid state lasers. If anyone has
an idea of how one might produce a fluorescently doped salt/sugar/whatever
crystal and what fluorescent substance might be suitable for the dopant,
then that would also be a recipe for a solid lasing medium that kids and
other amateur laser tinkerers could use for their homebuilt lasers. It
also happens that the other requirements for a laser ( ie obtaining
population inversion ) would also be favorable to my application.
Any ideas?
nice, but it always involved buying the lasing medium ( Ruby/Nd:Glass/etc )
I am not really interesting in making a laser, but an answer to this
question might have applications for amateur/High school student laser
tinkerers.
I would like to eventually make a piezoelectric device that must also
fluoresce.
Natural tourmaline has been suggested since it is strongly piezoelectric,
but natually fluorescent tourmaline is rare. My application would not be
economically viable unless it could be grown artificially. Since
tourmaline is one of the more complex minerals, growing it artificially
might be impossible.
Since a piezoelectric substance is usually ( always as far as I know ) a
crystal, and every naturally occurring fluorescent mineral I have come
across is fluorescent because of an impurity, the device would be a
naturally piezoelectric crystal like quartz or tourmaline doped with a
fluorescent impurity that ( hopefully ) wouldn't ruin the piezoelectric
properties too badly.
Giving up on trying to grow tourmaline, and concentrating on quartz, large
crystals of which are regularly grown for industrial uses, I looked all
over the internet for doped quartz. The only thing I found was doped
quartz glass used in UV lamps which, being amorphous would not be
piezoelectric. I found some mentions of doped quartz crystals but not of
what they were doped with, or how they were doped or of what uses they had
- a dead end. I looked for other minerals that might work and found
fluorapatite, but it is not transparent, and I do not know if it could be
grown easily or if it is more than slightly piezoelectric. Methinks quartz
would be ideal.
But I am not a crystal expert ( or even very knowledgeable about them ) I
do know that crystalization is used by chemists to purify chemicals so one
would think that growing a crystal would exclude any dopants. However I
see doped crystals for sale like rubies for instance, so I know doping of
crystals is not an impossibility.
I would like to learn more about doping artificially grown crystals so I
could know how to proceed next in my 'quest' for a fluorescent
piezoelectric crystal that can be grown artificially. Being a
nonscientist, ( I was a math major in college ) I think a little project
might help me learn about it. Maybe growing a doped crystal of salt,
sugar, alum or some other water soluable substance in my kitchen would
teach me some of what is possible and how it would be possible.
Fluorescent doped crystals are used in solid state lasers. If anyone has
an idea of how one might produce a fluorescently doped salt/sugar/whatever
crystal and what fluorescent substance might be suitable for the dopant,
then that would also be a recipe for a solid lasing medium that kids and
other amateur laser tinkerers could use for their homebuilt lasers. It
also happens that the other requirements for a laser ( ie obtaining
population inversion ) would also be favorable to my application.
Any ideas?
