Laser-Illuminated Photo-Optical Instrumentation

The characteristics of the laser give it a unique potential value in areas of optical instrumentation which require short light pulses of high intensity. A solid-state laser may be operated in pulses 10 to 20 nanoseconds in duration with intensities far in excess of that required for most photo-optical instrumentation applications. The temporal coherence of the laser eliminates problems due to chromatic aberrations in the optical system and also permits the experimenter to discriminate against light emitted by the experiment itself.