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Why can't heat be used as a pumping source for lasers?

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'heat' is a rather arcane term to use as a form of interchangeable energy. Excess heat only causes more phonons ('acoustic' vibrations of the lattice), in which case you dissipate more energy for intermediate stages. read more

If we use heat alone to pump a laser, we would probably have to heat the device to impractically large levels.Moreover, we need to have absolute control over the levels to which the electrons get excited to. read more

One of the first lasers I ever built was an HF laser of about 5 watts. This would be ideal for your application. The 3 micron wavelength is absorbed by the water and would heat it by the required amount in less than twenty minutes. However, that HF laser required a multi-kilowatt power supply and a multi-kilowatt vacuum pump. read more

Microwaves or radiofrequency EM radiation can be used to excite gas lasers. A solar-pumped laser uses solar radiation as a pump source. Electrical pumping. Electric glow discharge is common in gas lasers. For example, in the helium–neon laser the electrons from the discharge collide with the helium atoms, exciting them. read more

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