Laser/Catalog of methods in biophysics

Laser (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) is a source of coherent electromagnetic radiation most often in the visible, ultraviolet or infrared areas of the spectrum, using the phenomenon of stimulated radiation emission of active particles (atoms, molecules, ions, electrons) excited by an external energy source.

Wavelength of laser radiation
Laser radiation, however, can have a wavelength depending on the type of laser from γ-radiation, through X-ray, ultraviolet and visible wavelengths, to microwave radiation. Lasers emitting in the gamma ray spectral region are called grasers and in the microwave spectrum are called masers. Laser radiation is produced by the conversion of some type of energy (e.g. electrical, optical, chemical) for radiation. The efficiency of this conversion ranges from a fraction of a percent to over 80 percent, depending on the type of laser.

Use of laser
Nowadays, lasers are used in many branches of research, in medicine, in industry and wherever a monochromatic, coherent and high-intensity source of radiation with little beam divergence is needed. In laboratory practice and in clinical research, it is used as a radiation source in many optical devices (e.g. laser confocal microscope). In laser spectroscopy, the high spectral density of the laser power and thus the monochromaticity is very advantageous for measuring absorption, reflection, luminescence and scattering of light with high resolution.

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