University of Bath
Dept. of Physics
| |
Laser goggles are not a substitute for safe working.
Goggles are designed to protect you from a brief accidental exposure, not to
compensate for dangerous working. Therefore:
 | Align beams at minimum visible power. |
| Use video cameras where possible to observe beam spots. |
| Use beam stops to block unwanted reflections. |
| Make sure all optical components are firmly fixed to the tables. |
| Do not wear jewellery. |
| Be particularly careful when aligning upward-travelling beams (in
periscopes and in dye lasers). |
| Enclose pump laser beams in tubes. |
| People who are not registered laser users are not normally allowed in the
laboratory when lasers are on (even if they wear goggles, they cannot be
expected to know how to behave safely). |
However, when open CW UV beams are present in the laboratory, goggles MUST BE
WORN AT ALL TIMES.
The following goggles are available in the laboratory. Check the labelling
of the goggles - do not assume that they have been placed on the
correct hook. Do not confuse goggles for handling liquid nitrogen with laser
goggles - check the labelling.
Full details of optical densities are
here.
| Visible argon ion, blue HeCd and blue dye lasers - red lenses |
  
| UV HeCd - yellow lenses |
| Red dye lasers - green lenses |
| Ti-sapphire - red-tinted lenses, infra-red blocking |
| UV HeCd and UV argon ion - more or less colourless lenses |
  |
