Nitrogen Laser

unknown date

I had a lot of fun with this experiment I made with my dad when I was a kid. It's a nitrogen laser, which is a type of gas laser. It uses a high voltage to excite nitrogen molecules in the air, which then emit UV light when they return to their ground state.

To visualize the lase beam I used a glass of water with a little bit of highlighter ink in it. The ink fluoresces under the (UV) laser light, making the beam visible.

Sorry for the bad video quality, it was recorded with a potato.