激光器有四个主要特性:单色性、相干性、高强度和方向性。在各种不同的背景照明中,单色性光最易于区别。由于相干光有精确的频率、相位、振幅和方向,所以能为各种测量提供精确的参考光束。光束经长距离散发很小,说明其能量耗散很小,几乎全部集中到目标上。由于激光器的这些特性,所以在工业上用于准直、计量和检验;也用于焊接、钻孔、切割和热处理,并用于印刷和信息处理等方面。在污染监控设备的研究方面也很受重视。对于一些新的领域例如激光引发化学反 The laser has four main characteristics: monochrome, coherence, high intensity and directivity. In a variety of different background lighting, monochromatic light easiest to distinguish. Since coherent light has an accurate frequency, phase, amplitude and direction, it provides a precise reference beam for a variety of measurements. Beam emitted by the long distance is very small, indicating that its energy dissipation is very small, almost all focused on the target. Due to these characteristics of lasers, they are used industrially for collimation, metrology and inspection; they are also used for welding, drilling, cutting and heat treating, and for printing and information processing. In the pollution control equipment research is also highly valued. For some new areas such as laser-induced chemical reaction