Measurement of the light pressure and energy of a laser pulse

A method is described for measuring the light pressure and energy of a laser pulse. The method is based on a transformation of the kinetic energy acquired by a suspended object from the laser pulse into the potential energy of a twisted elastic filament. Comparative measurements are made of the energy radiated by a pulsed ruby laser ( = 6943 Å) by a calorimetric method and by a method based on measurement of the light pressure. This latter method essentially eliminates the influence of the radiometric effect on the measured results. It permits a quite accurate measurement of the light pressure and energy of a laser pulse at pressures of the order of 10^–5 torr and below.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, Vol.12, No. 6, pp. 48–54, June, 1969.