Laser Notes For EEE Students
Laser Notes For EEE Students
Laser
Introduction
In 1951 C.H.Townes of Columbia University in New York conceives his MASER idea while
sitting on a park bench in Washington and in 1953 the first MASER begun operating. In 1960 T.H.
Maiman, at Hughes Research Laboratories constructed the first laser Ruby Laser.
LASER stands for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. In light
amplification is nothing but producing identical photons. It can be achieved by stimulated emission
Laser is a highly energetic and well collimated light with following special properties
Properties
How do you produce a light of such a varied and unique properties? In order to understand this we
have to study the interaction of radiation with matter
3. If, somehow, the atom is already in the level E2, then the incident photon may influence
the atom to undergo transition to lower level by emitting photon. This is termed as
Stimulated emission. During this process we get more number of identical photons exactly
in phase
In 1917 he introduced stimulated emission and used it to arrive at Planck’s radiation formula. It is
known as Einstein’s theory of A & B coefficients
Consider two energy states of an atom say E1 & E2 (E2>E1). Let N1 be the number of atoms in E1
& N2 in E2 states. When light of certain frequency and energy density U is incident on it, there
will be three possibilities.
Induced absorption: Atoms in E1 can absorb incident photon and excite to E2 state. The
probability that this occurs at per second is directly proportional to number of atoms (N1) in E1 and
incident energy density (U)
𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝛼 𝑁1 𝑈𝜈 = 𝐵12 𝑁1 𝑈𝜈 − − − (1)
Spontaneous Emission: Atoms in the E2 state have certain probability to spontaneously drop to
E1 level by emitting photon. It does not depend on the incident energy(it would happen even if
there is no light). Hence
𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝛼 𝑁2 = 𝐴21 𝑁2 − − − (2)
Stimulated emission: The incident photon somehow interact with atoms in E2 level to
induce(stimulate/influence) transition to E1 level. This, again depends on number of atoms N2 in
E2 level and U
E2 𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝛼 𝑁2 = 𝐵21 𝑁2 𝑈𝜈 − − − (3)
h h 2h
E1
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS BIT LASER
Where A & B are called Einstein coefficients. B12 is stimulated absorption coefficient; A21 is
spontaneous emission coefficient; B21 is stimulated emission coefficient. The whole system is in
thermal equilibrium at temperature T. Hence
rate of induced absorption = rate of spontaneous emission + rate of stimulated emission
𝐴21 1
𝑈𝜈 = [ ] − − − (4)
𝐵21 ( 𝐵12 𝑁1 − 1)
𝐵21 𝑁2
𝑁1 ℎ𝜈
According to Boltzmann = 𝑒 ⁄𝑘𝑇
𝑁2
𝐴21 1
𝑈𝜈 = [ ] − − − (5)
𝐵21 (𝐵12 ) 𝑒 ℎ𝜈⁄𝑘𝑇 − 1
𝐵21
This is the formula for energy density of the incident light. It is consistent with Planck’s radiation
formula
8𝜋ℎ𝜈 3 1
𝑈𝜈 = [ ] − − − (6)
𝑐 3 𝑒 ℎ𝜈⁄𝑘𝑇 − 1
On comparing eq (5) & (6) we get
𝐴21 8𝜋ℎ𝜈 3
= − − − (7)
𝐵21 𝑐3
𝐵12
=1
𝐵21
𝐵12 = 𝐵21 − − − (8)
Conclusions
increase in spontaneous emission rather than stimulated emission, which, of course, is not
our intension.
Population inversion
When the material is in thermal equilibrium the population ratio of atoms, ie, the ratio of
atoms in the ground state (N1) to atoms in the excited state (N2) is given by Boltzmann
factor as
𝑁1 ℎ𝜈
= 𝑒 ⁄𝑘𝑇
𝑁2
According to this equation the population of the excited levels is far less than ground level
(N2 << N1). N1 will be 1030 times more than N2. This kind of thermal equilibrium is not
suitable for producing laser. We need an abnormal situation where in N2 >> N1. This
abnormal situation is known as population inversion
Energy states whose lifetime is about 10-3 to 10-6s are termed as meta stable states where
population inversion can be achieved in these states
Pumping process
In order to achieve population inversion, atoms shall be excited (PUMP) to many of the
higher states by supplying energy. This is known as pumping process. Optical
pumping/flash lamp (solid lasers), electrical discharge (gas laser), current injection
(semiconductor laser), chemical reactions (liquid lasers) etc are some of the possible
pumping methods. I(t may be noted here that the thermal pumping is not a suitable method
because it does not yield required results even at a very high temperature)
Laser Requisites
Three important requirements for lasing action are active medium, pumping source and laser cavity
Active medium
One of the prime requirements for lasing action is population inversion. The medium which
supports population inversion is known as active medium. Medium can be gaseous, liquid, or a
solid. Active medium is also called as gain medium because it is the source of optical gain.
Ex: Cr2O3 in Ruby laser, He & Ne gas in He-Ne laser, N2 & CO2 in CO2 laser, GaAs in
semiconductor laser
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS BIT LASER
Pumping source
The excitation source which takes atoms from the ground state to higher state is known as
pumping source. There are mainly 3 pumping sources: electric, optical, and chemical. Most
lasers are pumped via collisions with either electrons or ions
It usually has two flat or concave mirrors on either end. One of them is completely silvered and
the other is partially silvered. Photons reflect back and forth between the mirrors lead to
amplification. The mirror arrangement is equivalent to feedback system
The length of the cavity is equal to 𝑛(𝜆⁄2) in order to satisfy the condition for constructive
interference
Three level laser system consists of three energy levels actively involved in lasing action. They
are ground state, excited state and metastable state. Population inversion occurs in metastable
state and lasing action takes place between metastable and ground state. Efficiency is less.
Strong pumping required. It gives only pulsed laser. Ruby laser is a three level laser
In four level laser system there are 4 levels namely ground state, excited state, intermediate state
and meta stable state. Population inversion occurs in metastable state. Lasing action takes place
between metastable and intermediate state. In this laser system, efficiency more and moderate
pumping is enough. It gives continuous wave laser