Unit 4 Lasers

LASER: Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation

The first laser (ruby laser) was invented by Maiman in 1960. Although Einstein, in 1920s had
built some theoretical framework of lasers, experimental development took so long to
build the first laser. Lasers have resurrected the field of optics and find multitude of
applications in science and technology.

Properties of a laser beam

1. Coherence

Coherence of a laser beam refers to the phase inter-relationship between the waves of
electromagnetic fields of light.

Spatial coherence
If the electric fields at different spatial locations across the laser beam has a strong phase
correlation, then the laser is said to be spatially coherent, which means, generally, that the
waves oscillate in a correlated way.

Temporal Coherence

If the electric fields of a laser are sampled at different times and if the samples exhibit a
well defined phase correlation, then the laser is said to be temporally coherent. A perfectly
monochromatic emission for example has perfect temporal coherence.
An experiment such as optical interference of beams derived from the same laser, but
travelling different distances before they interfere can provide information about the
temporal coherence of the beam.

Coherence length ( The distance upto which a beam exhibits temporal coherence. For
example a pure sine wave has a coherence length of infinity.
Coherence time ( : The time duration upto which a laser emission maintains its temporal
coherence. The coherence time is given by

where is the line width of the laser

We also have
2. Monochromaticity

Laser is a highly monochromatic source of light. However it still has a certain amount of
wavelength spread called line width defined generally as
 = FWHM, called the Full Width ant Half Maximum in the intensity versus wavelength
plot as shown the fig. It can also be written in terms of





where c is the speed of light and  is the central wavelength; with maximum intensity.

3. Directionality and (low) divergence

Lasers generally do not diverge much and therefore travel long distances without much loss
in intensity. The divergence is given by

Here d1 and d2 the diameters of the beam at distances z1 and z2 respectively.



4. High intensity

Laser beams possess very high intensities because of the concentration of light energy in
small beam cross sections and because of very small divergence.

Interaction of radiation with matter and Einstein coefficients

Consider a two level system with two states E1 and E2 with populations N1 and N2. The
populations, under thermal equilibrium, are related by the Boltzman equation given by

Under thermal equilibrium, the ground state populations N1 is much greater than the
excited state population N2.
N2 > > N1

1. Light Absorption

Consider a two state system under thermal equilibrium as shown in the fig.

When radiation with photons of energy equal to ( E 2 – E1 ) is incident on such a system,

there is a probability that an atom in the ground state can absorb the photon and jump to
the excited state.
Before photon absorption After photon absorption

The rate of absorption

where U ( ) is the energy density and B12 is the Einstein’s absorption coefficient.

2. Spontaneous emission

An atom in excited state generally has life time of the order of 10 -8 s, after which it de
excites to the ground state spontaneously. This will release a photon of energy equal to (E 2
–E1). The photons emitted during such de excitations are random in direction and there is no
defined phase relationships between them. The rate of spontaneous emission is given by

where A21 is called the Einstein’s Spontaneous emission coefficient.

3. Stimulated emission

A system with atoms in the excited state may undergo de excitations in the presence of
photons (of an electromagnetic field). If these stimulating photons have an energy equal to
( E2 – E1), then the probability of de-excitation is very high. The rate of stimulated emission
is given by

Where B21 is Einstein’s coefficient of stimulated emission.

The emitted photons during stimulated emission are always in phase with the photons that
caused the emission in the first place and also travel in the same direction. These photons
cause a chain reaction of stimulated emission in the system and the intensity of the emitted
beam increases exponentially. This beam is coherent and unidirectional.

Under a given situation which of the three processes happens is left to the probabilities
based on the rates.

However because the number of atoms is fixed, and for continued process of excitations
and de excitations under thermal equilibrium we must have

= (1)
This equation can be compared to Planck’s radiation expression from radiation energy
density in a cavity where energy transfer happens between radiation and matter.

= (2)

To make equation (1) look like (2) make the following changes and also substitute from the
Boltzmann equation

= (3)

Comparing (2) and (3)

and

Which implies that B21 = B12 = B

A21= A

A and B are Einstein’s coefficients

This makes at thermal equilibrium

R Abs > R St Em for a given U ( )

and since N1 > N2 and B21 = B12 = B

which implies that at thermal equilibrium absorption dominates over Stimulated emission,
crucial for laser emission. To obtain a situation where R St Em > R Abs, we need a condition
where N2 > N1 which is impossible under thermal equilibrium.

Population Inversion [Achieving N2 > N1]

Population inversion, N2 > N1, is only possible if extremely high amount of energy is
pumped into the system and the system is not under thermal equilibrium.
The system or mechanism which helps in achieving population inversion is called an energy
pump. There are different types of mechanisms, such as, optical, electrical, chemical and
other which are chosen based on the effectiveness in achieving population inversion.

For example, in a ruby laser, a xenon flash lamp; in He-Ne and CO2 laser, electric discharge
using a high voltage supply, serve as the energy pump mechanism. In semiconductor laser a
high forward bias current in a heavily doped diode does the job.

Two level, three level and four level lasers

1. Two level laser

In a two level laser population inversion is very hard to achieve as increasing the pump
energy increases both absorption and stimulated emission simultaneously, unless an
unusually extreme energy is pumped in an ultra short time. However such systems are
inefficient and not practical.

2. Three level laser

In a three level laser, the frequency ( 13) of E3-E1 and ( 21) of E2-E1 transitions are
decoupled. This allows in achieving an excitation into E3 by using a pump U( 13). If E3 is
normal state ( life time  10-8 s) that quickly undergoes a transition to E2 and if E2 is a
metastable state ( life time  10-4 s) then a population inversion can be achieved between E2
and E1.
Stimulated inversion can therefore work producing a laser of frequency 21. However, since
we are depleting the ground state population to achieve this, continuous laser operation is
not possible and only a pulsed laser can be obtained.

3. Four level laser

 In a four level laser, the pump frequency is 14 and the laser frequency is 32.

 E4 is a short life time state, E3 is a metastable state. E3 can be populated easily if an

energy pump can excite atoms into the E4 state, from where they would quickly de-excite to
E 3.

 Population inversion is achieved between E3 and E2 and laser emission is possible.

 Since E2 is not the ground state, and since we do not have to draw a large number of
atoms from the ground state E1 to achieve population inversion between E3 and E2, we do
not need a very powerful energy pump.

 There is always a reservoir of atoms in the ground state E1 at any given point of time
and therefore the laser can work continuously.
Basic requirements of a laser system

Active medium

The active medium is the material medium ( solid or liquid or gas) which acts as the host
with suitable energy levels amongst which transitions can take place and population
inversion can be achieved. The presence of the meta stable states increases the probability
of population inversion which is a prime condition for laser action.

Energy pump

To achieve population inversion in an active medium, an external energy source is needed.

The external energy sources could be optical, electrical or chemical depending on the type
of lasers. In the case of gas lasers, generally an electrical discharge is a sufficient source for
exciting the medium.

Resonating Cavity

Once the lasing action is initiated it is essential that the stimulated emission in the desired
wavelength is amplified to get a sustainable laser action of sufficient intensity. The design
of the optical cavity is an important aspect of the laser system. In general the optical cavity
has to be a narrow region whose length in the direction of propagation is a multiple of the
desired wavelength.

This also helps in eliminating undesired wavelengths which may be present in the lasing
process and increase the monochromaticity of the system.

Round Trip Gain and Threshold gain

Let the reflection coefficients of the mirrors be R1 and R2.
Let the beam start with an intensity

at point A situated at mirror R1. As the beam travels, because of stimulated emission, the
intensity grows exponentially as function of length. But, because of the losses the intensity
decreases exponentially as well. Let the gain factor be g and the loss factor be .

By the time the beam reaches point located at mirror R2, the beam would have travelled a
distance L and the intensity at B can be written as

After reflection from R2, the intensity reduces by a factor R2 and the intensity at point C is
given by


The beam travels a distance L again to reach point D, so the intensity is now

It is now reflected at R1 and its intensity just before joining point A is

So in a round trip in the cavity, the round trip gain in intensity is

Gain


= 

Because are very lossy systems, a round trip gain of slightly above 1 is very practical and
should be enough as over millions of such trips per second (remember the speed of light).

Assuming the value of 1 to be the threshold gain beyond which a laser is possible, we can
write


Where we have called the gain coefficient as , the threshold gain factor.


The threshold gain factor is given by

Frequency Comb and Gain Curve

He Ne Laser

 First gas laser

 Atomic excitations of electrons in the atoms of Ne
 632.8 nm laser (visible)
 Continuous Four level laser
 High quality beam
 Power  a few mW

Construction
A DC or RF discharge is established through a gas mixture containing typically 1 mmHg of He
and 0.1 mmHg of Ne. Energetic electrons in the discharge excite electrons in the helium
atoms to 23S and 21S states which are metastable. When these helium atoms collide with
the neon atoms they excite electrons of neon atoms into 2S and 3S states (which nearly
coincide with the 23S and 21S of He).
Energy level diagram
(Yariv A, Optical electronics)

Collision of the first kind

Collision of the second kind

Where * indicates energetic/excited.

632. 8 nm laser: The transition is from Ne 3S level to the 2p. The 2p decays to the long lived
1S state. This 1S state if not emptied quickly can allow excitation back into 2p involving
collisions with fast moving electrons, hurting population inversion of the lasing states 3S and
2p.
To depopulate the 1S state, a long narrow glass tube is used to house the gases whose
larger internal surface area causes more Neon atoms to collide (with the glass tube) and de-
excite to the ground state. For this reason the gain of 632.8 nm radiation increases with
decreasing diameter of the tube.
This He Ne red laser with 632.8 nm is a very popular one and the beam quality is also
excellent in general. The power is in a few mW.

1.15 . A transition develops across 2S to 2p and emits an infra red radiation

of wavelength 1.15 . To suppress this radiation (dominant) a small amount of methane
gas is also introduced. Brewster windows can also absorb some amount of IR.

3.35 transition and thus uses the same upper

level 3S. As this also is in IR range, it needs to be absorbed so that 632.8 nm laser has the
dominating gain.

The Brewster windows apart from absorbing IR also act as laser beam polarizers.

The CO2 laser

 First molecular laser

 Infra Red laser

 Transitions across molecular energy levels (Not electronic excitations)

 Extremely powerful (Can go up to kW)

 Finds great deal of applications in industry

Construction

A quartz tube with N2, CO2 and He gas mixture is used. The mirrors and Brewster windows
are made of semiconducting materials such as Ge to avoid IR absorption.
CO2 molecules has three modes of vibration: Symmetric stretching, Asymmetric stretching
and Bending mode.
 The quantized energies of the symmetric stretching are denoted as (n00)
 The quantized energies of the asymmetric stretching are denoted as (00n)
 The quantized energies of the bending mode are denoted as (0n0).

where n is a positive integer.

Energy level diagram

Fast moving electrons from the discharge collide with the more numerous N 2 molecules
and excite them to their first excited state at 0.3 eV. These excited N2 molecules then
collide with CO2 molecules and selectively excite them to the asymmetric 001 state.
Collision of the first kind

Collision of the second kind

Where star indicates energetic/excited.

10.6 m laser. The laser transition of 10.6 m takes place between the 001 state and the
100 state.

9.6 m radiation. This radiation is emitted when transitions take place between 001 level
and 020 level.

From 100 and 020 levels the CO2 molecule would quickly de-excite to 010 level which is
metastable state. This 010 state is depopulated by collisions of CO2 with a buffer gas such as
He.

Out of 10.6 m and 9.6 m radiation one of them can be chosen by creating a resonating
cavity of suitable length L.

Because these lasers emit very high power ( kW) external cooling is necessary, through
means such as by circulating water.
Semiconductor lasers

Semiconductor lasers diode are created using direct band gap semiconductors such GaAs.
AlGaAs, GaP, InGaP etc.

Direct band Gap Indirect Band Gap

Though a single junction diode might emit light due to electron recombination when an
electron moves from the n region to the p region, the probability of recombination is quite
small and stimulation emission rate is negligible. Light emission is only possible at high
currents such as hundreds of amperes.

Heterojunction laser
A heterojunction laser has two advantages over a homo-junction laser.

1. Charge confinement
1. A double hetero structure diode has two junctions which are between two different
band gap semiconductors (GaAs and AlGaAs). The GaAs active layer has a lower band gap
than the AlGaAs layers on either side. This results in a population of electrons in the
conduction band of the GaAs layer from the n type AlGaAs layer and a population of holes in
the GaAs layer from the p type AlGaAs. The population of the electrons and hole in the GaAs
layer can recombine in the forward bias condition resulting in stimulated emission of
photons. This requires less current to establish the required concentration of electrons for
population inversion.
. From this expression we can determine wavelength of the laser.

2. Photon confinement

The other aspect of confining all the emitted photons to a narrow region can be achieved by
constructing a dielectric waveguide around the optical gain region and increase the
probability of stimulated emission. The n and p type AlGaAs on either side have lower
refractive index than the GaAs region which result in an increase in the number of photons
travelling along the cavity axis by total internal reflection.

Semiconductor lasers generally operate at low currents and can produce up to a few watts
of power. Though the beam quality is not as good as that of gas lasers, the technology is
catching up.

With band gap engineering of semiconductor materials, we have been able to obtain up to
blue emission, which in turn facilitates white light emission.

Holography

Photography

Normal photography only produces a 2D picture which lacks depth information. It only

captures the intensity of light reflected from an object on a photographic film(or CCD).

There is no information of the phase of the electromagnetic field falling on the film.

The intensity I  x, y  = E  x, y 
2

where E(x, y) is the electric field