LASER

● Introduction
● Difference between Laser and ordinary light
● Interaction of radiation with matter
● Absorption
● Spontaneous emission
● Stimulated emission
● Einstein’s A and B coefficients
● Condition of laser
● Population Inversion
● Pumping Process
● Types of laser
● Ruby Laser
● He Ne Laser
● Properties of laser
● Applications of laser
Introduction: LASER is an acronym for
L: Light
A: Amplification
S: Stimulated
E: Emission
R: Radiation.
Laser produces narrow, amplified, coherent beam of light.

Difference between Laser and ordinary light:

S. Property Ordinary light Laser beams

No.
1 Coherence It is not a coherent beam and
It is a coherent beam and
is not in phase is in phase
2 wavelength The radiation are
The radiations are
polychromatic monochromatic
3 Intensity It is less intense It is highly intense
4 Directionality They are not directional They are highly
directional
5 Angular spread In ordinary light the angular In laser beam the angular
spread is more spread is less.
6 Example Sun light, Mercury vapor Ruby laser,He- Ne Laser,
lamp Co2 laser

Laser is caused as a result of interaction of radiation with matter. It is an optical

device by which light i.e., Electromagnetic radiation ia amplified by process of
stimulated Emission and resulting special kind of Electromagnetic radiation of
specific properties i.e.
Highly Monochromatic
Highly Coherent
None Diverging and Unidirectional
Highly Intense
Highly Bright
Highly focusable
Interaction of radiation with matter
The Production of laser is as a result of interaction of radiation with matter. Basically
EMR is interacting with atom or atom like system (ALS) (i.e., atom, ions, and
molecule: quantum system) of matter.
The absorption of energy and excitation of atoms to higher energy states, emission
of energy by matter and the resulting de excitation of atoms to the lower energy
states are occurred as a result of the interaction between matter and radiation which
are the main cause of emission of Laser. It is seen that the Interaction of matter and
radiation can happen in three ways, which are listed as
(Note: The quantum system has discrete energy pattern. It obeys the concept of
energy quantization i.e., Planck Hypothesis)
a) Absorption
b) Spontaneous Emission
c) Stimulated emission
Let us discuss them in detail. Consider a system with two energy states 𝐸1 (lower
state) and 𝐸2 (Higher state).The population of these state is 𝑁1 and𝑁2 . And the sum
of both state is constant for any time.
Types of emery state of atom or atom like system:
Ground /Lower Energy State: It is the most possible lowest energy value state of
system. In which atom or ALS can stay for infinite time until we should not supply
the suitable amount of energy. At normal thermal equilibrium condition, this state is
maximum populated.
Excited Energy State: It is the state other than lowest energy or ground state of
System. In which atom or ALS can stay for finite time (10-8 sec), until it should not
decay amount of energy. At normal thermal equilibrium condition, this state is very
less populated.
Metastable State: These are also excited state of atom with longer relative life time
other than 10-8 sec. The life time would be order of 10-3 sec. These state are neither
as stable as ground state nor a suitable as other excited state. Such states exist in
impure system. It does not present in pure system.
Absorption:
When an appropriate amount of energy of EMR interacts with matter, an atom or
atom like system ALS of lower energy state takes that energy and makes upward
transition to higher energy state. It is called Absorption. A system in a lower state
𝐸1 absorbs radiation and going to a higher state 𝐸2 is called absorption. This can
happen if and only if the energy of the radiation is equal to the difference between
the energy levels. This can be represented by the equation
∆𝐸 = ℎ𝜈 = 𝐸2 − 𝐸1
This interaction can be represented as,
𝐴𝑡𝑜𝑚 + ∆𝐸 = 𝐴𝑡𝑜𝑚∗
Properties of Absorption
1. It is an induced process. It is probabilistic quantum mechanical process.
2. The number of incident photon is reduced from the incident energy flux.
3. The rate of absorption is directly proportional to Number of atom of ALS in
lower energy state (1) i.e., 𝑁1 , energy flux density of EMR i.e, 𝜌(𝜈12) .The
interaction is taking place for time interval dt
𝑑𝑁𝑎𝑏
= 𝐵12 𝑁1 𝜌(𝜈12) 1
𝑑𝑡

𝐵12 is Einstein’s probability coefficient for absorption.

Spontaneous Emission:
Due to absorption, an excited atoms𝐴𝑡𝑜𝑚∗ in higher energy state, it can’t stay more
than 10-8 sec in that excited state. 𝐴𝑡𝑜𝑚∗ Makes spontaneously downward transition
from excited state to lower energy state with emission of energy in form of
electromagnetic radiation having energy ∆𝐸 = ℎ𝜈 = 𝐸2 − 𝐸1 which equal to
amount absorbed by Atom. The process is called Spontaneous emission.
The process of spontaneous emission is represented
𝐴𝑡𝑜𝑚∗ = 𝐴𝑡𝑜𝑚 + ∆𝐸

Properties of spontaneous emission

1. It is an self-occurred quantum mechanical and probabilistic process
2. The emitted radiation in this process, is a highly incoherent. It having all
physical quantizes, are random in nature. So it is equivalent to ordinary light.

3. The rate of spontaneous emission is directly proportional to Number of atom

of ALS in higher energy state (2) i.e, 𝑁2 , The interaction is taking place for
time interval 𝑑𝑡.
 𝑑𝑁𝑠𝑝
= 𝐴12 𝑁2 2
𝑑𝑡

𝐴12 is Einstein’s probability coefficient for spontaneous emission.

Stimulated Emission:
This process is an alternative emission process. According to Einstein, excited atom
or atom like system in excited state should not wait for 10-8sec to de-excite and give
a photon of Electromagnetic. But under influence of suitable value energy. An
excited atom or ALS makes downward transition from higher excited state to lower
excited stat with emitting two identical photon as EMR. So this is called stimulated.
Emission.
This process is show as
𝐴𝑡𝑜𝑚∗ + ∆𝐸 = 𝐴𝑡𝑜𝑚 + 2∆𝐸

Properties of Stimulated Emission

1. It is an induced process quantum mechanical and probabilistic process,
2. The emitted radiation in this process, is highly coherent, mono chromatic. And
such emitted photon are identical in all respect. Even thought, such photon are
having same state of polarization.
3. Such photon are having all possible quality of Laser. So Stimulated emission
is basic cause of Laser Acton.
 4. The rate of Stimulated Emission is directly proportional to Number of atom
of ALS in lower energy state (2) i.e, 𝑁2 , energy flux density of EMR i.e,
𝜌(𝜈12) .The interaction is taking place for time interval 𝑑𝑡.
𝑑𝑁𝑠𝑡
= 𝐵21 𝑁2 𝜌(𝜈12) 3
𝑑𝑡

𝐵21 is Einstein’s probability coefficient for Stimulated Emission.

Differences between Stimulated and spontaneous emission of

radiation:
S.No Spontaneous Emission Stimulated Emission
.
1 The process where in an atom
in the excited state returns toThe process where in an atom in the
the ground state by emitting a excited state is brought to the ground
photon, without any external state with the help of external photon,
inducement is calledthereby resulting in two photons of
Spontaneous emission. same frequency and energy is called
Stimulated emission
2 The emitted photons move in The emitted photons are highly
all directions and are random unidirectional (ie) move in the same
direction and is highly directional

3 The emitted radiation is less

intense and is incoherent The emitted radiation is highly intense,
monochromatic and coherent
4 The photons are not in phase The photons are in phase or there is a
(i.e.) there is no phase constant phase difference
relationship between them

5 The rate of spontaneous The rate of stimulated emission is given

𝑑𝑁 𝑑𝑁𝑠𝑡
emission is given by 𝑠𝑝 = by 𝑑𝑡 = 𝐵21 𝑁2 𝜌(𝜈12)
𝑑𝑡
𝐴12𝑁2

6. It is used to produces the It is used to produces the Laser light.

ordinary light.
 7

Derivation of Einstein Coefficients:

All these process occur simultaneously while interaction of energy and matter. It
must maintain the thermal equilibrium. It holds that rate of absorption must be equal
to sum of spontaneous emission and stimulated emission.
𝑑𝑁𝑎𝑏 𝑑𝑁𝑠𝑡 𝑑𝑁𝑠𝑝
= + 4
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡

Using equations 1, 2 and 3 .We get

𝐵12 𝑁1 𝜌(𝜈12) = 𝐵21 𝑁2 𝜌(𝜈12)+𝐴12𝑁2 5
Now rearranging, the equation 5 and we get the value of 𝜌(𝜈12 )
𝐴 𝑁
𝜌(𝜈12 ) = 𝐵 𝑁 12−𝐵2 𝑁 6
12 1 21 2

𝐴 𝑁
12( 2 )
𝑁2
𝜌(𝜈12 ) = 𝑁1 7
𝐵12 (𝑁 )−𝐵21
2

𝐴12/ 𝐵21
. 𝜌(𝜈12 ) = 𝑁 8
( 1 )(𝐵21/𝐵12)−1
𝑁2

Now using the Boltzmann distribution formula which tells the distribution of atom
and ALS in different energy states. And we also use the energy flux density formula
which is given By Planck. So the Planck energy distribution formula.
 𝐸2 −𝐸 1 ℎ𝜈12
(− ( )) (− ( ))
𝑁2 = 𝑁1 𝑒 𝐾𝑇 = 𝑁1 𝑒 𝐾𝑇 9a

8𝜋ℎ𝜈12 3 𝜇3/𝑐3
𝜌(𝜈12 ) = ℎ𝜈12 9b
(( ))
𝑒 𝐾𝑇 −1

Now comparing Eq. 8 and Eq. (9a and 9b), we get

𝐴12 3 𝜇3
𝐵21
= 8𝜋ℎ𝜈𝑐12
3 10a
𝐵12
𝐵21
=1 10b

These relation (10a and 10b) are called Einstein relation of coefficient of all three
process.
Physical Significance of Equation 10a
𝐴12 3 𝜇3
𝐵21
= 8𝜋ℎ𝜈𝑐12
3

It leads relation between probability coefficient of Spontaneous and stimulated

emission. This ratio is directly proportional to 𝜈12 3 . As excited atoms get into lower
energy state under goes the stimulated and spontaneous emission.
𝐴12
If the 𝐵21
> 1.

Then the degree of occurrence of spontaneous emission is higher only when the
frequency of radiation is high. It results the higher degree of non -coherence light.
So it makes laser action impossible for higher frequency. To have the laser action
the frequency should be smaller value.
Physical Significance of Equation 10b
The probabilities coefficient of occurring the absorption and simulated emission are
equal.
𝐵21 = 𝐵12
The rate of both process are different and depends on the population of Atom or ALS
in different energy state.
Condition of Laser Action
I. Requirement of Occurrence of higher degree of Stimulated
Emission.
II. Requirement of high degree of Amplification
Requirement of Occurrence of higher degree of Stimulated Emission:
a. Rate of stimulated emission > rate of Spontaneous Emission
b. Rate of stimulated emission> Rate of Absorption
Rate of stimulated emission > Rate of Spontaneous Emission
It result as
𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐵21 𝑁2 𝜌(𝜈12 )
=
𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝐸𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐴21 𝑁2

Using the equation 9a and 10b, we get

𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐵21 𝜌(𝜈12 )
= >1
𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝐸𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐴21

It leads the conditions i.e,

𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐵21 𝜌(𝜈12 ) 1
= = ℎ𝜈 >1
𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝐸𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐴21 ( ( 12 ))
𝑒 𝐾𝑇 −1

This condition is investigated under

ℎ𝜈12
If ≫ 1 then,
𝐾𝑇
ℎ𝜈12
𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐵21 𝜌(𝜈12 ) (( ))
= =𝑒 𝐾𝑇 ≪≪ 1
𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝐸𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐴21

So we have unfavorable condition for laser action while interaction of energy and
Matter. In this case rate of spontaneous state is high then stimulated Emission.
ℎ𝜈12
If ≪ 1 then,
𝐾𝑇
𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐵21 𝜌(𝜈12 ) 𝐾𝑇
= ≅ ≫1
𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝐸𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐴21 ℎ𝜈12

So it leads the favorable condition for laser that in this case rate of Spontaneous state
is less then stimulated emission. To have the higher degree of Stimulated emission
only when the energy of interaction is smaller than 𝐾𝑇.
Requirement of high degree of Amplification
The higher degree of amplification is sufficient connation in which the output of
laser action as resulted due to stimulated emission is amplified through the using
optical cavity. The desire output and gain is maintained by this process.
Pumping process:
The alternative process to achieve the population inversion id called pumping
Process. This process is required because the condition of maintain the negate
Temperature is practically impossible in matter. So to overcome this problem, the
population inversion is maintained artificially without maintain negative
temperature conations .It is induced process in which a huge amount of energy flux
is provide for interaction with atoms and ALS of lower energy state of and makes
upward transition and have more atom or ALS in excited state with higher
population than lower energy state /ground state of matter. The supply of huge
energy can be dome in many way .We have different pumping Process.
1. Optical Pumping
2. Electrical Pumping
3. Direct energy Conversion
4. Chemical Pumping
5. X-ray Pumping etc
The choice using pumping depends upon nature (Physical State) of matter with
whom energy is interacted. In case of solid laser, the optical pumping is required .in
ruby laser we use the Xe lamp for pumping process. In case of Gas laser, the
electrical pumping is used. The electrical pumping is used in He Ne laser. In case of
Liquid laser we, use the optical Pumping. In liquid pumping, other laser is used as
pumping source. In case of Diode laser the direct energy conversion is used.
The most commonly used pumping methods are
1. Optical Pumping
As the name suggests light is used to achieve population inversion. Solid state lasers
use optical method. Generally for optical pumping Xenon flash lamps are used in
Ruby lase and Kr lamp is used in case of Nd-YAG laser.

In general, active center of solid state laser are ions which are optical pumped
because, atom in solid are closely packed to each other in all possible dimension. So
the infarction is between atoms or ALS is high. It results the overlapping of energy
levels to avoid Pauli exclusion principal. The resultant levels are splits or broaden.
Since these materials have very broadband absorption, a sufficient amount of energy
is absorbed from the emission band of the flash lamp and population inversion is
achieved.

In case of liquid, the atom are relatively closed with each other. Due to this
conditions, the energy states has modified energy pattern. The difference between of
energy is order of optical range. So, optical pumping is required. In case of liquid
laser, other laser source are used in pumping process.

2. Electrical Pumping
2a.Electrical Discharge Pumping
Gas lasers use this method. In case of gas laser, atoms or molecules are almost with
each other. So the energy patterns are not overlap with each other. Therefore no
broadening of energy state. Such results that optical pumping is not possible. Since
gas lasers have a very narrow absorption band, thus here flash lamps are of no
use. Electric discharge is electric current or flow of electrons. Thus electric discharge
acts as the pump source. A high voltage electric discharge is passed through the laser
medium or gas. After that the high electric field speeds up the electrons to high
speeds. Resulting in collision with neutral atoms in the gas. Thus electrons gain
energy and get excited.

Examples of Electrical discharge pumped lasers are argon-ion laser and CO2 laser,
etc.

2b. Inelastic Atom-Atom Collisions

In this pumping a high voltage electric discharge acts as a pump source. However in
this method, a combination of two types of spices of gases X and Y are used. In this
process, high Kinetic energy free electron are injected into gas mixture. The high
KE Electron collides with one of species (which is more) i.e, X and transfer the
energy to X and it gets excited in higher energy level. This excited atom of X collides
with other species Y. It transfers energy to other Y and it get excited and X can get
back to lower excited state. Helium-Neon (He-Ne) laser uses this method.

Step 1 𝑋 (𝑔𝑠) + 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛 (ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ 𝐾𝐸) = 𝑋 + (𝐸𝑆) + 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛 (𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝐾𝐸)

Step2 𝑋 + (𝐸𝑆) + 𝑌(𝑔𝑠) = 𝑋( 𝑔𝑠) + 𝑌 + (𝐸𝑆)

3. Chemical Pumping
An exothermic Chemical reaction may also result in excitation and hence the
creation of population inversion in a few systems.
An atom or a molecule produced through some chemical reaction. If they remain
excited at the time of production, then it is the source of pumping.

For example, H2 + F2 → 2HF, in this chemical reaction, hydrogen (H2) and fluorine
(F2) molecules are chemically react. These molecules combined to produce
hydrogen fluoride molecule (2HF) in an excited state.

5. Direct energy Conservation (Injection Current) Pumping

In case of semiconductors, injection of current through the junction also results in
population inversion among the minority charge carriers.

Examples of these systems are Ga As and In P.

MAIN COMPONENTS OF LASER:

The main components of any laser are given as follows

1. Active Medium

2. Pumping Source

3. Optical Cavity
ACTIVE MEDIUM:

The material which holds the condition of population Inversion and suitable
condition of laser action with maintaining conditions of amplification. Such material
is called Active Medium which can be found in all four possible state i.e., solid State,
liquid State, Gas State and Plasma. The choice of matter of active medium depends
upon method of production of Laser.

Properties of Active Medium:

● It is impure system. It is mixture of host and dopants. The amount of host is

high and amount of dopant is less. Both are chemically inert with each other.
● The dopants provides Active center (atom, ions, molecules etc). Such active
center are responsible to produce laser.
● The metastable state exits in active medium.

Example

S.No Kind of Active Host Dopant Active

Laser Medium center

1 Solid state 𝐴𝑙2 𝑂3 𝐴𝑙2 𝑂3 𝐶𝑟2 𝑂3 𝐶𝑟 3+ ion

Laser + 𝐶𝑟2𝑂3

He Ne He-Ne He Gas Ne gas Ne Atom

Laser atomic gas

Pumping Source:
The pumping source is used to get the population inversion. Due to suitable pumping
source, a huge energy is supplied to active medium in which population inversion
must hold. The pumping source is used as per state of active medium. In case of
solid laser, optical pumping is used. The Xe lamp is used in case of Ruby laser
because it emits the light with wavelength ranging from 4200A to 5540A. Such
emitted radiation is suitable to excite the 𝐶𝑟 3+ ion.
Optical Cavity:
It is device which is used to obtain the desire output. Of laser. It consists of two
mirrors as reflectors which are placed at distance with facing each other as their
reflecting surfaces are facing each other. In empty space between both reflectors
Active medium is placed. Through which emitted radiation due to simulated
radiation passes many times until desire amount of energy is amplified. So this
device increase the occurrence of stimulated emissions in active medium. An optical
cavity, resonating cavity or optical resonator is an arrangement of mirrors that forms
a standing wave cavity resonator for light waves. Optical cavities are a major
component of lasers, surrounding the gain medium and providing feedback of the
laser light.
To have sustained standing wave oscillation. The optical path of light travelling
through optical cavity is integral multiples of wavelength of light emitted.
𝑶𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒉 = 𝟐 𝝁𝑳 = 𝒏𝝀
Types of Laser:
The Laser is characterized on the basis of active medium, involvement of energy
level and output.
On basis of Active Medium:
The laser is characterized on the state of active medium which can be found in all
possible four states i.e., solid, liquid, gas and plasma. So we four types of lasers
Solid State Laser: Ruby laser, Nd-YAG laser, Alexandrite Laser etc.
Liquid Laser: Dye laser
Gas Laser: He- Ne Laser, CO2 laser, N2 Laser etc
Plasma laser: Argon ions laser, Kr ion Laser etc.
On basis of involvement of Energy levels:
The laser is characterized on the involvement of energy level of active center.
2 level laser: Not possible but very important to understand the working of all
laser.it has important theoretically.
3 level laser: in which three level are used to produce laser eg, Ruby laser
4 level laser: in which four level are used to produce laser eg, He - Ne laser
On basis of output:
The laser is characterized on the basis of output. There are only two types of laser.
Pulse Laser: Ruby Laser
Continuous Wave Laser: He- Ne Laser.
Note: There are broadly two type of transition are observed in production of
laser i.e, pumping transition and Laser transition. The popular name of the
state involve in the process are Ground states, Normal excited state, upper
lasing state (Metastable state and lower lasing state).

Ruby Laser
It is solid state, 3-levle and pulse laser. The first working laser was a ruby laser made
by Theodore H. "Ted" Maiman at Hughes Research Laboratories, in 1960. A ruby
laser is a solid-state laser that uses a synthetic ruby crystal as its Active medium.
Block Diagram:

About active Medium:

The active medium of ruby laser is physically crystalline solids. So, some time it
also called crystalline laser. It is chemically known as mixture of𝐴𝑙2 𝑂3 + 𝐶𝑟2𝑂3 . It
is chemically inert with each other Whereas Active medium has following
properties:
Host: 𝐴𝑙2 𝑂3 It provides the strength to active medium. It provide Host ions:
𝐴𝑙3+ which are responsible for controlling the energy and make suitable for laser
action.
Dopant: 𝐶𝑟2 𝑂3 It provides the Active center which are used in laser action. In case
of it, active centers are in ions form i.e., 𝐶𝑟 3+ which is being excited by absorbing
proper suitable optical energy from optical energy source.

Nature of Doping: Homogenous

Shape of Active medium: Cylinder

Physical Appearance:

Transparent, the refractive index µ=1.76. The Colure is Pink. It is due to Cr because
the 𝐴𝑙2 𝑂3 is transparent.
The ruby material (corundum) is aluminum oxide with a small amount (about 0.05%
by weight) of chromium which gives it can absorb green and blue light from Xe
lamp.
The mixture of𝐴𝑙2 𝑂3 + 𝐶𝑟2 𝑂3 is made with help of homogeneous doping. The 𝐶𝑟 3+
ions replace 𝐴𝑙3+ ions from host material 𝐴𝑙2 𝑂3 with having density 𝐶𝑟 3+ in active
medium i.e, 1.62 × 1019 𝑐𝑚−3.

Optical Pumping:
In this laser we do optical pumping by Xenon Lamp which emits the light of band
width 4240 𝐴𝑜 𝑡𝑜5540 𝐴𝑜 . But 𝐶𝑟 3+ ions absorbs the Blue and green light with
wavelength 4200𝐴𝑜 and 5500𝐴𝑜 . Other part of light is converted into heat.

Optical Cavity
The rod's ends had to be polished with great precision, such that the ends of the rod
were flat to within a quarter of a wavelength of the output light, and parallel to each
other within a few seconds of arc. The finally polished ends of the rod were silvered:
one end completely, the other only partially.
Energy Diagram:

Working of Ruby Laser:

When Xenon Lamp is operated and its emitted radiation is interacted with ruby rod
in which 𝐶𝑟 3+ get suitable energy of wavelength 4400𝐴𝑜 and 5500𝐴𝑜 . So 𝐶𝑟 3+ can
makes upward transition under optical pumping and 𝐶𝑟 3+ reaches to 4𝐹1 and
4𝐹2 form 4𝐴2,So such excited 𝐶𝑟 3+ makes Non Radiative transition. It results in
form of heat via collision with host ion i.e Al Ions with 𝐶𝑟 3+ .So 𝐶𝑟 3+ losses its some
energy so it cannot resides in 𝐸3 and doesn't lose complete energy so it can come to
ground state. Therefore, it creates the metastable state𝐸2 = ( 2E :2𝐴 and𝐸) whose life
time is 10 −3 second. 𝐶𝑟 3+ Stay in Metastable state for longer time and more 𝐶𝑟 3+
are collected in this metastable state and the population inversion is exit between
metastable state and ground state of Cr ions. Now laser action is triggered in
between these state.
There are transitions are taken place between different Energy levels of 𝐶𝑟 3+.
Pumping Transition: PT
The 𝐶𝑟 3+are excited by absorbing suitable wavelengths 4200 𝐴𝑜 and 5500𝐴𝑜 from
huge flux given by Xe lamp. So 𝐶𝑟 3+ are being excited and make upward transition.
This transition is called Pumping Transition or absorption. In this process, 𝐶𝑟 3+
from ground state 4𝐴2 to excited states 4𝐹1 and 4𝐹2 by absorbing 4400𝐴𝑜 and
5500𝐴𝑜 respectively.
𝐶𝑟 3+ (4𝐴2(𝐺𝑆))
+ 𝐴𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 4200𝐴𝑜
→ 𝐶𝑟 3+ ( 4𝐹1 (𝐸𝑆))

𝐶𝑟 3+ (4𝐴2(𝐺𝑆))
+ 𝐴𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 5500𝐴𝑜
→ 𝐶𝑟 3+ ( 4𝐹2 (𝐸𝑆))
Non Radiative Transition (NRT):
This non radiative transition is occurring via collision of Excited 𝐶𝑟 3+ (4𝐹1 and
4𝐹2 ) with host ion𝐴𝑙3+. In this process of collision, 𝐶𝑟 3+ populated into metastable
state E2 which is combination of 𝐸2 = (2E :2𝐴 and𝐸) and effective life time is 1 mill
second. The energy is lost in form of heat which is given to rod. So the cooling
system is required to keep the system workable. In this process, Excited 𝐶𝑟 3+ from
𝐸3 with collision 𝐴𝑙3+come to 𝐸2 as the population of 𝐸3 is zero and population of
𝐸2 is greater than 50% of N.
Therefore, population inversion is established between metastable state and ground
state i.e, (2E:2𝐴 and𝐸).
Spontaneous Emissions:
The trigger photons of laser action is provided by spontaneous emissions between
(2𝐴 to4𝐴2) and (𝐸 to4𝐴2)
SP1
𝐶𝑟 3+ (2𝐴 ) → 𝐶𝑟 3+ (4𝐴2) + Energy corresponding to (6943𝐴𝑜 )
SP2

𝐶𝑟 3+ (𝐸 ) → 𝐶𝑟 3+ (4𝐴2) + Energy corresponding to (6928𝐴𝑜 )

Actually, the difference is order to 15𝐴𝑜 that is difference between

( 2E:2𝐴 and𝐸).
Laser Transition:
These trigger photons start the laser action by stimulated emissions because
population inversion exists between (2𝐴 to4𝐴2) and (𝐸 to4𝐴2).So we have two laser
transitions.
LT1

𝐶𝑟 3+ (2𝐴 ) +Energy corresponding to (6943𝐴𝑜 )

→ 𝐶𝑟 3+ (4𝐴2) + 2 Energy corresponding to (6943𝐴𝑜 )
LT2
𝐶𝑟 3+ (𝐸 ) Energy corresponding to (6928𝐴𝑜 )
→ 𝐶𝑟 3+ (4𝐴2) + Energy corresponding to (6928𝐴𝑜 )
It emits two output as two different pulses because the ground state is common state
between pumping transition and laser action) so, PT and LT can't occur
simultaneously. Both processes are independent to occur. Therefore, both occur at
different time.
Why do laser corresponding to 6943𝐴𝑜 dominant over Laser corresponding to
6928𝐴𝑜 ?

It is because the population of 𝐶𝑟 3+ in (𝐸 is relatively higher more about 38% to

40% than the population of 𝐶𝑟 3+in 2𝐴. So, LT1 has to occur more than LT2.
Application of Ruby Laser:
★ Ruby lasers have declined in use with the discovery of better lasing media.
They are still used in a number of applications where short pulses of red light
are required.
★ Many non-destructive testing labs use ruby lasers to create holograms of large
objects such as aircraft tires to look for weaknesses in the lining.
★ Ruby lasers were used extensively in tattoo and hair removal
★ Historical application: A pulsed ruby laser was used for the famous laser
ranging experiment which was conducted with a corner reflector placed on
 the Moon by the Apollo astronauts. This determined the distance to the Moon
with an accuracy of about 15 cm. a three level solid state laser.
Drawback:
1. The laser requires high pumping power because the laser transition terminates
at the ground state and more than half of ground state atoms must be pumped
to higher state to achieve population inversion.
2. The efficiency of ruby laser is very low because only green component of the
pumping light is used while the rest of components are left unused.
3. The crystalline structure of active medium of Ruby laser is affected by many
time application of huge flux from Xe lamp.it cause crystalline imperfections.
The defects due to crystalline imperfection are also present in this laser. It
absorbs its output. So the gain of laser is reduced and sometimes after, it loses
it’s capacity to produce laser.
4.

He-Ne Laser
First gas laser ever developed. It id four levels laser. It is also known as continuous
wave laser. After discovery of Ruby Laser it was found that ruby laser had drawback
of crystalline defect which is causing problems of low gain. Scientific world were
thinking of other state of active medium. The best candidate is gas. Therefore, He
Ne atomic laser was developed in 1961 at Bell Telephone Labs, USA. It is still one
of the most widely used lasers.
Active Medium of He-Ne Laser:
The state of active medium is gas.it is a mixture of two inert gas i.e He and Ne with
10 parts of He to 1 parts of Ne. The mixture of He and Ne are filled in a narrow
discharge tube at very low pressure at 1 tor. In mixture the pressure of He atomic
gas is higher than Ne gas i.e., 10:1
Host:
He gas acts as host of active medium. He atom acts as host. It is more in
concentration so it is ready to take the impact of high Kinetic energy electron
injected through supply high voltage. He-atoms help efficient excitation of Ne-
atoms. The pressure of He gas is relatively higher than Ne gas.
Dopant:
The Ne inert gas is dopant which is in very low concentration. It provides the Ne
Atom as active center which are responsible for laser action in this gas laser. The
effective pressure of Ne gas is very low. Ne-atoms are active centers and have energy
levels suitable for laser transitions.
Chemically, He - Ne gases are inert.
Physically,
It is kept in discharge tube so it can take the shape of discharge tube. It is completely
transparent and it's refractive index is 1.The Discharge tube of about 30cm long, 1.5
cm in diameter.
Block diagram of a He-Ne laser:
Detail of Electrical Pumping (Inelastic Atom-Atom Collisions)
HV of 10kV applied across the gas through electrode to ionize the gas Electrons
accelerated towards anode and cathode. Electrons being smaller in mass acquire
higher velocity.
In this pumping a high voltage electric discharge acts as a pump source. However in
this method, a combination of two types of spices of gases He and Ne are used. In
this process, high Kinetic energy free electron are injected into gas mixture. The high
KE Electron collides with One of species (which is more) i.e, He (11S0 GS) and
transfer the energy to He and it gets excited in higher energy level (21S0 ) and(23S1)
with absorbing energy from high KE electron 20.65 eV and 19.81 eV). This excited
atom of He atom collides with other species Ne atom. It transfers energy to other Ne
atoms and it get excited and He atom can get back to lower excited state. Helium-
Neon (He-Ne) laser uses this method.

Pumping Transition
PT (a)
He (11S0 GS) + electron (KE=20.65eV)→He (21S0 ES) + electron (LKE)
He (11S0 GS) + electron (KE=19.81 eV) →He ((23S1) ES) + electron (LKE)
After collision, He atom of ground state get excited and having in excited states i.e,
(21S0 ) and(23S1) .Such excited He atom collides with Ne Atom of G.S. So, Ne get
excited.
PT (b)
He*(23S1) + Ne1S0 → He (1S0) + Ne*4s2 + ΔE,
He*(21S) + Ne1S0 + ΔE → He(1S0) + Ne*(ES)
After transfer of energy to Ne Atom from Excited He, The Ne atom get excited to
different bands which are formed via redistribution of electron to outermost empty
sub orbital.

S.NO Orbital's Overlapping Formation of Band

1 2p5 3s 1s band
2 2p5 4s 2s band
3 2p5 5s 3s band
4 2p5 3p 2p band
5 2p5 4p 3p band

The Ne atoms shall go in theses excited state i.e., bands and it makes downward
transition to emit different types of energy as lasers, spontaneous emission and Non
radiative transition. Then it come back to ground state.
Energy Diagram:

After getting excited Ne atom makes downward transition as

Laser transition: The relative population of 3s and 2s band (Metastable) are higher
than 2p and 3p bands. So the population inversion is achieved in these states as
 𝑁3𝑠 > 𝑁3𝑝
𝑁3𝑠 > 𝑁2𝑝
And
𝑁2𝑠 > 𝑁2𝑝
Therefore, the laser transition s are possible between these states by getting trigger
photons from the spontaneous emission in these states.
The energy difference between (3s band and 3p band) and (2s band and 2p bands)
are in IR spectrum. The energy difference between (3s and 2p) is in optical spectrum.
We have three output as laser.
LT1
𝑁𝑒 ∗ (𝐸𝑆, 3𝑠 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑑 )
+ 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ (𝜆1 = 3.39𝜇𝑚)
→ 𝑁𝑒 ∗ (𝐸𝑆, 3𝑝 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑑 )
+ 2 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ(𝜆1 = 3.39𝜇𝑚)
LT2
𝑁𝑒 ∗ (𝐸𝑆, 3𝑠 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑑 )
+ 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ(𝜆2 = 6328Å)
→ 𝑁𝑒 ∗ (𝐸𝑆, 2𝑝 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑑 )
+ 2 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ(𝜆2 = 6328Å)
LT3
𝑁𝑒 ∗ (𝐸𝑆, 2𝑠 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑑 )
+ 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ (𝜆3 = 1.15𝜇𝑚)
→ 𝑁𝑒 ∗(𝐸𝑆, 2𝑝 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑑 )
+ 2 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ(𝜆3 = 1.15𝜇𝑚)
Spontaneous Emission:
The Ne atom is collected in to 2p bands. These atom have energy. These atoms get
de excited to 3s band by emitting energy spontaneously with wavelength of 0.6𝜇𝑚.
𝑁𝑒 ∗(𝐸𝑆, 2𝑝 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑑 )
→ 𝑁𝑒 ∗(𝐸𝑆, 1𝑠 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑑 )
+ 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ(0.6𝜇𝑚)
NRT:
The 𝑁𝑒 ∗ (𝐸𝑆, 1𝑠 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑑 ) get dexcited by collision with wall of narrow discharge
tube. And all energy of Ne atom get dexcited through wall of tube and Ne atom get
into its ground state. So, it will be ready to get excited by excited he atom. To have
larger population in excited state of Ne, Ne must get in ground state via collision of
wall. So the diameter of tube is made small.
Output:
The output of He-ne laser is always continuous because, the pumping transition and
laser action are independent. So these process may occur simultaneously. In this
laser, as we pump the energy, we can get laser. Ground state is only involved in the
processes of pumping transition (PT).It is not involved in processes of Laser
transition (LT). Both processes are independent to each other. And these processes
occur simultaneously. So both can occur at same time. This is a reason that we have
continuous wave output.
Applications:
It is used in scientific study and industry. It is very useful in following field
1. Bar code scanning
2. Study the optical phenomenon
3. Used in tooling the job in mechanical engineering and industry
4. Used in medical science such as DNA analysis, blood analysis and tissue
analysis.
5. Fields of microscopy, spectroscopy, optical disc reading, biomedical
engineering, metrology, and holography
Advantages of He Ne lasers:
High coherence length: This is very typical to most gas lasers. In case of HeNe, the
coherence length varies from 20 cm (for multiple longitudinal modes) to more than
100 m.
Stable central wavelength: The typical emission wavelength of He- Ne lasers is
about 632.816 nm in air. Very stable oscillation frequency of <1 MHz (<0.001 pm
at 633 nm) drift is characteristic just to the most sophisticated He Ne lasers, having
extra stabilization measures.
High spectral purity: He-Ne lasing medium features several emission peaks,
however it is relatively easy to force the laser to oscillate in just one of the emission
bands. Once it is done, no spontaneous emission or emission from other bands is
detectable.
Good beam quality and alignment: The longer is the gas tube, the easier it is to
get good Gaussian beam profile, good beam quality and very good angular and
spatial alignment with respect to the laser housing.
Low-cost: Deep traditions of He Ne laser manufacturing and its wide spread in such
applications as first barcode scanners and CD players has been driving the cost down
and now a laser of 2-3 mW output power has very low costs.
Drawbacks of He-Ne lasers
Short life-time. Helium atoms are very important for reducing the lasing threshold
of the complete laser. But these atoms are small and tend to diffuse through the walls
of the glass tube. Diffusion of He atoms is the main reason of short lifetime of HeNe
lasers, which is often in the range of 1000 to 10000 hours, and that is less than 1 year
of 24/7 operation. This is considered the main drawback of He Ne lasers in industrial
applications.
Long warm-up time. Manufacturers specify typical warm-up time of 10 minutes.
This might not be a big issue in some applications requiring continuous operation,
however in situations where the laser has to be frequently turned on and off, this is
a big drawback, which typically means that one has to install mechanical shutters,
which open up for laser exposure, i.e. the laser run continuously, which further
decreases life time.
Low output power. Most powerful HeNe lasers emit 35 to 50 mW of output power.
This is low comparing with a 100 mW to 200 mW TEM00 output from some
semiconductor lasers. Even frequency stabilized 633 nm lasers emit 70 mW to 100
mW of narrow-line width power.
Very bulky. In some case, A 35 mW output power He Ne laser is about 1 meter
long. It is not cost effective anymore to buy it, nor to store or transport it.
High voltage. He Ne lasers often use voltages above 1500 V. Such high voltages
create certain risks for people and equipment around.
APPLICTION OF LASER:
The laser has lot of application in various area of life.
Due to high coherence, high intensity, high monochromatic and high focus ability,
laser beams have wide applications in various branches of science and engineering.
Industrial and Entertainment applications
1. The laser beam is used to drill extremely fine holes in diamonds, hard sheets etc.
2. They are also used for cutting thick sheets of hard metals and welding.
3. The laser beam is used to vaporize the unwanted material during the manufacture
of electronic circuit on semiconductor chips.
4. They can be used to test the quality of the materials.
5. It has application as laser printers, laser pointer, CD / optical disc reading and
writing, Bar code scanning, thermal sensing and laser lithography.
6. It is used for laser shows and decoration.
Medical applications
1. In medicine, micro surgery has become possible due to narrow angular spread of
the laser beam.
2. It can be used in the treatment of kidney stone, tumors, in cutting and sealing the
small blood vessels in brain surgery and retina detachment.
3. The laser beams are used in endoscopy.
4. It can also be used for the treatment of human cancer.
5. It has wide application in area dermatology ENT, Neuroscience and neurosurgery,
density, and orthopedics etc.
Scientific and Research
1. Since the laser beam can stay on at a single frequency, it can be modulated to
transmit large number of messages at a time in radio, television and telephone.
2. The semiconductor laser is the best light source for optical fiber communication.
3. It used to study spectroscopy, forensic science, material science, laser scattering
spectroscopy, and metrology: remote sensing and interferometry and Raman
spectroscopy.
Communication:
1. Narrow angular spread of the laser beam makes it a very useful tool for
microwave communication. Communication with earth satellites and in rocketry.
Laser is also used in accurate range finders for detecting the targets.
2. Used in optical fiber communication. It is useful in data transmission at high rate.
3. Huge data is be send. It has high security interception. A focused laser bean can't
be intercept.
4. Laser is used in Satellite communication.
Defense and security:
1. It used to marking and positioning the target. It is used to guide the ammunition
and missiles.
2. It used to jamming and destruction the sensors, optoelectronic devices, RADER
and material structure with suitable power lasers.
3. Used for military surveillance.
4. Help to soldier for targeting in night.
Other application
1. The earth-moon distance has been measured with the help of
2. Laser is also used in holography (three dimensional lens less photography)
3. Laser beam can determine precisely the distance, velocity and direction as well
as the size and form of the objects by means of the reflected signal as in radar.
(NOTE:Holography When an object is photographed by a camera, a two
dimensional image of three dimensional object is obtained. A three dimensional
image of an object can be formed by holography. In ordinary photography, the
amplitude of the light wave is recorded on the photographic film. In holography,
both the phase and amplitude of the light waves are recorded on the film. The
resulting photograph is called hologram.)
 Properties of Laser light
Laser has certain unique properties, namely,
1. Highly Monchromaticity,
2. Highly coherence
3. Unidirectionality or Non diverging
4. Highly Intense
5. Highly Bright
6. Highly Focusable
As it is compared to ordinary sources of light, though both are electromagnetic
radiations.
Highly Monchromaticity:
In an ideal case, the laser emits all photons with the same energy, and thus the same
wavelength, it is said to be monochromatic. The light from a laser typically comes
from one atomic transition with a single precise wavelength. So the laser light has a
single spectral color and is almost the purest monochromatic light available.
However, in all practical cases, the laser light is not truly monochromatic. A truly
monochromatic wave requires a wave train of infinite duration. The spectral
emission line from which it originates does have a finite width, because of the
Doppler effect of the moving atoms or molecules from which it comes. Compared
to the ordinary sources of light, the range of frequency (line width) of the laser is
extremely small. This range is called line width or bandwidth.

The main cause of in general, generation of monochromatic laser light is that Laser
light consists of essentially one wavelength, having its origin in stimulated emission
from one set of atomic energy levels. This is possible because laser transition, in
principle, involves well-defined energy levels.

The lasers, in general, generate light in a very narrow band around a single, central
wavelength. The degree of Monchromaticity can be quantitatively described in terms
of wavelength bandwidth or frequency bandwidth. The narrower is the line width,
higher degree of the Monchromaticity of the laser has. However this depends on the
type of laser, and special techniques can be used to improve Monchromaticity.
Typically, the frequency bandwidth of a commercial He-Ne laser is about 1500MHz
(full width at half-maximum, FWHM). In terms of wavelength, it means that at a
wavelength of 632.8nm this means a wavelength bandwidth of about 0.01nm.
So Monchromaticity is mathematically defined as the purity of light. The
Monchromaticity id defined as in term of degree of non- Monchromaticity which is
given as ration of central value of frequency (wavelength) emitted by sources and
frequency band width (line band width).It is inversely proportional to quality factor.

𝝂 𝝀 𝟏
𝝐= = =
∆𝝂 ∆𝝀 𝑸

Highly coherence:
Laser is called a coherent light source where as an ordinary light is called an
incoherent source of light. In case of laser light, the stimulated emission process are
dominating over spontaneous emission process. So In case of stimulated emission
process, an excited atom can be induced to emit a photon by another photon of same
frequency - i.e. a passing photon can stimulate a transition from a higher level to the
lower level, thus resulting in the emission of two photons, which is gain. The two
emitted photons are said to be in phase, which means that the crest or the trough of
the wave associated with one photon will occur at the same time as on the wave
associated with the other photon. An avalanche of similar photons is created and
these photons have a fixed phase relationship with each other. This fixed phase
relationship between the photons from various atoms in the active medium results in
the laser beam generated having the property of coherence.
There are two types of coherence - spatial and temporal.

Temporal coherence:

Correlation between the waves at one place at different times, or along the path:
along the direction of propagation of a beam at a single instant, are effectively the
same thing, and are called "temporal coherence".

𝒍𝒄 = 𝒄𝒐𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉 = 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕(𝒄) × 𝒄𝒐𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆(𝝉𝒄 )

𝟏
𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒚 𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉(∆𝝂) =
𝝉𝒄
𝒄 𝒄
So we know that = , therefore, ∆𝝂 = ∆𝝀
𝝀 𝝀𝟐

𝝀𝟐 𝒄
𝒍𝒄 = = = 𝝀𝑸
∆𝝀 ∆𝝂
 𝜆
𝑄 = 𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 =
∆𝜆
Spatial coherence:

Correlation between different places (but not along the path: perpendicular to
direction of propagation) is called "spatial coherence".

The spatial coherence length is given

𝜆
𝑙𝜔 = Where 𝛼 is angle subtended by source.
𝛼

Therefore, keeping laser light highly coherent, the temporal coherence must be very
large and spatial coherence must be very small.

Uni-directionality or Non-diverging:
One of the important properties of laser is its high directionality. The multiple
reflections in optical cavity through active medium with making more de- excitation
of Active center in active medium by stimulated emission, also produce a well-
collimated beam, because only photons traveling parallel to the cavity walls will be
reflected from both mirrors.
The spatial coherence is important to have low value of divergence or high
directionality.
A perfectly collimated beam would have parallel sides and would never expand at
all. Its divergence angle would be exactly zero. Diffraction plays an important role
in determining the size of laser spot that can be projected at a given distance. The
oscillation of the beam in the resonator cavity produces a narrow beam that
subsequently diverges at some angle depending on the resonator design, the size of
the output aperture, and resulting diffraction effects on the beam. These diffraction
effects usually referred as a beam-spreading effect are a result of the light waves
passing through a small opening. These diffraction phenomena impose a limit on the
minimum diameter of a light point after passing through an optical system. For a
laser, the beam emerging from the output mirror can be thought of as the opening or
aperture, and the diffraction effects on the beam by the mirror will limit the minimum
divergence and spot size of the beam.
 Due to diffraction, the laser beam is not diverging more while traveling a long
distance whereas ordinary light beam get more diverged than laser light. In fact one
can say that, divergence angle describes the directionality of the laser. For a perfect
spatially coherent laser beam, the diffraction limited divergence angle 𝜃 is given by,

𝛌
𝛉=𝐤 , 𝐊 = 𝟏. 𝟐𝟐
𝐃
Where 𝜆 and 𝐷 are the wavelength and diameter of the laser beam respectively. 𝑘 is
a constant factor that is usually unity but depends on the wavelength. The
relationship clearly demonstrates that beam divergence increases with wavelength,
and decreases as beam (or output lens) diameter increases. The minimum divergence
(full angle) that can be theoretically achievable for the most well-known lasers, i.e.
Nd: YAG (l = 1.06 mm with 3mm diameter) and He-Ne laser (l = 0.6328 mm with
1mm beam diameter). The divergence angles are 0.353 milli-rad or 0.02014° and
0.6328 milli-rad or 0.03607° respectively. Compare this with the divergence of the
light from a torchlight (20° or more) and the high directionality of laser beams
becomes quite obvious. As the spatial coherence becomes partial or the degree of
coherence reduces, the divergence increases accordingly and for calculating the
divergence, the diameter of the beam D is to be replaced with the coherence area in
the above-mentioned equation.

Brightness:

It is property of surface which is being observed.it is defined as energy emitted per

unit tine per unit area and per unit solid angle. The laser light has high brightness
because the area of laser beam is very small due to spatial coherence. The units are
watts per square meter per steradian. For small angles the relation between a planar
angle and the solid angle of a cone with that planar angle is to a good
𝜋
approximation:𝛺 = 𝜃 2 where θ is the angle of divergence and Ω is the solid angle.
4

The brightness is given as

𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞

𝐁=
𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐚 × 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 × 𝛀
The Brightness of a 1mW He-Ne laser with 1 mm output diameter and angle of
divergence of 1 milli-radian is 1.6 x 109 Watts/m2-steradian, which can be estimated
in the following manner. The solid angle corresponding to one milli-rad is:
 𝜋 𝜋
𝛺 = 𝜃 2 = (10−3)2
4 4

Ω = 0.8 x 10-6 sterad

The Brightness is power divided by the area of the beam and the solid angle. Thus
radiance B is

𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝟏𝟎−𝟑 𝐖

𝐁= =
𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐚 × 𝛀 (𝟕. 𝟖𝟓 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟔 𝐦𝟐 ) × 𝟎. 𝟖 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟔 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐝

B =1.6 x 109 Watts/m2-steradian

The brightness of a milli -watt helium neon laser is far greater than 106 Watts/m2-
steradian that of the sun which emits more than 1026 W. that’s why, it is instructed
not to see directly in to laser source.

This is a unique advantage for many of the laser applications in various areas.

Highly Intense
The laser light is also highly intense. The intensity is property of source.it is defined
as energy passing normally through a surface per unit area and per unit time. The
high intensity of laser light is due to spatial coherence. The energy is confined in
very small region. It is given as
𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒
𝐼=
𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 × 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
Highly Focusable It is very interesting to note that, the intensity of laser light is not
same throughout the cross section of the beam. Due to spatial coherence, it possible
to focus the laser beam as ordinary light into very fine spot with help of suitable lens.
The size of image in focal plane of lens is given as
𝒔𝒊𝒛𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒕
= 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒉𝒕
× 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒆𝒈𝒅𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒆.
𝝀
𝒔𝒊𝒛𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒕 = 𝒇𝜽 = 𝒇
𝒅