LASERS:

Introduction: Laser is the most important discoveries in Physics in recent years. The
word laser stands for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. The
transitions between the atomic energy states is a statistical process. It is not possible to
predict which particular atom will make a transition from one state to another at a
particular instant. However, in an assembly of a very large number of atoms, it is
possible to calculate the rate of radiative transitions between two states, based on the
laws of probability. Albert Einstein was the first to calculate the probability of such
transitions assuming the atomic system to be in equilibrium with electromagnetic
radiation.
The principle of laser is based on the phenomenon of stimulated emission of radiation,
the theory of which had been worked out by Einstein in 1917. We know that the light
is emitted from a source when the atoms in the source make transitions from the excited
state to lower energy state spontaneously. Normally the atoms exist in the excited state
for a time about 10-8s. If the energy of the excited state is 𝐸2 and that of lower energy
state is 𝐸1 then the energy of the emitted photon is
ℎ𝛾12 = 𝐸2 − 𝐸1
On the other hand if a photon of energy ℎ𝛾12 falls upon an atom in the state of energy
𝐸1 then it will make a transition to the higher energy state 𝐸2 by the absorption of the
photon.
Due to spontaneous transition, the light photons are emitted in all possible directions.
Besides, there is no definite phase relationship between the different photons so that
the emitted light is incoherent in nature.
Besides the above two types, a third type of transition from an upper energy state E 2
to a lower energy state E1 may be induced by an incident photon of energy
ℎ𝛾12 = 𝐸2 − 𝐸1 giving rise to the stimulated emission of radiation.
The photons emitted during stimulated emission has the same energy as the incident
photon. It is emitted in the same direction and has the same phase as the latter. Thus
we get two coherent photons in this case. If these two photons are now incident on two
other atoms in the state 𝐸2 , then it will result in the induced emission of two more
photons so that there will be four coherent photons of the same energy. These four
photons may then induce transitions in four other atoms in the energy state 𝐸2 , thereby
giving rise to the stimulated emission of four fresh coherent photons of the same
energy so that the number of coherent photons of the energy ℎ𝛾12 is now increased to
eight. If the process can be made to go on in a chain, we may ultimately be able to
increase the intensity of the coherent radiation enormously. The necessary condition
for this type of amplification of the light intensity by the stimulated emission of
radiation is that the number of atoms in the upper state 𝐸2 must be sufficiently
increased.
1. Absorption:
Let us consider two energy levels, 1 and 2 of some atom or molecule of a given
material, their energies being E1 and E2 (E1< E2) as shown in fig.1. As far as the
following discussion is concerned, the two levels could be any two out of the infinite
set of levels possessed by the atom. It is convenient, however, to take level 1 to be the
ground level.
Let us now assume that the atom is initially lying in level 1 as in fig.1. If this is the
ground level, the atom will remain in this level unless some external stimulus is applied
to it. We shall assume that an e.m. wave of frequency 𝛾 = 𝛾0 is incident to the material.
In this case, there is a finite probability that the atom will be raised to level 2. The
energy difference E2-E1, required by the atom to undergo transition is obtained from
the energy of the incident e.m wave. This is absorption.
The rate of absorption is proportional to the number of atoms in the ground state (N 1)
and energy density (total amount of energy of a system per unit volume) of incident
radiation [𝜌(𝑣)]. The phenomenon can be represented mathematically,
𝐴 + ℎ𝛾 → 𝐴∗
This phenomenon is probabilistic in nature. The energy absorbed by the atom from the
incident photon.
ℎ𝛾 = 𝐸2 − 𝐸1 = ∆𝐸
The rate of absorption 𝑅𝐴 ∝ 𝑁1 𝜌(𝑣)
𝑅𝐴 = 𝐵12 𝑁1 𝜌(𝑣)……..(1)
Where 𝐵12 is called Einstein’s probability coefficient for induced absorption.

2. Spontaneous emission:
The atom in the excited state 2 makes a downward transition to ground state 1 by itself,
by emitting a photon, soon after the completion of its lifetime (𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 10−8s) in the
excited state. This phenomenon is called Spontaneous Emission.
𝐴∗ → 𝐴 + ℎ𝛾
Spontaneous emission is non probabilistic in nature.
The energy of emitted photon is ℎ𝛾 = 𝐸2 − 𝐸1. The rate of spontaneous emission
solely depends on the number of atoms (N2) in the excited state 2.
𝑅𝑆𝑃 ∝ 𝑁2
𝑅𝑆𝑃 = 𝐴21 𝑁2 … … … . (2)
Where 𝐴21 is called Einstein’s probability coefficient for spontaneous emission.

3. Stimulated emission:
An atom in the excited state may be forced to de – excite before the completion of its
lifetime by the influence of an incident photon by emitting two identical photons. The
phenomenon is called Stimulated Emission.
𝐴∗ + ℎ𝛾 → 𝐴 + 2 ℎ𝛾
The stimulated emission is also probabilistic in nature. The two photons emitted are
identical in all respect. The energy of each photon is ℎ𝛾 = 𝐸2 − 𝐸1 = ∆𝐸.The rate of
stimulated emission depends on the number of atoms (N2) in the excited state 2 as well
as the energy density of incident photon.
𝑅𝑆𝑡 ∝ 𝑁2 𝜌(𝑣)
𝑅𝑆𝑡 = 𝐵21 𝑁2 𝜌(𝑣 ) … … … . (3)
Where𝐵21 is the Einstein’s probability coefficient for stimulated emission.
Einstein coefficients and optical amplification:

Einstein coefficients:
Einstein coefficients are mathematical quantities which are the measure of the
probability of absorption or emission of light by an atom or molecule. The
Einstein A coefficient is related to the rate of spontaneous emission of light.
Einstein B coefficients is related to the absorption and stimulated emission of
light.
Relation between different Einstein’s Coefficients:
𝐴21 8𝜋ℎ𝛾 3
=
𝐵21 𝑐3
This shows that the ratio of Einstein’s coefficient of spontaneous emission to the
Einstein’s coefficient of stimulated absorption or emission (as B12 = B21) of radiation
is proportional to cube of the frequency 𝛾 3. This means that the probability of
spontaneous emission increases rapidly with the energy difference between two
states.
Population inversion:
Normally the number of atoms in the ground state is much larger than the
number of atoms in the excited state. During spontaneous emission the
atoms which are raised to the excited state automatically come down to the
lower energy state within the time period of 10-8sec with spontaneous
emission radiation.
If by any means we can increase the numbers of atoms in the excited state
than the ground state, then that state is called as population inversion state.
Population inversion is an essential condition for laser emission.
The number of atoms at a particular energy level is called population of that state.
The relative population of a level 𝐸2 with population 𝑁2 is given by Boltzmann
factor.
𝑁2 −(𝐸2 −𝐸1 ) −(ℎ𝛾)
=𝑒 𝐾𝑇 = 𝑒 𝐾𝑇
𝑁1
Where 𝑁1 is population of ground with energy 𝐸1 .
For lasing action to happen, the population inversion condition should be
satisfied.
Diag.

To have population inversion,

𝑔1 𝑁2
>1
𝑔2 𝑁1
Where 𝑔1 and 𝑔2 are the statistical weights for levels 1 and 2 respectively.
Requisites of laser:
The basic laser components are active medium or gain medium, pumping
device or source and resonant cavity.
1. The active Medium (or laser gain medium)
The main component of a laser is a certain medium in the form of a solid,
liquid or gas called active medium. The main characteristics of the active
medium are as follows:
It must have a pair of energy levels separated by a certain amount of energy. The
energy level having high energy is known as upper energy level or higher excited
energy level and the energy level having low energy is known as lower energy
level or ground state.
It must allow a population inversion between two energy levels.
Examples of Active Media
a. Ruby which is Al₂O3 with some of the aluminium (Al) atoms replaced by
the chromium (Cr) ions. In this case, chromium (Cr) ions are the active
centre or active media.
b. Atoms such as helium-neon (He-Ne) in the Helium-Neon laser emitting
red light.
c. Molecules such as carbon-dioxide (CO₂) in infrared laser.
d. Liquids (organic dye molecules dissolved in solvent solutions).
2. A pumping device (energy source)
It is an external source of energy which provides the necessary energy to the
active medium to produce a state of population inversion which is essential for
lasing action.
The most commonly used methods of pumping are: Optical pumping, Electric
discharge Inelastic atomic collisions, Chemical reaction energy called chemical
pumping.

3. A resonant cavity or laser cavity

Population inversion is achieved to amplify the signal through stimulated
emission. However, in practice, most of atoms in the excited state emit
spontaneously and do not contribute to the overall output.
Only few atoms in the excited state emit through stimulated emission and hence
overall gain of the output is small. Therefore, we require a positive feedback
mechanism to make most of the atoms in the excited state to emit via stimulated
emission for contributing to the coherent output.

A device used to have positive feedback mechanism for maximum coherent

output is known as resonator or resonant cavity. Thus, resonant cavity or
resonator is a feedback device that makes the photons to move back and forth
through the active medium.
In this process, the number of photons emitted due to stimulated emission are
multiplied. A resonant cavity consists of a pair of plane or spherical mirrors
placed parallel to each other at the ends of the active medium. One of the mirror
is fully reflecting mirror and the other is partially transmitting mirror. The laser
output is taken out through the partially transmitting mirror which is also
called output coupler mirror.

Lasing action:
Once the population inversion is achieved, laser action is initiated. The atom in
the metastable state comes down to the ground state emitting a photon. This
photon can stimulate an atom in the metastable state to release its photon in phase
with it. The photon thus released is called stimulated photon. It moves in the same
direction as the initial photon, has the same wavelength and is in phase with it,
thus producing amplification. Since there are a large number of initiating photons,
it forms an initiating electromagnetic radiation field. An avalanche of stimulated
photons is generated, as the photons traveling along the length of the active
medium stimulates a number of excited atoms in the metastable state to release
their photons. This is referred to as the stimulated emission.

These photons are fully reflected by the rear reflector (100% reflective) and the
number and consequently the intensity of stimulated photons increases as they
traverse through the active medium, thus increasing the intensity of radiation field
of stimulated emission. The intensity of the laser output increases as the pumping
continues. We may conclude that, laser action is preceded by three processes,
namely, absorption, spontaneous emission and stimulated emission - absorption
of energy to populate upper levels, spontaneous emission to produce the initial
photons for stimulation and finally, stimulated emission for generation of
coherent output or laser.

Metastable state: An atom can be excited to higher level by supplying energy to

it. Normally excited states have short lifetimes and release their energy in very
short time (10-9s) through spontaneous emission. i.e. atoms do not stay long
enough in the excited state to be stimulated. As a result, even though the pumping
agent continuously raises the atoms to the excited state, they undergo spontaneous
transitions and rapidly return to the lower energy state. The population inversion
cannot be established under such circumstances. In order to establish the
population inversion condition, the excited atoms are required to “wait” in the
upper energy state till a large number of atoms accumulate at that level. In other
words, it is necessary that the excited state has a longer life time. Such a state is
called metastable state. Because of the restrictions imposed by conservation of
angular momentum, an electron excited to a metastable state cannot return to the
ground state by emitting a photon as it is generally expected to do. Such a state
in which single photon emission is impossible has an unusually long time and is
called metastable state. The atoms excited to the metastable states remain excited
for an appreciable time which is of the order of 10-6 to 10-3s. This is 103 to 106
times the lifetimes of the ordinary energy levels. The transition from metastable
state to the ground state is forbidden transition.
Ruby laser:

A ruby laser is a solid-state laser that uses the synthetic ruby crystal as its laser
medium. Ruby laser is the first successful laser developed by Maiman in 1960.

Ruby laser is one of the few solid-state lasers that produce visible light. It emits
deep red light of wavelength 694.3 nm.

Construction of ruby laser: A ruby laser consists of three important elements:

laser medium, the pump source, and the optical resonator.
Laser medium or gain medium in ruby laser:

In a ruby laser, a single crystal of ruby (Al2O3 : Cr3+) in the form of cylinder acts
as a laser medium or active medium. The laser medium (ruby) in the ruby laser is
made of the Al2O3 which is doped with small amounts of chromium ions (Cr3+).
The ruby has good thermal properties.

Pump source or energy source in ruby laser:

The pump source is the element of a ruby laser system that provides energy to the
laser medium. In the ruby laser, flashtubes are used as the energy source or pump
source. The flashtube supplies energy to the laser medium (ruby). When lower
energy state electrons in the laser medium gain sufficient energy from the
flashtube, they jump into the higher energy state or excited state.
Optical resonator:

The ends of the cylindrical ruby rod are flat and parallel. The cylindrical ruby rod
is placed between two mirrors. The optical coating is applied to both the
mirrors. The process of depositing thin layers of metals on glass substrates to
make mirror surfaces is called silvering. Each mirror is coated or silvered
differently.

At one end of the rod, the mirror is fully silvered whereas, at another end, the
mirror is partially silvered. The fully silvered mirror will completely reflect the
light whereas the partially silvered mirror will reflect most part of the light but
allows a small portion of light through it to produce output laser light.

Working of ruby laser

The ruby laser is a three level solid-state laser. In a ruby laser, optical pumping
technique is used to supply energy to the laser medium. Consider a ruby laser
medium consisting of three energy levels E 1, E2, E3 with N number of electrons.

We assume that the energy levels will be E1 < E2 < E3. The energy level E1 is
known as ground state or lower energy state, the energy level E 2 is known as
metastable state, and the energy level E3 is known as pump state.

Let us assume that initially most of the electrons are in the lower energy state (E1)
and only a tiny number of electrons are in the excited states (E2 and E3)

When light energy is supplied to the laser medium (ruby), the electrons in the
lower energy state or ground state (E1) gains enough energy and jumps into the
pump state (E3).
The lifetime of pump state E3 is very small (10-8 sec) so the electrons in the pump
state do not stay for long period. After a short period, they fall into the metastable
state E2 by releasing radiation less energy. The lifetime of metastable state E 2 is
10-3 sec which is much greater than the lifetime of pump state E3. Therefore, the
electrons reach E2 much faster than they leave E2. This results in an increase in
the number of electrons in the metastable state E2 and hence population inversion
is achieved.

After some period, the electrons in the metastable state E2 falls into the lower
energy state E1 by releasing energy in the form of photons. This is called
spontaneous emission of radiation.

When the emitted photon interacts with the electron in the metastable state, it
forcefully makes that electron fall into the ground state E1. As a result, two
photons are emitted. This is called stimulated emission of radiation.

When these emitted photons again interacted with the metastable state electrons,
then 4 photons are produced. Because of this continuous interaction with the
electrons, millions of photons are produced.

In an active medium (ruby), a process called spontaneous emission produces

light. The light produced within the laser medium will bounce back and forth
between the two mirrors. This stimulates other electrons to fall into the ground
state by releasing light energy. This is called stimulated emission. Likewise,
millions of electrons are stimulated to emit light. Thus, the light gain is achieved.

The amplified light escapes through the partially reflecting mirror to produce
laser light.

Properties of laser:
Spatial and temporal coherence:
The waves are called coherent when their waveforms and frequencies are similar.
Coherence is a property that allows the molecules to exhibit constant interference.
The concept of spatial coherence mainly focuses on the relationship established
between different waves in space at different points. Any two waves are said to
be coherent if they exhibit a relative phase that is stable and constant. For given
waves, the spatial coherence amount can be identified by interference visibility.

Directionality:

In conventional light sources (lamp, sodium lamp and torchlight), photons will
travel in random direction. Therefore, these light sources emit light in all
directions.
On the other hand, in laser, all photons will travel in same direction. Therefore,
laser emits light only in one direction. This is called directionality of laser light.
The width of a laser beam is extremely narrow. Hence, a laser beam can travel
to long distances without spreading.

High intensity:

We know that the intensity of a wave is the energy per unit time flowing through
a unit normal area. In an ordinary light source, the light spreads out uniformly in
all directions. If you look at a 100 Watt lamp filament from a distance of 30 cm,
the power entering your eye is less than 1/1000 of a watt. In laser, the light spreads
in small region of space and in a small wavelength range. Hence, laser light has
greater intensity when compared to the ordinary light. If you look directly along
the beam from a laser (caution: don’t do it), then all the power in the laser would
enter your eye. Thus, even a 1 Watt laser would appear many thousand times
more intense than 100 Watt ordinary lamp.

If an ordinary light travels a distance of 2 km, it spreads to about 2 km in diameter.

On the other hand, if a laser light travels a distance of 2 km, it spreads to a
diameter less than 2 cm.
𝑃 𝑃
Estimates of beam intensity: The beam intensity is given by 𝐼 = = where
𝐴 𝜋𝑟 2
P is power and r is radius of the spot. The radius of the spot depends on the
distance from the source of the laser. The laser beam spreads because the
diffraction occurs at the aperture of the laser. The angular position is given by
1.22𝜆
𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 = where d is diameter of the spot.
𝑑

Spectral energy density: Energy spectral density, which is always an even,

nonnegative, real-valued function of frequency. It represents the distribution of
the energy of the signal in the frequency domain.