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Principle of laser, stimulated and spontaneous emission

For an absorbing medium the intensity gets attenuated with distance. The attenuation is a function
of frequency of the incoming wave

𝐼 = 𝐼0 𝑒 −𝛼𝑥

I 

 

The number of atoms per unit volume that occupy a given energy level is called the population of
that energy level.

E2 N2

E1 N1

Let the populations at level E1 be N1 and at E2 be N2 . At thermal equilibrium the population at the
energy levels can be found from Boltzmann law
𝐸1
𝑁1 = 𝑒 −𝑘𝑇
𝐸2
𝑁2 = 𝑒 −𝑘𝑇

The relative population is given by

𝑁2 𝐸2 −𝐸1
= 𝑒 − 𝑘𝑇
𝑁1

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When a photon travels through a medium three different processes are likely to occur. They are
absorption, spontaneous emission and stimulated emission.

Absorption
𝑑𝑁1 𝑑𝑁2
𝑅𝑎𝑏𝑠 = − =
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡

Rate of absorption transition can also be written as

𝑅𝑎𝑏𝑠 = 𝐵12 𝜌(𝜈)𝑁1

Where 𝑁1 is population of atoms at 𝐸1 , 𝜌(𝜈) is the energy density of the incident beam and 𝐵12 is
the constant of proportionality also known as Einstein coefficient.

Spontaneous Emission

An atom cannot stay in an excited state for a longer duration. In a time of about 10 -8s , the atom
reverts to the lower energy state by releasing a photon. Emission of a photon by an atom without
any external impetus is called spontaneous emission.

𝑅𝑠𝑝 = 𝐴21 𝑁2

Stimulated Emission

Electrons may make a downward transition with the interaction with photons.

𝑅𝑠𝑡 = 𝐵21 𝜌(𝜈)𝑁2

In stimulated emission each incident photon encounters a previously excited atom, and the optical
field of the photon interacts with the electron. The result of the interaction is a kind of resonance
effect, which induces each atom to emit a second photon with the same frequency, direction, phase
and polarization as the incident photon.

Einstein relations

Under thermal equilibrium the mean population in the lower and upper energy levels should remain
constant.

+𝐵12 𝜌(𝜈)𝑁1 = 𝐴21 𝑁2 + 𝐵21 𝜌(𝜈)𝑁2

𝐴21 𝑁2
𝜌(𝜈) =
𝐵12 𝑁1 − 𝐵21 𝑁2

𝐴21 /𝐵12
𝜌(𝜈) = 𝑁1 𝐵21
−
𝑁2 𝐵12

As
𝑁2 𝐸2 −𝐸1 ℎ𝜈
= 𝑒 − 𝑘𝑇 = 𝑒 −𝑘𝑇
𝑁1

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𝐴21 1
𝜌(𝜈) = ℎ𝜈
𝐵21 𝐵21
𝑒 𝑘𝑇 −
𝐵12

To maintain thermal equilibrium the system must release energy in the form of electromagnetic
radiation. It is required that the radiation be identical with black body radiation and be consistent with
Planck’s radiation for any value of T.

According to Planck’s law

8𝜋ℎ𝜈 3 𝜇3 1
𝜌(𝜈) =
𝑐3 ℎ𝜈
𝑒 𝑘𝑇 −1

Where 𝜇the refractive index of the medium and c is is the velocity of light in free space.

𝐴21 8𝜋ℎ𝜈3 𝜇3
Thus = and 𝐵21 = 𝐵12 .
𝐵21 𝑐3

𝑐3
𝐵21 = 𝐵12 =
8𝜋ℎ𝜈 3 𝜇 3

The above relations are known as Einstein relations and the coefficients are known as Einstein
coefficients. The relation also shows that the ratio of coefficients of spontaneous verses stimulated
emissions proportion the third power of frequency of the radiation. This is why it is difficult to achieve
laser action in higher frequency ranges such as x-rays.

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