UNIT – IV

LASERS & FIBER OPTICS

 CONTENTS

 LASERS- INTRODUCTION

 CHARACTERISTICS OF LASERS

 SPONTANEOUS AND STIMULATED EMISSION OF RADIATION

 POPULATION INVERSION

 PUMPING

 RUBY LASER

 He-Ne LASER

 SEMICONDUCTOR LASERS

 APPLICATIONS OF LASERS
Characteristics of LASERS
1) Highly Directional – Laser is highly directional which is
expressed in terms of divergence. The degree of divergence of
laser for laser spots of radii a2 and a1 for distances d2and d1 from
the laser source is given by,

a2  a1
 Rad
2  d 2  d1 
The laser beam spreads less than 0.01 mm for a distance of one
meter, whereas search light spreads about 0.5 meters for every
one meter distance travelled. Hence, laser is highly directional.
2) Highly Monochromatic – Laser is highly monochromatic compared to the
conventional monochromatic light because of the characteristic nature of Stimulated
Emission of laser.
3) Highly Coherent – The correlation of the phase and amplitude at any one point with
any other point in a beam of light or wave train is called coherence. In a laser beam if
you consider a wave front, all the wave trains are having same phase, amplitude and
wavelength.

Incoherent Light waves Coherent Light waves

4) Highly Intensity - Laser is an intense light source. This is due
to high coherence and high directionality. Due to directionality
intensity decreases very slowly and due to coherence amplitude
gets added up. If ‘a’ is the amplitude of a single wave train and
‘n’ is the number of coherent sources. Then its intensity is given
by,
I= n2a2
Interaction of Radiation With Matter
Absorption & Emission Processes
Stimulated absorption
It is the process of excitation of atom into excited state from ground state by
absorbing the incident photon.
Spontaneous emission
It is the process of de-excitation of atom itself into ground state
after its life time from excited state by emitting a photon.
Stimulated emission
It is the process of de-excitation of atom into ground state from
excited state by interacting with an additional photon within its life
time by emitting of an additional photon.
Einstein’s Coefficients

• Let N1 be the number of atoms with energy E1 and N2 be the

number of atoms with energy E2. Let the energy density of
interacting photons be
/
• Interaction of a photon with sufficient energy with an atom
in the E1 level will result in upward transition (Stimulated
Absorption) to state E2.

• Thus rate of Absorption transition R12 = -----(1)

where B12 constant known as Einstein’s Coefficient of
Stimulated Absorption.
The probability of transition from E2 to E1 level is directly
proportional to the number of atoms N2 in the excited state E2.

The Rate of Spontaneous Emission R21(sp) = N2A21 ------(2)

where A21 constant known as Einstein’s Coefficient of

Spontaneous Emission.

The probability of transition from E2 to E1 level is directly

proportional to the number of atoms N2 in the excited state E2.

Rate of Stimulated Emission R21(st) = -------(3)

where B21 constant known as Einstein Coefficient of

Stimulated Emission.
Relation Between Einstein’s Coefficients

Eq (4)

From Eq (4)

Eq (5)

Eq (5) can be written as,

 ------- (6)

------- (7)
From equation (10), we conclude that probability stimulated emission is equal to absorption process.
The ratio of Einstein’s Coefficient of Spontaneous Emission to Einstein’s Coefficient of Stimulated
Emission is directly Proportional to the Cube of Frequency.
POPULATION INVERSION
The number of atoms present in the excited state (N2) is greater than the number of
atoms
present in the ground state (N1) is called population inversion.
METASTABLE STATE:
If there are only two energy states, the stimulated emission of
radiation is not possible. For stimulated emission there must be at least
three energy states rather than two. This states are known as meta
stable states where life time is 10-3 to 10-6 sec.
Three Level Energy Scheme
Four Level Energy Scheme
Pumping Methods
• Optical pumping (Ruby laser)
• Electric discharge (Helium Neon laser, CO2 laser)
• Direct conversion (Semiconductor laser)
• Chemical reaction (Chemical Oxygen iodine
Laser(COIL), Hydrogen Fluoride Laser(HF))
• Inelastic collisions b/w atoms
Types of LASERS
The different types of lasers are listed below:

Solid State laser : Ruby laser, Nd: YAG laser

Gas laser : CO2 laser, Argon-ion laser, He-Ne laser.

Liquid Laser : Europium chelate laser, SeOCl2 laser.

Dye Lasers : Rhodamine 6G laser, Courmarin Dye laser.

Semiconductor laser : InP laser, GaAs laser

 Main Components of LASER
• Active medium : When the medium is excited it achieves
Population Inversion.
• Energy Source : The energy source raises the system to the
Excited State.
• Optical resonator : It increases the intensity of the LASER beam.

Optical Resonator

Output
Beam
Active
Medium

High Reflectance Output Coupler

Mirror (HR) Mirror (OC)
R=100% Excitation R<100%
Mechanism
Flow chart for LASER Action
RUBY LASER
• This is solid state laser first devised by T. Maiman in 1960.
Characteristics of Ruby Laser:

• Type of Laser : Solid State Laser

• Active Medium : Ruby Rod (Al2O3 doped with cr2O3)
• Active Centre : Cr3+ ions
• Pumping Method : Optical Pumping
• Pumping Source : Helical Xenon flash lamp
• Optical Resonator : Two ends of the rod polished with silver
• Power output : 104- 105 watts
• Nature of the output : Pulsed laser
• Wavelength : 6943 A0
CONSTRUCTION
It consists of three main parts
• The working substance in the form of a rod of (4 Cm long and 0.5 Cm
diameter) ruby crystals (Al2O3 crystal containing 0.05% of chromium
atoms).
• The resonant cavity made of a fully reflecting plate at the left and
partially reflecting plate at the right both optically plane and accurately
parallel to each other.
• The optical pumping system consisting of xenon discharge tube.
To prevent over heating of the crystal cooling system is also arranged.
Working: The Xenon Flash lamp is an energy source with
a small discharge time. Some part of this energy excites the
chromium atoms. Chromium atom absorbs the light of
photon 5600Å and goes to the excited state E1 and by
absorbing energy 4200Å they excite to E2 state. The
excited atoms shift to the metastable state E1 by non-
radiative transition i.e., number of atoms are increased at
E1 level, achieving population inversion between E1 and
E2.
After completion of life time in E1, the chromium ions
decay spontaneously to E0 giving a photon of
wavelength 6943Å. The emitted photons move parallel
between the reflected surfaces in the active medium
thereby increasing the stimulated emission of
chromium ions in E1. When the beam is intense, it
escapes from the semi silvered mirror in the form of
laser of wave length 6943Å. The output of ruby laser
is pulsed wave. It is a low power wave.
WORKING
Drawbacks of Ruby LASER

• The Ruby laser requires high pumping power.

• This is a pulsed laser of microsecond duration.

Applications of Ruby laser

• Used for drilling high quality holes.
• In military used as target destinators.
• Pulsed holography
• Ruby lasers were used extensively in tattoo and hair removal.
 Helium – Neon LASER
Helium – Neon laser was developed by A. Javan, W. Bennett and D. Herriot.

Characteristics of Ruby Laser:

• Type of Laser : Gaseous Laser

• Active Medium : Mixture of He-Ne Gas(10:1 ratio)
• Active Centre : Ne atoms
• Pumping Method : Electrical Discharge Method
• Pumping Source : DC Power Supply
• Optical Resonator : Pair of mirrors facing each other
• Power output : 0.5 to 50 mwatts
• Nature of the output : continuous
• Wavelength : 6328 A0
Construction of He-Ne Laser:
Energy Level Diagram for He –Ne Laser
33912 Ǻ

11523Ǻ 6328 Ǻ

fig. The energy levels of He-Ne atoms

Advantages of He – Ne LASER
• 1. This operates in a continuous wave mode.

• 2. It is highly monochromatic and directional than solid state lasers.

• 3. No cooling is required.

• 4. It is less expensive than solid state lasers.

Applications of He-Ne LASER

• Free-space optical communications

• Bar-code scanners
• Hologram generation
• Fiber Optics
• Construction of laser light show
• Tachometer (measuring the rotation speed of a
shaft or disk)
• Burglar alarm
• Gyroscope
• Metrology
• Laser printers
Semiconductor LASERS
Introduction :

Semiconductor materials are a combination of tri-valent and

penta-valent elements of the Periodic Table.

They have a resistance of 10-2.

These materials usually have a Valance Band and a Conduction

Band .

Normally there is no electrons in the Conduction Band the Valence

Band is completely filled.
PN Junction Diode
It consists of a P- type semiconductor and N- type
semiconductor.

P-Type semiconductor:
Conduction through positive holes, doped with trivalent impurity.

N-type semiconductor :
Conduction through negative electrons, doped with Pentavalent
impurity.
Working :
When a small amount of energy is given the electrons jump from
Valance Band to Conduction Band to conduct current.
Types of Semiconductors Based On Emission
Semiconductor materials are of Two types based on emission:

Direct Band Gap Semiconductors : When the holes and electrons

combine during the action of the diode, Photons are emitted.
Example : Ga-As diode.

Indirect Band Gap Semiconductor :

When the holes and electrons combine during the action of the
diode, Heat energy is emitted.
Example : Ge, Si diodes.
 TYPES OF SEMICONDUCTOR LASER DIODE
A laser diode is a laser where the active medium is a semiconductor similar to Light
emitting diode. The laser diode is formed from a PN junction and is powered by injected
electric current. These devices are referred to as injection laser diodes to distinguish
them from optically pumped laser diodes.
Broadly there are two types of semiconductor diode lasers. They are known as

1. Homo-junction Semiconductor laser and

2. Hetero- junction Semiconductor laser

Homojunction semiconductor laser (Ga-As Laser)
Characteristics:

Type: Homojunction semiconductor laser

Active medium: PN junction
Active Centre: Recombination of electrons and holes
Pumping process: Direct Pumping
Optical resonator: polished end faces of the P-N Junction
Power out put: 1mW
Nature of out put: Pulsed or Continuous wave form
Wavelength of the out put: 8400 A0 - 8600 A0
Band gap: 1.44 eV
Construction and working
52
 Advantages
 It is easy to manufacture the diode

 The cost is low

Disadvantages

 It produces low power out put

 The out put wave is pulsed and will be

continuous only for some time

 The beam has large divergence

Heterojunction semiconductor laser
(GaAlAs Laser)
Characteristics:

Type: Heterojunction semiconductor laser

Active medium: P-type (GaAs)
Active Centre: Recombination of electrons and holes
Pumping process: Direct Pumping
Optical resonator: P-type GaAs Polished with silver
Power out put: 10 mW
Nature of out put: Continuous wave form
Wavelength of the out put: 8000 A0
Band gap: 1.44 eV, 1.55 eV
 Construction and working

Fig: Schematic diagram of Hetero junction diode laser

56
 Advantages of Heterojunction
 Power out put is very high

 It produces continuous wave out put

 It has high directionality and high coherence

 These diodes are highly stable and has longer life

time
Disadvantages of Heterojunction
 Cost is higher than homo junction laser

 Practical difficulties arises while growing the

different layers of p-n junction
58
 Applications :
1. Semiconductor diode lasers are used in CD and
DVD players.

2. Used in Laser printers .

Laser Range Finder Dazzler Weapon

Uses of Laser
In Medicine :

• To break up gallstones and kidney stones,

• To weld broken tissue (e.g. detached retina)
• To destroy cancerous and precancerous cells
• To remove plaque clogging human arteries.
• Eye surgery.
• Cosmetic surgery.
Medical Applications
 Uses of Laser
In industry :

• To drill tiny holes

in hard materials,
• For welding and
machining,
• For lining up
equipment
precisely, especially
in inaccessible
places
 Uses of laser
In everyday life :

• To be used as bar-code
readers,
• To be used in compact disc
players,
• To produce short pulses of
light used in digital
communications,
• To produce holograms.
 Holography

A hologram is a 3D image
recorded in a special photographic
plate.

The image appears to float in

space and to move when the
viewer moves.

Holography is the production of

holograms by the use of LASER.
FIBER OPTICS
Fiber Optics:
Introduction Optical fiber,
Optical fiber as a dielectric wave guide,
Total internal reflection,
Acceptance angle, Acceptance cone and Numerical aperture,
Mode and transmission of signal through Step and Graded index
fibers,
Losses associated with optical fibers,
Applications of optical fibers in communication system (block
diagram)
INTRODUCTION
FIBER OPTICS:
Fiber optics is a branch of Physics which deals with the transmission and
reception of light waves using Optical Fibers as guiding medium.

Optical Fiber:
Optical fiber is a thin, flexible cylindrical wave guide made of transparent
dielectric (glass or plastic), which guides light waves along it’s length by
total internal reflection.
water light
n1 > n2

n1 n2

Air(no)

Fiber axis
Core: It is the inner light-carrying layer. The diameter of the core is
of the order of 8.5 μm to 62.5 μm.
Cladding: It is the middle layer, which serves to confine the light to
the core. The diameter of the cladding is of the order of 125 μm.
The refractive index of the cladding is always lower than that of the
core.
Protective layer: It is the outermost layer consists of one or more
layers of a polymer that protect the silica structure against physical
or environmental damage.
The coating can vary in size from 250 μm or 900 μm.
Working principle
Total Internal Reflection
• When a ray of light travels from a denser to a rarer medium such that the angle of incidence is
greater than the critical angle, the ray reflects back into the same medium this phenomena is
called total internal reflection.
• In the optical fiber the rays undergo repeated total number of reflections until it emerges out of
the other end of the fiber, even if the fiber is bent.

large
Working principle
Total Internal Reflection
• When a ray of light travels from a denser to a rarer medium such that the angle of incidence is
greater than the critical angle, the ray reflects back into the same medium this phenomena is
called total internal reflection.
• In the optical fiber the rays undergo repeated total number of reflections until it emerges out of
the other end of the fiber, even if the fiber is bent.

large
= =
Acceptance Angle, Acceptance Cone:
Acceptance angle is the maximum angle at or below which the light
can be launched to an optical fiber cable such that it may undergo
total internal reflection and propagate through the fiber.
The light is launched from air where refractive index is n 0.

n1 - refractive index of core material

n2 - refractive index of cladding material

i – angle of incidence from air to core material
r – angle of refraction in core material
The ray suffers total internal reflection in core material
Applying Snell’s law at the air- core interface

sin 𝑖 𝑛1
=
sin 𝑟 𝑛𝑜

𝑛1
sin 𝑖= ×sin 𝑟
𝑛𝑜
 From triangle ABC,
+ 90 = 180

=
𝑛1
sin 𝑖= × cos 𝜃
𝑛𝑜

When ‘i’ is maximum, then angle θ is

critical angle θc. 𝑛 1
sin 𝑖= × cos 𝜃 𝑐
𝑛𝑜

And

√
2
𝑛2
= 1− 2
𝑛1
 cos 𝜃 𝑐 =
√ 𝑛12 −𝑛 22
𝑛1
2

=
√𝑛 2
− 𝑛2
1
2

𝑛1

Substituting this value in sin i

equation, angle of incidence
becomes imax
sin 𝑖max =
𝑛1 √ 1 2
𝑛2
−𝑛 2

𝑛𝑜 𝑛1

sin 𝑖max =
√𝑛 2
1−𝑛22
𝑛𝑜

( √𝑛
)
2 2
−1 1−𝑛2
𝑖max =sin
𝑛𝑜

On rotating the acceptance angle 360o about the axis of the fiber we
get the acceptance cone.
Numerical Aperture:
Numerical Aperture is the measure of the ability of an optical
fiber to collect or confine the incident light ray inside it.
Sine of the maximum acceptance angle is called the numerical aperture
‘NA’ of the fiber N . A .= sin 𝑖 max

The fractional difference in refractive indices is given by, Δ =

Now we can take
2
𝑛1 − 𝑛2
2
( 𝑛1 +𝑛 2) ( 𝑛1 − 𝑛2 )
2
= 2
𝑛 1 𝑛1
( 2 𝑛1 ) ( 𝑛1 −𝑛 2)
¿ ]
𝑛12
2 ( 𝑛 1 −𝑛 2 )
=
𝑛1
= 2𝛥
Hence,
 √
𝐴𝑠 , 𝑁 . 𝐴 .=sin 𝑖max = 1
𝑛2
− 𝑛2
2
𝑛0

𝑛1 √ 2 𝛥
𝑁 . 𝐴.=
𝑛0
𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑖𝑟 , 𝑛0=1
𝑁 . 𝐴.=𝑛1 √ 2 𝛥

So we can conclude that as the numerical aperture shows the light

collecting ability of the fiber thus its value must be high. As higher the
value of NA, better will be the optical fiber.
 Classification of
Optical Fibres

Based on R.I. Based on Based on

Profile Modes Materials

Step Graded Single Multi Multi Plastic

Glass/ Plastic/ Clad
Index Index Mode Mode Mode
Glass Plastic Silica
Fibre Fibre Step Step Graded
Index Index Index (PCS)
Fibre Fibre Fibre
 Types of Optical Fibers:
Optical fibers are classified into three
categories based on,

I. Materials:
1. Glass fibers and
2. Plastic fibers
II. No. of Modes:
1. Single mode fibers: If the diameter of the
fiber is so small that it can support only one
mode of light propagation, it is called single
mode or mono mode fiber. Its core diameter is
of the order of 2 to 8 micro meter.
2. Multimode fibers: If the fiber can support
the propagation of a number of modes, it is
called multimode fiber and diameter of the
core is of the order of 50 micro meter.
 III. Refractive index profile:
1. Step index fiber: The fiber core
has uniform refractive index n1
and the entire cladding has
another uniform refractive index
n2 slightly less than that of core.
Such fibers are known as step
index fiber.
2. Graded index fiber: In a
multimode graded index fiber the
refractive index is maximum at
the center of the core and
gradually decreases radially. At
the core cladding interface
refractive index of the core
matches that of the cladding.
a -- is the radius of the core material
r -- is the distance from center of the core
α -- is called graded profile of refractive index in the core
material.
 BASIS
COMPA STEP INDEX FIBER GRADED INDEX FIBER
RISON
Step index fiber is a fiber in Graded index fiber is a type
which the core is of a uniform of fiber where the refractive
Descripti refractive index and there is a index of the core is
on sharp decrease in the refraction maximum at the center core
index at the core-cladding and then it decreases towards
interface. core-cladding interface.
Step index fiber is found in two Graded index fiber is of only
Types types, that is mono mode fiber one type, that is, multi mode
and multi mode fiber. fiber.
Index profiles are in the shape
of step. Index profiles is in the shape
n(r) = n1 for r < a of a parabolic curve (for
Index
α=2).
Profiles n(r) = n2 for r > a
 BASIS
GRADED INDEX
COMPARI STEP INDEX FIBER
FIBER
SON
The light rays propagate
The light rays propagate
Light Rays in the form of skew rays
in zig–zag manner inside the
Propagation or helical rays. They will
core.
not cross the fiber axis.
Bandwidth The fiber has lower The fiber has higher
Size bandwidth. bandwidth.
The diameter of the core is
between 50-200µm in the The diameter of the core is
Diameter of
case of multimode fiber and about 50µm in the case of
the Core
10µm in the case of single multimode fiber.
mode fiber.
Used for short distance Used for long distance
Application
communication. communication.
 BASIS
STEP INDEX FIBER GRADED INDEX FIBER
COMPARISON

Attenuation of light rays is more

Attenuation Of in multimode step index fibers Attenuation of light rays is less
Light Rays but for single mode step index in graded index fibers.
fibers, it is very less.
Less expensive
Cost Highly expensive.
NA of multimode step index
fiber is more whereas in single NA of graded index fibers is
NA
mode step index fibers, it is very less.
less.
No pulse broadening and inter
Pulse Pulse broadening and inter modal
modal dispersion due to
Broadening dispersion is present.
periodic self focusing.
Losses in Optical Fiber:
Attenuation in optical fiber:
The intensity of the light at the receiving end of the fiber is
always found to be less than the intensity at the input end. This is
known as attenuation.
The attenuation in optical power transmitted through the fiber is
expressed in dB
a) Scattering losses: majority of attenuation losses in
optical fiber is due to scattering. The local microscopic
density variations in glass cause local variations in
refractive index. These local variations in refractive index
may act as scattering centers and scatter a small portion of
the light resulting in the decrease of intensity.
b) Absorption losses: Material Absorption occurs as result of the
imperfection and impurities in the optical fiber. Unlike scattering,
absorption can be limited by controlling the amount of impurities
during the manufacturing process.
Applications of Fiber Optics:
1. Medical: Uses as light guides, imaging tools and also as lasers for surgeries.
2. Defense/Government: Uses as hydrophones for seismic waves and
SONAR, as wiring in aircraft, submarines and other vehicles and also for
field networking.
3. Data Storage: Used for data transmission.
4. Telecommunications: Fiber is laid and used for transmitting and receiving
purposes.
5. Networking: Used to connect users and serves in a variety of network
settings and help increase the speed and accuracy of data transmission.
6. Industrial/Commercial: Used for imaging in hard to reach areas, as wiring
where EMI is an issue, as sensory devices to make temperature, pressure and
other measurements and as wiring in automobiles and in industrial settings.
7. Broadcast/CATV: Broadcasts and cable companies are using fiber optic
cables for wiring CATV, HDTV, internet, video on-demand and other
applications.