Applied Optics Optics

Helium Neon Laser 2.6.07-01

What you can learn about

 Spontaneous and stimulated
light emission
 Inversion
 Collision of second type
 Gas discharge tube
 Resonator cavity
 Transverse and longitudinal
resonator modes
 Birefringence
 Brewster angle
 Littrow prism
 Fabry Perot Etalon

Principle:
The difference between spontaneous
and stimulated emission of light is
demonstrated. The beam propagation
within the resonator cavity of a He-
Ne laser and its divergence are deter-
mined, its stability criterion is
checked and the relative output
power of the laser is measured as a
function of the tubes position inside
the resonator and of the tube current.

What you need:

Experimental Set He-Ne Laser, basic set 08656.01 1
Optical bench on carrier rail 08599.01 1
Diaphragm for adjustment of laser 08608.00 2
Photoelement, silicon 08734.00 1
Digital multimeter 07134.00 1
Screen, white, 150150 mm 09826.00 1
Danger sign -LASER- 06542.00 1
Barrel base -PASS- 02006.55 1
Vernier caliper 03010.00 1
Measuring tape, l = 2 m 09936.00 1
Protective glasses for He-Ne Laser 08581.10 1

Complete Equipment Set, Manual on CD-ROM included Relative output power as a function of mirror spacing.
Helium Neon Laser P2260701
The following items can be realized 3. Measure the integral relative out-
Option: with advanced set 08656.02. put power as a function of the
Experimental Set He-Ne Laser, advanced set 08656.02 1 By means of a birefringent tuner and laser tubes position within the
a Littrow prism different wave- hemispherical resonator.
Helium Neon Laser, advanced set P2260705 lengths can be selected and quanti- 4. Measure the beam diameter with-
tatively determined if a monochro- in the hemispherical resonator
mator is available. right and left of the laser tube.
Finally you can demonstrate the ex- 5. Determine the divergence of the
You can find more istence of longitudinal modes and laser beam.
the gain profile of the He-Ne laser 6. Measure the integral relative out-
advanced optics provided an analysing Fabry Perot put power as a function of the
system is at your disposal. tube current.
in this brochure
Tasks: The He-Ne laser can be tuned using
Order No. 00117.02 1. Set up the He-Ne laser. Adjust the a BFT or a LTP. Longitudinal modes
resonator mirrors by use of the can be observed by use of a Fabry
(see page 121) pilot laser. (left mirror: VIS, HR, Perot Etalon of low finesse. Remark:
plane ; right mirror: VIS, HR, R = These points can only be covered
700 mm) quantitatively if a monochromator
ADVANCED OPTICS
AND LASER PHYSICS
2. Check on the stability condition of and an analysing Fabry Perot system
a hemispherical resonator. are available.

PHYWE Systeme GmbH & Co. KG D - 37070 Gttingen Laboratory Experiments Physics 115
 LEP
Helium Neon Laser 2.6.07
-01

Related topics 2. Check on the stability condition of a hemispherical resonator.

Spontaneous and stimulated light emission, inversion, colli- 3. Measure the integral relative output power as a function of
sion of second type, gas discharge tube, resonator cavity, the laser tubes position within the hemispherical resonator.
transverse and longitudinal resonator modes, birefringence, 4. Measure the beam diameter within the hemispherical reso-
Brewster angle, Littrow prism, Fabry Perot Etalon. nator right and left of the laser tube.
5. Determine the divergence of the laser beam.
Principle 6. Measure the integral relative output power as a function of
The difference between spontaneous and stimulated emission the tube current.
of light is demonstrated. The beam propagation within the res-
onator cavity of a He-Ne laser and its divergence are deter- The He-Ne laser can be tuned using a BFT or a LTP.
mined, its stability criterion is checked and the relative output Longitudinal modes can be observed by use of a Fabry Perot
power of the laser is measured as a function of the tubes Etalon of low finesse. Remark: These points can only be cov-
position inside the resonator and of the tube current. ered quantitatively if a monochromator and an analysing Fabry
By means of a birefringent tuner and a Littrow prism different Perot system are available.
wavelengths can be selected and quantitatively determined if
a monochromator is available.
Set-up and procedure
Finally you can demonstrate the existence of longitudinal
modes and the gain profile of the He-Ne laser provided an The experimental set-up is shown in Fig. 1. The adjustment of
analysing Fabry Perot system is at your disposal. the resonator mirrors has to be performed as described in the
manual as well as the alignment of the birefringent tuner (BFT),
the Littrow prism (LTP) and the Fabry Perot Etalon (FPE).
Equipment
Once the basic adjustment has been done, the first experi-
Experimental Set He-Ne Laser, basic set 08656.01 1 ments can be executed.
Optical bench on carrier rail 08599.01 1
The optical resonator of the He-Ne laser is designed according
Diaphragm for adjustment of laser 08608.00 2
to the given active material (Ne) and the required beam quality.
Photoelement, silicon 08734.00 1
Digital multimeter 07134.00 1 The objective is to achieve the best possible beam output in
Screen, white, 150150 mm 09826.00 1 the basic Gaussian mode (TEM00).
Danger sign -LASER- 06542.00 1 Generally speaking these are two contradictory requirements
Barrel base -PASS- 02006.55 1 since a high power output requires the use of a large volume
Vernier caliper 03010.00 1 of active material, whereas the fundamental mode is restrict-
Measuring tape, l = 2 m 09936.00 1 ed to its own volume.
Protective glasses for He-Ne Laser 08581.10 1 This is why the hemispherical resonator has the optimal con-
Option: figuration for the He-Ne laser.
Experimental Set He-Ne Laser, advanced set 08656.02 1

Tasks
1. Set up the He-Ne laser. Adjust the resonator mirrors by use
of the pilot laser. (left mirror: VIS, HR, plane; right mirror:
VIS, HR, R = 700 mm) Caution: Never look directly into a non attenuated laser beam

Fig. 1: Experimental set-up of He-Ne laser system.

PHYWE series of publications Laboratory Experiments Physics PHYWE SYSTEME GMBH & Co. KG D-37070 Gttingen 22607-01 1
 LEP
2.6.07 Helium Neon Laser
-01

This can be explained by characteristics of Gaussian beams. At z = zR the radius of curvature is at a minimum. The radius
The beam radius w (w = waist) is a result of the following rela- of curvature at z = 0 is infinite. At this point the wave front is
tionship: plane.
z 2 Above the Rayleigh length zR the radius again increases in lin-
w(z)  w0 1 a b ear fashion. This is a basic but important statement. It shows
B zR
that there is a real parallel beam at only one point of the light
w0 is the smallest beam radius at the minimum of the beam wave, that is at its focal point. In the range
waist and zR is the Rayleigh length.
zR z zR
w20
zR  p
l a beam can be considered as parallel or collimated. Fig. 4
shows the Rayleigh range as well as the divergence 2 in the
Fig. 2 shows the relationship between the beam diameter and
far field.
the length z. z points in the direction in which the beam is
propagating.

Fig. 2: The beam diameter of a Gaussian beam in the funda-

mental mode.
The beams radius is smallest at the location z0. The beam Fig. 4: Rayleigh range and divergence.
radius increases linearly as the distance increases. Since light
waves are spherical waves a radius of curvature of the wave
front can be allocated to each location z. The radius of curva-
ture R(z) can be calculated with the following relationship:
z2R When reversing the operation, a stable optical resonator can
R (z)  z 
z now be constructed by adapting the radii of curvature in such
This is illustrated in Fig. 3. a way that they correspond to the radii of curvature of the
basic Gaussian mode. Fig. 5 shows a spherical and a hemi-
spherical resonator. If a laser is made to oscillate with this kind
of configuration the beam path can be calculated with the
above mentioned equations based on the knowledge of the
mirror radii and the distance between the mirrors. Due to the
demand for a high output power in the fundamental mode, a
spherical arrangement is out of question for the He-Ne laser.
Transverse modes can also oscillate in spherical resonators.
The fundamental mode could be achieved in this type of res-
onator by putting a diaphragm inside the resonator which only
allows the fundamental mode to pass freely. However, this
option is complicated. The hemispherical resonator is chosen
because the place of the plane wave front is very well defined.
Only the fundamental mode is reflected back with low losses.

Fig. 3: Radius of curvature of the wavefront versus the dis-

tance z from the beam waist at z = 0.

2 22607-01 PHYWE series of publications Laboratory Experiments Physics PHYWE SYSTEME GMBH & Co. KG D-37070 Gttingen
 LEP
Helium Neon Laser 2.6.07
-01

Fig. 5: Construction of an optical resonator with mirrors. The The orange line at 611.8 nm as well as the line at 635.2 nm are
resonator has the same radii of curvature as the funda- sensitive to additional losses due to pollution on the optics.
mental Gaussian mode at particular points of z. Clean them again if you can not find these lines. Especially the
windows of the tube and the BFT plate are exposed to pollu-
tion because the electrical field of the laser beam on their sur-
faces is not zero as on the mirrors. Once the orange line is
oscillating realign the laser resonator and optimise the
Brewster angle by turning the BFT slightly. Note that the line
can vanish and will return by slightly turning the plate.

Theory and evaluation

The He-Ne laser was the first continuous working laser. It was
invented by Javan at al. in 1961. The fascination for inert
gases and their clear atomic structure formed the basis for
many spectroscopic investigations. The knowledge obtained
through spectroscopic data was extremely helpful in deciding
to choose Helium and Neon for the first lasers, using
Schawlow Townes discovery of lasing conditions in 1958 to
estimate whether an inversion was feasible in laser operation.
The lifetimes of the s- and p-states were well known. Those of
the s-states were longer than those of the p-states by a factor
of ten. The inversion condition was therefore fulfilled, for the
Moreover, the He-Ne laser requires a narrow capillary. The time-being.
recombination process of the laser cycle takes place on its Fig. 6 shows the reduced energy-level diagram for Helium and
walls. As far as the active material is concerned, the diameter of Neon. Only those levels important in the discussion of the
the capillary should be as small as possible to enable an opti- excitation and laser processes at a wavelength of 632 nm are
mal laser output, but it should not be too small as to block the indicated.
path of the fundamental mode. The course which the beam The left side of the representation shows the lower levels of
radius of the mode takes is determined by the radii of curvature the Helium atoms. Observe how the energy scale is interrupt-
of the distance between the mirrors. However, the mode vol- ed and that there is a larger difference in energy in the recom-
ume, i. e. the volume filling up the fundamental mode, or the bination process than is evident in the diagram. Paschens
length of the amplifying material should be as large as possible names for the Neon energy levels are used (Racahs term
to get as much output as possible from the active material. descriptions are often found as well). The terms are simply
Long tubes are therefore used in He-Ne lasers to increase the numbered consecutively, from bottom to top. A characteristic
output power. At the same time, the radius of the spherical mir- of Helium is that its first states to be excited, 21S1 and 21S0 are
ror should be large enough for this purpose. metastable, i. e. optical transitions to the ground state 11S0 are
The basic adjustment of the laser with a birefringent tuner not allowed, because this would violate the selection rules for
(BFT) is explained in the manual. The BFT must be set up in optical transitions. As a result of gas discharge, these states
the resonator at a place where the laser beam is parallel as are populated by electron collisions.
far as possible. The points made on the selective effect of a
BFT are based on observations made on collimated beams.
Additional losses could be formed for the weak lines (lines of
small gain) which can be minimised by the optimal position of
the BFT within the resonator. If no oscillation of the weak lines
can be achieved, the following points must be checked and
changed accordingly. All optical surfaces, including the sur-
face of the BFT, must be well cleaned. The BFT must be
adjusted to the Brewster angle to the optical axis. The dis-
charge current should not be more than 5 mA. The BFT ele-
ment consists of a natural quartz plate approx. 1 mm thick.
When the BFT is placed into the resonator it causes a beam
displacement. Therefore it is necessary to repeat the primary
alignment when the tuner is used. If the plate is rotated around
its optical axis the main line (632.8 nm) will occur three to four
times. Select the best one and realign the laser for best oper-
ation. When you tune in the vicinity of the main line at 632 nm
you will find five different lines at the following wavelengths
and relative gains:

1. 611.8 nm 10
2. 629.8 nm 20
3. 632.8 nm 100
4. 635.2 nm 6 Fig. 6: Excitation and laser process for the visible laser emis-
5. 640.1 nm 34 sion.

PHYWE series of publications Laboratory Experiments Physics PHYWE SYSTEME GMBH & Co. KG D-37070 Gttingen 22607-01 3
 LEP
2.6.07 Helium Neon Laser
-01

A collision is called a collision of the second type if one of the Fig. 8: The most important laser transitions in the Neon
colliding bodies transfers energy to the other so that a transi- system.
tion from the previous energy state to the next higher or lower
takes place. Apart from the electron collision there is also an
atomic collision of the second type. In the latter, an excited
Helium atom reaches the initial state because its energy has
been used in the excitation of a Neon atom. Both these pro-
cesses form the basis for the production of a population inver-
sion in the Neon system.

The 3s state is populated by Helium atoms of the 21S0 state

Fig. 7: Electron collision of the second type. as a result of an atomic collision. The 3s state consists of 4
sub-states out of which it is primarily the 3s2 state which has
been populated through the collision process. The population
density of the other 3s sub-states is approx. 400 times less
than that of the 3s2 state. The 2s state is populated by the
If we look at Fig. 6 we can see that the 21S0 level is slightly Helium atoms of the 23S1 state as a result of an atomic colli-
below the 3s level of the Neon. However, the additional ther- sion.
mal energy kT is sufficient to overcome this gap. The four sub-states of the 2s group are all populated in a sim-
As already mentioned, the lifetime of the s-states of the Neon ilar way. Visible (VIS) optical transitions and laser processes
are approximately 10 times longer than those of the p-states. take place between the 3s2  2pi and infrared (IR) transitions
An immediate population inversion between the 3s and the 2p between the 2si  2pi energy levels.
levels will therefore be generated. The 2p level is emptied due The following table shows the most important laser transi-
to spontaneous emission into the 1s level. After this the Neon tions. The Einstein coefficients Aik are given for the visible
atoms reach their ground state again, primarily through colli- lines and the gain is indicated as a percentage per meter.
sions with the tube wall (capillary), since an optical transition Further laser transitions are known, which start at the 3s2 level
is not allowed. This calming down process is the bottle neck and terminate at the 3p level of the Neon. However, these laser
in the laser cycle. It is therefore advisable to choose a capil- transitions lie even further within the infrared spectral range and
lary diameter that is as small as possible. However, the laser cannot be detected with the silicon detector used in the experi-
will then suffer more losses. Modern He-Ne lasers work at an ment. They are not particularly suitable for experiments. Notice
optimum under these contradictory conditions. This is the that these lines originate from the same level as the visible lines
main reason for the comparatively low output of He-Ne lasers. and are therefore competing with them. Since the cross-section
We have discussed the laser cycle of the commonly known of the stimulated emission is increasing with (3 as well, the
red line at 632 nm up to this point. However, the Neon has amplification of these lines is therefore very strong. This applies
several other transitions, used to produce about 200 laser to the 3.39 mm line in particular, which, due to a sufficiently long
lines in the laboratory. The following explanation describes the capillary, shows laser activity (so called superfluorescence)
energy level diagram for further visible lines. even without an optical resonator.

4 22607-01 PHYWE series of publications Laboratory Experiments Physics PHYWE SYSTEME GMBH & Co. KG D-37070 Gttingen
 LEP
Helium Neon Laser 2.6.07
-01

Transition Wavelength Aik Gain The discharge only burns in the capillary. This is ensured by the
[nm] [108s1] [%/m] expansion and melting of the capillary with the glass tube. The
window flange on the anode side is made completely out of
3s22p1 730.5  0.00255 1.2
glass, to prevent coming into contact with the harmful high volt-
3s22p2 640.1  0.0139 4.3
age during the required cleaning work. The tube being used has
3s22p3 635.2  0.00345 1.0
an ignition voltage of approx. 8 kV and an operating voltage of
3s22p4 632.8  0.0339 10.0
approx. 2 kV. The optimal current for the 632 nm line is 5 mA.
3s22p5 629.4  0.00639 1.9
The Neon atoms move more or less freely in the laser tube but
3s22p6 611.8  0.00226 1.7
at different speeds. The number N of Neon atoms with the
3s22p7 604.6 0.00200 0.6
mass m, within a speed interval of v to v + dv is described
3s22p8 593.9 0.00255 0.5
according to the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution (Fig. 10).
3s22p9
n 1v2
mv2
3s22p10 543.3 0.00283 0.52 4 v2
2s22p1 1523.1   e t dv
k
N 2p 3
212 kT>m2 2
2s22p2 1177.0 
2s22p3 1160.5 T is the absolute temperature and k Boltzmanns constant.
2s22p4 1152.6  The above equation is applicable for all directions in space.
2s22p5 1141.2  However, we are only interested in the distribution of speed in
2s22p6 1084.7  the direction of the capillary. Using v2 = vx2 + vy2 + vz2 we
2s22p7 1062.3 obtain for the direction x:
2s22p8 1029.8
n 1vx 2
mv2
2s22p9
2s22p10 886.5  22kT>m e t dvx
k
N
2s32p2 1198.8 
2s32p5 1161.7  An observer with a fixed position will now see the absorption
2s32p7 1080.1  or emission frequency shifted, due to Dopplers effect (Ch.
Doppler: Abh. d. K. Boehmischen Ges. d. Wiss. (5). Vol. II
Table 1: Transitions and laser lines (1842) P. 465), and the value of the shift will be:
n0

Laser transitions are demonstrated in the experiment if the laser tube is sup- n assuming v << c
1vc
plied with perpendicular windows or Brewster windows

Laser transition can be demonstrated if the laser tube is supplied with O0 is the absorption or emission frequency of the resting Neon
Brewster windows and a special set of mirrors (*)
 atom and c the speed of light. If the Doppler equation is used
Laser transitions can be demonstrated in the experiment if the laser tube is
supplied with Brewster windows and an IR mirror set (*) to substitute the velocity v in the Maxwell-Boltzmann velocity
* transitions not allowed distribution the line broadening produced by the movement of
(*) not included in equipment set Neon atoms can be found. Since the intensity is proportional
to the number of absorbing or emitting Neon atoms, the inten-
sity distribution will be:
2
n n0
Appropriate measures must be taken to suppress the super- I(n)  I(n0) e ac b
n0 vw
fluorescence to avoid a negative influence on the visible laser
lines. vw is the most likely speed according to:
2kT
vw 
B m

Fig. 9: Modern He-Ne laser with glass-to-metal soldering of

the anode, cathode and mirror.

Fig. 9 shows a modern laser tube made with highly perfected

manufacturing techniques and optimised to suit the physical
aspects of the laser. This applies to the resonator in particular,
which is designed for a best possible output in the fundamen-
tal mode with a purely Gaussian beam and spectral purity in
single longitudinal mode operation (e. g. for interferometric
length measurements). The fulfilment of this demand
depends, amongst other aspects, on the optimal adaptation Fig. 10: Probability distribution for the velocity v of the Neon
of the resonator to the amplification profile of the Neon. atoms at an interval v to v+dv.

PHYWE series of publications Laboratory Experiments Physics PHYWE SYSTEME GMBH & Co. KG D-37070 Gttingen 22607-01 5
 LEP
2.6.07 Helium Neon Laser
-01

The full width at half maximum is calculated by setting * (O0) Fig. 12 Decay of the population of state 2 into state 1 with
= 1/2 I (O0) and the result is: lower energy.

vw
ndoppler  24 ln 2 n0
c

From the above equation we can conclude that the line

broadening caused by Dopplers effect is larger in the case of:
higher resonance frequencies O0 or smaller wavelengths
(O0 = c/M0, UV-lines)
higher most likely velocity vw which means higher tempera-
ture T
and smaller in the case of:
a larger particle mass.
The line profile *(O) also corresponds to a Gaussian distribution
curve. Fig. 11 shows this kind of profile. The histogram only
approaches the distribution curve when the speed intervals dv
are small.

This shows us, that the ensemble of Ne atoms does not emit
light at a single frequency. It emits a frequency spectra repre-
sented by a Lorentz profile (Fig. 13).
1
d (n)  , n0  n21
4p (n n21)2  (1 2 ts)2

The exact profile formation can be determined from the con-

volution of the Gaussian profile with the individual Lorentz pro-
files. The result obtained in this manner is known as the Voigt
profile. Since one group of particles in an ensemble can be
assigned to a given speed v, these groups have characteris-
tics that differentiate them. Every group has its own frequency
of resonance. Which group a photon interacts with depends
on the energy (frequency) of the photon. This does not affect
the other groups which are not resonant on this interaction.
Fig. 11: Inhomogeneous line profile, speed intervals dv. Therefore such kind of a gain profile is termed inhomogene-
ous.

On closer observation we can see that a line broadened by the

Doppler effect actually does not have a pure Gaussian distri-
bution curve. To understand this, we pick out an ensemble of
Neon atoms whose speed components have the value v in the
direction we are looking at. We expect that all these atoms
emit light with the same frequency O or wavelength l. But we
have to consider an additional effect which is responsible for
the natural linewidth of a transition. We know that each ener-
gy level poses a so-called life time. The population n2 of a
state 2 decays into a state 1 with lower energy with a time
constant ts following the equation:

n2 (t)  n2 (t  0) eA21 t
with t = 1/A21

A21 is the famous Einstein coefficient for the spontaneous Fig. 13: Natural linewidth (FWHW) caused by spontaneous
emission. emission.

6 22607-01 PHYWE series of publications Laboratory Experiments Physics PHYWE SYSTEME GMBH & Co. KG D-37070 Gttingen
 LEP
Helium Neon Laser 2.6.07
-01

Fig. 14 Natural broadened line profiles (homogeneous) for Such a standing wave is also termed as oscillating mode of
groups of speed v within the inhomogeneous Doppler the resonator also eigenmode or simply mode (longitudinal
broadened gain profile. mode). Every mode must fulfil the following condition:
l c
Ln or L  n
2 2n
L represents the length of the resonator, l the wavelength, c
the speed of light, n the frequency of the generated light and
n is an integer number. Thus every mode has its frequency of
c
v(n)  n
2L

As we already know a gain occurs in a medium when it shows

inversion. This means that the population density of the upper
level n2 (3s in the Ne-system) is larger than the population
density of the lower state n1 (2p). In Fig. 15 the population pro-
files are rotated by 90 to draw them in the well known ener-
gy level diagram. Transitions can only take place between Fig. 16: Standing longitudinal waves in an optical resonator. A
sub-assembles which have the same velocity v because the with n nodes and B with n+3 nodes.
optical transition does not change the speed of the particular
Ne atom. The situation of Fig. 15 shows a population inversion
n2 > n1. Besides some specific other constants the gain is pro-
portional to the difference n2 > n1. Now we will place the
inverted ensemble of Ne atoms into an optical cavity, which is e. g. a He-Ne laser with a resonator length of 30 cm at an
formed by two mirrors having the distance L. Due to the spon- emission wavelength l of 632.8 nm will have the following
taneous emission photons are generated which will be ampli- value for n:
fied by the inverted medium and reflected back from the mir-
rors undergoing a large number of passes through the ampli- n L 0.3
fying medium. If the gain compensates for the losses, a stand- n 2L2 2  949.167
c l 632.8 108
ing laser wave will be built up inside the optical resonator.

The difference in frequency of two neighbouring modes is:

c c c
n  n(n  1) n(n)  (n  1) n 
2L 2L 2L

In the above example the distance between modes would be

3 108
n   5 108 Hz  500 MHz
2 0.3

If the active laser material is now brought into the resonator

standing waves will be formed due to the continuous emission
of the active material in the resonator and energy will be
extracted from the material. However, the resonator can only
extract energy for which it is resonant. Strictly speaking, a res-
onator has an indefinite amount of modes, whereas the active
material only emits in an area of frequency determined by the
Fig. 15: Population inversion and transition between sub- emission line width. Fig. 17 shows the situation in the case of
ensembles with same velocity v. material that is inhomogeneously broadened.

PHYWE series of publications Laboratory Experiments Physics PHYWE SYSTEME GMBH & Co. KG D-37070 Gttingen 22607-01 7
 LEP
2.6.07 Helium Neon Laser
-01

Fig. 17: Inhomogeneous gain profile (Gaussian profile) inter- This phenomenon is called birefringence. These two marked
acting with an optical resonator. directions of the crystal also have two distinctive refractive
indices. Since one beam appears to be violating Snells law, it
is called extraordinary (eo) and the one behaving normally is
called ordinary (o). Crystal quartz and calcite are materials
which behave in this way. There is also a series of other crys-
tals but these two have proved successful in laser technology.
Thin plates used as optical retarders are mostly made out of
quartz because it is hard enough for this purpose. Mica sheets
have also been used but they are not suitable for use inside
the resonator because of the losses involved. Please note that
only crystal quartz has a birefringent behaviour. Quartz that
has already been melted (Quartz glass) loses this quality. A
whole series of laser components are made out of calcite.
Short calcite crystals are sufficient to produce the required
beam separation because of the great difference between the
ordinary and the extraordinary refractive indices.
A birefringent plate made out of crystal quartz can be used in
the He-Ne experimental laser for selecting the wavelengths.
This kind of element is also known as a birefringent filter or
birefringent tuner. The arrangement within the laser is shown
in Fig. 19.
If the laser is operating in a stationary state, we can see that it
is emitting several longitudinal modes. These are exactly the
same modes that will be found in the emission profile. Since
the modes are fed by an inhomogeneous emission profile they
can also exist independently. The He-Ne laser is a classic
example of this.
Lasers that are continuously variable from UV to IR, are prob-
ably the dream of every laser physicist. There has been a lot
of research in this area and some goals have been partially
achieved. Birefringent crystals are used as optical retarder and
as tuning elements. A simple model will be used to explain
how a birefringent crystal works as a wavelength selecting
element. Fig. 19: Birefringent filter for wavelength selection inside the
Light will be observed as an electromagnetic oscillation. We resonator.
consider the optical component (birefringent crystal) as a col-
lection of many dipoles. These dipoles are determined by the
type and form of the electron shells which each atom or mole-
cule has. These dipoles are excited by the electromagnetic
field of the light and are thus turned out of their equilibrium The birefringent plate is placed under the Brewster angle into
(susceptibility). The dipoles absorb energy of the light (virtual the resonator of the He-Ne laser to avoid reflection losses
absorption) and send it out again. However, a dipole cannot through the plate itself. The laser can only oscillate in the
send its beam in the direction of its own axis. If a crystal has direction of polarisation given by the birefringent plate itself.
two kinds of dipoles, which are at a particular angle to each The birefringent plate does not change the polarisation if a
other, they can only emit and absorb light within the area of phase shift of E = 2 Q occurs between the ordinary and the
their angles. If the process of absorption and emission is slow- extraordinary beam after passing through it twice. In this case
er in one kind of dipole than in the other there will be a phase there will be no reflection losses at any plate orientated under
shift. Macroscopically it seems as if there were a higher refrac- the Brewster angle. The phase shift caused by the plate is cal-
tive index. A change in beam direction takes place because of culated as follows. The optical path of the ordinary beam is
the different dipole directions, i. e. there are two separate
beam directions within the component. If a parallel light beam lo = d no
penetrates into this kind of material the result is, indeed, two
beams leaving the crystal. In this case both beams are pola-
rised perpendicularly to each other and have a phase shift The path of the extraordinary beam is
between each other.
leo = d neo, so
lo leo = d (no neo)

The phase shift E is:

2 d 1no neo(u)2
2p
d(u) 
l
Fig. 18: Birefringent crystal.

8 22607-01 PHYWE series of publications Laboratory Experiments Physics PHYWE SYSTEME GMBH & Co. KG D-37070 Gttingen
 LEP
Helium Neon Laser 2.6.07
-01

after passing through twice, where d is the geometric path fol- Fig. 21: Formation of a Littrow prism out of a Brewster prism
lowed by the beam in the plate with thickness d and 6 is the and its arrangement inside the resonator for a tube
angle between the electric field vector of light and the optical with Brewster windows.
axis of the crystal lying in the plane of the plate. When

2 d 1no neo(u)2  2p
2p
d(u) 
l

there are no losses. This applies to a given wavelength for a

particular angle u since the thickness of the plate has been
preselected.

In some areas such as high resolution spectroscopy or inter-

ferometric measuring techniques several longitudinal modes
in the laser light prove to be very disturbing (coherent length).
Selective frequency losses can be brought into the resonator
by an etalon and undesirable modes are damped and sup-
pressed in this way.
An etalon is a plane parallel, low quality resonator. The etalon
usually consists of an individual glass body whose plane sur-
faces are well ground and polished, parallel to each other.
Just like a normal resonator, an etalon also has modes.
Fig. 20: Transmission of a BFT with a plate thickness of
However, its modes are considerably broader since the reflec-
0.9 mm, an angle of 45 between the electrical field
tion on the plane surfaces is kept low.
vector and the optical axis calculated for a wave-
length range of 500 800 nm. The dispersion of the
birefringent quartz was taken into account in this
case. This is why the transmission curve changes to
higher wavelengths.

Another tuning element is the Littrow prism. Littrows idea is

simple, therefore it is also ingenious. He produced a prism in
which the refractive angle is measured in such a way that, in
the arrangement of the minimal deviation (beam runs parallel
to the hypotenuse), the beam enters the prism just under the
Brewster angle. In this way, there are no reflection losses. This
kind of prism is also known as a Brewster prism.
Littrow then took the prism apart by cutting it down the mid-
dle and coated the ensuing surface with a highly reflecting
substance. If the refractive index of the first layer is similar to
the prism material, the Fresnel losses will be considerably
reduced and the result will be an element suffering few losses,
that can be used inside the resonator to select wavelengths. Fig. 22: Mode selection with an etalon.

PHYWE series of publications Laboratory Experiments Physics PHYWE SYSTEME GMBH & Co. KG D-37070 Gttingen 22607-01 9
 LEP
2.6.07 Helium Neon Laser
-01

If the etalon is tilted by the angle H against the incoming beam It is found:
the maximum transmission will change according to: If R1 = A (plane mirror) then the laser power tends to zero by
shifting the right mirror to a spacing of L = R2 = 70 cm.
2n2  sin 1g2
2d
Zm (T  1) 
m
In this case m is the m-th order, d the thickness of the etalon,
n is the refractive index and g the tilt angle.
According to the above equation the etalon modes can be
shifted by tilting the etalon while of course the amplification
profile and the resonator modes stay the same. In this way it
is possible to encounter more losses in modes that oscillate
due to the threshold value amplification than in modes lying
just below the maximum transmission.
As in the case of a simple resonator, the distance between the
modes is given by the thickness d and the refractive index n:
c
n 
2nd
The etalon must be designed according to the degree of sup-
pression imposed on neighbouring modes and the spectral
distance between them. In the He-Ne experimental laser used
in the following experiments the etalon is 1 cm thick and does
not have any additional coating but only 4 % reflection on
each side due to Fresnel losses. Fig 23: Relative output power as a function of mirror spacing.
1. The set-up of the He-Ne laser and the adjustment of the
resonator mirrors and the tube are technical procedures which
have to be elaborated using the instructions outlined in detail 3. The measurement of the output power as a function of the
within the manual. position of the laser tube (capillary) in the resonator is carried
The objective of the following experiments is the measure- out by loosening the fixing screws on the larger carrier which
ment of: holds the tube and by displacing the tube within the resona-
The optical stability range of a hemispherical resonator tor. The resonator is hemispherical with a right mirror of curva-
The optical output power as a function of the position of the ture radius R = 100 cm. The spacing of the mirrors is 80 cm.
laser tube inside the resonator The tube is displaced from 20 cm to 60 cm. After each dis-
The measurement of the beam diameter inside the resona- placement the power is readjusted to maximum by acting on
tor the right mirror and by readjustment of the tube. Fig. 24 shows
2. The measurement will be carried out while the position of that the output power has a maximum if the tube is near the
the spherical mirror (R = 700 mm) during laser operation is plane mirror, i. e. in that part of the resonator where the reso-
changed up to the stability limit. It can be shifted by slightly nator has its smallest diameter. Here the mode volume of the
loosening the fixing screw on the mirror adjustment support. tube is used in an optimal way.
Be careful that the laser oscillation does not break off due to
the shift. The adjustment support is fixed into the new position
again and the laser output brought to a maximum by readjust-
ment.
The result of this procedure is shown in Fig. 23. With the laser
tubes left end at a distance of 3.5 cm in front of the plane
laser mirror the relative output power was measured as a func-
tion of the mirror spacing. The right curved mirror is displaced
in steps in a way that the mirror spacing varies from 45 to
70 cm. For a spacing of 45 to 55 cm the relative output power
increases since the lasing medium available is penetrated by
the resonator wave in a more and more optimal way. For a
spacing from 55 to 67 cm the diffraction losses in the cavity
play a determinant role. Beyond 68 cm the diffraction losses
become dominant so that the laser stops oscillating when the
spacing reaches the limit of 70 cm.
This spacing is found to be identical with the radius of curva-
ture of the right laser mirror. The following stability criteria
justifies the result of the experiment:
1 g1 g2 1
L L Fig. 24: Relative output power versus tube position in the
g1  1 and g2  1
R1 R2 resonator.

10 22607-01 PHYWE series of publications Laboratory Experiments Physics PHYWE SYSTEME GMBH & Co. KG D-37070 Gttingen
 LEP
Helium Neon Laser 2.6.07
-01

4. The beam diameter is measured within the resonator with Fig 26: Relative laser output power as a function of the dis-
the tube at a distance of 30 cm from the plane mirror. The charge current.
spacing of the mirrors is 90 cm and the radius of curvature of
the right mirror is 100 cm. To measure the beam diameter at a
particular position a caliper gauge is used as a measuring slit.
The caliper gauge is adjusted to approx. 1.5 mm and placed
in the beam path. It is moved back and forth and we then
observe whether the laser oscillation returns or not. If it does,
the value on the adjusted slit is reduced till the laser does
not oscillate any more. The last value at which laser operation
was observed is read from the caliper gauge and noted. This
value is the beam diameter at that point. These measurements
are repeated at different points and a diagram beam radius
versus distance from plane mirror as shown in Fig. 25 should
be drawn and compared with the radius w(z) of a Gaussian
beam.
5. From Fig. 25 we find for the radius w0 at the waist a value
of 0.28 mm. As shown in the manual the divergence tan6 can
then be calculated using the relation

tan6 = M / Q w0
Hence tan6 = 633 109 / Q 0.28 103
and tan6 = 0.72 mrad

Therefore the total divergence is 1.44 mrad.

Further experiments like wavelength measurements or selec-
tion of longitudinal modes can be executed if a monochroma-
tor or an analysing Fabry Perot interferometer are available.
If a monochromator is available wavelength selection by a BFT
and /or LTP-element (tuning) can be performed quantitatively.
The laser either has undesirable wavelengths due to its spe-
cific characteristics or it suppresses wavelengths which only
oscillate when a certain wavelength does not oscillate. The
latter is true of the visible lines and a part of the infrared lines
of the He-Ne laser. Since the visible lines all start from the
same level these lines compete with each other. The line with
the lowest threshold energy oscillates first and uses the inver-
sion for its own purposes. The wavelengths of different gain
which can be selected by means of the kits elements are list-
ed below.
a) 640.1 nm
b) 635.2 nm
c) 632.8 nm
d) 629.8 nm
e) 611.8 nm
The 611.8 nm line is orange. As a line with small gain it will
only oscillate if the supply current is smaller than 5 mA. For
currents superior to 5 mA the electron flux disturbs the inver-
sion in a non-acceptable way.
When using a Littrow prism for tuning (LTP) the separation of
Fig 25: Beam radius within the resonator. lines occurs in two ways. One is through dispersion and the
other through geometric length, which is still feasible when
carried out between the prism and the laser mirror belonging
to it. If the lines are wide apart (approx. 20 30 nm), then dis-
tances of 5 10 mm (Littrow prism) are great enough for the
separation to occur. Lines lying closer together can only be
separated by a series connection of several prisms.
6. In Fig. 26 the relative output power is shown as a function The basic adjustment of the Littrow prism is described in the
of the tube current. The continuous increase of the tubes cur- manual.
rent does not increase the output power correspondingly. For The Littrow prism is used instead of the plane laser mirror and
currents higher than 6 mA the increase of the electron flux it fulfils two requirements. It works as a prism for wavelength
(current) is harming the inversion rather than favouring it. separation and as a plane laser mirror. Strictly speaking it
Moreover it can be seen that there is a threshold current need- should be possible to select all the lines of the He-Ne laser for
ed to get laser power out at all. which the coating of the surface of the Littrow prism is suit-

PHYWE series of publications Laboratory Experiments Physics PHYWE SYSTEME GMBH & Co. KG D-37070 Gttingen 22607-01 11
 LEP
2.6.07 Helium Neon Laser
-01

able. The lines are tuned by tilting the prism. In case the coat- For selection of longitudinal modes the etalon is used as a
ed surface of the prism directly vertical to the optical axis of highly precise quartz glass body produced in a parallel fash-
the resonator corresponds to the expected laser oscillation ion. The thickness is 10 mm and the surfaces are not coated.
the line selected should also oscillate. In fact, this is not the The etalon is mounted in an adjustment support and can be
case. We can observe that the dominant red line is still oscil- tilted perpendicularly to the axis of the resonator. The etalon is
lating in spite of tilting the prism. However, the beam path in placed into the well adjusted hemispherical resonator.
the resonator changes (we can observe this at the spherical Estimating at sight, the etalon is adjusted horizontally and ver-
mirror). The laser beam wanders in the resonator as well, so in tically. After placing the etalon into the resonator the laser
spite of increasing losses, the amplification of the dominant should oscillate again. The etalon is now adjusted to the
line is sufficient and the others will not be made to oscillate. extent that it is perpendicular to the laser beam. We can
Beam walking, an adjustment procedure in which the beam observe this in return reflections of the etalon and in the
position in the resonator is changed, can be used to push the increased laser output. Now the etalon is used at the zero
dominant line to such an extent on the edge of the possible order. By tilting it either horizontally or vertically the laser oscil-
oscillations that the orange line starts oscillating by further tilt- lation is stopped at first and starts oscillating at a particular tilt
ing the Littrow prism. Beam walking is carried out by slight- of the etalon. The first order m = 1 has been reached. By tilt-
ly turning an adjustment screw on the laser mirror adjustment ing the etalon even further higher orders are reached. The out-
support and readjusting the output to a maximum by turning put power for every arrangement is measured and the result is
the opposite adjustment support in the same direction (x or y). discussed. If a Fabry Perot is available for analysis the single
Now the beam changes its direction in the resonator. The iris mode operation can be examined. The continuous tuning of
effect of the capillary stops it from going too far. The objective the He-Ne laser within its amplification profile will be
of the experiment is to understand wave selection with a observed. The variation in amplitude of the mode while tun-
prism, on the one hand and to get to know the concept of ing (slight tilting of the etalon) gives you the envelope of the
beam walking on the other. gain profile of Ne.

12 22607-01 PHYWE series of publications Laboratory Experiments Physics PHYWE SYSTEME GMBH & Co. KG D-37070 Gttingen