Unit 3

LASER PHYSICS
Dr.Jagdish Dadge
 HISTORY & THE DISCOVERY
The maser which is the predecessor of the laser was first built
in 1953.
First work done on laser was started in 1957 by Charles Hard
Townes and Arthur Leonard at Bell labs.
T.H.Maiman built the first laser device in 1960. It is one of the
most influential technological achievements of the 20 th
century.
 In 1961, A. Javan and associates developed the first gas laser,
the helium-neon laser.
 INTRODUCTION
LASER is an acronym for:
L : Light
A : Amplification ( by)
S : Stimulated
E : Emission (of)
R : Radiation
Term coined by Gordon Gould.
• It is an optical device which emits highly coherent, monochromatic beam of
light with high directionality and extreme brightness.
Characteristics of Laser light

1 Laser light is restricted to single wavelength called monochromatic

2 It is highly coherent i. e. waves coincides in space and time
3 It has very high directionality(less divergence).
4 It is extremely bright which carries very large amount of energy.

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LASER BEAM

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LASER BEAM APPARATUS

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Laser and Ordinary light

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 INTERACTION OF LIGHT WITH MATTER

THE THREE QUANTUM PROCESSES :

1) Stimulated Absorption
2) Spontaneous emission and
3) Stimulated emission.
 INTERACTION OF LIGHT WITH MATTER
1) Stimulated Absorption: N2
Each transition may be
represented as
A + h  A*
A= an atom in lower state N1

A*= excited atom

The number of atom Nab excited during the t is given by

Nab=B12N1Qt
 INTERACTION OF LIGHT WITH MATTER
2) Spontaneous Emission
Each transition may be represented as
A*  A + h
A*= excited atom
A= an atom in lower state

The number of spontaneous transitions Nsp taking place in the

material during the t is independent of the photons present
in the incident radiation and depends only on the number of
atoms N2 lying in E2, given by
Nsp=A21N2t 10
 INTERACTION OF LIGHT WITH MATTER
Spontaneous Emission
 The instant of transition, direction of emission of photon, the
phase of the photon, the polasization state of the photon are
all random quantities.
 The light generated by the medium will be incoherent
 Radiated light is in the form of short wave trains emitted in all
directions.

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 INTERACTION OF LIGHT WITH MATTER
3) Stimulated Emission

Each transition may be represented as

A* + h  A+ 2 h
A= an atom in lower state
A*= excited atom
The number of stimulated transitions Nst occurring in the material during the t may be given by
Nst=B21N2Qt 12
 INTERACTION OF LIGHT WITH MATTER
Stimulated Emission

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 INTERACTION OF LIGHT WITH MATTER
Simtulated Emission
Characterized by some very important features:
 Emitted and incident photon is identical in all respects as Frequency, Phase, Direction

 The process is controllable from outside

 Multiplication of photons takes place

 The number of photons builds up in avalanche-like manner

 It suggests that electromagnetic waves of extremely high amplitude could be generated by

the stimulated emission leading to amplification of light

 The process of stimulated emission is the key to the operation of a laser.

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 Population and Thermal Equillibrium
In a state of thermal equillibrium, the populations of energy levels E2 and E1
are fixed given by the Boltzmann distribution function
N1 = e-E1/kT --------(1)

N2 = e-E2/kT ----------(2)

The population ratio N2/N1 is given by

N 2
 exp[  ( E 2  E 1 ) / kT
N 1

N2/N1= e- hv/kT
Negative sign indicates N2 << N1
 Population and Thermal Equillibrium
Thus, in thermal equilibrium, the lower energy state is more populated than the higher energy
state.
● As T increases, the number of atoms in the higher energy state (N2) increases, but N2
never exceeds N1 for a system in thermal equilibrium.

● If T--->  , then N2/N1 = e0 = 1. Therefore N2=N1

This shows that at infinite temperature also the populations N2 and N1 become equal.
• If (E2-E1) 0, N2/N1= e0 =1
From equation N2/N1= e- hv/kT we can draw conclusions:
1. In other words, a population inversion (N2/N1>1) can never exist for a system at thermal
equilibrium.
2. The relative population N2/N1 depends on the temperature T.
3. Also, it depends on the energy difference (E2-E1)
Population and Thermal Equillibrium
In thermal equilibrium, the number of upward transitions is equal to the number of downward
transitions. Thus,
Nab=Nsp +Nst

B12N1 ρ(ν) = A21N2 + B21N2 ρ(ν)

where B12, B21 and A21 are called the Einstein’s Coefficients

•Light amplification requires that stimulated emission occur almost exclusively.

•In practice, absorption and spontaneous emission always occur together with stimulated
emission.
•The laser operation is achieved when stimulated emission exceeds in a large way the other
two processes.
Basic concepts:
Population inversion: It is a state of achieving more number of atoms in
excited state compared to ground state. It is an essential condition for producing
laser beam.
Life time: The limited time for which an atom remains in the excited state is
known as lifetime.
Metastable state: It is an energy level in an atomic system where the lifetime
of atoms is very large of the order of 10-6 to 10-3 seconds. It helps in achieving
population inversion.
Lasing: The process which leads to emission of stimulated photons after
establishing the population inversion is referred as lasing.
Pouplation Inversion
•Population inversion is the condition of the material
in which population of the upper energy level N2 far
exceeds the population of the lower energy level, N1.
That is, N2 >> N1
•In this condition the population distribution between
the levels E1 and E2 is inverted and
hence it is known as the inverted state.
•This is a non-equilibrium state and exists only for a
short time.
Pumping is a process of exciting and lifting atoms
from lower energy state to higher energy state by
means of external energy given to the particles.
The most common methods of pumping are
optical pumping, electrical pumping and direct
conversion pumping.
Pumping Schemes:
1) Optical pumping: In this type of pumping atoms are excited by means of an external
optical source. This type of pumping is adopted in solid state lasers set as Ruby and Nd:
YAG laser.

2) Electrical pumping: A high voltage pulse initially ionizes the gas so that it conducts
electricity. An electric current flowing through the gas excites atoms to the excited level from
where they drop to the metastable level leading to population inversion. This technique is
adopted in gas lasers such as He Ne laser CO2 laser.

3) Direct conversion pumping: In this type a direct conversion of electric energy into to light
tales place. This technique is adopted in semiconductor laser.
II) Metastable States:
•To establish the condition of population inversion,
the excited atoms are required to ‘wait’ at the upper
energy level till a large number of atoms accumulate
at that level. This is achieved by metastable states.
•Atoms excited to a metastable state remain excited
for an appreciable time, which is of the order of 10–6
to 10–3s.
•It would be impossible to create the state of
population inversion without a metastable state.
•Metastable state can be readily obtained in a crystal system containing
impurity atoms.
•These levels lie in the forbidden band gap of the host crystal.
 The Principal Pumping Schemes: Laser Operation
Two level system
Two level scheme is not generally feasible for laser action. The
main reason is that the energy being used to pump the atoms
into the upper laser state has an equal probability of
stimulating them back down. Therefore, it is not possible in
general to pump more than half of atoms into the excited
state.
According to Heisenberg uncertainty relation
ΔE x Δt > h/2π
 The Principal Pumping Schemes: Laser Operation
Three level system

E3
Fast transition

E2

Laser action
E1

Possible Transitions
• E1E3 Pumping
• E3E2 Spontaneous emission.
• E2E1 Stimulated emission.
• Population inversion between states E2 and E1
• State E2 is a metastable state

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 The Principal Pumping Schemes: Laser Operation
Four level system

Possible Transitions
• E1E4 Pumping
• E4E3 , E2E1 spontaneous emission.
• E3E2 Stimulated emission.
• Population inversion between states E3
and E2
• State E3 is a metastable state

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 Light Amplification
Condition for Stimulated Emission to Dominate Spontaneous Emission:

1) The Ratio

• Stimulated transitions will dominate the spontaneous transitions if the radiation density
ρ(ν) is very large. Thus, the presence of a large number of photons in the active medium
is required. However, it will lead to more absorption transitions.
• Large photon density alone will not guarantee more stimulated emissions.
2) Requirement of States of Larger Lifetimes: Stimulated transitions will dominate the
spontaneous transitions if the value of the ratio B21/A21 is also large.
•To increase the probability of stimulated emissions, the lifetime of atoms at the excited state
should be larger.
•In other words, it is necessary that the excited state has a longer lifetime (remember that 1/A21
represents the lifetime of the excited state)
 Light Amplification
Condition for Stimulated Emission to Dominate Absorption Transitions:
The ratio

• The above condition indicates that the stimulated transitions will overwhelm the
absorption process if N2 is greater than N1.
• It means that there should be more atoms present in the higher energy level than in the lower
energy level.
•Therefore to achieve high percentage of stimulated emissions, an artificial situation known as
population inversion is to be created in the medium.

A medium amplifies light only when the above three conditions are fulfilled.
 Light Amplification
III) Confining Radiation within the Medium:
A high radiation density ρ(ν) is required to be present in the active medium so
that stimulated emission dominates spontaneous emission.
• If laser medium is enclosed in between a pair of optically plane parallel
mirrors, photon density builds up to a very high value through repeated
reflections of photons which remain within the medium.
Such an arrangement is known as an optical resonant cavity or optical
resonator.
 COMPONENTS OF LASER
The essential components of a laser are
(i) Active medium
(ii) Pumping agent and
(iii) Optical resonator
 COMPONENTS OF LASER
(i) Active medium:
Active centres and host

(ii) Pumping agent :

For achieving and maintaining the condition of population inversion, we have to raise
continuously the atoms in the lower energy level to the upper energy level. It requires energy
to be supplied to the system. Pumping is the process of supplying energy.
Optical Resonator

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 Optical Resonator

Condition for standing wave pattern

2L = m (m = 1,2,3,..)

L = m/2 or  = mc/2L

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 Ruby Laser
• The first working laser was built in 1960 by my Maiman using a Ruby crystal so-called the
Ruby crystallite is a solid state laser.
• It works on the principle of 3 level pumping scheme and involves optical pumping to achieve
population inversion.
• It works in a pulse mode.
Construction:
Active Medium: Ruby is basically Al2O3 crystal containing about 0.05% of chromium atoms.
Cr3+ ions are the actual active centers while aluminum and oxygen atoms are inert.
Optical Resonator: Ruby rod is taken in the form of a cylindrical rod of about 4 cm in
length and 1 cm in diameter. Its ends are grounded and polished such that the end faces are
exactly parallel and are also perpendicular to the axis of the rod. The end faces of the ruby
rod are silvered so that they form the optical resonator. The rear face is made totally
reflecting while the front face is made partially reflecting.
Pumping agent: A helical photographic flash lamp filled with xenon. Whenever activated
by the power supply the lamp produces flashes of white light.
Ruby Laser
Ruby Laser

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Ruby Laser
 Nd:YAG Laser

Y3Al5O12 (Yttirium aluminium garnet)

Y3+ ions are replaced by Nd3+ ions
Crypton arc lamp
 Nd:YAG Laser

5000 - 230s
8000 AU
 GAS LASER: HELIUM-NEON LASER
Gas lasers operate with rarefied gases as the active media and are excited by an electric discharge. In gases, the
energy levels of atoms involved in the lasing process are narrow and as such require sources with sharp
wavelength to excite atoms. The most common method of exciting gas laser medium is by passing an
electric discharge through the gas. Electrons present in the discharge transfer energy to atoms in the laser gas by
collisions. The first gas laser was He-Ne laser, which was invented in 1961 by Ali Javan, William R. Bennett, and
Donald R. Herriott.
Construction:
Active medium: Neon laser consists of a long discharge tube filled with a mixture of helium and neon gases in
the ratio 10:1. Neon atoms are the active centres and have energy levels suitable for laser transitions while helium
atoms help in exciting neon atoms.
Optical Resonator: The tube is hermetically sealed by inclined windows arranged at its two ends. On the axis
of the tube, two mirrors are arranged externally, which form the Fabry-Perot optical resonator. The distance
between the mirrors is adjusted to be mλ/2 such that the resonator supports standing wave pattern.
Pumping Device: Electrodes are provided in the discharge tube to produce discharge in the gas. They are
connected to a high voltage power supply.

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GAS LASER: HELIUM-NEON LASER

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 GAS LASER: HELIUM-NEON LASER
Working:

20.61 eV 20.66 eV

19.81 18.7

F3 & F2 : metastable states Possible laser Transitions:

of He atoms E6 E3 : Laser beam of wavelength 6328 Å
E6 & E4 : metastable states E6 E5 : Laser beam of wavelength 33900 Å
of Ne atoms E4 E3 : Laser beam of wavelength 11500 Å
GAS LASER: HELIUM-NEON LASER

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 Semiconductor Diode Laser
Principle: When an electron from the conduction band jumps into a hole in the valence band,
the excess energy, Eg is given out in the form of a photon. Thus, the electron-hole
recombination is the basic mechanism responsible for emission of light in semiconductor
diode laser.
Construction:
Active medium: Consists of a heavily doped n-type GaAs material. A p-region is formed on its
top by diffusing zinc atoms into it. A heavily zinc doped layer constitutes the heavily doped p-
region.
Pumping Device: An adequate forward bias is required to develop injection carriers
across a junction to initiate a population inversion between energies at valance band
and energies at conduction band.
Thus pumping is achieved via Forward diode current.The process is called injection
pumping.
 Semiconductor Diode Laser
Optical Resonator: Typical diode chips are 500 mm long and about 100 mm wide and
thick. The top and bottom faces are metalized and metal contacts are provided to pass current
through the diode. The front and rear faces are polished parallel to each other and
perpendicular to the plane of the junction. The polished faces constitute the Fabry-Perot
resonator. The two remaining sides of the diode are roughened to eliminate lasing action in
that direction. The entire structure is packaged in small case which looks like the metal case
used for discrete transistors.
 Semiconductor Diode Laser
Working:
 Applications of Lasers

Laser light is different from an ordinary light. It has various unique

properties such as coherence, monochromaticity, directionality, and
high intensity. Because of these unique properties, lasers are used in
various applications.
The most significant applications of lasers include:
• Lasers in medicine
• Lasers in communications
• Lasers in industries
• Lasers in science and technology
• Lasers in military
Problem: Find the ratio of population of the two energy states in a laser, the transition
between which is responsible for the emission of photons of wavelength 698.3 x 10-9m.
Assume temp 300K .

Given: KB = 1.38 x 10-23 J/ok, h = 6.625 x 10-34 Js c = 3 x 108 m/s

Soln: N 2
 exp[  ( E 2  E 1 ) / kT
N 1

N2/N1= e- hv/kT

N2/N1= e- hc/kT

N2/N1= e- 68.74

N2/N1= 1.38 x 10-30

Thanks !

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