Chapter 5 Lasers and Holography

The word LASER is an acronym for “Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation”.

Properties:
1) Directionality: Ordinary light diverges highly as it travels through a medium. But laser light
diverges less. Laser light travels in same direction without deviating for a long distance.
2) Monochromaticity: In laser all photons emit from same set of energy levels in different atoms.
Hence laser light maintains constant wavelength and frequency. Thus, it is called
monochromatic radiation.
3) Coherence: In ordinary light source, light emit at random times in random directions. But in
stimulated emission process, all the photons will emit with definite phase relationship each
other. This makes the laser beam highly coherent.
4) Intensity: As the laser beam is very narrow, almost all of its energy is highly concentrated into
a small region. Due to this sharp focus laser beam has high intensity.

Stimulated absorption:
Let us consider two energy levels E1 and E2 of an atom as shown in figure. Let this atom exposed to
light radiation i.e., photons with energy hν then the atom in ground energy state E1 can absorb a
photon and goes to energy state E2, if hν = E2 - E1 .

This process is called absorption.

Spontaneous emission:
If the atom is initially in an excited state E2 , it returns to lower energy state E1 on its own accord ,by
emitting a photon of energy hν = E2 - E1. This is known as spontaneous emission.

Spontaneous emissions are random in character.

Sk Abdul Sattar, Lecturer in Physics, Sri ABR Government Degree College, Repalle.
Stimulated emission :

If a photon of energy hν = E2 - E1 interacts with an atom which is already in the excited state E2, it will
induce the transition from state E2 to E1. This is known as Stimulated emission.

In stimulated emission, the direction of propagation, phase and energy of the emitted photon is
exactly same as that of incident stimulating photon.

Difference between spontaneous and stimulated emissions

Spontaneous emission Stimulated emission

1) Definition 1) Definition
2) The emission has a broad spectrum 2) The emission has monochromatic radiation,
i.e., many wavelengths i.e., single wavelength
3) Incoherent radiation produced 3) Coherent radiation produced
4) Low intense and low directionality 4) High intense ad High directionality
5) Ex: Light from sodium or mercury vapor 5) Ex: Light from laser
lamp

Einstein coefficients and relationship between them.

Einstein coefficients: Einstein coefficients are the mathematical quantities which are a measure of
the probability of absorption or emission of light by an atom or molecule.
Atoms can be excited by supplying energy equal to the difference of any of its two energy levels. After
a very short duration of time ( ≈ 10-8 sec ), atoms will come down to ground state by radiating energy.
Stimulated absorption:
If an atom is in the state 𝐸1, it can be raised to higher energy level 𝐸2 by the absorption of photon of
energy ℎ𝜈 = 𝐸2 − 𝐸1. The probability of stimulated absorption from state 1 to state 2 is proportional to
the energy density 𝑢(𝜈) of the incident radiation.
𝑃12 = 𝐵12 𝑢(𝜈)
Here 𝐵12 is known as 𝐸𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑖𝑛′𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛.

Sk Abdul Sattar, Lecturer in Physics, Sri ABR Government Degree College, Repalle.
Spontaneous emission:
If the atom is initially in an excited state 𝐸2, it can come down to lower state 𝐸1 on its own by emitting
a photon of energy ℎ𝜈 = 𝐸2 − 𝐸1. This is known as spontaneous emission. The probability of
spontaneous emission depends only on the properties of states 1 and 2.
𝑃’21 = 𝐴21
Here 𝐴21 is known as 𝐸𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑖𝑛′𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛.
Stimulated emission:
Einstein was the first to identify the possibility of induced or stimulated emission. If a photon of energy
ℎ𝜈 = 𝐸2 − 𝐸1 interacts with an atom which is already in the excited state 𝐸2, it will induce the transition
from E2 to E1. This is known as stimulated emission. The probability of this stimulated emission
depends on the energy density 𝑢(𝜈) of the incident radiation.
𝑃”21 = 𝐵21 𝑢(𝜈)
The total probability of emission transition from 𝐸2 to 𝐸1 is given by
𝑃21 = 𝑃’21 + 𝑃”21 = 𝐴21 + 𝐵21 𝑢(𝜈)
Relation between Einstein coefficients:
Let there are 𝑁1 number of atoms in the ground state 1 and 𝑁2 number of atoms in the excited state2.
Then the probability of absorption transition from state 1 to 2 is given by
𝑁1 𝑃12 = 𝑁1𝐵12 𝑢(𝜈)
The total probability of emission transition from state 2 to 1 is given by
𝑁2 𝑃21 = 𝑁2 [ 𝐴21 + 𝐵21 𝑢(𝜈) ]
At thermal equilibrium, the absorption probability and emission probability becomes equal.
Thus, we can write

Sk Abdul Sattar, Lecturer in Physics, Sri ABR Government Degree College, Repalle.
Population inversion

The process by which the population of a particular higher energy state is made more than that of a
specified lower energy state is called as “population inversion”.

Consider a two level system with energies 𝐸1 and 𝐸2 containing 𝑁1 and 𝑁2 number of particles
respectively. If 𝑁0 be the total number of particles, then the total number of particles in the states 𝐸1
and 𝐸2 are given by 𝑁1 = 𝑁0 𝑒−E1 /𝑘𝑇

𝑁2 = 𝑁0 𝑒−𝐸2 /𝑘𝑇

Since 𝐸2 > 𝐸1 ⇒ 𝑁2 < 𝑁1

In general, lower energy levels will have higher population. The situation where the population of
lower energy level is more than the energy of the higher energy level is known as population inversion.
The process of increasing the population of higher energy level compared to the lower energy level is
known as pumping.

Components of laser
Any laser system contains three major components as shown in the figure.

1. Energy source: To get the laser action, we must have population inversion in the system. For that
atoms must be excited to higher energy levels. This energy source can be obtained from any optical
or electrical or chemical process. This portion of the laser system acts as the pumping mechanism
which is essential for population inversion.

2. Active medium: This is the medium where stimulated emission takes place. After taking energy
from the source, atoms and molecules will get excited. In the de-excitation process, stimulated
emission takes place which gives laser light. Depending on the type of active medium, we have solid
state, liquid state, gaseous and semiconductor lasers.

3. Optical cavity or resonator: The active medium is enclosed between two reflecting surfaces. Out
of the two, one is perfectly reflecting and the other one is partially reflecting. Depending on the
active medium, there are mirrors, Brewster prisms that are used as resonance cavity.

Sk Abdul Sattar, Lecturer in Physics, Sri ABR Government Degree College, Repalle.
Basic principle of LASER

Let an atom in the excited state be stimulated by a photon of right energy so that atom makes
stimulated emission. Two coherent photons are obtained. These two coherent photons if stimulate
two atoms in excited state to make emission then 4-coherent photons are produced and so on. As
the process continues no of coherent photons increases. This phenomenon of building up of number
of coherent photons so as to get intense laser beam is called lasing action.

The following steps takes place in lasing action.

Step1-Pumping: By suppling energy from external source, the atoms in the G.S(E1) pumped to
excited state(E3).
Step2-Population Inversion: The atoms from state E3 may drop to the metastable state E2 by non-
radiative transition, the excited atoms stay comparatively longer time. As a result, soon the number
of atoms in stat E2 becomes much larger than state E1. In this way population inversion occurs
between states E1 and E2.
Step3-Stimulated emission: The photon of energy hν = E2-E1 emitted due to spontaneous emission,
travels through laser medium and process the stimulated emission from E2 to E1.

Construction and working of Ruby Laser

Construction : Ruby laser is the first laser developed in 1960. The major parts of ruby laser are

1. Active medium: In ruby laser the active medium is the Ruby crystal cut in the shape of a rod. The
ruby crystal is an 𝐴𝑙2𝑂3 crystal with 0.05 % of 𝐴𝑙+3 ions are replaced by 𝐶𝑟+3 ions. Here the energy
levels of 𝐶𝑟+3 ions have metastable states, where population inversion occurs and lasing action
takes place.
2. Energy source: The energy source consists of a xenon flash lamp which emits green light at
5500Å. The xenon tube lamp is wrapped around the ruby rod. The output of xenon lamp is in the
form of millisecond pulses and power is a few megawatts. Due to this high power output, the ruby
rod may get heated up. Hence the whole arrangement is placed in a liquid nitrogen bath to keep
the system cool.

Sk Abdul Sattar, Lecturer in Physics, Sri ABR Government Degree College, Repalle.
3. The resonant cavity: The resonance cavity is obtained by polishing the ends of ruby rod. The ends
are made optically parallel and then a fully reflecting surface at left end and a partially reflecting
surface at right end of the ruby crystal.

Working :

The energy level diagram of 𝐶𝑟+3 ion is as shown in the below figure. It is a three level laser system.
When the ruby crystal is irradiated with light of xenon flash, the chromium ions in ground state (E1)
absorbs green light (5500Ao) and excited to upper energy levels E3. These excited ions gives up, by
collision, part of their energy in the form of heat to crystal lattice and decay to metastable state (E2).
Since E2 is metastable, the number of atoms in state E2 goes on increasing, due to pumping the number
of ions in E1 decreasing. In this way, population inversion is established between state E2 and ground
state E1.

When any ion passes from metastable state comes to ground state spontaneously, it emits a
photon of photon of wavelength 6943 Ao. This photon travels through the ruby rod and stimulates
another excited ion, causes the ion to emit a fresh photon. The emitted photon is in phase with the
stimulating photon. This process repeated again and again because the photons repeatedly move
along the crystal rod being reflected from its ends. This results in amplified strong laser beam of
wavelength 6943 Ao.

Sk Abdul Sattar, Lecturer in Physics, Sri ABR Government Degree College, Repalle.
Construction and working of He-Ne laser
Construction: The experimental arrangement of He-Ne laser is as shown in figure.
He-Ne laser is a continuous laser. It consists of a discharge tube inserted between highly reflecting
mirrors. The tube contains a mixture of He and Ne atoms in approximate ratio of 10:1. During
discharge electrons are collides with the atoms and put them in excited states. The laser light is
emitted by Ne - atoms and the purpose of the He is to assist the population inversion.

Working principle:

The energy level diagram of He-Ne laser is as shown in figure.

The 2 3𝑆1 level and 2 1𝑆0 are meta-stable states in Helium from which there are no allowed transitions.
The excited He-atoms can easily de-excite by collision with Ne-atom in the GS according to following
scheme. He* + Ne --------------> He + Ne*

This scheme leads to a large population of Ne-atoms in 5s and 4s excited states (metastable). This
gives population inversion w.r.t the 3p and 4p levels. It would not be easy to get this population
inversion without the He because collision between electrons and Ne-atoms would tend to excite all
the levels of the Ne-atoms equally. This is way there is more He than Ne in the tube.

Sk Abdul Sattar, Lecturer in Physics, Sri ABR Government Degree College, Repalle.
There are three possible laser transitions from these two metastable states.

5𝑠 → 3𝑝 632.8 nm ( visible )

5𝑠 → 4𝑝 3390 nm (𝐼𝑅)

4𝑠 → 3𝑝 1152 nm (𝐼𝑅)

Here the 632.8 nm transition only lies in the visible region. This can be enhanced by choosing the
proper length of resonance cavity.
The atoms in the 3p level rapidly relax to GS (2p) by fast radiative transitions to the 3s level and then
by collisional de-excitation with tube walls.

Application of Lasers:
Due to high intensity, high monochromaticity and high directionality of lasers, they are widely used
in various fields like
1) It is used in industries for high precision cutting, welding and drilling.
2) It is also used for micro hole drilling and cutting where traditional instruments fail.
3) In semiconducting industry, lasers are used for drawing lines on circuit boards, soldering, precisely
cutting resistance materials (as accuracy in resistance is decided by the size of the material).
4) In medical field, lasers are used to clear blocks in heart, used for cataract removal, for the removal
of tattoos, unwanted marks, to remove stones in bladder, and kidney.
5) Lasers are major sources of light in optical communication.
6) In scientific research, lasers are used to study the optical properties of materials.
7)In civil engineering, they are used while surveying for accurate distance measurement.
8) In defence, lasers are used to guide missiles, and high intensity lasers beams are also used to
destroy the enemy air-crafts and missiles.

Sk Abdul Sattar, Lecturer in Physics, Sri ABR Government Degree College, Repalle.
Holography - “complete recording”
Holography = Recording the complete image ( or ) writing the complete image
“Holography is the process of recording 3-Dimensional image of an object by using interferometric
techniques.”
Principle of Holography and applications
Principle: All the recording media respond only to light intensity. For complete recording of image, it
is required to convert phase information into intensity variations. The technique is used is called
interferometry, in which a 2nd wave front, mutually coherent with the first one of known amplitude
and phase, is added to the unknown wave front. The intensity of sum of two complex fields then
depends on both the amplitude and phase of the unknown field.
Construction: The construction of hologram has 2 - major steps
1) Recording of hologram:
A coherent light from a laser is divided into two identical beams with the help of beam splitter. The
identical beams are reference beam-1 and object beam-2. The object beam-2 illuminates the object
whose hologram is to be recorded. The superposition of light reflected by object and reference
beam -1 reflected by mirror produces an interference pattern (with a fringe width ≈ 0.001 mm),
which is recorded on the photographic plate. The developed plate is known as Hologram. The
hologram is quite unintelligible and gives no hint of the image embedded in it.

2) Reconstruction of image from Hologram: For reconstruction of image a laser beam which is
identical with the reference beam is used. This beam illuminates the hologram, interacts with
interference pattern which acts like a grating. Two images are produced by diffracted wave, one
appears at the original position occupied by the object which is a virtual image and other a real
image formed in front of the hologram, which can be photographed. The virtual image appears in
3-D form, one can see all sides by moving the eye.

Sk Abdul Sattar, Lecturer in Physics, Sri ABR Government Degree College, Repalle.
Applications:
a) Data storage:
Holographic data storage is a technique that can store information at high density inside
crystals and photo polymers.
b) Security:
Complex holograms are much more difficult to reproduce compared to static images. For
this reason, holograms are often placed on valuable items to reduce the chances of
forgery. Common security applications of holograph include labels on credit cards,
passports, identification cards and images embedded in government currency.
c) Holographic Interferometry:
H.I is used to measure the static and dynamic displacements of objects up to the fractions
of a wavelength of light. These measurements can be applied to stress, strain and
vibration analysis, as well as to non-destructive testing.

d) Acoustic Holography:
A.H is a method used to study the image formed by sound waves.
This method is used in transportation, vehicle and aircraft design.

*****

Short answer questions

Q1) Differentiate between spontaneous and stimulated emissions.
Q2) Define Einstein coefficients of absorption, spontaneous and stimulated emissions.
Obtain relationship between them.
Q3) Explain basic principle of LASER.
Q4) Write the application of Lasers.
Q5) Explain the principle and applications of Holography.
Long answer questions
Q1) Explain basic principle of Laser. Describe construction and working of Ruby Laser.
Q2) What is population inversion. Describe the construction and working of He-Ne laser.

Sk Abdul Sattar, Lecturer in Physics, Sri ABR Government Degree College, Repalle.