UNIT - II

LASERS

2.1 Introduction
LASER stands for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. It is
different from conventional light (such as tube light or electric bulb), there is no
coordination among different atoms emitting radiation. Laser is a device that emits light
(electromagnetic radiation) through a process is called stimulated emission.

2.2 Spontaneous and stimulated emission

In lasers, the interaction between matter and light is of three different types.
They are: absorption, spontaneous emission and stimulates emission .Let E1 and E2 be
ground and excited states of an atom. The dot represents an atom. Transition between
these states involves absorption and emission of a photon of energy E2-E1=hν12.
Where ‘h’ is Planck’s constant.
(a) Absorption: As shown in fig8.1(a), if a photon of energy hν12(E2-E1) collides
with an atom present in the ground state of energy E1 then the atom completely
absorbs the incident photon and makes transition to excited state E2.
(b) Spontaneous emission: As shown in fig8. 1. (b), an atom initially present in the
excited state makes transition voluntarily on its own. Without any aid of external
stimulus or an agency to the ground. State and emits a photon of energy h ν
12(=E2-E1).this is called spontaneous emission. These are incoherent.
(c) Stimulated emission: As shown in fig8.1.(c), a photon having energy hν12(E2-
E1)impinges on an atom present in the excited state and the atom is stimulated to
make transition to the ground state and gives off a photon of energy hν 12. The
emitted photon is in phase with the incident photon. These are coherent. This type
of emission is known as stimulated emission.

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 Fig.2.1 (a) Absorption ;(b) Spontaneous emission;(c) Stimulated emission

Differences between Spontaneous emission and stimulated emission of

radiation

Spontaneous emission Stimulated emission

1. Polychromatic radiation 1. Monochromatic radiation
2. Less intensity 2. High intensity
3. Less directionality, more angular 3. High directionality, so less angular
spread during propagation spread during propagation.
4. Spatially and temporally in 4. Specially and temporally coherent
coherent radiation radiation.
5. Spontaneous emission takes place 5. Stimulated emission takes place
when excited atoms make a when a photon of energy equal to
transition to lower energy level h ν12 (=E2-E1) stimulates an excited
voluntarily without any external atom to make transition to lower
stimulation. energy level.

2.3 Characteristics of Laser Light

(i). Coherence: Coherence is one of the unique properties of laser light. It arises from the
stimulated emission process. Since a common stimulus triggers the emission events
which provide the amplified light, the emitted photons are in step and have a definite

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phase relation to each other. This coherence is described in terms of temporal and spatial
coherence.
(ii). Monochromaticity: A laser beam is more or less in single wave length. I.e. the line
width of laser beams is extremely narrow. The wavelengths spread of conventional light
sources is usually 1 in 106, where as in case of laser light it will be 1 in 105.I.e. if the
frequency of radiation is 1015 Hz., then the width of line will be 1 Hz. So, laser
radiation is said to be highly monochromatic. The degree of non-monochromaticity has
been expressed as
ξ = (dλ/λ) =dν/ν, where dλ or dν is the variation in wavelength or variation
in frequency of radiation.
(iii) Directionality: Laser beam is highly directional because laser emits light only in one
direction. It can travel very long distances without divergence. The directionality of a
laser beam has been expressed in terms of divergence. Suppose r1 and r2 are the radii of
laser beam at distances D1 and D2 from a laser, and then we have.
Then the divergence, ∆θ= (r1 - r2)/ D2-D1
The divergence for a laser beam is 0.01 mille radian where as incase of search light it is
0.5 radian.
(iv) High intensity: In a laser beam lot of energy is concentrated in a small region. This
concentration of energy exists both spatially and spectrally, hence there is enormous
intensity for laser beam. The power range of laser is about 10-13w for gas laser and is
about 109 w for pulsed solid state laser and the diameter of the laser beam is about 1 mm.
then the number of photons coming out from a laser per second per unit area is given by
N l =P/ hνπr2≈1022to1034photons/m-2-sec
By assuming h ν =10-19 Joule, Power P=10-3to109watt r=0.5×10-3meter
Based on Planck’s black body radiation, the number of photons emitted per second per
unit area by a body with temperature T is given by
Nth= (2hπC/ λ4) (1/e(h ν/k T)-1) dλ≈1016photons/[Link]
By assuming T=1000k, λ=6000A0
This comparison shows that laser is a highly intensive beam.

2.4. Einstein’s Coefficients

LetN1 be the number of atoms per unit volume with energy E1 and N2 the number of
atoms per unit volume with energy E2. Let ‘n’ be the number of photons per unit volume
at frequency ν such that h ν=E2-E1. Then the energy density of interacting photons ρ (v) is
given by
ρ(ν) = n h ν →(1)
When these photons interact with atoms, both upward (absorption) and downward
(emission) transitions occur. At equilibrium these transition rates must be equal.
Upward Transition
Stimulated absorption rate depends on the number of atoms available in the lower energy
state for absorption of these photons as well as the energy density of interacting radiation.
I.e. stimulated absorption rate α N1
α ρ (ν)
= B12N1 ρ (ν) → (2)
Where the constant of proportionality B12 is the Einstein coefficient of stimulated
absorption

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Downward transition
Once the atoms are excited by stimulated absorption, they stay in the excited state for a
short duration of time called the lifetime of the excited state. After their life time they
move to their lower energy level spontaneous by emitting photons. This spontaneous
emission rate depends on the number of atoms in the excited energy state.
i.e., spontaneous emission rate α N2

=N2 A21 → (3)

Where the constant of proportionality A21 is the Einstein coefficient of spontaneous
emission.
Stimulated emission
Before excited atoms de excites to their lower energy states by spontaneous emission
they may interact with photons resulting in stimulated emission of photons. Therefore
stimulated emission rate depends on the number of atoms available in the excited state as
well as energy density of interacting photons
I.e. stimulated emission rate α N2
α ρ(ν)
=N2ρ (ν) B21 → (4)
Where the constant of proportionality B21 is the Einstein coefficient of stimulated
emission.
During stimulated emission, the interacting photon called the stimulating photon and the
photon due to stimulated emission are in phase with each other. Please note that during
stimulated absorption, the photon density decreases where as during stimulated emission
it increases.
For a system in equilibrium, the upward and down word transition rates must be equal
and hence we have
N1 ρ (ν) B12= N2ρ(ν)B21 +N 2A21 → (5)

Hence ρ(ν) =

ρ (ν) =

The population of various energy levels in thermal equilibrium is given by Boltzmann

distribution law.

Fig.2.2 Boltzmann distribution for several energy levels

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 Ni=gi No exp (-E i/KT)
Where Ni is the population density of the energy level E i, N0 is the population density of
the ground state at temperature T1, g i is the degeneracy of the ith level and k is the
Boltzmann constant (=1.38x10-23joule/k). The concept of degeneracy occurs since more
than one level has the same energy.
Hence N1= N o exp (-E 1/k T)
= exp
= exp → (7)

Substituting e q (6) in e q (4) ρ (ν) = → (8)

From Planck’s law of blackbody radiation, the radiation density is given by

ρ(ν) = → (9)
Comparing equations (8) and (9), we get

g1B12=g2B21
→ (10)
And → (11)
Equation’s (10) and (11) are referred to as the Einstein relations.
The ratio of spontaneous emission rate to the stimulated emission rate is given by
R=
From equation (9)
R= -1] → (12)
In practice, the absorption and emission phase occur simultaneously. Let us calculate the
rates of spontaneous emission and stimulating emission for a tungsten filament lamp
operating at a temperature of 2000k. Taking the average frequency to be 5x1014Hz, this
ratio is

R= 1 → (13)
This confirms that under conditions of thermal equilibrium, even for sources operating at
higher temperatures and lower frequencies, spontaneous emission predominates.
From equation (12), we understand that to make R smaller ρ(ν) the energy density of
interacting radiation has to be made larger. Let us consider the relation of stimulated
emission rate to stimulated absorption rate
Thus at thermal equilibrium stimulated absorption predominates over stimulated
emission. Instead if we create a situation that N2>N1. Stimulated emission will
predominate over stimulated absorption. If stimulated emission predominates the photon
density increases and light amplifies the photon density increases and light amplification
by stimulated emission of radiation (LASER) occurs. Therefore, in order to achieve more

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stimulated emission, population of the excited state (N2) should be made larger than the
population of the lower state (N1) and this condition is called population inversion. Hence
if we wish to amplify a beam of light by stimulated emission, then we must create
population inversion and increase the energy density of interacting radiation.

2.4.1 Population inversion

Usually in a system the number of atoms (N1) present in the ground state (E1) is larger
than the number of atoms (N2) present in the higher energy state. The process of making
N2>N1 called population inversion. Conditions for population inversion are:
a) The system should posses at least a pair of energy levels (E2>E1), separated by an
energy of equal to the energy of a photon (hν).
b) There should be a continuous supply of energy to the system such that the atoms
must be raised continuously to the excited state.
Population inversion can be achieved by a number of ways. Some of them are (i)
optical pumping (ii) electrical discharge (iii) inelastic collision of atoms (iv) chemical
reaction and (v) direct conversion

2.5 Helium-Neon gas laser

Helium-Neon gas laser is a continuous four level gas laser. It consists of a long,
narrow cylindrical tube made up of fused quartz. The diameter of the tube will vary from
2 to 8 mm and length will vary from 10 to 100 cm. The tube is filled with helium and
neon gases in the ratio of 10:1. The partial pressure of helium gas is 1mm of Hg and neon
gas is 0.1mm of Hg so that the pressure of the mixture of gases inside the tube is nearly 1
mm of Hg.
Laser action is due to the neon atoms. Helium is used for selective pumping of
neon atoms to upper energy levels. Two electrodes are fixed near the ends of the tube to
pass electric discharge through the gas. Two optically plane mirrors are fixed at the two
ends of the tube at Brewster angle normal to its axis. One of the mirrors is fully silvered
so that nearly 100% reflection takes place and the other is partially silvered so that 1%of
the light incident on it will be transmitted. Optical resources column is formed between
these mirrors.

.
Fig.2.3 Helium-Neon gas laser
Working
When a discharge is passed through the gaseous mixture, electrons are accelerated
down the tube. These accelerated electrons collide with the helium atoms and excite
them to higher energy levels. The different energy levels of Helium atoms and Neon
atoms is shown in fig.2.3 the helium atoms are excited to the levels F2 and F3 these
levels happen to be meta stable energy states.

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 Energy levels and hence Helium atoms exited levels spend sufficiently large
amount of time before getting de excited. As shown in the fig 2.5(a), some of the
excited states of neon can correspond approximately to the same energy of excited
levels F2 and F3. Thus, when Helium atoms in level F2 and F3 collide with Neon
atoms in the ground level E1, an energy exchange takes place. This results in the
excitation of Neon atoms to the levels E4 and E6 and de excitation of Helium atoms to
the ground level (F1). Because of long life times of the atoms in levels F2 and F3, this
process of energy transfer has a high probability. Thus the discharge through the gas
mixture continuously populates the neon atoms in the excited energy levels E4 and E6.
This helps to create a state of population inversion between the levels E4 (E6) to the
lower energy level (E3 and E5). The various transitions E6→E5, E4→E3, E6→E3 leads
to the emission of wave lengths 3.39mm, 1.15 um and 6328 A0. Specific frequency
selection may be obtained by employing mirrors
The excited Neon atoms drop down from the level E3 to the E2 by spontaneously
emitting a photon around wavelength 6000A0. The pressures of the two gases in the
mixture are so chosen that there is an effective transfer of energy from the Helium to
the Neon atoms. Since the level E2 is a meta stable state, there is a finite probability
of the excitation of Neon, atoms from E2 to E3 leading to population inversion, when
a narrow tube is used, the neon atoms in the level E2 collide with the walls of the tube
and get excited to the level E1. The transition from E5 to E3 may be non radioactive.
The typical power outputs of He-Ne laser lie between 1 and 50 mw of continuous
wave for inputs of 5-10W.

Fig.2.4. Energy level diagram of He-Ne atoms.

2.6 Ruby Laser

Ruby Laser is a solid state pulsed, three level lasers. It consists of a cylindrical
shaped ruby crystal rod of length varying from 2 to 20cms and diameter varying 0.1 to
2cms. This end faces of the rod are highly flat and parallel. One of the faces is highly
silvered and the other face is partially silvered so that it transmits 10 to 25% of incident
light and reflects the rest so as to make the rod-resonant cavity. Basically, ruby crystal is
aluminum oxide [Al 2O3] doped with 0.05 to 0.5% of chromium atom. These chromium
atoms serve as activators. Due to presence of 0.05% of chromium, the ruby crystal

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appears in pink color. The ruby crystal is placed along the axis of a helical xenon or
krypton flash lamp of high intensity.

Fig.2.5 Ruby laser

Fig.2.6 Energy level diagram of chromium ions in a ruby crystal

Construction:
Ruby (Al2O3+Cr2O3) is a crystal of Aluminum oxide in which some of Al+3 ions
are replaced by Cr +3 ions. When the doping concentration of Cr+3 is about 0.05%, the
color of the rod becomes pink. The active medium in ruby rod is Cr+3ions. In ruby
laser a rod of 4cm long and 5mm diameter is used and the ends of the rod are highly
polished. Both ends are silvered such that one end is fully reflecting and the other end
is partially reflecting.
The ruby rod is surrounded by helical xenon flash lamp tube which provides the
optical pumping to raise the Chromium ions to upper energy level (rather energy
band). The xenon flash lamp tube which emits intense pulses lasts only few
milliseconds and the tube consumes several thousands of joules of energy. Only a part
of this energy is used in pumping Chromium ions while the rest goes as heat to the
apparatus which should be cooled with cooling arrangements as shown in fig.2.5.
The energy level diagram of ruby laser is shown in fig.2.6

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Working:
Ruby crystal is made up of aluminum oxide as host lattice with small percentage
of Chromium ions replacing aluminum ions in the crystal chromium acts as do pant.
A do pant actually produces lasing action while the host material sustains this action.
The pumping source for ruby material is xenon flash lamp which will be operated by
some external power supply. Chromium ions will respond to this flash light having
wavelength of 5600A0. When the Cr +3ions are excited to energy level E3 from E1 the
population in E3 increases. Chromium ions stay here for a very short time of the order
of 10-8 seconds then they drop to the level E2 which is mat stable state of life time
10-3s. Here the level E3 is rather a band, which helps the pumping to be more
effective. The transitions from E3 to E2 are non-radioactive in nature. During this
process heat is given to crystal lattice. Hence cooling the rod is an essential feature in
this method. The life time in mete stable state is 10 5times greater than the lifetime in
E3. As the life of the state E2 is much longer, the number of ions in this state goes on
increasing while ions. In this state goes on increasing while in the ground state (E1)
goes on decreasing. By this process population inversion is achieved between the
exited Meta stable state E2 and the ground state E1. When an excited ion passes
spontaneously from the metastable state E2 to the ground state E1, it emits a photon of
wave length 6943A0. This photon travels through the rod and if it is moving parallel
to the axis of the crystal, is reflected back and forth by the silvered ends until it
stimulates an excited ion in E2 and causes it to emit fresh photon in phase with the
earlier photon. This stimulated transition triggers the laser transition. This process is
repeated again and again because the photons repeatedly move along the crystal being
reflected from its ends. The photons thus get multiplied. When the photon beam
becomes sufficiently intense, such that part of it emerges through the partially
silvered end of the crystal.

Drawbacks of ruby laser:

1. The laser requires high pumping power to achieve population inversion.
2. It is a pulsed laser.

. Fig.2.7 the output pulses with time.

2.7 Semi conductor laser

The semiconductor laser is also called diode laser. Among the different
semiconductors there are direct band gap semiconductors and indirect band gap
semiconductors. In the case of direct band gap semiconductors, there is a large
possibility for direct recombination of holes and electrons which emit photons. But in
indirect band gap semi conductors like silicon and germanium, direct recombination

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of holes and electrons is less possible and hence there is no effective emission of
photons. A well know example of a direct band gap semiconductor is GaAs. Let E g
be the energy gap of a material, then it emits a photon of wavelength (λ) is given the
relation
λ= → (1)
Where C is the velocity of light and h is the Planck’s constant
The equation (1) is reduced to
λ= µm → (2)
Where Eg is expressed in eV
As Eg increases, it emits shorter wavelengths. Diode lasers are always operated in
forward bias. If p and n type materials are prepared from the same material then the
p-n junction, is called as Homo junction semiconductor laser source. If p and n type
materials are prepared from different materials then they are called as Hetero junction
semi conductor laser source.

Construction of GaAs Semiconductor diode laser

The basic mechanism responsible for light emission from a semi conductor is the
recombination of electrons and holes at p-n junction when a current is passed through
the diode. The active medium is a p-n junction diode made from crystalline Gallium
Arsenide . The p-region and n-region in the diode are obtained by heavily doping
with suitable do pants. At the junction the sides through which emitted light is
coming out are well polished and parallel to each other. Since the refractive index of
GaAs is high, the reflectance at the material air interface is sufficiently large so that
the external mirrors are not necessary to produce multiple reflections. When a current
is passed through a p-n junction p region being positively biased, holes are injected
from p-region into n-region and n-region being negatively biased electrons are
injected from n-region into p-region and is shown in fig8.9.

Fig.2.8 GaAs semiconductor diode laser

The connections in this p-n junction circuit are called forward bias. The electrons and
holes recombine and release of light energy takes place in or near the junction. In the
case of GaAs homo junction which has an energy gap of 1.44ev gives a laser beam of
wavelength around 8600A0 the electron-hole recombination takes place in the active
region of the device. When the junction is forward biased, a large amount of the order
of 104 amp/cm2 is passed through the narrow junction. Thus the electrons (holes) are

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 injected from n side to p side (p side to n side) respectively.

Fi2.9 (a) Band diagram of heavily doped p-n junction in equilibrium.

(b) Band diagram of heavily doped p-n junction with forward bias

The electrons are minority charge carriers in p-side and holes are the minority charge
carriers in n-side. The continuous injection of charge carriers creates the population
inversion of minority carriers is n and p side respectively. The excess minority charge
carries diffuse away from the region recombining with majority carriers of the n and p
type material, resulting in the release of photons. Further, the emitted photons
increase the recombination of injected electrons from the n-region and holes in p-
region by inducing more recombinations thus the stimulated emission takes place
more effectively. The efficiency of a laser emission increases when the device is
cooled.

The drawbacks of homojunction lasers

1. Only output is obtained
2. The threshold current density is very large(400amps/mm2)
3. Electromagnetic confinement is poor.
4. Output has more beam divergence, poor coherence.
To overcome these deficiencies, scientists have developed heterojunction laser
sources like GaAs/GaAlAs structures. The advantages of heterojunction laser
structures are:
1. Low threshold current density(5-10amp/mm2)
2. The output is continuous
3. Carrier confinement is more effective there by less beam divergence.
4. High output power.
5. Narrow beam, high coherence, high mono chromaticity is achieved.
6. Long lifetime of the device
7. Very stable. Hence hetero junction laser diode used extensively in optical fiber
communication

2.8. Applications of Lasers

Lasers find applications in various fields. They are described below.

a) In Communications :
Lasers are used in optical fiber communications. In optical fiber communications, lasers are
used as light source to transmit audio, video signals and data to long distances without
attention and distortion.

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b) The narrow angular spread of laser beam can be used for communication between
earth and moon or to satellites.
c) As laser radiation is not absorbed by water, so laser beam can be used in under water
(inside sea) communication networks.

2. Industrial Applications
a) Lasers are used in metal cutting, welding, surface treatment and hole drilling. Using
lasers cutting can be obtained to any desired shape and the curved surface is very
smooth.
b) Welding has been carried by using laser beam.
c) Dissimilar metals can be welded and micro welding is done with great case.
d) Lasers beam is used in selective heat treatment for tempering the desired parts in
automobile industry
e) Lasers are widely used in electronic industry in trimming the components of ICs

3. Medical Applications
1. Lasers are used in medicine to improve precision work like surgery. Brain surgery is
an example of precision surgery Birthmarks, warts and discoloring of the skin can easily
be removed with an unfocussed laser. The operations are quick and heal quickly and, best
of all, they are less painful than ordinary surgery performed with a scalpel.
2. Cosmetic surgery (removing tattoos, scars, stretch marks, sun spots, wrinkles,
birthmarks and hairs) see lasers hair removal.
[Link] types used in dermatology include ruby(694nm),alexandrite(755nm),pulsed diode
array(810nm), Nd:YAG(1064nm), HO:YAG(2090nm), and Er:YAG(2940nm)
4. Eye surgery and refracting surgery.
5. Soft tissue surgery: Co2 Er :YAG laser.
6. Laser scalpel (general surgery, gynecological, urology, laparoscopic).
7. Dental procedures.
8. Photo bio modulation (i.e. laser therapy)
9. “No-touch” removal of tumors, especially of the brain and spinal cord.
10. In dentistry for caries removal, endodontic/periodontic, procedures, tooth whitening,
and oral surgery.

4. Military Applications
The various military applications are:
a) Death rays: By focusing high energetic laser beam for few seconds to aircraft,
missile, etc can be destroyed. So, these rays are called death rays or war weapons.
b) Laser gun: The vital part of energy body can be evaporated at short range by
focusing highly convergent beam from a laser gun.
c) LIDAR (Light detecting and ranging): In place of RADAR, we can use LIDAR
to estimate the size and shape of distant objects or war weapons. The differences
between RADAR and LIDAR are that, in case of RADAR, Radio waves are used
where as incase of LIDAR light is used.

5. In Computers: By using lasers a large amount of information or data can be stored

in CD-ROM or their storage capacity can be increased. Lasers are also used in computer
printers.

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6. In Thermonuclear fusion: To initiate nuclear fusion reaction, very high temperature
and pressure is required. This can be created by concentrating large amount of laser
energy in a small volume. In the fusion of deuterium and tritium, irradiation with a high
energy laser beam pulse of 1 nano second duration develops a temperature of 1017 0c, this
temperature is sufficient to initiate nuclear fusion reaction.

7. In Scientific Research: In scientific, lasers are used in many ways including

a) A wide variety of interferometrie techniques.
b) Raman spectroscopy.
c) Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy.
d) Atmospheric remote sensing.
e) Investigating non linear optics phenomena
f) Holographic techniques employing lasers also contribute to a number of
measurement techniques.
g) Laser (LADAR) technology has application in geology, seismology, remote sensing
and atmospheric physics.
h) Lasers have been used abroad spacecraft such as in the cassini-huygens mission.
i) In astronomy lasers have been used to create artificial laser guide stars, used as
reference objects for adaptive optics telescope.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Laser action is found in _______ semiconductor ( )
(a) Direct band gap (b) indirect band gap
(c) Germanium (d) silicon
[Link] computer __________________laser is used ( )
(a) He-Ne gas (b) ruby
(c) Semi conductor (d) CO2
3. Laser radiation is ___________________ ( )
(a) Highly monochromatic (b) partially monochromatic
(c) White light (d) none
4. Under population inversion, the number of atoms in the higher energy state is _____
Than in the lower energy state ()
(a) Laser (b) larger (c) both a and b (d) none
5. Laser radiation is ____ ( )
(a) Highly directional (b) monochromatic
(c) Coherent and stimulated (d) all
6. In conventional light sources ( )
(a) Different atoms emit radiation at different times
(b) There is no phase relation between the emitted photons
(c) Different atoms emit photons in different directions
(d) all
7. In laser source ( )
(a) Photons emitted by different atoms are in phase or maintain constant phase
relationship
(b) Different atoms emit photons in the same direction
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