2024-25 ENGINEERING PHYSICS (24PH102)

UNIT- IV: Lasers and Fiber Optics

Lasers: Introduction, Characteristics of laser, Basic Principles of lasers (absorption, spontaneous
emission and stimulated emission), Requirements of laser (pumping, population inversion and cavity
resonance), solid-state lasers (Ruby), applications of lasers.

Fiber optics: Introduction, Fundamentals of optical fiber, Propagation of light through optical fiber,
types of optical fibers, Numerical aperture, Fractional change in refractive index, Losses in optical fibers,
Fiber optics in communications and its advantages.

LASERS

A LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) is an optical source that

emits photons in a coherent beam.
The process of particle transfer from normal state corresponding to minimum energy of the
system to a higher energy state is termed as excitation and the particle itself is said to be excited. In this
process the absorption of energy from the external field takes place.

The time during which a particle can exist in the ground state is unlimited. On the other hand, the
particle can remain in the excited state for a limited time known as lifetime.
The lifetime of the excited hydrogen atom is of the order of 10-8sec. There exist, some excited
states in which the lifetime is >10-8 sec. These states are called as metastable states.
The basic principle involved in laser action is the phenomenon of stimulated emission.
There are three kinds of electromagnetic radiations between two energy levels E1 and E2 in an atom.
Characteristics of a laser:
i) The light is coherent with all the waves exactly in phase with each other.
ii) Laser beam hardly diverges. i.e., The laser rays are almost parallel.
iii) The beam is nearly monochromatic.
iv) The laser beam is extremely intense. The beam can produce a temperature of 104 oC at a
focused point.

i) Induced absorption:- If the atom is initially in the lower

state E1 it can be raised to E2 by absorption of a photon of
energy E2- E1 = h . This is called induced absorption. After

1
2024-25 ENGINEERING PHYSICS (24PH102)

being in the excited state, the particle returns to the ground state.
The probability that an absorption transition occurs is proportional to the photon density ().
P12  () or P12 = B12 ()
where B12 is the constant of proportionality. B12 is known as Einstein coefficient for induced
absorption. It is a constant characteristic of the atom and represents the properties of the energy
states E1 and E2.
The number of absorption transitions occurring in the material at any instant will be equal to the
product of the number of atoms at the energy level E1 and the probability P12 for the absorption
transition. Thus, the number of atoms, Nab, excited during the time t is
Nab = B12N1()t
where N1 is the population of atoms at E1.
ii) Spontaneous emission:- If the atom is initially in the
upper state E2, it can drop to E1 by emitting of a photon of
energy h. This process is known as Spontaneous emission.
The spontaneous emission depends on the type of the particle and type of transition but is
independent of outside circumstances.
The waves coincide neither in wavelength nor in phase. Thus the radiation is incoherent and has
a broad spectrum. The rate of spontaneous emission is proportional to the number of atoms
in the excited state.
The probability that a spontaneous transition occurs depends only on the properties of
energy states E2 and E1 and is independent of the photon density. It is equal to the lifetime of
level E2. Thus,
(P21)Spont = A21
where A21 is a constant and known as the Einstein coefficient for spontaneous emission. A21 is a
constant characteristic of the atom. 1/ A21 is a measure of the lifetime of the upper state against
spontaneous transition to the lower sate.
The number of spontaneous transitions, Nsp, taking place during the time t depends only
on the number of atoms N2 staying at the excited state E2. Thus,
Nsp = A21N2t

2
2024-25 ENGINEERING PHYSICS (24PH102)

iii) Stimulated emission:- If an atom is

already in the excited state of energy level E2
whose ground level energy is E1, at this
moment, a photon of energy h = E2- E1 is
incident on the excited atom, the incident photon stimulates a similar photon from the excited
atom. Now the atom returns to the ground state. This type of emission is called as stimulated
emission.
It is coherent with the stimulating incident radiation. It has the same frequency & phase
as the incident radiation.
The rate of stimulated emission depends both on the intensity of external field and also
on the number of atoms in the excited state.
The probability that a stimulated transition occurs is given by
(P21)stim  ()
(P21)stim = B21()
where B21 is the constant of proportionality and is known as the Einstein coefficient for
stimulated emission. It is a constant characteristic of the atom and represents the properties of the
energy states E1 and E2.
The number of stimulated transitions occurring in the material at any instant will be equal
to the product of the number of atoms at the energy level E2 and the probability P21 for the
stimulated transition. Thus, the number of atoms, Nst, that undergo downward transition during
the time t is, Nst = B21N2()t
Differences between spontaneous and stimulated emission:

Spontaneous emission Stimulated emission

1. Transition occurs from a higher energy Transition also occurs from higher energy
level to a lower energy level. level to lower energy level.
2. No incident photon is required Photon whose energy is equal to the
difference of two energy levels is required.
3. Single photon is emitted. Two photons with same energy are emitted.
4. The energy of emitted photon is equal to The energy of the emitted photons is double
the energy difference of two levels. the energy of stimulated photons.

3
2024-25 ENGINEERING PHYSICS (24PH102)

5. The light is non-directional directional

6. The light is not monochromatic Monochromatic
7. The light is incoherent Coherent
8. No Amplification of light Light amplification occurs
9. Light from the source is unpolarised. Light is polarised
10. This was postulated by Bohr. This was postulated by Einstein.

Population Inversion: The number of particles N2, i.e., population of higher energy level is less
than the population N1 of lower energy level. Making the number of particles N2 more in higher
energy level than the number of particles N1 in lower energy level (N2 > N1) is called as
population inversion or inverted population. A system in which population inversion is achieved
is called an active system.

Pumping: The method of raising the particle from lower energy state to higher energy state to
create population inversion is called as pumping. The various pumping mechanisms are
i) optical pumping ii) chemical reaction
iii) electric discharge iv) injection current etc.,
Optical pumping is the very first mechanism applied to Ruby laser. Solid state lasers are
optically pumped using xenon flash lamps. Since these materials have very broad band
absorption, sufficient amount of energy is absorbed from the emission band of the flash lamp and
population inversion created. Recently, flash lamps are being replaced by laser diodes thus
making systems more efficient and reliable. Examples of optical pumping lasers are, Ruby,
Nd:YAG, Nd:Glass, dye etc.,
Since gas lasers have very narrow absorption band, pumping them using any flash lamp
is not possible. In most of the cases inversion is created by means of electric discharge. Ex:- He-
Ne, argon ion, Co2 etc.,
Chemical reaction may also results in excitation and hence creation of population
inversion in few systems. Ex:- Hydrogen Floride, Deuterium Fluoride and atomic iodine lasers.

4
2024-25 ENGINEERING PHYSICS (24PH102)

In semiconductor lasers, the injection current through the junction results in creation of
population inversion among charge carriers.

Cavity Resonance:
In a laser the active medium is the amplifier, which is converted into an oscillator through
the feed back mechanism established by an optical resonator. A pair of optical plane parallel
mirrors, enclosing laser medium in between them is known as an optical resonant cavity. One of
these mirrors is partially reflecting and the other is made fully reflecting.
The primary function of the optical resonator is to provide positive feed back of photons
into the medium so that stimulated emission is sustained and the laser acts as a generator of light.

The laser oscillation is initiated by photons spontaneously emitted by some of the excited
atoms. Each spontaneous photon can trigger many stimulated transitions along the path of its
travel. As the initial spontaneous photons are emitted in different directions, the stimulated
photons would travel in different directions. The optical resonator selects the direction in which
the light is to be amplified, the direction being the optical axis of the pair of mirrors. Thus,
optical cavity makes the laser beam directional.
In order to make the stimulated emission dominate spontaneous emission, a light
radiation density () is required to be present in the active medium. The optical cavity builds up
the photon density to a very high value through repeated reflections of photons and confines
them within the medium.
Optical cavity selects and amplifies only certain frequencies causing the laser output to
be highly monochromatic.
Ruby laser: The first successful laser utilized a ruby rod.
Construction:- A ruby is a crystal of aluminium oxide Al2O3 in which some aluminium atoms are
replaced by chromium atoms (Cr2O3). The active materials in the ruby are chromium ions Cr3+.
In a ruby laser, a rod of 4cm length and 0.5cm in diameter is generally used. The two ends of the
ruby rod are made perfectly parallel to each other.

5
2024-25 ENGINEERING PHYSICS (24PH102)

One end A is heavily silvered and the other

end B of the rod is partially silvered. The
rod is surrounded by a helical xenon flash
tube, which provides the pumping light to
raise the chromium ions to upper energy
level. Only a part of the energy is used in
pumping the Cr3+ ions while the rest heats
up the apparatus. For these purpose a
cooling arrangement (liquid nitrogen) is used.
Working:- An energy diagram illustrating the operation principle of a ruby laser is shown in
figure. In fig. E1, E2 and E3 represent the
energy levels of chromium ion. In normal
state, the chromium ion is in lower level.
When the ruby crystal is irradiated with
light of xenon flash, the chromium atoms
are excited and pass to upper level. Few
excited atoms return to ground level E1
and other to level E2. The transitions E3  E2 are non-radiative. i.e., the chromium atoms give
part of their energy to crystal lattice in the form of heat. After few milliseconds, the level E 2
becomes more populated than level E1 and hence the desired population inversion is achieved.
The spontaneous transition may cause an induced transition (stimulated emission), which
produces a photon. Photon traveling parallel to the axis of the tube (crystal) will start a cascade
of photon emission while the photons traveling in any direction other than this will pass out of
ruby.
The ruby laser is an example of a three level laser.
The wavelength of out put beam is 6943 A0, The duration of out put flash is 300  sec
and the Intensity of out put beam is 10,000 watt.
Drawbacks: i) The Ruby laser requires high pumping power
ii) It is a pulsed laser.

6
2024-25 ENGINEERING PHYSICS (24PH102)

Applications of laser:
In consumer electronics, telecommunications, and data communications, lasers are used as the
transmitters in optical communications over optical fiber and free space. They are used to store
and retrieve data from compact discs and DVDs, as well as magneto-optical discs. Laser lighting
displays (pictured) accompany many music concerts.
In science, lasers are employed in a wide variety of interferometric techniques, and for Raman
spectroscopy. Other uses include atmospheric remote sensing, and investigation of nonlinear
optics phenomena. Holographic techniques employing lasers also contribute to a number of
measurement techniques. Lasers have also been used aboard scientific spacecraft.
In medicine, laser based systems are used for tooth drilling, eye surgery, cancer treatment and
precision cardiovascular surgery. Laser based surgery is accurate, painless and faster than
conventional surgery. Lasers are particularly well suited for microsurgery due to their high
power density. One example of microsurgery is laser ablation of the cornea.
In industry, laser cutting is used to cut steel and other metals. Laser line levels are used in
surveying and construction. Lasers are also used for guidance for aircraft. Lasers are used in
certain types of thermonuclear fusion reactors.
In law enforcement the most widely known use of lasers is for lidar to detect the speed of
vehicles. Military uses of lasers include use as target designators for other weapons; their use as
directed-energy weapons is currently under research.

Optical fibers

Principle: The optical fibers are based on the principle of *total internal reflection (TIR).
* Total Internal Reflection (TIR): - If a light ray is incident at the interface of a denser medium
(n2 > n1), the refracted ray will bend towards the normal. On the other hand, if a ray is incident at
the interface of a rarer medium (n2 < n1) then the ray will bend away from the normal. The angle
of incidence, for which the angle of refraction is 900,is known as the critical angle and is denoted
by c. Thus, when 1 = c = Sin-1 (n1/ n2) --- (1)
2 = 90 . When the angle of incidence exceeds the critical angle (i.e., when 1 > c), there is no
0

refracted ray and we have what is known as total internal reflection (TIR).
Definition:- An optical fiber is a hair thin cylindrical tube of glass or any transparent dielectric
medium for transmitting light.
It is designed to guide light waves along the length of the fiber with the help of successive total
internal reflections from sidewalls of the fiber.

7
2024-25 ENGINEERING PHYSICS (24PH102)

Construction: - An optical fiber consists, in general, the following three regions:

i) Innermost region, which is the light guiding region, called core. It is made of pure Silicon
dioxide (SiO2)
ii) Core region is surrounded by a middle region called Cladding. The refractive index of
cladding (n2  1.45) is always lower than that of the core (n1  1.465). The cladding is
usually pure silica while the core is usually silica doped with germanium.
iii) The outermost region is called sheath (made of Plastic or Teflon). The sheath protects the
core and cladding from moisture, abrasion contamination and to give mechanical strength to
fiber.
Basic purpose of cladding is to confine the light to the
core. As the light falling on core and striking core cladding
interface at an angle greater than the critical angle will be
reflected back to the core.
Main function of the optical fiber is to accept maximum light
and transmit the same with minimum attenuation or reduction.

Propagation of light through optical fiber:

Consider the figure, which is a section of the optical fiber. The refractive indices of the core and
the cladding are n1 and n2 respectively. The fiber is normally in air (n0=1) but could also be in a
medium of refractive index n0. The axis of the cylindrical structure is the optical axis. A ray is
incident at an angle ‘ i ‘at the entrance face and refracted into the core. It then strikes the core-
cladding interface at a certain angle. If this angle exceeds the critical angle, it is totally reflected
and strikes the interface on the other side of the axis. Here it is again totally reflected. This
process is repeated till the ray emerges out of the fiber at the other end. The ray is thus guided by
total internal reflection.

The angle of incidence at the entrance face for which the ray strikes the core-cladding interface
at the critical angle is called the Acceptance angle or cut-off angle. The ray is guided for all the
angles of incidence smaller than the acceptance angle at the entrance face. However, if the angle
of incidence at the interface is less than the critical angle, both reflection and refraction takes
place. Due to refraction at each incidence on the interface, the light beam dies off over a certain
distance. There is no guidance.

8
2024-25 ENGINEERING PHYSICS (24PH102)

Types of optical fibers: [In an optical fiber light travels as an electromagnetic wave and all the
waves moving in directions above the critical angle will be trapped in the fiber due to TIR.
However all such waves do not propagate through the fiber, and only certain ray directions are
allowed for propagations. These allowed directions correspond to modes of fiber.
The light ray paths along which the waves are in phase inside the fiber are called modes.
Number of modes, a fiber can support depends on the ratio d/ where d is the diameter of the
core and  is the wavelength of the wave transmitted.]

Based on the type of the material used, they are classified into two types:
1. Glass fiber: Ex: Core: SiO2 Cladding: SiO2
Core: GeO2-SiO2 Cladding: SiO2
2. Plastic fiber: Ex: Core: Polymethyl methacrylate Cladding: Co-Polymer
Core: Polystyrene Cladding: Methyl methacrylate
Based on the number of modes, they are classified as
1) Single mode fiber
2) Multimode fiber
[Link] Single mode Multi mode
1 Small core diameter (<10m) Large core diameter (50m to 100m)
2 Used for long distance communication Used for short distance communication
3 Launching of light is difficult Launching of light is easy
4 Low loss High loss
5 Cost Cheap
6 NA is less NA is more
7 Cutting and slicing is difficult Cutting and slicing is easy
8 Light travels in straight line Light travels in Zig-Zag path

Based on index profile [Index profile is a graph of refractive index (along X-axis) and distance
from the core (along Y-axis)], they are classified as

9
2024-25 ENGINEERING PHYSICS (24PH102)

1) Step index and

2) Graded index

Single mode step index fiber –

Multi mode step index fiber –

10
2024-25 ENGINEERING PHYSICS (24PH102)

Graded index fiber (GRIN) –

Acceptance angle – It may be defined as the maximum angle that a light ray can have relative to
the axis of the fiber and propagates down the fiber. Greater the diameter of the core larger the
acceptance angle.

Numerical Aperture (NA):

Definition:- The Sine of the acceptance angle of an optical fiber is known as Numerical
Aperture. Or The light gathering capacity of an optical fiber is know as Numerical Aperture.
Consider an optical fiber through which light is being sent. The end at which light enters is called
launching end. Let the refractive indices of the core and cladding be n1 and n2 respectively; n2 <
n1. Let the refractive index of the medium k through which light is launched be n0.
Let the light beam enter at an angle i to the axis of the fiber. The ray gets refracted at an
angle r and strikes the core-cladding interface at an angle . If  is greater than the critical angle
C, light will undergo total internal reflection. The ray will also undergo total internal reflection
at interface as n1 > n2. It means that so long as  is greater than critical angle C, light will stay
within the fiber.

Let us now calculate the incident angle i for which   C such that light rebounds within the
fiber.
Applying Snell’s law to the launching face of the fiber, we get
Sini n1
 -- (1)
Sinr n0
If i is increased beyond a value,  will drop below the critical value C and the ray escapes from
the sidewalls of the fiber. When  = C, i will be maximum.
From the  ABC, Sin r = Sin (900 - ) = Cos  -- (2)
Substitute the value of Sin i from equation (1) into equation (2), we get,
n
Sin i = 1 Cos
n0

11
2024-25 ENGINEERING PHYSICS (24PH102)

When  = C
n1
 Sin i(max) = CosC -- (3)
n0
n2
but, Sin C =
n1
n12  n2 2
Cos C = -- (4)
n1
Substitute equation (4) into equation (3), we get
n12  n2 2
Sin i (max) = -- (5)
n0
If the incident ray is launched from air medium, then n0 =1.
Substitute i (max) = 0 in equation (5) we get,
Sin 0 = n12  n2 2 = Numerical Aperture (NA) -- (6)
The angle 0 is called the acceptance angle of the fiber.
 NA = n12  n2 2 -- (7)
From equation (7) it is clear that NA depends only on the refractive indices of the core
and cladding materials.
NA ranges between 0.13 to 0.50 and a larger value of NA will mean that the fiber can
accept more light from the source.

Note:- Relation between NA and fractional change in refractive index, Δ is, NA = n1 (2Δ)
Where, Δ = (n1 – n2) / n1

Losses in optical fibers (or) Attenuation in optical fibers:

Attenuation is the loss of optical power as light travels along the fiber.
Losses are expressed in decibels per kilometer (dB/km). The normal range of attenuation is from
0.154 dB/km to 10 dB/km.
10 𝑃
Attenuation,  = −( 𝐿 )𝑙𝑜𝑔10 (𝑃𝑜 ) dB/km
𝑖
Where, L is the length of the fiber, Po and Pi are the power output and power input respectively.
The attenuation in an optical fiber is mainly caused by

12
2024-25 ENGINEERING PHYSICS (24PH102)

Losses in Optical Fibers

Absorption losses Scattering losses Bending losses Coupling losses Signal distortion

Intrinsic Extrinsic Structural Compositional Micro Macro Lateral Longitudinal

(i) Absorption losses: It is a major cause of signal loss in an optical fiber. It is defined as the
portion of attenuation resulting from the conversion of optical power into another energy
form such as heat. It is due to intrinsic and extrinsic fiber material properties.
Intrinsic- basic material properties
Extrinsic – impurities introduced into the fiber material such as chromium, iron, cobalt
and copper.
(ii) Scattering losses: The attenuation of light also occurs due to scattering. It is due to structural
and compositional
Structural – it is because silica glass is not crystalline and the basic molecular units are
connected in random fashion.
Compositional – it is because the exact composition of glass may not be same throughout
the fiber.
(iii) Bending losses: These are due to the deformation of the fiber structure.
Macro bending – If the fiber bends with large radius of curvature

Micro bending – it is due to pressure on the fiber.

(iv) Coupling losses: it is due to mechanical misalignment. There are three types of
misalignment such as lateral offset, longitudinal offset and angular offset. It also occur in
coupling of the optical fiber with the transmitter and the receiver. In addition it also occur
when the core cladding surface is not perfectly smooth.

13
2024-25 ENGINEERING PHYSICS (24PH102)

(v) Signal distortion losses: If the output pulse is not the same as that of the input pulse, the
pulse is said to be distorted. It takes place due to the presence of imperfections, impurities
and doping concentrations in the fiber material.

Fiber optics in Communication: A fiber optic communication system is similar to the

traditional communication system with the exception that this system is highly efficient.
A block diagram of the typical communication system is shown in fig. A transducer
changes a non-electrical message to an electrical signal and the light source converts electrical
signal to optical signal. Light waves are generally generated by a laser diode or a light emitting
diode (LED) and the intensity of light given by these sources is proportional to the current
passing through them. In case of fiber communication, light waves act as carrier waves.

As a message in the form of an electrical signal is received by the optical source, light
output will follow the path of variation of signal with the message.
At the receiver end an optical coupler is used to direct the light coming from the fiber
into a photo detector. (Which converts light into electric current), which will contain the message
fed into the optical fiber. In the next step, the message is extracted from this current and is
amplified. Then this message is put into signal converter to get it either in video or audio form
depending upon the nature of the original message.
Applications & Uses:
1. As fiber communication has large bandwidth, the system is capable of handling a large
number of channels.
2. It is widely used in defense services because high privacy is maintained.
3. These are used for the transmission of digital data such as that generated by computers.
4. The military applications include communications; command and control links on ships and
aircraft’s, data links for satellite earth stations.
5. It is used for signaling purposes.
6. Fiber sensors are used to measure temperature, pressure, rotary & linear position and liquid
levels.
7. It is used in cable television, space vehicles, ships & submarine cable.
8. It has wide applications in security and alarm systems, electronic instrumentation systems,
industrial automation and pressure control.
9. To study interior of lungs and the other parts of the body that cannot be viewed directly.

14