CHAPTER IV

LASER’s & FIBER

OPTICS
By

[Link]
Introduction TO LASER

 Light Amplification By Stimulated Emission Of Radiation.

 It is a device which emits light through optical amplification based on
stimulated emission of radiation.
 It's theoretical concept was first put forward by Albert Einstein and
Charles H Townes and Arthur Leonard Schawlow put forward the
application.
 The first practical laser was discovered by [Link] in 1960.
Properties of Laser

 Laser is highly monochromatic.

 It is highly directional(polarized).
 Highly coherent.
 Highly intense
 The 3 Optical Phenomena!!!!!!

 Absorption

 Spontaneous emission

 Stimulated emission
Absorption
In this process firstly atom present in ground state absorbs
an energy of photon and goes to the highest state. The
highest state is excited state where atom stays for 10^(-8)
sec.

E2-E1=hγ
Spontaneous emission-
in this process after 10^(- 8) sec ,the atom automatically de-
excite to the ground state by emitting one photon.

E2-E1=hγ
Stimulated emission-
In this process when atom is at excited state an additional
amount of energy is supplied to de excite the atom to ground
state , that energy is given in form of radiation and then atom
comes to ground state by emitting two photons.

E2-E1=hγ
hγ+ hγ=2
hγ
Applications of LASER’s
Population & Population Inversion:

 Population : It is the total [Link] atoms present in any

energy state.

 Population inversion is the state in which the number of

atoms in higher energy state is more than those in lower energy
state. It is required in laser so that stimulated emission is more
probable than induced absorption. Generally, more no. of atoms are
in lower energy states.
Ratio of population of 2 Energy
states:
Let N be the population of an Energy state E OR
1 1,
Elower
 Let N2 be the population of an Energy state E2. OR Eupper

 Then:

 N2/N1=e-(E2-E1)/kT

But E2-E1=hγ ,
Therefore, N2/N1=e-(hγ/kT)
Laser Components
 COMPONENTS OF LASER
 An energy source or pumping source.
 The pump source provides energy to laser system by using either flash lamps, electric discharge,
 chemical reactions , etc.
 (Ex:Xenon flash lamp / Electric discharge etc.)

 An optically active medium or gain medium.

 The active medium is either solid, liquid or gas. It is the major determining factor of the wavelength of operations. The gain
medium is excited by the pump source to produce population inversion ( the process in which more number of atoms are
present in excited state compared to ground state. Laser principle can occur only after population inversion is achieved)
 (Ex: Ruby crystal / Mixture of He & Ne gases etc.)

 Optical resonator.
 The optical resonator consists of two mirrors in which one is fully reflecting and the other is partially reflecting. It provides
feedback of the light.
 (Consists of 2 mirrors: One of them fully silvered & the other partially silvered)
Einstein Coefficients
Einstein coefficients

 Einstein coefficients are mathematical quantities which are a

measure of the probability of absorption or emission of light by an atom
or molecule.

 There are 2 Einstein coefficients: “A” & “B”

 The Einstein ”A ”coefficient is related to the rate of spontaneous

emission of light,
&

 Einstein “B” coefficient is related to the absorption and stimulated

emission of light.
 The Einstein Coefficients A and B are actually arrived by considering
Absorption , Spontaneous emission and Stimulated emission.

 The Absorption coefficient is taken as :B12

 The Spontaneous emission coefficient is taken as :A21

 And the Stimulated emission coefficient is taken as :B21

Ruby Laser
 This is the first laser discovered by [Link] in the year 1960.

 It is a solid state laser. It consists of a ruby rod which is a crystal of

Aluminium oxide(Al2O3---99.95%) doped with Chromium oxide(Cr3+---
0.05%).
 Because of presence of Chromium the rod looks pink in colour.

 The rod is cylindrical whose ends are optically flat and accurately
parallel. One end is fully silvered and other end is partially silvered.
 The rod is surrounded by a glass tube which is again surrounded by
a Xenon flash tube which acts as optical pumping system.
 Ruby LASER Construction:
(i) Active Medium
 It is a solid-state laser, in which a rod of a ruby crystal is used as
 an active medium.
 The ruby crystal is obtained by doping a small amount (about 0.05%
by weight) of chromium oxide (Cr2O3) in Aluminum oxide (Al2O3), so
that some of the aluminum atoms (Al) are replaced by chromium ions
(Cr3+).
 These chromium ions give the crystal a pink or red color depending
upon the doping concentration.
 The length of the ruby rod is usually 2 cm to 30 cm and the diameter
is 0.5 cm to 2 cm.
(ii) Optical resonator:

 To construct the optical resonator cavity, the ends of the rods are
polished such that they become flat and parallel to each other.
 Now one of the ends is coated with silver completely while the other
one is partially silvered.
 Thus, the two silver-coated ends of the rod act as an optical resonator
system.
(iii) Pumping system:

 The ruby rod is placed inside a helically shaped xenon flash

lamp to excite the Cr3+ ions.

 Thus, in ruby laser population inversion is achieved by using

optical pumping.
WORKING
Let us assume that initially most of the electrons are in the lower
energy state (E1).Since it has 3 Energy levels , it is a 3 level LASER.
 The Chromium ions are excited from level energy level E1 to level E3 by
the absorption of light of wavelength 550nm
 The excited ions quickly undergo non- radioactive transition with a
transfer of energy to the level E2.
 The E2 level is a metastable state . As atoms stays in metastable state for
longer time, the population of E2 level becomes greater than ground level
and hence, population inversion is achieved.
 Some photons are produced by spontaneous emission from E2 to E1 with
a wavelength of 694.3nm.
 These stimulate the emission of similar other photons. The chain reaction
develops a beam of photons all moving parallel to the rod which is
monochromatic and coherent.
 When the beam develops sufficient intensity, it emerges through partially
silvered end.
 Once all the chromium ions in the metastable state reaches to ground
state, the laser action stops.
 It is then necessary to send one more flash of pumping radiation
through the rod.
 Hence, the ruby laser operates in only pulses i.e;output is in pulsed
form.
Applications of Ruby Laser

 Laser metal working systems for drilling holes in hard materials

 High-brightness holographic camera systems with long coherent
length
 Medical laser systems for tattoo removal and cosmetic dermatology
He-Ne Laser
 Helium-Neon laser Helium-Neon laser is a type of gas laser in which a
mixture of helium and neon gas is used as an active medium. Helium-
Neon laser is also known as He-Ne laser.

 What is a gas laser?

 A gas laser is a type of laser in which a mixture of gas is used as the
active medium or laser medium. Gas lasers are the most widely used
lasers.
 The main advantage of gas lasers (eg: He-Ne lasers) over solid state
lasers is that they are less prone to damage by overheating so they
can be run continuously.
He-Ne laser Construction
The helium-neon laser was the first continuous wave (CW) laser ever
constructed.
The helium-neon laser consists of three essential
components:

Pump source (high voltage power supply)

Active medium (discharge glass tube containing a mixture of He-Ne gases)

Resonating cavity
High voltage power supply or pump
source
 A high frequency electric source capable of generating
electromagnetic radiations is used as energy
[Link] of energy source is approximately
4X1017 Hz.
 Active medium
 The gain medium of a helium-neon laser is made up of the mixture of
helium and neon gas contained in a glass tube at a ratio of10:1.
 The gas mixture is mostly comprised of helium gas. Therefore, in order to achieve
population inversion, we need to excite primarily the lower energy state electrons
of the helium atoms.
In He-Ne laser, neon atoms are the active centers and have energy levels suitable
for laser transitions while helium atoms help in exciting neon atoms.
 Electrodes (anode and cathode) are provided in the glass tube to send the electric
current through the gas mixture. These electrodes are connected to a DC power
supply.
 Resonating cavity
The glass tube (containing a mixture of helium and neon gas) is placed between two
parallel mirrors. These two mirrors are silvered or optically coated.

Each mirror is silvered differently. The left side mirror is partially silvered and is
known as output coupler whereas the right side mirror is fully silvered and is known
as the high reflector or fully reflecting mirror.

The fully silvered mirror will completely reflect the light whereas the partially silvered mirror
will reflect most part of the light but allows some part of the light to produce the laser beam.
20.61eV
20.66eV

18.70 eV
 20.66 eV
20.61 eV
Working :
18.70 eV

He-Ne laser is a 4-level laser in which population inversion is achieved in a different way
from the 3-level ruby laser.

A mixture of 10:1 of He-Ne gas is contained in a quartz tube at a pressure of about 1mm of
Hg.

Both the ends of the tube are fitted with optically plane and accurately parallel mirrors (1
partially silvered and other fully silvered).
 20.61 eV 20.61 eV 20.66 eV

18.70 eV

An electron discharge is produced in the tube containing a gas mixture by the electrodes
connected to high frequency electric source.

Electrons from the discharge collide with gas molecules and excite them to metastable
states at 20.61 and 20.66 eV respectively above the ground state.

Some of the He atoms transfer their energy to the ground state Ne atoms by collisions .
Thus , He atoms help in achieving population inversion in Ne atoms.
 20.61 eV 20.66 eV

18.70 eV

 When an excited Ne atom passes spontaneously from a state at 20.66

eV to a state at 18.7 eV , then it emits a photon.

 This photon travels through the gas mixture and when it moves parallel
to axis of the tube , it is reflected back and forth by the mirror ends till it
stimulates an excited Ne atom.

 This causes it to emit a fresh photon at 6328 Ao in phase with the

stimulating photon.

 This stimulated transition from 20.66 eV to 18.70 eV is the laser

transition.
 20.61 eV 20.66 eV

18.70 eV

 This process continues till a beam of coherent radiation builds up in the

[Link] this becomes sufficiently intense,a part of it escapes through the
partially silvered end mirror.

 From 18.70 eV level the Ne atom passes down spontaneously to a lower state
emitting incoherent light and finally to the ground state through collisions with
the walls of the tube.

 Thus, the final transition is a radiation less transition.

Applications:

 [Link] supermarkets for bar coding

 [Link] laser printing.
CO2 (Molecular) gas laser
 CO2 is a Molecular Gas laser
In a molecular gas laser, laser action is achieved by transitions between vibrational and rotational levels of
molecules.

Its construction is simple and the output of this laser is continuous.

In CO2 molecular gas laser, transition takes place between the vibrational states of Carbon dioxide molecules.

It is a four level laser and it operates at 10.6 μm in the far IR region. It is a very efficient laser.

It was the first molecular gas laser developed by Indian born American scientist Kumar Patel.
 Energy states of CO2 molecules.

A carbon dioxide molecule has a carbon atom at the center with two oxygen atoms attached, one at both sides.
Such a molecule exhibits three independent modes of vibrations. They are:

a) Symmetric stretching mode.

b) Bending mode

c) Asymmetric stretching mode.

a. Symmetric stretching mode:

 In this mode of vibration, carbon atoms are at rest and both oxygen atoms
vibrate simultaneously along the axis of the molecule departing or
approaching the fixed carbon atoms.
b. Bending mode

 In this mode of vibration, oxygen atoms and carbon atoms

vibrate perpendicular to molecular axis.
c. Asymmetric stretching mode:

 In this mode of vibration, oxygen atoms and carbon atoms vibrate

asymmetrically, i.e., oxygen atoms move in one direction while carbon
atoms in the other direction.
Construction:
It consists of a quartz tube 5 m long and 2.5 cm in the diameter.

This discharge tube is filled with gaseous mixture of CO2(active medium), helium and nitrogen with suitable partial pressures.

The terminals of the discharge tubes are connected to a D.C power supply.

Two concave mirrors one fully reflecting and the other partially form an optical resonator.
Energy level diagram
Actual Energy level Diagram

(001)-Asymmetric

(100)-Symmetric
(020)-Bending

(010)-Bending

(000)
 It has a discharge tube having a cross section of 1.5 mm2.

 It is filled with a mixture of Co2,N2 and He in the ratio of 5:4:1.

 Co2 molecules are active centres.

 Active medium: A mixture of CO2 , N2 and helium or water vapour is
used as active medium
Pumping method: Electrical discharge method is used for
Pumping action

Optical resonator: Two concave mirrors form a resonant cavity

 When an electric discharge occurs in the gas, the electrons collide
with nitrogen molecules and they are raised to excited states.
 N2 + e* = N2* + e

N2 = Nitrogen molecule in ground state e* = electron with kinetic energy

N2* = nitrogen molecule in excited state e= same electron with lesser energy
Now N2 molecules in the excited state collide with CO2 atoms in ground
state and
excite to higher electronic, vibrational and rotational levels.
This process is represented by the equation N2* + CO2 = CO2* + N2
 Since the excited level of nitrogen is very close to the E5 level of CO2 atom, population in E5 level increases.

As soon as population inversion is reached, any of the spontaneously emitted photon will trigger laser action in the
tube.
There are two types of laser transition possible.

[Link] E5 to E4 :

This will produce a laser beam of wavelength 10.6μm

[Link] E5 to E3
This transition will produce a laser beam of wavelength 9.6μm. Normally 10.6μm transition is more intense than 9.6μm transition
The power output from this laser is 10kW.
 Applications:
1. High power CO2 laser finds applications in material processing, welding, drilling, cutting soldering etc.

2. The low atmospheric attenuation (10.6μm) makes CO2 laser suitable for open air communication.

3. It is used for remote sensing

4. It is used for treatment of liver and lung diseases.

5. It is mostly used in neuro surgery and general surgery.

6. It is used to perform microsurgery and bloodless operations.

Few Questions in Laser’s
 [Link] is LASER? Give some characteristics of laser’s.
 [Link] is Coherence and monochromatic?
 [Link] the interaction of radiation with matter. Discuss the working
principle and applications of Ruby laser.
 [Link] are Einstein coefficients? Explain their physical significance.
 [Link] the applications of laser’s in medicine.
 [Link] between spontaneous and stimulated emission.
 [Link] is population inversion? How is it achieved.
 [Link] is the need of pumping process in laser’s ?
 [Link] necessary energy level diagram explain the working of a He-Ne
laser.
 Fiber Optics
(Optical Fiber Communication)
What is an Optical Fiber?
 An optical fiber is a wave guide through which EM waves of optical
frequencies can be made to travel through it for long distances.

 But, what is a wave guide?

 A waveguide is a structure that guides waves, such
as electromagnetic waves or sound,or light with minimal loss of
energy by restricting the transmission of energy to one direction.
 (Ex: A coaxial copper cable)
Advantages of Optical Fibers:

 [Link] Speed of communication(signals are transmitted at speed of

light).
 [Link] attenuation of signals(minimum losses).
 [Link] Bandwidth of signals(More signals can be transmitted).
 [Link] cost per cable length.
 [Link] sustain adverse atmospheric conditions.
 Snell’s law
Snell's law relates the sines of the angles of incidence and transmission to the index
of refraction for each material.
Critical Angle and Total Internal Reflection
An important extension of Snell's law is the concept of Total Internal Reflection and
the critical angle. For any combination of mediums, there is an angle for which the
refracted light will be perpendicular to the normal .
Principle of operation:
 It works on the principle of TIR(Total Internal Reflection).

 Total internal reflection(TIR) is an optical phenomenon that happens

when a ray of light strikes a medium boundary at an angle larger than a
particular critical angle with respect to the normal to the surface. (in
simple terms: “when the angle of incidence is greater that the critical
angle, then the light ray is totally reflected back into the original medium-
this is TIR”)
Optical Fiber Construction:

An optical fiber consists of a central cylinder called CORE.

The CORE is surrounded by another cylinder called CLADDING.
Both CORE & CLADDING are encapsulated in a protective COATING called BUFFER JACKET.
The Refractive Index of CORE is always greater than CLADDING.
Optical Fiber Classification:
 Optical Fibers are classified into 3
categories:
Single Mode Fibers

 Single Mode cable is a glass fiber with a diameter of 8.3 to 10 microns that
 has one mode of transmission.
 Single Mode Fiber with a relatively narrow diameter, through which only one mode will
propagate.
 It Carries higher bandwidth than multimode fiber, but requires a light source with a narrow
width.
 Single-mode fiber has a much smaller core than multimode.
 Multi-Mode Fiber

 Multi-Mode Fiber has a little bit bigger diameter, with a common diameters in the
50-100 micron range for the light carry component .
 Multimode fiber gives a high bandwidth at high speeds over medium distances.
 Light waves are dispersed into numerous paths, or modes.
 Typical multimode fiber core diameters are 50, 62.5, and 100 micrometers.
Step-index & Graded Index fibers

A step-index fiber is one which has a uniform refractive index within

the core and a sharp decrease in refractive index at the core-cladding
interface so that the cladding is of a lower refractive index.
A gradient-index fiber is an optical fiber whose core has a refractive
index that decreases with increasing radial distance from the optical axis
of the fiber.

Multi mode graded index fiber

Numerical Aperture & Acceptance
angle
The Numerical Aperture (NA) is a maximum light gathering capacity of an
optical fiber.


 Where, n1 is the refractive index of core ,

 n2 is the refractive index of cladding.

 Acceptance angle (θ): It is the maximum angle made by the light ray with the fiber axis, so that
light can propagate through the fiber after total internal reflection.

θ = sin-1(NA)
 Attenuation
 Attenuation is the loss of optical power as light travels along the fiber.
 Attenuation in an optical fiber is caused by absorption, scattering, and
bending losses.
Signal attenuation is defined as the ratio of optical input power (P i) to the optical output power (Po).

Optical input power is the power injected into the fiber from an optical source.

Optical output power is the power received at the fiber end or optical detector.

The following equation defines signal attenuation as a unit of length:

Length (L) is expressed in kilometers.

Therefore, the unit of attenuation is decibels/kilometer (dB/km).
ABSORPTION

 Absorption is defined as the portion of attenuation resulting from

the conversion of optical power into another energy form, such as
heat.
 Absorption in optical fibers is explained by three factors:

 Imperfections in the atomic structure of the fiber material

 The intrinsic or basic fiber-material properties

 The extrinsic (presence of impurities) fiber-material properties

Scattering & Bending losses

 SCATTERING. - Basically, scattering losses are caused by the interaction of

light with density fluctuations within a fiber.
 During manufacturing, regions of higher and lower molecular density areas,
relative to the average density of the fiber, are created. Light traveling
through the fiber interacts with the density areas, Light is then partially
scattered in all directions.

 BENDING LOSSES. - Bending the fiber also causes attenuation. Bending

loss is classified according to the bend radius of curvature.
 Optical Fiber Communication System

Transmitter
Transmitter

Analog
signal Light
Encoder Driver OF
Sourc
Circuit
e
 i/p

Analog
Signal signal
Photo

OF Amplifier Restor
Detector Decoder
er o/p

Receiver
Working:

 Encoder: It is an electronic system that conerts analog information

(voice/data/objects etc.) into binary data. The binary data may be a series of
electrical pulses.

 Transmitter
 It consists of two parts:
 [Link] ckt:It supplies electrical signals to the light source from the encoder in
the required sequential form.
 [Link] source:It is an LED or a LASER diode which converts electrical signals to
optical signals.

 O/P from the light source is sent to an Optical Fiber.

 Receiver: It consists of 3 parts:
 [Link] detector:It converts optical signals into equivalent electrical signals
and supplies them to amplifier.
 [Link]:It amplifies the signals and sends them to signal restorer.
 [Link] Restorer:It keeps all signals in sequential form and supplies them to
decoder in a suitable way.

 Decoder: It converts the received signals into analog information form.

Few Questions in Fiber Optics
 [Link] losses in optical fibers.
 [Link] an expression for Numerical Aperture of an optical fiber.
 [Link] between step index and graded index fiber.
 4.A problem on Numerical Aperture………
 [Link] briefly the principle of operation in an optical fiber.(TIR)
Thank you.