TODAYS

TODAYS CHAPTER:
CHAPTER:
LASER

Made by Mr. Mohit Dadheech, 1

RIET,Mechanical
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LASER
• A laser is an amplifier of light. When the laser
is suitably excited by optical or electrical
energy, the light of the proper frequency
entering the laser cavity is amplified in such a
manner that laser output wave is in phase
with input. Practical utility of a laser is as an
OSCILLATOR –-- a generator of light. Thus
laser is also known as GENERATOR of light.

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LASER ACTION
• Laser action is based on amplification of EM waves by means of
forced or induced atoms or molecules.
• A laser radiation uses three fundamental phenomena when EM
waves interacts with the matter namely

Laser interaction

Spontaneous emission Stimulated emission Spontaneous absorption

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Excited atoms emit photons
spontaneously.
When an atom in an excited state falls to a lower energy level, it emits
a photon of light.

Excited level
Energy

Ground level

Molecules typically remain excited for no longer than a few

nanoseconds. This is often also called fluorescence or, when it takes
longer, phosphorescence.
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Atoms and molecules can also absorb
photons, making a transition from a lower
level to a more excited one.

Excited level
This is, of
course,
Energy

absorption.

Ground level

Absorption lines in an
otherwise continuous
light spectrum due to a
cold atomic gas in front
of a hot source.

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Spontaneous absorption
• Let us consider two energy
level having energy E1 & E2 E2
resp.
• The atom will remain in ground
state unless some external photon
stimulant is applied to it.
• When an EM wave i.e photon
of particular freq fall on it ,
there is finite probability that E1
atom will jump form energy
state E1 to E2.

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Spontaneous emission
• Consider an atom in higher
state (E2). E2
• It can decay to lower energy
level by emitting photon. Photon
hv=E2-E1
• Emitted photon have energy
hv=E2-E1.
• Life time of excited state is E1
10-9sec.

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Stimulated emission
• There are metastable state i.e. Metastable state(10-3 sec)
transition from this state is not
allowed acc to selection rule.
• There life time is 10-3 sec.
• Atom in this state can’t jump to Incident photon
lower state at there own.
Emitted
• When an photon of suitable freq Photon
arrive it make the atom in coherent
metastable unstable.
• The emitted photon is in
coherence with incident photon.

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 Stimulated Emission
The stimulated photons have unique
properties:

– In phase with the incident photon

– Same wavelength as the incident photon

– Travel in same direction as incident

photon 10
 Stimulated vs Spontaneous Emission
Stimulated emission requires the presence of a photon. An
“incoming” photon stimulates a molecule in an excited state to
decay to the ground state by emitting a photon. The
stimulated photons travel in the same direction as the
incoming photon.

Spontaneous emission does not require the presence of a

photon.
Instead a molecule in the excited state can relax to the
ground state by spontaneously emitting a photon.
Spontaneously emitted photons are emitted in all directions.

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In 1916, Einstein showed that another
process, stimulated emission, can
occur.
Before After
Spontaneous
emission

Absorption

Stimulated
emission

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The processes that account for absorption and emission of
radiation and the attainment of thermal equilibrium. The
excited state can return to the lower state spontaneously as
well as by a process stimulated by radiation already present
at the transition frequency.
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EINSTEIN’S THEORY OF
RADIATIONS
E2

Spontaneous emission
Incident
photon

Stimulated
emission

E1

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EINSTEIN’S THEORY OF
RADIATIONS
• Ra=rate of absorption per unit
volume
• It depends upon:
1.N1: no. of atom in ground state.
2.ρ(v): energy density per unit freq
of incident wave.

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EINSTEIN’S THEORY OF
RADIATIONS
• Rsp=rate of emission per unit
volume.
• It depends upon:
1.N2: no. of atom in exicited state.

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EINSTEIN’S THEORY OF
RADIATIONS
• Rst= rate of stimulated emission per
unit volume
• It depends upon:
1.N2: no. of atom in exicited state.
2.ρ(v): energy density per unit freq
of incident wave.

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 Properties of Laser
• Monochromatic
The light emitted from a laser is
monochromatic, that is, it is of one
wavelength (color).  In contrast, ordinary
white light is a combination of many
different wavelengths (colors).

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Properties of Laser
• Directional:
• Lasers emit light that is
highly directional.  Laser
light is emitted as a
relatively narrow beam in
a specific direction. 
Ordinary light, such as
coming from the sun, a
light bulb, or a candle, is
emitted in many
directions away from the
source.

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Properties of Laser
• Coherent
• The light from a laser
is said to be
coherent, which
means the
wavelengths of the
laser light are in
phase in space and
time. 

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 Population Inversion

• A state in which a substance has been energized,

or excited to specific energy levels.
• More atoms or molecules are in a higher excited
state.

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Population Inversion
• The process of producing a population
inversion is called pumping.
• Examples:
→by lamps of appropriate intensity
→by electrical discharge

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Pumping the laser
medium
Now let I be the intensity of (flash lamp) light used to pump energy
into the laser medium:

I
I0 I1

I3 Laser medium I2
R = 100% R < 100%

Will this intensity be sufficient to achieve inversion, N2 > N1?

It’ll depend on the laser medium’s energy level system.
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Components of LASER

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Pump Source
• A pump is basic energy source for a laser. It gives energy
to various atoms of laser medium & excites them . So
that population inversion can take place & it is
maintained with time. The excitation of atom occur
directly or through atom or atom collision.

• There is various type of pump depending upon nature of

medium .Examples: electric discharges, flashlamps, arc
lamps and chemical reactions.
• The type of pump source used depends on the gain
medium.
→A helium-neon (HeNe) laser uses an electrical
discharge in the helium-neon gas mixture.
→Excimer lasers use a chemical reaction.

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Gain Medium
• When energy is given to laser medium a small
fraction of medium shows lasing action. This
part of laser medium is called Active centers.
For examples in ruby laser Cr+++ is active
center, in He-Ne laser Ne are active centers.
• It is the Major determining factor of the
wavelength of operation of the laser.
• Excited by the pump source to produce a
population inversion.
• Where spontaneous and stimulated emission
of photons takes place.
• Example:
solid, liquid, gas and semiconductor.

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Optical Resonator
• It is an set up used to obtain amplification of
stimulated photons, by oscillating them back &
forth between two extreme limits. Consist of:
1.Two plane or concave mirrors placed co-axially.
2.One mirror is reflecting & other is partially
reflecting.

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Optical Resonator
• Two parallel mirrors placed around the
gain medium.
• Light is reflected by the mirrors back into
the medium and is amplified .
• The design and alignment of the mirrors
with respect to the medium is crucial.
• Spinning mirrors, modulators, filters and
absorbers may be added to produce a
variety of effects on the laser output.

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lead to a chain reaction
and laser emission.
If a medium has many excited molecules, one photon can become many.

Excited medium

This is the essence of the laser. The factor by which an input beam is
amplified by a medium is called the gain and is represented by G.
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 Requirements for Laser Action

fast

efficient pumping Metastable state

slow relaxation slow Population

inversion

Fast relaxation

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Four-level Laser System

• Laser transition takes

place between the third
and second excited
states.

• Rapid depopulation of
the lower laser level.

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FOUR LEVEL LASER:
• STEP 1- PUMPING: atoms are excited
to higher energy level by providing
energy from ext. source.
• STEP 2- POPULATION INVERSION:
atom via radiation less decay,
decays to metastable state and
hence population inversion take
place.

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FOUR LEVEL LASER:
• STEP 3- LASER ACTION: atom from
metastable state decays to lower
state by stimulated emission and
hence laser action take place.
• STEP 4- BACK TO GROUND STATE:
atom from excited state decays to
lower state by spontaneous emission.

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FOUR LEVEL LASER:

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Three-level Laser System
• Initially excited to a
short-lived high-
energy state .
• Then quickly decay
to the intermediate
metastable level.
• Population inversion
is created between
lower ground state
and a higher-energy
metastable state.
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Three-level Laser System

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Two-level Laser System

• Unimaginable
as absorption and stimulated
processes neutralize one another.

• The material becomes transparent.

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 Two-Level System
E m, N m Em , Nm

En , Nn En, Nn

Even with very a intense pump source, the best one can achieve with a two-
level system is
excited state population = ground state population

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Laser Types
• According to the active material:
solid-state, liquid, gas, excimer or
semiconductor lasers.

• According to the wavelength:

infra-red, visible, ultra-violet (UV) or x-
ray lasers.

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Laser Types
• According to the nature of pumping.
flash type, chemical pumping &
electric discharge lasers
• According to the nature of output:
pulsed & continuous wave lasers.

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s.no Name of wave- Active Nature Spectral
laser lenght medium of o/p region

1 Ruby laser6943 Å solid pulsed visible

2 CO2 laser 10.6 μm gas Contin- Infra red

ous

3 He-Ne 6328 Å gas pulsed visible

laser

4 Nd : YAG 1.06 μm solid pulsed Infra red

laser
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 Continuous vs Pulsed Lasers
Pump Source : Excitation of the lasing atoms or molecules by
an external source of light (such as a lamp) or another laser

The output of the laser light can be a continuous wave (cw) if

the pumping is continuous or pulsed if the pumping is pulsed.

Pulsed lasers have very high peak intensities because the

laser intensity is concentrated in a very short time duration.

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Solid-state Laser
• Example: Ruby Laser
• Operation wavelength: 694.3 nm (IR)
• 3 level system: absorbs green/blue

•Gain Medium: crystal of aluminum oxide (Al2O3)

with small part of atoms of aluminum is replaced
with Cr3+ ions.
•Pump source: flash lamp
•The ends of ruby rod serve as laser mirrors.
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How a laser works?

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RUBY LASER

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1. High-voltage electricity causes the
quartz flash tube to emit an intense
burst of light, exciting some of Cr3+
in the ruby crystal to higher energy
levels.

2. At a specific energy level, some

Cr3+ emit photons. At first the photons
are emitted in all directions. Photons
from one Cr3+ stimulate emission
of photons from other Cr3+ and the
light intensity is rapidly amplified.

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3. Mirrors at each end reflect the
photons back and forth, continuing
this process of stimulated emission
and amplification.

4. The photons leave through the

partially silvered mirror at one
end. This is laser light.

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• As the flash lamp stop operting, the
population of the upper level
decreases very rapidally & lasing
action stops till the further operation
of next flash. As the production of
laser beam depends upon the
operation of flash lamp the ruby laser
is pulsed type laser.

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• During the period of operation of two
flash laser output is oscillating &
output is highly irregular function of
time, shows random fluctuations in
the amplitude. This type of output is
called as laser SPIKING.

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He-NE LASER
• A helium-neon laser, usually called a
HeNe laser, is a type of small gas laser.
HeNe lasers have many industrial and
scientific uses, and are often used in
laboratory demonstrations of optics. Its
usual operation wavelength is 632.8 nm,
in the red portion of the visible spectrum

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 He-Ne laser
He-Ne lasers are
normally small, with cavity
lengths of around 15 cm
up to 0.5 m.
The optical cavity of the
laser typically consists of a
plane, high-reflecting
mirror at one end of the
laser tube, and a concave
output coupler mirror of
approximately 1%
transmission at the other
end.
Electric discharge
pumping is used.
Optical output powers
ranging from 1 mW to 100
mW.

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 Electron impact

Sp
o nt
a ne
ou
s em
is s
io n
Radiation less decay

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CARBON
DIOXIDE
Carbon dioxide lasers
are the highest-power
continuous wave lasers
that are currently
available. They are also
quite efficient: the ratio
of output power to
pump power can be as
large as 20%.
The CO2 laser produces
a beam of infrared light
with the principal
wavelength bands
centering around 9.4
and 10.6 micrometers.

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Semiconduct
or laser
Lasers which use
semiconductor as active
medium. The majority of
semiconductor materials are
based on a combination of
elements in the third group of
the Periodic Table (such as Al,
Ga, In) and the fifth group
(such as N, P, As, Sb) hence
referred to as the III-V
compounds.

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P- and N-type
Semiconductors
• In the compound GaAs, each gallium atom has three electrons in its
outermost shell of electrons and each arsenic atom has five. When a trace
of an impurity element with two outer electrons, such as zinc, is added to
the crystal. The result is the shortage of one electron from one of the
pairs, causing an imbalance in which there is a “hole” for an electron but
there is no electron available. This forms a p-type semiconductor.

• When a trace of an impurity element with six outer electrons, such as

selenium, is added to a crystal of GaAs, it provides on additional electron
which is not needed for the bonding. This electron can be free to move
through the crystal. Thus, it provides a mechanism for electrical
conductivity. This type is called an n-type semiconductor.

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Under forward bias (the p-
type side is made positive)
the majority carriers,
electrons in the n-side,
holes in the p-side, are
injected across the
depletion region in both
directions to create a
population inversion in
a narrow active region.
The light produced by
radioactive recombination
across the band gap is
confined in this active
region
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68
Components of LASER
1. PUMP. Aenergy
pump is basic energy source for a laser. It gives
to various atoms of laser medium & excites
2. ACTIVE MEDIUM.
them . So that population inversion can take place & it
is maintained with time. The excitation of atomoccur
When energy is given to laser medium a small
3. OPTICALThere
directly or through
RESONATOR.
fraction
atom or atom collision.
of medium shows lasing action. This
is various type of pump depending upon nature
It is an set up used
parttoofobtain
laser amplification of stimulated
medium is called photons,
Active centers.
by oscillatingof medium
them
For back & forth
examples between
in ruby laser Crtwo
+++
isextreme limits.
active center,
Consist of: in He-Ne laser Ne are active centers.
1. Two plane or concave mirrors placed co-axially.
2. One mirror is reflecting & other is partially reflecting.

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Uses Of LASER

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Thank
You