MODULE 6

UNIT 1
LASER
(Qn:- What is LASER?)
Laser is an optical device that amplifies light. LASER is the acronym for Light
Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. It is a device that emits a strong,
monochromatic, collimated and highly intense beam of either visible or invisible
electromagnetic radiation. Laser light is highly powerful. It is capable of propagating over
long distances and is not easily absorbed by water.

LASER is the outgrowth of MASER, which is a device

that amplifies microwaves. The first successful
MASER was built by Gorden, Zeiger and Townes in
1954. In 1960, T.H.Maiman built the first laser using
ruby as the active medium. He-Ne laser was developed
by Ali Jawan and his associates in 1961. LASER light
is emitted when atoms make a transition from a
quantum state of higher energy to a state of lower
energy. It has unique properties not found in the light from ordinary sources.

PROPERTIES OF A LASER BEAM

(Qn:- Name four outstanding characteristics of Laser.)
Light from a laser differs from the light from a conventional light source in a number of ways.
The important properties of a laser beam are:

1. Directionality
2. High intensity
3. High degree of coherence
4. Extra ordinary monochromaticity

1. Directionality
Conventional light sources emit light in all directions. One of the important characteristics of
laser beam is that light does not spread out or diverge, but remain together as a single beam.
Laser emit light only in one direction as the photons travelling along the optic axis of the system

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are selected and augmented with the help of the optical resonator. Hence, laser light travels as
a narrow beam.

2. High Intensity
The light emitted by conventional source stream out more or less in all directions. In contrary
to it, laser gives out light via narrow beam and its energy is concentrated in a small region and
hence it is highly intense. Even a 1Watt laser appears many thousand times more intense than
a 100Watt bulb.

3. Extra ordinary monochromaticity

If the light coming from a source has only one frequency of oscillation, then the light is said to
be monochromatic and the source is a monochromatic source. In practice, it is not possible to
produce light with only one frequency. Light coming out of any source consists of a band of
frequencies closely spaced around a central frequency, ν0. The band of frequencies ∆ν is called
the line width or band width.

The light from a conventional source has large line width of the order of 10 10 Hz or more. On
the other hand, light from lasers is more monochromatic having a line width of the order of 100
Hz.

The line width of the mirrored cavity is,

Where L is the length of the cavity and R is the reflectance of the output mirror. The actual line
widths are less than that given by the above equation.

4. Coherence
The laser beam is coherent, with the waves of all exactly in phase with one another. The term
coherence basically refers to the degree of correlation between the phases of different
points in the beam of light. It is of two types:

a. Temporal coherence
b. Spatial coherence
If the phase of the waves crossing two points lying along the direction of propagation of the
beam is time independent, then the beam of light is said to possess temporal (time) coherence.
This coherence is also known as longitudinal coherence. It refers to spatial purity or the degree
of two waves of laser light to remain in phase over many wavelengths.

A laser beam is said to possess spatial coherence, if the phase difference of the waves crossing
the two points lying on a plane perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the beam is
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time dependent. This coherence is called transverse coherence or lateral coherence. It is a
measure of the minimum separation across the wave over which the two waves remain
constant.

Comparison of laser with ordinary light

(Qn:- How does laser differ from ordinary light?)

Ordinary light Laser

1. Ordinary light has many 1. Laser light is monochromatic

wavelengths. hence it is not
monochromatic

2. It is multidirectional 2. It is unidirectional

3. It is incoherent 3. It is coherent

4. It does not travel as a concentrated or 4. It travels as a concentrated and

parallel beam parallel beam

5. Ordinary light is produced by 5. Laser beam is produced by

spontaneous emission of radiation stimulated emission of radiation.

INTERACTION OF MATTER AND RADIATION

ABSORPTION AND EMISSION OF RADIATION

(Essay Qn:- “Laser is light amplification by stimulated emission of

radiation.” Define the terms absorption, spontaneous emission and
stimulated emission. Derive the relation between Einstein coefficients.)
A material medium is composed of identical atoms or molecules, each of which is characterized
by a set of discrete allowed energy states. An atom can move from one energy state to another
when it receives or releases an amount of energy equal to the energy difference between those
two states. It is known as quantum transition.

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Consider two energy states and of an atom. is the lower energy state while is the
excited state. As the constituent atoms of the medium are identical, the energy states and
will be common to all atoms in the medium.

Let be the number of atoms in the

lower energy state and , that in the
excited state as shown in figure. Let a
monochromatic beam of radiation is
incident on the medium. The radiation
may be viewed as a stream of photons,
each photon carrying an energy ,
where h is the Planck’s constant and is
the frequency of incident radiation.

If , the interaction of radiation with matter (atoms in this case) leads to the
following three distinct processes in the medium.

1. Stimulated absorption
2. Spontaneous emission
3. Stimulated emission

1. Stimulated (induced) absorption

If a system (atom, molecule or electron) is initially in the lower state 1, it can rise to a higher
state 2 by absorbing a quantum of radiation (photon) of frequency ν given by,

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Where and are energies of the species in states 1 and 2 respectively. The probable rate
of occurrence of the absorption transition from state 1 to state 2 depends on the properties of
the states 1 and 2 (i.e. the number of atoms in state 1) and is proportional to the energy density
of the radiation of frequency ν incident on the atom.

Therefore, the rate of occurrence of absorption is given by,

(1)

Where is the proportionality constant and is known as Einstein’s coefficients of radiation

for absorption.

2. Spontaneous emission
(Qn:- Explain spontaneous emission of radiation)
If an atom or molecule lies in an energy state that is higher than the lowest, or ground
level state, it can spontaneously drop to a lower level without any outside stimulation.
One possible result of dropping to a reduced energy state is the release of the excess
energy (equaling the difference in the two energy levels) as a photon of light. Excited
atoms or molecules have a characteristic spontaneous emission time, which is the average
time that they remain in the excited higher energy state before they drop to a lower energy
level and emit a photon.

Assume that an atom is initially in the higher (excited) state 2. Excited state with higher
energy is inherently unstable, hence atom in an excited state does not stay for longer time
and it jumps to the lower energy state 1, emitting a photon of frequency ν. This is
spontaneous emission of radiation. If there is an assembly of atoms, the radiation emitted
spontaneously by each atom has a random direction and phase and is incoherent from
one atom to another.

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The probability of spontaneous emission from state 2 to state 1 is determined only by the
properties of states 1 and 2. The rate of spontaneous emission is given by,

(2)

Where is known as the Einstein’s coefficient for spontaneous emission of radiation.

3. Stimulated (induced) emission

(Qn:- What is stimulated emission of radiation? Why is it needed for the
production of LASER?)
While in the excited state, if the atom is illuminated with an incoming photon having
exactly the same energy as the transition, the atom may be stimulated by the incoming
photon to return to the lower state and simultaneously emit a photon at that same
transition energy. A single photon interacting with an excited atom can therefore result
in two photons being emitted. If the emitted photons are viewed as a wave, the stimulated
emission will oscillate at the incoming light's frequency and be in phase (coherent),
resulting in amplification of the original light wave's intensity.

Thus, according to Einstein, an atom in an excited state may, under the influence of the
electromagnetic field of photon of frequency ν incident upon it, jump to lower energy
state, emitting additional photon of same frequency ν.

Hence, two photons (one original and the other emitted) move together. This is stimulated
(or induced) emission of radiation. The direction of propagation, phase, energy and state of
polarization of emitted photon is exactly same as that of the incident stimulating photon, so the
result is an enhanced beam of coherent light.

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The probability of stimulated emission from state 2 to state 1 is proportional to the energy

density of the stimulating radiation and the properties of states 1 and 2 and is given by,

(3)

Where is the Einstein’s coefficient for stimulated emission of radiation.

Difference between spontaneous emission and stimulated

emission
(Qn:- What is the difference between spontaneous emission and stimulated
emission?)

Spontaneous emission Stimulated emission

1. Spontaneous emission is a natural 1. Stimulated emission is an artificial

transition in which an atom is de- transition, which occurs due to de-
excited after the end of its life time in excitation of an atom before the end
the higher level. of its life time in the higher energy
level.

2. The photon emitted due to 2. The photon emitted due to stimulated

spontaneous emission can be moved emission can be moved only in the
in any direction direction of the incident photon

3. The probability of spontaneous 3. The probability of stimulated

emission depends only on the emission depends on the properties of
properties of the two energy levels the two energy levels involved in the
between which the transition occurs transition as well as the energy
density of the incident radiation

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RELATION BETWEEN EINSTEIN’S COEFFICIENTS
(Essay Qn:- Derive the relation between Einstein’s coefficients)

Consider a collection of atoms in thermal equilibrium at temperature T with radiation of

frequency ν and energy density U(ν). Let and be the number of atoms in the energy
states 1 and 2 respectively at any instant. Let their energies be and and let the total
number of atoms be . Under equilibrium conditions, let atoms be in state 1 and
atoms be in state 2.

(4)

By Boltzmann’s distribution, we get,

(5)

And

(6)

Therefore,

(7)

Using equation (4), we get,

(8)

The rate of absorption is proportional to the energy density of radiation and the number of
atoms in the lower energy state.

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Therefore, the rate of occurrence of absorption is given by,

(9)

Where is the proportionality constant and is known as Einstein’s coefficients of radiation

for absorption. In other words, represents the probability per unit time for absorption.

Atoms in state 2 can come to state 1 both by spontaneous and stimulated emissions. The
spontaneous emission rate depends on only on the number of atoms in state 2.

Rate of spontaneous emission is given by,

(10)

Where is known as the Einstein’s coefficient for spontaneous emission of radiation and
it represents the probability per unit time for spontaneous emission.

The stimulated emission rate depends on the energy density of the incident radiation and also
on the number of atoms in state 2.

(11)

Where is the Einstein’s coefficient for stimulated emission of radiation.

When the system is in equilibrium, the rate of absorption from state 1 to state 2 must be equal
to the rate of emission from state 2 to state 1.

(12)

Or,

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Or,

(13)

Substituting equation (7) in equation (13), we get,

(14)

But from Planck’s radiation law, we have,

(15)

Comparing equation (9.15) and (9.16), we get,

(16)

And

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 (17)

Or,

(18)

Equations (16) and (18) are called Einstein’s relations and the coefficients are called Einstein’s
A and B coefficients.

Equation (16) shows that the probability for absorption from state 1 to state 2 is equal to the
probability for stimulated emission from state 2 to state 1.

Since, , we get from equation (14) that

(19)

From equations (10),(11) and (19), we have,

Spontaneous emission rate

Stimulated emission rate (20)

If , the term will be very large and spontaneous emission far

exceeds stimulated emission. At ordinary temperatures this happens in the visible region.
Stimulated emission becomes important when and may dominate when

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 , which happens in the microwave region. Hence, Townes tried the fabrication
of MASER (Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) first.

POPULATION INVERSION
(Qn:- What is population inversion? How it can be achieved?)

The primary problem in achieving stimulated laser emission is that, under normal conditions
of thermodynamic equilibrium, the population, (or number of atoms or molecules at each
energy level), is not favorable to stimulated emission. Because of the tendency of atoms and
molecules to spontaneously drop to lower energy levels, the number of atoms at each energy
level decreases as the energy increases. In fact, under normal conditions, for a transition energy
corresponding to a typical optical wavelength (on the order of 1 electron-volt), the ratio of the
number of atoms or molecules in the higher energy state to the number in the lower ground
state is perhaps 1017. In other words, virtually all of the atoms or molecules are in the ground
state for a visible-wavelength energy transition.

Consider an optical medium having states 1 and 2 through which a radiation of density U(ν) is
passing. Let the number of atoms in the lower and upper energy states be N1 and N2
respectively. Under equilibrium condition, according to Boltzmann distribution, N1>> N2.

The absorption rate=

The stimulated emission rate= s

Where B is the Einstein’s coefficient.

Thus, it is clear that the stimulated emission rate will exceed the absorption rate only if N2>>N1

The mechanism by which stimulated emission can be made to dominate is to have more
atoms in the excited state than in the lower energy state, so that the emitted photons are
more likely to stimulate emission than to be absorbed. Because this condition is the
inverse of the normal equilibrium situation, it is termed a population inversion. As long
as there are more atoms in the upper energy level than in the lower, stimulated emission can
dominate, and a cascade of photons results. The first emitted photon will stimulate the emission
of more photons, these subsequently stimulate the emission of still more, and so on. The
resulting cascade of photons grows, resulting in the amplification of emitted light. If the
population inversion terminates (the ground state population becomes dominant), spontaneous
emission will again become the favored process.

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METASTABLE STATE
(Qn:- What is a metastable state?)
To achieve population inversion, we must have metastable states. Metastable states are
excited states where the electrons stay for unusually long time.

Normally, an electron in an excited state will make the transition to a lower state in a time of
10-8 second. In contrast, an electron may stay in a metastable state for 10-3 second. Hence,
population inversion occurs only in between the metastable state and the next lower state.

COMPONENTS OF A LASER
(Qn :- Briefly explain the basic components of a laser system)
A laser requires three basic components for its operation.

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 1. An active medium
2. An energy source or pump source
3. A resonant cavity or resonator

The active medium consists of a material which is capable of amplifying light. The pump
source excites the atoms or molecules of the active medium to higher energy states which
results in the creation of population inversion in the medium. The resonant cavity along with
the active medium provide the necessary feedback for the production of a very intense beam.

The arrangement of the basic components of a laser is illustrated in the above figures.

1. Active medium
The active medium is a material in which the laser action is made to take place. It
amplifies light. It may be a solid, liquid or gas. The very important characteristic requirement
of an active medium is that population inversion should be possible to achieve in it. Many
lasers are named after the material used as the active medium. A number of commercial lasers
are available with Nd3+ ions as the active element in different host materials. Another common
solid active medium is Ti3+ ion in Al2O3. Most of the present-day liquid lasers are the dye
lasers. Active medium in gas lasers can be a noble gas atom (He-Ne), a positive ion (Ar+), a
neutral molecule (N2, CO2) or a metal atom (Cu vapour). Some of the gas lasers give light even
in the ultra violet region. Laser action has been observed in more than half of the known atoms
and laser wavelengths may extend from ultra violet region to the infra-red region.

2. Pump source

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It is an external source which supplies energy to obtain population inversion. The energy
supplied by the pump excites the atoms to higher energy levels through spontaneous emission
or through non-radiative processes population inversion occurs. The life time of the metastable
states in which population inversion occurs must be very large as compared to the normal life
time of the excited atom in any other energy state.

The process of raising the atoms or molecules of the active medium to high energy states is
called pumping. The commonly used pumping methods are:

1. Optical pumping
2. Electrical discharge
3. Inelastic atom-atom collision
4. Chemical reaction
5. Direct conversion

Of these, the first two are used widely. In a chemical laser, the energy required to pump a laser
comes from a chemical reaction. In direct conversion, electrical energy is converted into
radiation which occurs in LEDs and in semiconductor lasers.

In optical pumping, a high intensity light source such as a flash lamp is used to excite the active
medium. The output of the flash lamp is broad. Since, the energy levels of the active medium
in solid state lasers are broad, they can easily absorb the flash lamp output. Pumping by flash
lamp is not suitable in gas lasers as their energy levels are fairly sharp. Eg : Ruby laser.

In electric discharge method, an extremely high electric field in an electrical discharge

accelerates the electrons emitted by the cathode towards the anode. Collisions between these
high energy electrons and the active medium produce molecules and ions of the medium in
excited state producing a state of population inversion.

Inelastic atom-atom collision method is suitable when we have two types of atoms in the active
medium. Eg: He-Ne laser. Here, an electric discharge raises one type of atoms to their excited
states. These excited atoms collide inelastically with the second type of atoms, exchange energy
to these atoms and excite them to the excited states thus achieving population inversion
between the required levels. This ultimately results in laser action.

3. The optical resonator

An optical resonator confines and stores light at certain resonant frequencies. It may be viewed
as an optical transmission system incorporating feedback. Light circulates or is repeatedly
reflected within the system, without escaping.

In a laser, to generate high intensity outputs, the light is directed back and forth through
the medium. For this, the active medium is placed between two mirrors. Such an
arrangement is called a resonator.

Some of the different forms of resonant cavities are given below.

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 1. Plane parallel resonators: It consists of two
plane parallel mirrors placed on either side of the
medium. The radiation field generates standing
wave pattern that has nodes at both the ends. The
cavity will be resonant for wavelengths given
by,L=Pλ/2, where P=1,2,3,…and L is the length
of the cavity and λ, the wavelength. Since, we
have an active medium placed between the two
mirrors, L can be replaced by the optical path
length, Ln, where n is the refractive index of the
medium.
Therefore, frequency of the radiation emitted is, ν=Pc/(2Ln), where P=1,2,3,…
These different frequencies called the axial modes lie within the width of a single
emission line. The output of laser, therefore, need not be exactly monochromatic.
2. Confocal resonator: This arrangement has
two identical concave mirrors separated by a
distance equal to their radius of curvature.
3. Spherical resonator: It consists of two
concave mirrors of the same radius of curvature
R, separated by a distance 2R. Sometimes, this is
called the concentric resonator.
4. Long radius cavity: This is the most commonly used arrangement.it uses two
concave mirrors of equal and fairly long radius of curvature R, separated by a distance
less than R.
5. Hemispherical cavity: It consists of a plane mirror at one end and a concave
spherical mirror at the other end the plane mirror is placed at the centre of curvature of
the spherical mirror. Though the power output is less, it is easier to align the mirrors
than in other arrangements.

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TWO, THREE LEVEL AND FOUR LEVEL SYSTEMS
(Qn:- Why laser action is not practically possible in a two level laser)

TWO LEVEL SYSTEM In the two-level atom, once the

population inversion is achieved, the
laser action would occur. But
immediately it would end up with more
atoms in the lower level. Such two-
level lasers involve a more complicated
process. Examples of these include
excimer lasers, which are pulsed
lasers. For a continuous laser action
we need to consider other possibilities,
such as a three-level atom.

Achieving population inversion in a two-level atom is not very practical. Such a task
would require a very strong pumping transition that would send any decaying atom back
into its excited state since a ground state is involved in lasing action. It can be done, but
is very energy costly and inefficient. In a sense, the pumping transition would have to
work against the lasing transition.

THREE LEVEL LASER SYSTEM

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Figure shows the distribution of atomic or molecular population obeying Boltzmann
distribution law. The atoms, originally in the ground state having energy E1 are excited to a
higher state with energy E3 by an external source of energy such as a Xenon flash lamp. In the
above diagram of a three-level laser, the pump causes an excitation from the ground state to
the second excited state. This state is a rather short-lived state, so that the atom quickly decays
into the first excited level. But in this case, decaying back to the ground state also occur, but
these atoms can be pumped back to the second excited state again. The first excited state is a
long-lived (i.e. a state known as metastable state) state which allows the atom to "wait" photon
while building up a large population of atoms in this state.

The lasing transition, in this laser, is due to the decay of the atom from this first excited
metastable state to the ground state. If the number of atoms in the ground state exceeds
the number of atoms that are pumped into the excited state, then there is a high likelihood
that the "lasing photon" will be absorbed and we will not get sustained laser light. The
fact that the lower lasing transition is the ground state makes it rather difficult to achieve
efficient population inversion. As lasing starts, the population in the ground state increases.
As a result, it is possible that the photons emitted by stimulated emission are reabsorbed,
thereby removing photons that might contribute to the lasing action. Hence, it is not
possible to continuously maintain the upper laser level more populated than the lower laser
level.

In a ruby laser this task is accomplished by providing the ruby crystal with a very strong
pulsating light source, called a flash lamp. The flash lamp produces a very strong pulse of light
that is designed to excite the atoms from their ground state into any short-lived upper level. In
this way the ground state is depopulated and population inversion is achieved until a pulse of
laser light is emitted. In the ruby laser the flash lamp light lasts for about 1/1000 of a second
(1 ms) and can be repeated about every second. The duration of the laser pulse is shorter than
this, typically 0.1 ms. So, the output of a three-level laser is not continuous, but consists
of pulses of laser light. To achieve a continuous beam of laser light a four-level laser is
required.

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FOUR LEVEL LASER SYSTEM

A four-level laser system is illustrated in the figure. On pumping, the atoms are lifted from the
ground state E1 to the highest of the four levels E4 involved in the process. From this level, the
atoms decay to the metastable state E3 and the population of this state grows rapidly. If the life
time of the 4 to 3 transition is short and that of the 3 to 2 transition is long, a population
inversion can be achieved between levels 3 and 2 and can be maintained with moderate
pumping.

Here, the lower laser level is not the ground state. As a result, even a pump that may not
be very efficient could produce population inversion, so long as the upper level of the laser
transition is longer lived than the lower level. A typical four-level laser working in the
continuous wave mode is the helium-neon (He-Ne) gas laser. In these lasers electric
pumping excites helium atoms to an excited state whose energy is roughly the same as the
upper short-lived state in the neon atom. The sole purpose of the helium atoms is to exchange
energy with neon atoms via collisional excitation. As it turns out, this is a very efficient way
of getting neon atoms to lase. N2 laser is an example for a four level laser working in pulsed
mode.

In a four-level laser system, there is no need to pump more than half of the population to
the higher level. Since, in this scheme, level E2 is the lower laser level, it is relatively easier
to maintain population inversion between levels E3 and E2 continuously with moderate
pumping and get continuous wave output. For this to achieve, the transition from state 2
to state 1 must be very fast. If this transition is relatively slow, even four level laser will
work in pulsed mode only.

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Difference between three level and four level laser systems
(Qn:- what are the differences between a three level and a four level laser
system?)

Three level laser Four level laser

1. The laser action involves three
energy levels
2. Population inversion is difficult to
attain since it takes place between
the ground state and excited state
3. Efficiency of a three level laser is
very low (approximately 1%)
4. Three level laser usually have pulsed
mode emission
E.g.: Ruby laser
1. The laser action involves four
energy levels
2. Population inversion is achieved
since two excited states are involved
3. Efficiency of a four level laser is
comparatively high
4. Four level laser can have continuous
wave emission or pulsed mode
emission
e.g.: He-Ne laser

Principle of Lasing action

(Essay Qn:- Briefly explain the principle of laser action)
1. The energy is applied to a medium raising electron to an unstable energy level. (Explain
in brief pumping mechanism here)
2. These atoms spontaneously decay to relatively long-lived, lower energy, metastable
state. (Explain metastable state here)
3. A population inversion is achieved when the majority of atoms have reached this
metastable state. (Explain population inversion with figure here)
4. Lasing action occurs when an electron spontaneously returns to its ground state and
produces a photon. (Explain spontaneous emission here with figure)
5. It will stimulate the production of another photon of the same wavelength and resulting
in a cascading effect. (Explain stimulated emission with figure here)
6. The highly reflective mirror and a partially reflective mirror continue the reaction by
directing the photons back through the medium along the long axis of the laser.
7. The partially reflective mirror allows the transmission of a small amount of coherent
radiation that we observe as the laser beam.
8. Laser radiation will continue as long as energy is applied to the lasing medium.

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Types of Laser
There are many different types of lasers depending on the type of active medium used. The
laser medium can be a solid, gas, liquid or semiconductor. Lasers are commonly designated by
the type of lasing material employed:

 Solid-state lasers: These lasers have lasing material distributed in a solid matrix
(such as the ruby or neodymium: yttrium-aluminum garnet "Yag" lasers). The
neodymium-Yag laser emits infrared light at 1,064 nm.
 Gas lasers: These lasers (helium and helium-neon, He-Ne, are the most common gas
lasers) have a primary output of visible red light. CO2 lasers emit energy in the far-
infrared, and are used for cutting hard materials.
 Excimer lasers: The name is derived from the terms excited and dimers. They use
reactive gases, such as chlorine and fluorine, mixed with inert gases such as argon,
krypton or xenon. When electrically stimulated, a pseudo molecule (dimer) is produced.
When lased, the dimer produces light in the ultraviolet range.
 Dye lasers: These lasers use complex organic dyes, such as rhodamine 6G, in liquid
solution or suspension as lasing media. They are tunable over a broad range of
wavelengths.
 Semiconductor lasers (diode lasers): These are not solid-state lasers. These
electronic devices are generally very small and use low power. They may be built into
larger arrays, such as the writing source in some laser printers or CD players.

The Ruby Laser

(Essay Qn:- Explain the working of a Ruby Laser.

OR

Briefly explain the working of any three level laser)

A ruby laser is a solid state laser that uses a synthetic ruby crystal as its gain medium.it is a
three level laser system. It was the first type of laser invented and was first operated by
Theodore H. Maiman at Hugh’s research laboratories in 1960.

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The ruby material (corundum) is aluminium oxide doped with a small amount (0.05%) of
Chromium which gives it characteristic pink or red colour by absorbing green and blue light.
The ruby laser is used as a pulsed laser, producing red light at 694.3nm. Here, the impurity Cr3+
acts as the active material.

The ruby is made into a cylindrical rod of 10 to 15 cm long and about 5 mm in diameter. One
end of the ruby rod is completely polished while the other end is partially reflecting. Therefore,
the ends act as the cavity mirrors. The energy levels of the Cr3+ ions are responsible for the
laser action as shown in the following figure.

After receiving a pumping flash from the Xenon flash tube, the laser light emerges for as long
as the excited atoms persist in the ruby rod, which is typically about a millisecond.

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Ruby laser is based on three energy levels. The upper energy level E3 is short-lived. The level
E1 is the ground state and E2 is the metastable state with a life time of 0.003 sec. The level E3
consists of two bands. The states in these two bands have extremely small life times, of the
order of 10-9 sec. the rod is placed inside a Xenon flash lamp as shown in the figure.

When the light from the Xenon flash lamp falls on the ruby rod, radiations of wavelength
550nm are absorbed by Cr3+ ions and are pumped to level E3. The ions after giving a part of its
energy to the crystal lattice, decay to state E2 (metastable state) undergoing radiaionless
transition. As this metastable state has a longer life time, the number of ions in this state keeps
on increasing, while the concentration of ions in level E1 decreases, resulting in a population
inversion between levels E1 and E2.

When the required population inversion is achieved, a spontaneously emitted photon by Cr3+
ion in level E2 existing in the system trigger the stimulated emission by other Cr3+ ions in the
metastable state. This initiates the laser action. The output (694.3nm) is pulsed since the flash
lamp operation is pulsed. The pumping flash lasts for a time duration of about 1ms. When the
flash lamp is fired, within a very short time, the population inversion exceeds the threshold
value. Hence, stimulated emission starts and depopulates the upper laser level much faster than
the pump rate. The laser action therefore, stops momentarily and before the laser output falls
to zero, the population inversion again exceeds the threshold value, thereby initiating laser
action. This process is repeated many times before the pumping flash ends. Hence the output
consists of a large number of spikes of about 1μs duration.

Since the lower laser level is the ground state, about one half of the ions have to be excited to
certain population inversion. Hence, for operation, a high pump power is required. As a lot of
energy gets dissipated in the ruby rod, it has to be cooled for continuous operation.
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Applications of ruby laser
Ruby lasers have declined in use with the discovery of better lasing media. They are still used
for various types of applications where short pulses of red light are required. Some of the
important applications include:

1. Measurement of distance using pulsed laser techniques.

2. For drilling holes of small (l/d) ratio in hard metals, where l is the length and d is the
diameter.
3. For trimming resistors and integrated circuit masks.
4. Holographers around the world produce holographic portraits with ruby lasers in sizes
up to a meter squared.
5. Many non-destructive testing labs use ruby lasers to create holograms of large objects
such as aircraft tires to look for weaknesses in the lining.
6. For the welding of detached retina, to destroy tissue in localized area for the treatment
of skin disorders etc.
7. In scientific research such as plasma production, study of fluorescence etc.
8. Ruby lasers were used in tattoo and hair removal.

Drawbacks of ruby laser

1. The ruby laser requires high pumping power because the laser transition terminates at
the ground state and more than half of the ground state atoms must be pumped to higher
state to achieve population inversion.
2. The efficiency of this laser is very less, because only the green component of the
pumping light is used and the rest of the components are left unused.
3. The laser output is not continuous, but occurs in the form of pulses of microsecond
duration.
4. The defects due to crystalline imperfection are also present in ruby laser.

He- Ne laser
(Essay Qn:- “Lasing medium with metastable state, optical resonator, and
pumping mechanism are the essential requirements of a laser.” How it is
satisfied in He-Ne laser?

OR

Outline the principle and working of He-Ne laser.

OR

24
Explain with necessary theory the working details of any four-level laser.)
A helium-neon laser usually called a He- Ne laser, is a type of small gas laser. He- Ne lasers
have many industrial and scientific uses and are often used in laboratory demonstration of
optics. He- Ne laser was the first gas laser fabricated by Ali Jawan and co-workers in 1961. It
is an atomic laser. It gives a low power output of a few millisecond. He- Ne laser is a four
level laser. Its usual operation wavelength is 632.8nm in the red portion of the visible
spectrum. it also gives laser light at 3391.3nm and 1152.3 nm.

A typical He- Ne laser consists of tube of 80 to 90 cm in length and 1 cm in diameter with

electrodes on the side and silica window are set at Brewster’s angle. The gain medium of
the He- Ne laser is a mixture of He and Ne gases. He gas is kept at a pressure of 1mm of
mercury while Ne gas is kept at a pressure of 0.1mm of mercury. The electrodes are
connected to high voltage source. The energy or pump source of the laser is provided by an
electrical discharge of around 1000 volts through an anode and cathode at each end of the glass
tube. The optical cavity of the He- Ne laser typically consists of plane, high reflecting mirror
at the end of the laser tube and concave output coupler mirror of approximately 1%
transmission at the other end.

25
When the discharge process starts, the high energy electrons are produced in the tube.
These collide with the atoms of He and excite them to higher energy states, F2 and F3. He
atoms in this excited state is often represented as He*. These excited He atom then collide
with the unexcited Ne atoms in the ground state E1 and the atoms exchange internal
energy, resulting in the formation of excited Ne atoms represented by Ne* in levels E4 and
E6. This energy exchange process occurs with high probability only because of the
accidental near equality of the two excitation energies of two types of atoms. Thus, the
purpose of population inversion is fulfilled. When the excited Ne atom passes from
metastable state E6 to state E3, it emits a photon of wavelength 632.8nm. This photon
travels through the gas mixture parallel to the axis of the tube, it is reflected back and
forth by the mirror ends until it stimulates an excited Ne atom and causes it to emit a
photon of 632.8 nm with the stimulating photon. This stimulated transition from level E6
to E3 is a laser transition. This process is continued and when a beam of coherent
radiation becomes sufficiently strong, and a portion of it escape through partially silvered
end. The neon atoms pass to lower level undergo spontaneous emission and finally the Ne
atoms come to ground state through collision with tube walls and undergoes radiationless
transition.

Direct excitation of Ne atoms to E4 and E6 is also possible, which will be much less, as Neon
pressure is less. The Neon states are relatively metastable, and therefore quickly reach
population inversion relative to the lower states. Details regarding the major transitions are
given below.

The 632.8nm transition

The transition corresponds to emission from E6 to E3. The life time of E3 is of the order of 10-
8
s and that of E6 is 10-7s. Hence, population build up is possible. The lower laser level E3
decays spontaneously into the level E2.

26
The 1152.3 nm transition

This transition corresponds to emission from E4 to E3. The lower laser level of this transition
is the same as that of the 632.8 nm one.

The 3391.3nm transition

This transition corresponds to emission from E6 to E5. The upper level is the same as the upper
one of 632.8nm transition.

Applications of He –Ne laser

1. Extensively used in laboratories where highly coherent and monochromatic sources are
needed.
2. Widely used in devices such as supermarket scanners for bar code reading, printers,
image and pattern recognition set ups etc.
3. As range finders.
4. In Fourier transform spectrometers.
5. For recording and reconstruction holograms.
6. For non-destructive testing, including surface flaw and roughness measurements.
7. To align other lasers.

Drawbacks of He-Ne laser

1. It is relatively low power device since its output power is low.
2. He-Ne laser is a low gain system.
3. To obtain single wavelength laser light, the other two wavelengths of laser need
suppression, which is done by many techniques and devices. So, it requires extra
technical skill and increases the cost also.
4. High voltage requirement.
5. Escaping of gas from laser plasma tube.

Semiconductor laser
(Essay Qn:- Explain with necessary theory, the working of a semiconductor
laser. Draw the energy level diagram of a semiconductor laser)
Semiconductor laser is one of the most important type of lasers today with its very important
application in optical fiber communication. Unlike other lasers, semiconductor lasers do not
require any mirrors to obtain reflectivity needed to produce feedback mechanism.

27
When a p-n junction, having heavily doped p and n regions, is forward biased by connecting
the p material to the positive and the n- material to the negative of a direct current source, the
electron sand holes combine across the depletion region to produce radiation. The photons thus
produced may interact in the following ways:

1. An electron in the valence band can absorb the incident radiation and be excited to the
conduction band leading to the generation of electron-hole pairs.
2. An electron can make spontaneous transition in which it combines with a hole and in
the process, it emits radiation.
3. A stimulated emission may occur in which the incident radiation stimulates an electron
in the conduction band to make a transition to the valence band and in the process, emits
radiation.

If the voltage across the p-n junction is very large, the injected carrier concentration
would be large. In such a case, the stimulated emission can exceed the absorption,
producing amplification in the active region, which results in a good light output. To
convert the amplifying medium into a laser, optical feedback should be provided, and it is done
by cleaving and polishing the ends of the p-n junction diode at right angles to the junction.

In the figure, the white region represents the depletion region, usually of the order of 0.1μm. A
resonant cavity is formed by just cleaving the junction ends. The two opposite end faces are
polished flat and parallel. The light that is trapped, is reflected back and forth between these
two faces. The other two sides are rough and therefore suppress oscillations in unwanted
directions. The active region is a little wider than the depletion region. The transverse
dimension of the beam is much greater than the width of the region, and the output beam ends
28
up with a large divergence. The output is also not as monochromatic as a gas laser. A commonly
used semiconductor laser is GaAs. By selecting suitable semiconducting materials and dopants,
diode lasers emitting radiations from the ultra violet to the infra-red can be fabricated. These
lasers work continuously only at low temperatures. Continuous room temperature operation is
possible with the use heterojunction diodes.

In semiconductor laser diodes, population inversion occurs in conduction band. When

laser diode is forward biased electrons from n-side and holes from the p-side diffuse into
the depletion region, where both carriers recombine. The result of recombination in
direct band semiconductors is the production of light photons. Under forward biased
condition, when drive current through electrical connections reaches threshold level,
population inversion results and a coherent radiation emerges out.

A graph between output

power and the drive current is
shown in the figure. If Pe is the
electrical power used to
generate the optical power Po,
then the efficiency of laser or
quantum efficiency η is
defined as,

η=Po/Pe

Only a portion of the optical radiation is amplified. The lasing threshold is the lowest drive
current level at which the output of the laser results primarily from stimulated emission rather
than spontaneous emission. Figure illustrates the transition from spontaneous emission to
stimulated emission by plotting the relative optical output power and input drive current of a
semiconductor laser diode. The lowest current at which stimulated emission exceeds
spontaneous emission is the threshold current.

29
 Figure shows the energy-level diagram of a GaAs semiconductor laser. In semiconductor
materials, electrons may have an energy within certain bands. In the figure the lower region is
called the valence band and represents the energy states of bound electrons. The upper region is
called the conduction band and represents the energy states of free or conduction electrons.
Electrons may have energies in either of these bands, but not in the gap between the bands.
Figure (a) shows the relative populations of the energy bands or both sides of a p-n junction
with no voltage applied to the diode. The n-type material contains electrons which behave
as the current carriers in its conduction band, whereas the p-type material has holes for
carriers in its valence band. When a forward voltage is applied to the diode, the energy
levels are caused to shift as illustrated in Figure (b). Under these conditions there is a
significant increase in the concentration of electrons in the conduction band near the
junction on the n-side and the concentration of holes in the valence band near the junction
on the p-side. The electrons and holes recombine (conduction band electrons move into
empty valence band states) and energy is given off in the form of photons. The energy of
the photon resulting from this recombination is equal to that associated with the energy
gap. This energy is often in the form of electromagnetic radiation. In light-emitting diodes
(LED) this light energy is transmitted out through the sides of the junction region. In
semiconductor lasers, the junction forms the active medium, and the reflective ends of the laser
material provide feedback.

Applications of semiconductor laser

1. Semiconductor lasers are used in CDs and DVDs.
2. Fiber optic transceivers are manufactured using alternate layers of various compound
semiconductors to form lasing hetero structures.

30
 3. Semiconductor lasers are used in laser printers, super market scanners and laser diodes.

Advantages of semiconductor laser

1. It is very small in dimension
2. The arrangement is simple and compact
3. It exhibits high efficiency

Drawbacks of semiconductor laser

1. The output is usually in the form of a wide beam
2. The purity and monochromaticity are poorer than other types of lasers.

APPLICATIONS OF LASER IN HOLOGRAPHY

(Qn:- With the help of a neat diagram explain how a hologram is recorded.

OR

What is the principle of holography? How is a hologram recorded? Write any

two applications of holography.)
A laser beam is highly directional, coherent and monochromatic and is capable of supplying
a large amount of energy over a very small area. These properties of lasers find applications
in material processing, medical diagnosis and treatment, scientific research etc.

Holograms, are true three-dimensional images recorded on film by lasers. Holograms are
used for amusement, decoration on novelty items and magazine covers, security on credit cards
and driver’s licenses and for serious three-dimensional information storage. We can see that a
hologram is a true three-dimensional image, because objects change relative position in the image
when viewed from different angles. The name hologram means “entire picture” (from the
Greek holo, as in holistic), because the image is three-dimensional.

Holography is the process of producing holograms and, although they are recorded on
photographic film, the process is quite different from normal photography. Light scattered
from the object interferes with the reference beam, producing constructive and destructive
interference. As a result, the exposed film looks foggy, but close examination reveals a
complicated interference pattern stored on it. Holography is sometimes called lensless
photography, because it uses the wave characteristics of light as contrasted to normal
photography, which uses geometric optics and so requires lenses.

A hologram has no resemblance to the original object. However, it gives all the information
about the object through optical codes. The salient feature of holography is the three-
dimensional nature of image produced whereas in photography, only two-dimensional
images are produced. Holography finds a number of applications in science and technology.

31
 Basic principle of holography

When an object is illuminated by light from a coherent source such as a laser,

each point on the object acts as a source of secondary waves. The secondary
waves spread out in all directions and it characterizes the object through an
interference pattern. This interference pattern is recorded using a suitable
method. The recorded interference pattern is again illuminated with coherent
light of same wavelength from another source. This results in the reproduction
of the original object in three dimensions.
The formation of interference fringes is determined by the phase difference between interfering
beams of light. In holography, the phase information from the object is recorded whereas
in photography the intensity information is recorded.

(i) Recording of hologram

Photographic plates form the best media to record holograms. Since the interference pattern is
essentially maxima and minima in intensity, recording a hologram depends only on intensity
variation and not on phase variation. Therefore, in order to convert the phase variations into
intensity variations, Gabor superimposed the reflected waves with a reference beam having the
same wavelength. As a result, constructive and destructive interference fringes are obtained
between the reflected waves and the reference beam. Thus, an increase in intensity at the
constructive point and a decrease in intensity at the destructive point occurs. This change in
intensity is recorded on the photographic plate.

In order to produce a high quality hologram, the light source used must be highly monochromatic
and coherent. The spatially coherent laser beam is divided into wave fronts or amplitudes. One
part of the beam falls directly on the photographic plate and the other falls on the object whose
image is to be recorded. The experimental arrangement for the production of a hologram using a
laser beam is shown in the following figure.

32
 (ii) Reconstruction of images
The experimental arrangement used for the reproduction of the three-dimensional images of the
object (hologram) is shown in the figure.

For the reconstruction of the image, the recorded photographic plate is illuminated by a
monochromatic laser beam of the same wavelength as the one used for recording. The
illumination results in two images. The first image is formed behind the light source and
forms a virtual image of the object. The second image is formed due to the diffraction of

33
 the beam at a distant place. The diffracted image is a real image and it can be photographed.
The image obtained on the photographic plate is simply a two dimensional image of the
original object.

Features of hologram

By moving the position of the eye while looking through the hologram, one can see more of
the object originally hidden from view. Thus, a three-dimensional (3D) view is recorded on
a two dimensional photographic film. This is due to the fact that all parts of the object originally
photographed diffract the beams to the photographic film.

If a hologram is cut into pieces, each separate piece is capable of producing a complete
virtual image of the object. This is due to the fact that each part of the hologram receives
waves from the complete object. But the resolution of the image decreases with decrease in the
size of the piece.

Difference between holography and photography

(Qn:- Write any two advantages of hologram over photographic image

OR

Explain the difference between photography and Holography.)

Holography Photography

1. Hologram is constructed by means of 1. In photography, the light reflected

interference of light between the from the object is made to incident on
reference beam and the light reflected the photographic film.
from the object

2. It produces a three-dimensional image 2. It produces a two-dimensional image

of the three-dimensional object

3. It requires monochromatic, coherent 3. There is no need of monochromatic,

light source coherent source

4. The entire image can be constructed 4. If the negative broken into several
using a small broken piece of the pieces, it is not possible to construct
hologram the original image

APPLICATIONS OF HOLOGRAPHY

(Qn:- Discuss five important applications of holography?)

34
 1. Anti-counterfeiting in credit card is now a common practice. In some European
countries, credit cards for telephone calls use erasable holograms.
2. Head-up display (HUD) are holographic windshields installed in military aircraft. It
allows the pilot (driver) to keep his/her eyes at a distance target while information is
relayed through the windshield.
3. Biomedical applications of holography: Holograms are made inside live organs through
optical fibers, providing more details than any previous alternate techniques.
4. Instantaneous growth rate of a live plant can be directly observed through a hologram.
5. Holographic scanners are used in store check-out counters for reading the bar codes. A
rotating computer-generated hologram is responsible for both the scanning and the
detecting of the scattered light.
6. Erasable holograms have been marketed for routine real-time non-destructive testing
and inspection

OTHER IMPORTANT APPLICATIONS OF LASER

(Qn:- Explain five applications of laser in medicine and industry
respectively)
The high intensity, narrow bandwidth and narrow angular spread make laser extremely useful
tool for a variety of applications. Some of the important applications of leaser include:

1. Medical applications
Laser is used in eye surgery, correction of retinal detachment and also for various skin
treatments. In eye surgery, laser is aligned to be focused by the pupil of the eye on an area to
be treated. The laser energy is adjusted to melt the tissue. Lasers are also used to treat patients
suffering from myopia. Cataract surgery can be carried out using lasers. Laser is also used in
cosmetic treatments including resurfacing, removal of birth marks, age spots, spider veins,
tattoos etc.

2. Communication
The communication field is revolutionized with the discovery of laser. The fiber optic
communication system has enormous capacity in comparison to other available means of
communication. The use of laser in fiber communication increases the data rate. The higher
data rate and capacity is able to accommodate many more channels of message simultaneously.
Lasers can also be used in guiding missiles to desired destinations. Laser devices are used to
scan information by reading bar codes. At airports, laser devices are used for communication
across runways.

35
 3. Environment
Environment related research can be carried out in a better way using lasers. It is useful in the
measurement of atmospheric pollution such as dust, smoke and fly ash. The laser remote
sensing method permits the measurement of pollutants by collecting the samples and chemical
analysis. Normally, pulsed lasers are used for this kind of work. Lasers are also used for
engraving, etching or marking a variety of metals and plastics.

4. Cutting and welding

The energetic and highly collimated beams of laser can be used for cutting and welding
applications. Here, the laser beam is allowed to fall on a very small spot of the work piece. The
heat melts and evaporates the work piece. The laser beam is surrounded by a nozzle which
enables a flow of cutting gas to flush out the melt or vaporize it. The automobile industry makes
extensive use of lasers for computer controlled welding. The stainless-steel handles can be
welded on copper cooking pots. The conventional technique cannot do this job because of large
difference in conductivities of two metals.

5. Laser printers
Laser printers are very advanced technology and produce a high quality output. Laser printers
can also produce high quality graphics images. Laser printers function by creating an
electrostatic image of an entire page on a photosensitive drum with a laser beam. When an
ultra-fine colored plastic powder called toner is applied to the drum, it sticks only to the
sensitized areas corresponding to the letters or images on the page. The drum spins and is
pressed against a sheet of paper, transferring the toner to the page and creating the image. This
is exactly the same basic technology used by copiers.

QUESTIONS
1. Explain the difference between photography and Holography.
2. Explain holography. What are its merits?
3. What is population inversion? What is the need of it?
4. Distinguish between spontaneous emission and stimulated emission

5. Explain five applications of laser in medicine and industry respectively?

6. Discuss five important applications of holography?
7. How many wave wavelengths constitute the coherence length? Calculate coherence
time. Define temporal coherence? How do you measure mono-chromaticity of a wave-
front?
8. Explain five applications of laser in medicine and industry respectively?
9. Band gap energy of GaAs is 1.45eV. Calculate wavelength of the laser beam Emitted
from third laser diode.
10. Explain the working of a Ruby Laser.

36