Introduction to Lasers

Lecture 26

1

TRANSIENT LASER BEHAVIOR

Relaxation Oscillations

t
P
p

Response of N
inv
and are shown in



The oscillations are known as Relaxation Oscillations



Introduction to Lasers
Lecture 26

2
4-Level Laser:

=
| |
|
|
=
|
|
|
\ .
2 2
2
Upper Lasing
Level
Lifetime
2
Photon
Lifetime
1
p
a
c
dN N c
R N
dt V
d c
V N
dt V


Lets perturb N
2
and and see what happens,

( ) ( )
( ) ( )
2 0 2
0
N t N N t
t t

= +
= +
.
We get

| |
| | | |
+ + + =
|
| |
|
\ . \ .
\ .
2
2
0 0 0
2
1
0
a
d c d c
V N
dt V dt V


Introduction to Lasers
Lecture 26

3
Case i)

| |

|
|
\ .
<
| |
|
|
\ .

2
1
4 1
p
cp
c
p
cp
R
R
R
R


where R
cp
is the critical pumping rate.

This relation means:

c
< (approximately)

Examples:

Solid State Lasers
( )
100 sec, 1 nsec
c

Semiconductor Lasers
( )
1 nsec, 8 psec
c

Introduction to Lasers
Lecture 26

4
For this case we find,

( ) ( )
( ) ( )
0
0
2
0
sin
cos
t
t
t
t
a
t Ce t
C
N t e t
c
V
V

= +

= +
| |
|
\ .

where
0
1
2
2
0
2
1
1
p
cp
p
cp
c
t
R
R
R
R
t

=
| |
|
|
\ .
(

(
| |
(

=
|
(
\ .
(

.

Typical Values:
Nd:YAG = 340 KHz, t
0
=84 sec
Semiconductor Laser
= 2 GHz, t
0
= 4 nsec

Introduction to Lasers
Lecture 26

5
Case ii)
c
>

Examples Gas lasers in general
HeNe Laser, =50 nsec,
c
= 320 nsec

For this case, the system is over-damped. There
are no relaxation oscillations. Instead, and N
2

exponentially decay to steady state values.

Importance of relaxation oscillations:
Thresholding in optical communications


Introduction to Lasers
Lecture 26

6
Q-Switching



As the cavity loss increases, so does the Critical
Inversion N
c
. If is very large, then there is no lasing, and
the value of the inversion is very large and limited only by
the pumping rate. We define
( )
inv p
N N R

= = .

The Basic Idea:

Introduction to Lasers
Lecture 26

7
Note: This is called Q-Switching because the shutter
controls the cavity Q.

Types of shutters:
They must be fast. A mechanical shutter is too slow.

1) Electro-Optic Type


2) Rotating Prism [Figure 8.6]

Introduction to Lasers
Lecture 26

8
3) Acousto-Optic Type

4) Saturable Absorber

The absorber opens when I is large

Using shutters 1, 2, or 3 is called Active Q-Switching
Using a saturable absorber is called Passive Q-
Switching