SEMICONDUCTOR

LASERS
CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATION
 CONTENTS

LASERS LASER SEMICONDUCTOR WORKING APPLICATION

ACTION LASER
LASERS
o Laser is an acronym for light amplification by stimulated
emission of radiation.

o Laser is a photonic device to produce intense,

monochromatic, coherent and unidirectional beam of
light.

o They are based on amplification of light by means of

stimulated emission of radiation of atoms or molecules.
o Laser light has spatial and temporal coherence.

o Spatial coherence means that all points on the wave

front have the same phase which results in a highly
directional beam of light.

o Temporal coherence means that at any point in space,

the wave amplitude varies sinusoidally with time;
hence, the emitted radiation is monochromatic.
L A S E R AC T I O N
Operation of a laser
 S T I M U L AT E D E M I S S I O N ?

P O P U L AT I O N I N V E R S I O N ?
L A S E R AC T I O N
o Let us consider an atom with an electron that can
occupy one of two energy E1 and E2.

o Now suppose the atom is in ground state.

o A photon of energy hʋ12=(E2 – E1) impinging on atom

will be absorbed and will cause atom to make a
transition to excited state.

o The excited state is unstable , and after short time, the

atom makes a transition to ground state by emitting a
photon of energy hʋ12. This is spontaneous emission.
o If a photon of energy hʋ12 falls on the atom while it is in
its excited state, the atom is stimulated to make transition
to ground state by emitting a photon of energy hʋ12
which is in phase with the radiation.

o This process is called stimulated emission.

o Let us now consider a system of a large number of
atoms in thermal equilibrium at a temperature T having
concentration n1 and n2 at E1 and E2, respectively.

o For (E2 – E1) > 3KT , the boltzmann distribution gives

n2/n1 = exp[-(E2 – E1)/KT]

o This equation shows that there are more atoms in the

ground state than in excited state.
o If radiation of energy hʋ12 is continuously falling on
the system and the atoms are in a radiation field of
energy density ρ(ʋ12 ).

o The stimulated emission is proportional to energy

density and concentration n2, and can be written as,

B21n2ρ(ʋ12 )

o B21 is constant of proportionality.

o Absorption rate can be expressed as,

B12 n1ρ(ʋ12 )

o The spontaneous emission rate is not influenced by

ρ(ʋ12 ) and can be written as,

A21n2

o In the steady state, the rate of absorption must be

balanced by two emission rates.
o B12 n1ρ(ʋ12 ) = A21n2 + B21n2 ρ(ʋ12 )

o From this relation, we observe that

Stimulated emission B 21
= ρ(ʋ12 )
Spontaneous emission A 21

o Thus stimulated emission rate can be made large to the

spontaneous emission by having a large photon field
density ρ(ʋ12 )
 Stimulated emission B 21 n2
=
Absorption rate B12 n1

o This shows that the stimulated emission will dominate

the absorption of photon when there are more atoms
in the excited state compared to the ground state.

o This condition is called population inversion.

P O P U L AT I O N I N V E R S I O N
B A S I C R E Q U I R E M E N T S T O AC H I E V E
L A S E R AC T I O N

1. A method to excite atoms from the ground level to

higher energy level.

2. A large population inversion.

3. An optical resonant cavity in which the photon field

energy density can be built up to a large value.
COMPONENTS OF LASER
o Pumping : The process by which atoms are raised from
lower energy level to higher energy level.

o Active medium : medium when excited, reaches state

of population inversion, causing light amplification

o Optical resonant cavity : A plane parallel resonator

consists of a pair of plane mirrors facing each other.
The active medium is placed inside the cavity. Used to
amplify light.
Optical resonant cavity
M E TA S TA B L E S TAT E

o Population inversion occurs between metastable state and

ground state.
oHas long life time than non metastable state.
SEMICONDUCTOR
LASERS
SEMICONDUCTOR LASERS
o Transitions are associated with the electron states in
valence and conduction bands.

o They are compact in size.

o Require low power to operate.

o Have high efficiency.

o They do not have narrow spectral line widths or the

degree of coherence of competing lasers
CONSTRUCTION
CONSTRUCTION
o This is basic structure of a GaAs p-n junction laser diode.

o A heavily doped p region is produced by diffusion of Zn

into n type GaAs.

o One pair of faces perpendicular to junction plane is

cleaved and polished so that they act as reflecting mirrors.

o The remaining two faces are purposefully roughened to

eliminate lasing in these directions.

o Thus, this structure act as a resonant cavity and is known

as a Fabry-Perot cavity.
ENERGY L EV EL D I AGR AM
• When p-n junction is forward biased with large applied
voltage, the electrons and holes are injected into junction
region in considerable concentration.
•The region around the junction contains a large amount of
electrons in conduction band and a large amount of holes in
valence band.
o If the population density is high, a condition of
population inversion is achieved.

o The electrons and holes recombine with each other

and this recombination’s produce radiation in the form
of light.

o For band to band transition, the minimum energy

required is the bandgap energy Eg.

o Hence, condition necessary for population inversion ;

(EFC – EFV) > Eg.

T H E VA R I A T I O N O F A T Y P I C A L O U T P U T O F A
S EMICONDUCTOR LASER WITH THE CURRENT
F LOWING THROUGH THE LASER SHOWN IN THE
F IGURE.
FROM TH E GR APH
o When the forward current is low, the population
inversion built compensate losers in the system .
In this case, laser output varies linearly with
current.
o When the current exceeds the critical value (Ic)
called threshold current. In this case, laser output
increases dramatically with an increase in the
current.
OUTPUT FROM LASER DIODE AND LED
 A D VA N TA G E S
o It is very small in dimension. The arrangement is simple
and compact.
o It exhibits high efficiency.
o The laser output can be easily increased by controlling
the junction current
o It is operated with lesser power than ruby and CO2 laser.
o It requires very little auxiliary equipment
o It can have a continuous wave output or pulsed output.
D I S A D VA N TA G E S
o It is difficult to control the mode pattern and mode
structure of laser.
o The purity and monochromaticity are poor than other
types of laser

o It has poor coherence and poor stability

A P P L I C AT I O N S
o It is widely used in fiber optic communication
o It is used to heal the wounds by infrared radiation
o It is also used as a pain killer
o It is used in laser printers and CD writing and
reading.
o Medicine and especially dentistry have found many
new uses for diode lasers
 REFERENCES
o Introduction to semiconductor materials and devices – M.S
TYAGI
o Semiconductor Devices –Physics and Technology – S.M Sze
M.K LEE
o https://www.brainkart.com/article/Semiconductor-Diode-
laser--Principle,-Construction,-Working,-Characteristics,--
Advantages,-Disadvantages-and-Applications_6886/
o https://youtu.be/Tio94pD-lPQ?si=JtNa2Q1mSSdoc8S9
o https://physicswave.com/semiconductor-laser-construction-
and-working/
T H A N K YO U