PHOTONICS

Chapter-4
LASER

4.1 Absorption and emission of light

The name ‘Laser’ is an acronym for light amplification by
stimulated emission of radiation. A laser is a device that produces
an intense, concentrated and highly parallel beam of coherent
light. Historically the laser is an outgrowth of maser (microwave
amplification by stimulated emission of radiation), a similar
device using
microwaves instead E2 E2
of visible light.
h E1 E1
The basic principle Fig.a: Induced absorption
involved in the lasing
action is the E2 E2 h
phenomenon of
stimulated emission E1 E1
which was predicted Fig.b: Spontaneous emission
by Einstein in 1917.
The first successful E2 E2 h
h
laser was built by T H
Maiman in 1960. E1 E1 h
Fig.c: Stimulated (induced) emission
The three kinds of
transitions involving electromagnetic radiation between two
energy levels in an atom are,
4.1.1 Induced absorption
An atom which is initially in a lower state can go to the higher
state by absorbing a photon of energy E = E2−E1 = h. This
process is called induced absorption.
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4.1.2 Spontaneous emission

If the atom is initially in the higher state E2, it can drop to the
lower level by emitting a photon of energy h. This is called the
spontaneous emission.
4.1.3 Induced (stimulated) emission
Einstein pointed out that a third possibility, called induced
emission, in which an incident photon of energy h, causes in an
atom, a transition from a higher level to a lower level, producing
two photons in coherence (i.e. in the same phase). Einstein
showed that the induced emission has the same probability as the
induced absorption. The rate of stimulated emission depends on
the intensity of the external field and also on the number of atoms
in the upper state.
4.2 Relation between Einstein’s A&B coefficients
Consider an atom having two states E1 and E2. Let N1 and N2 be
the number of atoms per unit volume in the states 1 and 2
respectively. The rate of induced absorption per unit volume is
proportional to the energy density U() at a frequency  of the
radiation field due to the external photons and the number of
atoms per unit volume in the lower state.
 dN12 
i.e.    N1U()
 dt induced absorption

= B12 N1U() (1)

where, B12 is the coefficient of proportionality and is a
characteristic of the energy levels. Now let us consider the
transitions from higher level to lower level. These transitions are
radiative, which includes spontaneous emission and induced or
stimulated emission. The spontaneous emission takes place in the
absence of any external photon and is hence independent of the
energy density U() of the radiation field. So,
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 dN 21 
   N2
 dt spontaneous emission
= A21N2 (2)
But the induced emission depends on the energy density U() of
the radiation field also.
 dN 
  21   N2U()
 dt induced emission
= B21N2U() (3)
The coefficients A21, B21 and B12 are known as Einstein’s
coefficients. At thermal equilibrium the rate of upward transition
is equal to the rate of net downward transition. That is,
B12 N1U() = A21N2 + B21N2U()
i.e. U()[B12 N1 − B21N2] = A21N2
A 21 N 2
U() =
B12 N1 − B21N 2

A 21
= (4)
N
B12 1 − B21
N2
According to Boltzmann’s distribution formula,
2 E −E
1 ћω
N1 k BT
= e = e k BT (5)
N2
where, kB is the Boltzmann’s constant and ћ = h = E2 − E1.
Then eqn.4 becomes,
A 21 1
U() = ћω
= ћω
(6)
B B
B12e k BT − B21 12
e B − 21
k T

A 21 A 21
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Treating a system of photons as a gas obeying Bose-Einstein

statistics, the Planck’s law for energy density of radiation in a
medium of refractive index 0 can be calculated as,
 
ћω3μ 30  1  1
U() = = (7)
π 2 c3  kћω 
 π 2 c3
ћω
π 2 c3
 e BT − 1  e k BT
− 3 3
ћω3μ 30 ћω μ 0
In a radiation chamber or cavity with free space 0 = 1.
Comparing eqns.6 and 7 we get,
B12 π 2 c3
= (8)
A 21 ћω3μ 30
A 21 ћω3μ 30
Or, = (9)
B12 π 2 c3
B21 π 2 c3
And = (10)
A 21 ћω3μ 30
From eqns.8 and 10, B12 = B21 = B (11)
In the absence of stimulated emission the correct expression for
U() would not have been derived. So in order to obtain the
correct form of U(), Einstein, in 1917, predicted the existence of
stimulated emission.
4.3 Principle and requirements of a laser
The three main components of any laser device are the active
medium, the pumping source and the optical resonator. The active
medium consists of a collection of atoms, molecules or ions (in
solid, liquid or gaseous form) which is capable of amplifying light
waves. The laser may be a three level laser or a four level laser.
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The simplest kind is a three level laser, which uses an assembly

of atoms (or molecules) that have three states- a ground state, a
metastable state and a higher excited state that can decay to the
metastable state. For lasing action we want more atoms in the
higher energy state Ef than atoms in the lower state Ei. If this is
achieved by some method and a photon of energy h = Ef−Ei is

E2 E2 E2 E2
E1 E1 E1 E1
Metastable state Metastable state
h=E1−E0

E0 E0 E0 E0

photon h =E1− E0
causes emission of
laser beam. Five
Triggering with a

photons in the same

to
Optical pumping.
Photons not in

Photons not in
metastable state.

inverted state
Population
Transition
phase

phase

phase
passed through the assembly, there will be more induced
emissions from the atoms in the higher level than induced
absorptions by atoms in the lower level. The result will be an
amplification of the incident original light. This is the concept that
underlies the operation of a laser.
In a three level laser more
E3 Excited state
than half the atoms must be in
the metastable state for Metastable state
Pumping transition

E2
induced emission. In a four
level laser there are four
h=E2−E1
levels- excited state,
metastable state, intermediate E1
Intermediate state
state and the ground state.
The intermediate state is E0 Ground state
unstable. The laser transition
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is from metastable state to intermediate state. The population

inversion is required between metastable state and intermediate
state. Since the intermediate state is unstable and it decays rapidly
to ground state the number of atoms in the intermediate state is
very low. Hence even a moderate amount of pumping is enough
to achieve population inversion.
4.3.1 Population inversion
Under ordinary conditions of thermal equilibrium the number
of atoms in the higher levels is considerably smaller than the
number of atoms in the lower energy states. For laser action, by
some means, the atoms in the assembly are excited such that there
is more number of atoms in the higher state Ef than in the lower
state Ei. This is known as population inversion and is essential for
laser action.
4.3.2 Metastable state
Laser action cannot occur if there are only two states. This is
because the process of optical pumping induces transitions from
ground state to the higher state as well as from the higher state to
the lower state. When half the atoms are in each state, the rate of
induced emission will be equal to the rate of induced absorption.
So the assembly cannot ever have more than half its atoms in the
higher state.
The lifetime of the excited atoms in the higher levels is of the
order of nanoseconds. Therefore, the population inversion is
usually not possible in higher levels. In order the population
inversion to takes place, the lifetime in a higher state is
sufficiently large. Such long lived excited state is known as
metastable state.
4.4 Pumping and pumping methods
For maintaining a state of population inversion atoms have to
be raised continuously to excited state. It requires energy to be
supplied to the system. The process of supplying energy to the
medium with a view to transfer it into state of population
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inversion is known as pumping. The methods commonly used for

pumping action are Optical pumping, Chemical pumping,
Electrical pumping, Direct conversion, Inelastic atom-atom
collision between atoms, Gas dynamic pumping etc.
4.4.1 Optical pumping
This is a method to produce population inversion. In this
method an external source of light is used to excite atoms in the
ground state to higher state. Atoms first absorb photons from the
external source and get excited to the higher states from which
they finally decay into metastable state. Flashlamps and arc lamps
can be used for optical pumping.
Flashlamps were the earliest energy source for lasers. They
produce light pulses. They are used for high pulsed energies in
both solid-state and dye lasers. They produce a broad spectrum of
light, causing most of the energy to be wasted as heat in the gain
medium. Flashlamps also tend to have a short lifetime. The first
laser (ruby laser) consisted of a helical Xenon flashlamp
surrounding a ruby rod.
Arc lamps are also used for pumping the laser rods. Since the
arc lamps produce continuous waves that can support continuous
laser operation, and can be made any size and power. Typical arc
lamps operate at a voltage high enough to maintain the certain
current level for which the lamp was designed to operate. This is
often in the range of 10 to 50 amps. Arc lamps come in nearly all
of the noble gas types, including xenon, krypton, argon, neon,
and helium, which all emit spectral lines that are very specific to
the gas. The output spectrum of an arc lamp is mostly dependent
on the gas type, being narrow band spectral lines very similar to a
flashlamp operated at low current densities. The output is highest
in the near infrared, and are usually used to pump infrared lasers
such as Nd:YAG.
External laser pumping: A laser of a suitable type can be used
to pump another laser. The pump laser's narrow spectrum allows
it to be closely matched to the absorption lines of the lasing media,
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giving it much more efficient energy transfer than the broadband

emission of flashlamps. Diode lasers can be used for
pumping solid state lasers and liquid dye lasers.
Other optical pumping methods:
1. Microwaves or radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation
can be used to excite gas lasers.
2. A solar-pumped laser uses solar radiation as a pump
source
4.4.2 Chemical pumping
Chemical reactions are used to raise the atoms to the excited
states. Chemical reaction is used as a power source in chemical
lasers. This allows for very high output powers difficult to reach
by other means.
Nuclear fission is used in exotic nuclear pumped lasers (NPL),
directly employing the energy of the fast neutrons released in
a nuclear reactor.
4.4.3 Electrical pumping
We can distinguish two types of electrical pump: electric
discharge pumping of a fluid medium and pumping by current
injection, notably in a solid medium.
1. Electrical discharge method (electron excitation
method): In this method the electrons are produced in an
electrical discharge tube. These electrons are accelerated to
high velocities by a strong electrical field. These
accelerated electrons collide with the gas atoms and
transfer their energy to gas atoms. By this process, some
atoms gain energy and they go to the excited state. This
results in population inversion. This method of pumping is
used in gas lasers like argon and CO2 Laser.
2. Direct conversion: In this method the electrical energy
directly creates the state of population inversion and laser
is produced. Electric current is typically used to pump laser
diodes and semiconductor crystal lasers (for example
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germanium). As an example, due to electrical energy

applied in direct band gap semiconductor like GaAs, the
recombination of electrons and holes takes place. During
the recombination process, the electrical energy is directly
is converted into light energy.
4.4.4 Inelastic atom-atom collision
In this method, a combination of two gases (say A and B) are
used. The excited states of A and B nearly coincides in energy. In
the first step during the electrical discharge atoms of gas A are
excited to their higher energy state A* (metastable state) due to
collision with the electrons.
A + e* → A* + e
Now A* atoms at higher energy state collide with b atoms in the
lower state. Due to inelastic atom - atom collision B atoms gain
energy and they are excited to a higher state B*. Hence, A atoms
lose energy and return to lower state.
A* + B → A + B*
This pumping method is used in He-Ne laser.
4.5 Ruby laser
The first Xenon flash lamp Ruby rod
successful laser
was fabricated
by Maiman in Laser beam
1960. It is a
three level laser. Glass tube Partially silvered mirror
Its main part is a
ruby rod, whose Fully silvered mirror
ends are flat, with one of the ends is completely silvered and the
other is partially silvered. Ruby is a crystal of aluminum oxide
Al2O3 (corundum) doped with approximately 0.05 percent of
chromium ions in the form of Cr2O3, so that some Al atoms in the
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crystal lattice are replaced by Cr3+ ions. The pink color of Ruby
is due to the presence of chromium ions. The length of the ruby
rod is an integral number of half wavelengths of the laser light, so
that the radiation trapped in it forms an optical standing wave
which will stimulate the induced emission. The ruby rod is
surrounded by a glass tube. The optical pumping is achieved by a
helical Xenon flash lamp surrounding glass tube containing the
ruby rod.
The characteristic Excited state
Optical pumping 550nm photons
energy levels of Cr3+ E3 2.25eV
ions are shown in the Metastable state
figure below. The E2 1.79eV
lifetime of the atoms
in the energy level
labeled as E3 is of the
694.3nm
order of 10−8 second input 694.3nm laser
whereas that at the output
metastable state E2 is E1
about 0.003s. The Cr3+ Ground state
ions are excited from the ground state E1 to the state E3 by
absorbing light of wavelength 550 nm from the xenon flash lamp.
Since the lifetime at E3 is very small, the ions quickly undergo
nonradiative transitions and fall to the metastable state. When the
number of ions in the level E2 is greater than that of E1 the
population inversion is achieved. Then photons of wavelength
694.3 nm produced by a spontaneous decay of some Cr3+ ions are
reflected back and forth between the silvered ends of the ruby rod
and stimulated other ions to radiate. As a result a large pulse of
monochromatic coherent red light is emerged out through the
partially silvered end of the rod. Once all the chromium ions in
the metastable state have returned to the ground state the laser
action stops. It is then necessary to send one more flash of
pumping radiation from the xenon tube. Thus the ruby laser
operates in pulses.
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4.6 Helium-Neon laser

Completely reflecting mirror

Laser
He + Ne
beam

Discharge electrodes
Fig.a Partially transmitting mirror

The helium-neon laser, which was first fabricated by Ali Javan

and his co-workers at Bell Telephone Laboratories in U S A, is
the first gas laser operated successfully.
The He-Ne laser consists of a mixture of helium and neon in the
ratio of about 10:1 enclosed in a tube of about 0.5 m in length and
5 mm in diameter at a low pressure of about 1mm of mercury (1
torr). The two mirrors, one is 100% reflecting and the other is
partly transparent, kept inside at the ends of the tube act as the
resonator. The distance between the mirrors is equal to an integral
number of half the wavelength of the laser light. The gas inside
the tube is excited by an electric discharge produced in the gas by

Collision 20.66eV
20.61eV
Metastable state 632.8nm
Laser
18.70eV
Spontaneous emission
Electron collision

Radiationless transition

Ground state Ground state

Energy levels of He Energy levels of Ne
Fig.b
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means of two electrodes connected to a source of high frequency

alternating current.
When the electric discharge is passed through the gas mixture
the electrons collide with the helium atoms. Thus the helium
atoms are excited to the 2s level as shown in fig.b, while the neon
atoms are much less readily excited by the electron collision. The
excited state 2s of He is relatively long lived. The energy 20.61
eV of this level is almost same as the energy 20.66eV of the 5s
level of neon atoms. Hence the energy of the helium atom is easily
transferred to neon atoms when they collide. The additional
energy is being provided by the kinetic energy of the atoms. The
population inversion in He-Ne laser is between the 5s and 3p
(18.70eV) states of neon. The purpose of the He atoms is to help
to achieve a population inversion in the neon atoms. A
spontaneous transition from 5s to 3p state emits a photon of
wavelength 632.8 nm which triggers the stimulated transitions
resulting in the emission of narrow red laser beam through the
partly transmitting mirror. The transitions from 3p to 3s are
spontaneous but not coherent. Finally, the neon atoms undergo
radiationless transitions to the ground state.
Unlike the ruby laser, the He-Ne laser operates continuously.
This is because the electron collisions that excite the He and Ne
atoms occur at all times. He-Ne laser is used in supermarkets to
read bar codes.
4.7 Semiconductor Lasers
Most semiconductor lasers are laser diodes, which are
pumped with an electrical current in a region where an n-doped
and a p-doped semiconductor material meet. For example, if the
level of current flowing through a Gallium Arsenide p-n junction
is increased beyond a certain threshold, a lasing action takes place
in which the spontaneous emission stimulates an increase in the
radiant power. However, there are also optically pumped
semiconductor lasers, where carriers are generated by absorbed
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pump light, and quantum cascade lasers, where intra-band

transitions are utilized.
Semiconductor lasers are unique when compared to other
types of lasers by the following reasons.
1. They are very small
2. They operate with relatively low power input.
3. They are very efficient.
Semiconductor lasers operate in a different way from
other lasers. They require the merging of two different materials,
n-type material and p-type material. The laser action occurs in the
interface between these two materials.
Types of semiconductor laser devices: There are two types
of semiconductor laser devices. They are,
1. Edge emitting laser: These type of semiconductor lasers
has the laser beam parallel to the surface of the p-n
junction region as shown in fig.a. A pair of parallel faces
perpendicular to the plane of the junction is polished
optically flat. The other two faces are roughened to avoid
lasing in the directions other than the main one. The
structure is called a Fabry-Perot cavity. Typically, the
Current flow

P type Laser beam

n type
Optically flat face

Roughened surface Fig.a

mirrors are produced by using the cleaved surfaces at the

ends of the laser crystal, or, by distributed feedback (DFB)
within the crystal, or, distributed Bragg reflecting
structures at the ends of the crystal.
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2. Surface emitting lasers: They have laser beam emitting

in a direction perpendicular to the junction region with

Fig.b

multilayer Bragg reflecting mirrors incorporated into the

crystal as shown in fig.b.
Semiconductor laser materials
Depending upon the wavelength region of interest
semiconductor lasers are based upon one of the four different
types of materials.
Three of them are referred to as III−V semiconductors.
They consist of the materials in column III and V of the periodic
table. Column III elements include Al, Ga, In and Tl. These
materials are trivalent and lack one electron in the crystalline
matrix (covalent bond). The column V materials are N, P, As and
Sb are pentavalent and one electron excess during the bond
formation.
The fourth type of materials are referred to as II−VI
compounds. The column II atoms lack two electrons and column
VI atoms have two extra electrons available for a binary
compound. The column II materials are Zn and Cd. The column
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VI atoms are S, Se and Te. Column II materials can combine to

column VI materials to form binary compounds. An example is
ZnSe, which has a bandgap of 2.71 eV and forms the basis for
blue-green semiconductor lasers.
The semiconductor laser crystals are grown by the process
of epitaxial growth.
Group Material Abbreviation Bandgap
in eV
Alumimum arsenide AlAs 2.16
Alumimum phosphide AlP 2.45
Alumimum antimonide AlSb 1.58
Boron nitride BN 7.5
Boron phosphide BP 2.0
III−V Gallium arsenide GaAs 1.42
Gallium nitride GaN 3.36
Gallium phosphide GaP 2.26
Gallium antimonide GaSb 0.72
Indium arsenide InAs 0.36
Indium phosphide InP 1.35
Indium antimonide InSb 0.17

Cadmium sulphide CdS 2.42

Cadmium selenide CdSe 1.70
II−VI Cadmium telluride CdTe 1.56
Zinc sulphide ZnS 3.68
Zinc selenide ZnSe 2.71
Zinc telluride ZnTe 2.393

Other common materials (alloys) for semiconductor lasers are

• AlGaAs (aluminum gallium arsenide)
• InGaP (indium gallium phosphide)
• InGaAs (indium gallium arsenide)
• GaInNAs (indium gallium arsenide nitride)
• GaInP (gallium indium phosphide)
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Four basic types of laser materials

1. Gallium-Arsenide based lasers: Laser output lies in the red
and near infra-red region with the wavelength range 635
nm − 870 nm.
2. Indium-phosphide based lasers: 1.55 µm (1550 nm)
3. Zinc-selenide based lasers: Blue and green portion of the
spectrum; 460 nm − 520 nm.
4. Gallium-Nitride based laser: The most recently developed
class of semiconductor laser are those based upon GaN
compound and related alloys. Laser produced lies in the
blue and the ultraviolet wavelengths.
Operation of semiconductor laser: When the diode is forward
biased current flows
across the junction
Light output

Stimulated
due to electrons and emission
holes. As the bias
increases, the current
also increases. Figure
shows the typical
output of a Spontaneous
semiconductor laser emission
versus the current
flowing the
semiconductor laser. Ith Current
Two cases may arise.
1. Current is low: For low currents (below the threshold
current), incoherent light (due to the spontaneous
emission) is emitted from the junction when the
recombination process occurs. This is the light associated
with the light-emitting diodes (LED).
2. High currents: If the current is high enough (above the
threshold current) there are more electrons in the
conduction band at a given energy than in the valance
band and thus the population inversion is achieved. When
the current reaches the threshold value the stimulated
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emission occurs and the laser beam is emitted from the

junction.
Semiconductor lasers may be operated on a pulsed
basis by applying pulses of voltage across the junction.
Semiconductor lasers can also be produced by optical pumping,
i.e. electrons are excited to the conduction band by absorbing
photons.
Commercial laser diodes emit at wavelengths from
375 nm to 1800 nm, and wavelengths of over 3 µm have been
demonstrated. Low power laser diodes are used in laser printers
and CD/DVD players. More powerful laser diodes are frequently
used to optically pump other lasers with high efficiency. The
highest power industrial laser diodes, with power up to 10 kW (70
dBm), are used in industry for cutting and welding.
The advantages of semiconductor lasers are that they are
compact, efficient and can be fabricated with ease. However, their
monochromaticity, coherence and directionality are inferior to
those of other lasers.
4.8 Properties of laser
1. The laser light is very nearly monochromatic.
2. It is highly coherent with all the waves exactly in same
phase with one another.
3. A laser beam diverges hardly at all. A laser beam sent
from the earth to a mirror left on the moon by Apollo 11
expedition remained narrow enough to be detected when
it returned to the earth surface after traveling over a
distance equal to 0.7688 million kilometers.
4. The laser beam is extremely intense.
4.9 Applications of laser
1. Modulated laser beams have been used for
communication.
2. Lasers have applications in medical profession. They are
used in ‘bloodless surgery’. They have been used to
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cauterize the retinal tissue to weld detached retina of the

eye. They are also used for the treatment of malignant
tumors.
3. High power lasers have been used for cutting and drilling
holes in hard metals and diamonds.
4. High power lasers are used to initiate thermonuclear
reactions.
5. Lasers have been used by surveyors and engineers for
critical alignment, as well as for ranging in metrology and
determining the distance to the moon.
6. Attenuation and scattering of laser beams have been used
in atmospheric research.
7. They have been used in the production and research with
holograms. They are also used in high speed photography
and fiber optics.
8. Lasers have been used to determine distances. It can also
be used to find the changing distance between the moon
and the earth.
9. Lasers are used in warfare for detecting and destroying
aero planes, missiles and tanks etc.
10. They are also used for automatic control of rockets and
satellites.
4.10 Holography
The term holography comes from the Greek meaning ‘whole
writing’. It is different from ordinary photograph, which
represents only a two-dimensional recording of a three-
dimensional object. A photograph is obtained by recording the
intensity distribution that prevailed at the plane of photographic
film when it was exposed. The light sensitive medium is sensitive
to the intensity distribution. In an ordinary photograph the phase
distribution of the waves coming from the three-dimensional
object cannot be recorded. So, the three-dimensional character of
the object is lost in the photograph.
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Holography is a method in which one records not only the

amplitudes but also the phases of the light waves from the object.
The principles of holography were first put forward by Dennis
Gabor, of the Imperial College of Science and Technology,
University of London in 1947 (published in 1948) and became
further developed after the invention of laser in 1960. He has been
awarded Nobel Prize in 1971 for his ‘three dimensional lensless
method of photography (Holography).

Principle: Holography is a two-step process by which (1) an

object is illuminated by coherent light is made to produce
interference fringes in a photosensitive medium, such as a
photographic emulsion and (2) re-illumination of the developed
interference pattern by light of same wavelength produces a three
dimensional image of the original object.

Step-1: Recording of hologram

In order to record
hologram, the light waves Photographic plate
from the object is Object
Object wave
superimposed with a
reference wave and the
interference pattern is
recorded on a
photographic plate. The
reference wave is usually Reference wave
a plane wave. This
recorded interference
pattern forms the Mirror
hologram. It contains
information not only about the amplitudes but also about the
phases of waves from object. Unlike a photograph the hologram
does not resemble with the object.
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Step-2: Reconstruction or viewing a hologram

To view the image,
the hologram is again Real image
illuminated with
another wave called
the reconstruction Virtual image
wave. In most cases the
reconstruction wave is Observer
identical to the
reference wave in all Hologram
optical respects. The
process is known as Reconstruction wave
reconstruction.
The hologram mentioned here is a plane hologram. There are
other holograms like (1) the thick or volume hologram, which is
able to produce multiple scenes from the same photographic
emulsion, (2) multiplex hologram, which can be used for
producing holographic motion pictures, (3) white light reflection
hologram and (4) other holograms, which are produced to achieve
special effects. These are produced by using lenses and mirrors
and using other holographic images as objects.
4.11 Solved problems
1. Calculate the ratio of the spontaneous emission to stimulated
emission in a material when it is irradiated with light of
wavelength 600 nm at 2500 K. Given h = 6.6210−34 and kB
= 1.3810−23 SI units. [Knr. U April 2009]
 dN 21 
  = A21N2 (1)
 dt spontaneous emission
 dN 21 
  = B21N2U() (2)
 dt induced emission
Spontaneous emission rate A 21
 = (3)
Induced emission rate B21U ( ω )
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 
ћω3μ 30  1 
But, U() = (4)
π 2 c3  kћω 
 e BT − 1 
A 21 ћω3μ 30
And, = (5)
B21 π 2 c3
 kћωT 
ћω μ  e B − 1 
3 3  ћω 
i.e. = 0
= U ( ω ) e k BT − 1
π c  kћω
2 3 
  
 e BT
− 1 
ћω
Spontaneous emission rate A 21
= = e k BT
−1
Induced emission rate B21U ( ω )
hc 6.6210−34 3108

= e λk BT
−1 = e 60010−9 1.3810−23 2500
−1
= e9.5942 = 14678.394
2. Calculate the ratio between Einstein coefficients for
spontaneous emission A21 and stimulated emission B21 in free
space when the energy difference between the states is 2.2 eV.
Energy difference, E = h = ћω = 2.2 eV
= 2.21.6021910−19 J
E E3
 = or,  3
= 3
ћ ћ
E3
 ћω3 =
ћ2
A 21 ћω3μ 30 E3 μ30
= =
B21 π 2 c3 ћ 2 π2c3

=
( 2.2 1.60219 10 ) −19 3

(1.055 10 )  3.14 ( 2.99792 10 )

−34 2 2 8 3

= 1.481110−14
 162

4.12 Model questions

Objective type questions
1. The basic principle of laser is
(A) Stimulated emission of radiation
(B) Spontaneous emission of radiation
(C) Induced absorption of radiation
(D) Photoelectric emission
2. Induced emission has
(A) More probability than spontaneous emission
(B) Less probability than spontaneous emission
(C) Same probability as that of spontaneous emission
(D) Same probability as that of induced absorption
3. Spontaneous emission depends on
(A) Energy density of the radiation field only
(B) Both energy density of the radiation field and number
of atoms in the excited state
(C) Only the number of atoms per unit volume in the
excited state
(D) None of these
4. For lasing action there will be
(A) More number of atoms in the higher energy state than
atoms in the lower state (B) Less number of
atoms in the higher energy states than the atoms in the
lower state (C) Equal number of atoms in the higher
and the lower states (D) None of these
5. The following is not a characteristic of laser beam
(A) dirctionality (B) coherence
(C) intense (D) faster than ordinary light
6. Which of the following is a three level Laser?
(A) He-Ne Laser (B) Ruby Laser
(C) CO2 Laser (D) None of these
7. Which of the following is not applicable to Laser?
(A) monochromatic (B) intense
(C) divergent (D) coherent
 163

8. Laser emission is due to

(A) stimulated emission (B) absorption of photons
(C) spontaneous emission (D) All of these
[1 A, 2 D, 3 B, 4 A, 5 D, 6 B, 7 C, 8 A]

Short answer type questions

1. What are the three transitions involving electromagnetic
radiation between two energy levels in an atom? Explain.
2. What are Einstein’s A and B coefficients? Write down the
relations between them.
3. What do you mean by a three level and a four level laser?
4. What are the essential requirements of a laser?
5. Explain the need of an optical cavity in a laser.
6. Explain clearly the principle of lasers.
7. What are the properties of lasers?
8. List out the applications of lasers.
9. Mention the applications of Laser in medicine.
10. What is the basic principle of holography?
11. What are Einstein’s coefficients? What is their importance?
12. Describe a Ruby Laser.
13. Give the advantages of gas laser over Ruby Laser.
14. What is population inversion? How is it achieved in Ruby
Laser?
15. How does the metastable state help the lasing action?
16. What is optical pumping in Laser?
17. Explain why a two level pumping cannot be used for lasing.
18. Draw the schematic diagram of a He-Ne Laser. Give a brief
description of the main parts.
19. Draw the energy level diagram of He-Ne Laser. What is the
role of He atoms in the working of He-Ne Laser?
20. Write a brief note on holography.
21. What are the factors on which the stimulated emission
depends?
22. What do you mean by metastable state?
 164

23. Explain the working of a semiconductor Laser.

24. What is Febry-Perot cavity?
25. What are the advantages and disadvantages of semiconductor
lasers?

Essay type questions

1. Explain the Einstein’s A and B coefficients? Obtain the
relations between them.
2. Explain the principle and essential requirements of a laser.
3. Describe the construction and working of a Ruby Laser.
4. Describe the working of a He-Ne Laser.
5. Explain the principle of holography, recording and
reconstruction of hologram.
6. Explain the applications of holography.
7. Explain the basic principle of Laser. Discuss in detail the
construction and working of a Ruby Laser or a He-Ne Laser.
8. Write a note on semiconductor lasers.

4.13 Problems
1. Calculate the ratio of the number of spontaneous to stimulated
emissions for an optical source of temperature 1000 K with
angular frequency  = 31015 sec−1. Given ħ = 1.05410−34
and kB = 1.3810−23 SI units. [Ans. 0.89331010]
2. Calculate the ratio of the stimulated emission rate to the
spontaneous emission rate for an incandescent lamp operating
at a temperature of 1000 K. It may be assumed that the average
operating wavelength is 0.5 m. [Ans. 3.02710−13]