Black body radiation

Lecture: 1
ET703/2
 Black body
A blackbody is an object which absorbs all radiation
incident upon it, no matter what the wavelength. In
order to satisfy thermodynamic principles, the
energy absorbed by the blackbody must be
reemitted into the universe in the form of
radiation, or carried away through a heat exchanger.
In the absence of a pathway for thermal energy to
be carried away, the absorption and emission of
energy are exactly balanced at thermodynamic
equilibrium.
The power absorbed by the wall is converted to
An artificial blackbody heat, which raises the temperature of the cavity. In
thermal equilibrium, this absorbed energy must be
reradiated. This radiation is called thermal radiation.
R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 2
 Planck’s law
Rayleigh and Jeans suggested that, in line with standard thermodynamic
reasoning,

“each degree of freedom in the blackbody be assigned an energy value of

kT, where ‘k’ is Boltzmann's constant, and ‘T’ represents the absolute
temperature”

The problem of the blackbody then reduces to defining the number of degrees
of freedom. In electromagnetic field theory, each degree of freedom is called a
mode, which represents a unique and orthogonal distribution of electric and
magnetic fields within the structure.
R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 3
 Modes in 1D cavity
Let us consider two mirrors separated by a distance ‘a’ is a cavity.
The EM wave E(x) that can fit in this cavity has to obey the boundary
condition:
E(x)=0 at x=0 & x=a

𝜆/2 = 𝑎 or 𝜆 = 2𝑎

𝜆=𝑎

3𝜆/2 = 𝑎 or 𝜆 = 2𝑎/3

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 4

 Density of modes
So one can write the solution of E(x) as
𝑞𝜋
𝐸 𝑥 = 𝐴𝑥 sin(𝑘𝑥 𝑥) Where 𝑘𝑥 = 𝑎
(q = 0,1,2, … … )

The modes in a 1D K-axis will look like

𝑘𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑎
So for a given maximum value of 𝑘𝑚𝑎𝑥 the total number of modes will be 𝑁 = 𝜋
. Now
2𝜋𝑛𝜈
if we express k in terms of normal frequency  then 𝑘 = where n is the refractive index
𝑐
and c is the velocity of light. This leads to
2𝜈𝑛𝑎
𝑁=
𝑐
R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 5
 Density of modes
The density of modes 𝜌 𝜈 for a 1 cavity can be defined as
1 𝑑𝑁
𝜌 𝜈 = 𝑎 𝑑𝜈 (1)
2𝜈𝑛𝑎 2𝑛
For a 1D cavity of length a we have 𝑁 = 𝑐 , so we get 𝜌 𝜈 = . This means the density
𝑐
of modes in a one-dimensional cavity is constant with frequency.

Suppose the active fiber length is 1 meter and has

refractive index n=1.5. Then density of modes will
be
2×1.5 −1 −8 −1
𝜌 𝜈 = 8 𝐻𝑧 = 10 𝐻𝑧
3×10
i.e. the separation between modes are 100MHz

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 6

Modes in 2D cavity
To satisfy the boundary conditions, the components of the
b wave-vector k must satisfy
𝑞𝜋 𝑚𝜋
𝑘𝑥 = and 𝑘𝑦 =
𝑎 𝑏
Where q and m are integers. The modes in k-space will look
like

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 7

 Density of modes in 2D
The number of modes for a given range of 0 to kmax calculated
graphically. It can also be calculated mathematically as:
The area of the circular area is
1 2
𝜋𝑘𝑚𝑎𝑥
4 𝜋 𝜋
The separation mode in x-direction is 𝑎 and in y-direction 𝑏
So each mode will occupy an area
𝜋2
𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑒 = 𝑎𝑏
1 2
𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑣𝑒 𝜋𝑘𝑚𝑎𝑥 2
𝑘𝑚𝑎𝑥
4
The total number of modes under the curve is 𝑁 𝑘 = 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑒
= 𝜋2
= 𝑎𝑏 4𝜋
𝑎𝑏
In terms of  we can write: 𝜋 2 𝑛2 2
𝑁 𝜈 = 𝑎𝑏 𝑐 2 𝜈 (2)

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 8

 Density of modes in 2D
The density of modes in 2d cavity becomes:
1 𝑑𝑁 2𝜋𝑛2 𝜈
𝜌 𝜈 = = modes/unit area/Hz
𝑎𝑏 𝑑𝜈 𝑐2
The density of modes in a two-dimensional cavity Increases linearly with frequency.
If we choose a laser medium that has a central emission wavelength at 1.5 µm and a spectral
bandwidth of 1010 Hz. The waveguide index of refraction is n = 1.5. If the waveguide structure is
0.1cm by 1cm in dimension then
2𝜋×1.52
The mode density becomes: 𝜌 𝜈 = = 3.141 × 10−6 modes/Hz/cm2
3×108 ×1.5×10−3

Hence the total number of modes in the waveguide within the bandwidth will be:
𝑁 𝜈 = 𝜌 𝜈 . Δ𝜈. 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 = 3.141 × 10−6 × 1010 × 1 = 3141
This means that this rectangular cavity can support almost 3100 modes in the bandwidth.

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 9

 Modes in 3D cavity

We now consider a three-dimensional cavity using a

rectangular structure with dimensions a, b, and c. The k
vector can be written as
𝑘 = 𝑘𝑥 𝑥 + 𝑘𝑦 𝑦 + 𝑘𝑧 𝑧
𝑛𝜋 𝑚𝜋 𝑞𝜋
Where 𝑘𝑥 = 𝑎
, 𝑘𝑦 = 𝑏
and 𝑘𝑧 = 𝑎

Therefore each mode in phase space occupies

𝜋𝜋𝜋 𝜋3
volume 𝑎 𝑏 𝑐 = 𝑎𝑏𝑐

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 10

 Modes in 3D cavity
The total number of modes for a given value of kmax can be calculated by counting the number of
modes in the k-space enclosed by the sphere of radius kmax .
Volume of the phase space is
1 3
4𝜋𝑘𝑚𝑎𝑥
×
8 3
In three dimensions, there are two allowed polarization directions
for each mode. So we must multiply our expression for total
number of modes by a factor of 2.
So the total number of modes will be
1 4𝜋𝑘3 𝑚𝑎𝑥
𝑝ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑙 × 3
𝑘𝑚𝑎𝑥
8 3
𝑁= 2 =2 𝜋3 = 𝑎𝑏𝑐 2 (3)
𝑣𝑜𝑙 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑒 3𝜋
𝑎𝑏𝑐
8𝜋𝑛 𝜈 3
3
In terms of  we can write 𝑁 = . 𝑎𝑏𝑐
3𝑐 3
Therefore the density of modes:
8𝜋𝑛3 𝜈2
𝜌 𝜈 = 𝑐3
modes/Hz/vol
R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 11
 Rayleigh-Jeans law of blackbody radiation
Rayleigh-Jeans law:
each degree of freedom in the blackbody be assigned an energy value of kT, where
‘k’ is Boltzmann's constant, and ‘T’ represents the absolute temperature
Now density of modes in a 3D cavity is for n=1:
8𝜋𝜈 2
𝜌 𝜈 = 3
𝑐
So the energy density of a blackbody becomes:
8𝜋𝜈2
𝜌𝜈 = 𝑘𝑇 (1)
𝑐3
This formula does an excellent job of describing the energy density of a blackbody at long
wavelengths (low frequencies), but it explodes toward infinity as the frequency increases.
This is obviously nonphysical, and led to the term ultraviolet catastrophe to describe the
theory.
R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 12
 Rayleigh-Jeans law of blackbody radiation
Then Max Planck suggested that assignment of energy at each mode should be corrected.
He suggested that energy should be quantized at each mode having a quanta value of h𝜈.
Therefore the average energy of a mode is
∞
𝐸 = 0
𝐸𝑝 𝐸 𝑑𝐸 (2)
Where 𝑝 𝐸 is the probability that the mode has energy E.
Planck assumed that the probability 𝑝 𝐸 will follow Boltzmann statistics. So we can
write:
𝑒 −𝐸 𝑘𝑇
𝑝 𝐸 = ∞ −𝐸 𝑘𝑇 (3)
0 𝑒 𝑑𝐸
Hence the average energy per mode becomes:
∞ 𝐸𝑒 −𝐸 𝑘𝑇
𝐸 = 0 ∞ 𝑒 −𝐸 𝑘𝑇 𝑑𝐸
𝑑𝐸 (4)
0

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 13

 Planck’s law of blackbody radiation
Now if we consider 𝐸 = 𝑞ℎ𝜈 where q is a integer then we get in discrete form of eqn. (4)
∞ 𝑞ℎ𝜈𝑒 −𝑞ℎ𝜈 𝑘𝑇
𝑞=0
𝐸 = ∞ 𝑒 −𝑞ℎ𝜈 𝑘𝑇 (5)
𝑞=0
ℎ𝜈
−
Now to solve this let us consider 𝑥 = 𝑒 𝑘𝑇 then we can write
∞ 𝑞𝑥 𝑞
𝑞=0 (𝑥+2𝑥 2 +3𝑥 3 +⋯ ) (1+2𝑥+3𝑥 2 +⋯ )
𝐸 = ℎ𝜈 ∞ 𝑥𝑞 = ℎ𝜈 (1+𝑥+𝑥2 +⋯ ) = ℎ𝜈𝑥 (1+𝑥+𝑥2 +⋯ ) (6)
𝑞=0

Now we have
1 1
= 1 + 𝑥 + 𝑥 2 + ⋯ and = 1 + 2𝑥 + 3𝑥 2 + ⋯
1−𝑥 1−𝑥 2
Hence we can write eqn. (6) as
1
1−𝑥 2 ℎ𝜈𝑥 ℎ𝜈 ℎ𝜈
𝐸 = ℎ𝜈𝑥 1 = = = ℎ𝜈 (7)
1−𝑥 𝑥 −1 −1
1−𝑥 𝑒 𝑘𝑇 −1

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 14

 Planck’s law of blackbody radiation
Hence the Planck’s expression for
blackbody energy density
becomes
8𝜋𝜈2 ℎ𝜈
𝜌𝜈 = (8)
𝑐 3 𝑒 ℎ𝜈 𝑘𝑇 −1

For low frequency i.e. ℎ𝜈 < 𝑘𝑇

this 𝐸 becomes 𝑘𝑇 as suggested
by Rayleigh and Jeans.

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 15

Emission and absorption
Suppose the cavity is a blackbody i.e. isolated from the
environment and is at finite steady temperature T. In this
E2
condition the possible interaction between atom and EM
radiation may take place:
h 1. The atom absorbs the energy and makes a transition
h from ground state (E1) to excited state (E2) –
Absorption.
E1 2. The atom from the excited state can make a down
transition spontaneously – Spontaneous emission.
3. The atom may stay at excited state for some time and
then makes a simulatneous down transition with other
such atoms form the excited state – Stimulated
emission.
R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 16
 Einstein’s rate equation
Einstein defines these processes in terms of rate equation as
Absorption: 𝑊12 = 𝐵12 . 𝜌𝜈 . 𝑁1 (1)
Spontaneous emission: 𝑊21,𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛 = 𝐴21 . 𝑁2 (2)
Stimulated emission: 𝑊21 = 𝐵21 . 𝜌𝜈 . 𝑁2 (3)
𝐵12 rate of absorption from state 1 to 2 and 𝐵21 is the stimulated emission rate from state 2
to 1. 𝐴21 is the rate of spontaneous emission. 𝜌𝜈 is the energy density. 𝑁𝑖 is the number of
atoms in state ‘i’.
Therefore the rate equation can be written as
𝑑𝑁1 𝑑𝑁2
=− = 𝐴21 . 𝑁2 + 𝐵21 . 𝜌𝜈 . 𝑁2 − 𝐵12 . 𝜌𝜈 . 𝑁1 (4)
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡
At steady state this becomes:
𝑑𝑁1 𝑑𝑁2
𝑑𝑡
=− 𝑑𝑡
= 𝐴21 . 𝑁2 + 𝐵21 . 𝜌𝜈 . 𝑁2 − 𝐵12 . 𝜌𝜈 . 𝑁1 = 0 (5)
R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 17
 Einstein’s rate equation
So in steady state condition we get:
𝑁2 𝐵12 𝜌𝜈
𝑁1
= 𝐴21 +𝐵21 𝜌𝜈
(6)
Einstein then considered that the population distribution of atoms in a blackbody at
temperature T will follow Boltzmann distribution. Hence we may write also:
𝑁2 𝑔2 −ℎ𝜈 𝑘𝑇
𝑁1
= 𝑔1
𝑒 (7)
𝑔1 and 𝑔2 are the population density at the corresponding energy levels. Therefore we may
write,
𝐵12 𝜌𝜈 𝑔2 −ℎ𝜈 𝑘𝑇
= 𝑒 (8)
𝐴21 +𝐵21 𝜌𝜈 𝑔1
Now at very high temperature most of the atoms will be at excited state and the probability
of stimulated emission will increase manifold than spontaneous emission. So at high
temperature 𝐵21 𝜌𝜈 ≫ 𝐴21 .
R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 18
 Einstein’s rate equation
So at high temperature we can write
𝑔
𝐵12 = 𝑔2 𝐵21 (9)
1

This result should make sense: absorption and emission involve the same states and the same
type of interaction with an optical field.
Now using equation (7), (8) & (9) we can write,
𝐴21
𝜌𝜈 = (10)
𝐵21 𝑒 ℎ𝜈 𝑘𝑇 −1
8𝜋𝜈2 ℎ𝜈
Now if we compare this with Planck’s formula for blackbody radiation 𝜌𝜈 =
𝑐 3 𝑒 ℎ𝜈 𝑘𝑇 −1
we get:
𝐴21 8𝜋ℎ𝜈3
= (11)
𝐵21 𝑐3
This is the relation between Einstein’s A & B coefficients.
R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 19
 Significance of Einstein’s coefficients
It is experimentally easy to measure the A coefficient, while directly measuring B is
difficult.
It also shows that the spontaneous emission rate increases as 3 for transitions of equal B.
Quantum mechanical calculations show that the B coefficient is independent of frequency,
and depends only on the specific wave-functions of the electronic eigenstates involved with
the transition.
If radiation density is negligible i.e. 𝜌𝜈 ≈ 0 then stimulated emission is negligible and we
get:
𝑑𝑁2
= −𝐴21 . 𝑁2 (12)
𝑑𝑡
The solution of eqn. (12) is 𝑁2 𝑡 = 𝑁2 0 𝑒 −𝐴21 𝑡 = 𝑁2 0 𝑒 −𝑡 𝜏 . So we get the physical
meaning of 𝐴21 as 1 𝜏 where 𝜏 is the spontaneous decay lifetime from the excited state. This
can be easily measured experimentally.

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 20

 Lifetime measurement

This experiment can be done using photoluminescence

spectrometer. The exponential fitting of the CRO trace
will directly give the value of .

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 21

 Lineshape function
If the two energy levels are sharp then the radiation will have a
frequency exactly as . But if the energy levels are slightly
broadened by energy 𝑑𝐸 then the radiation can have a range of
frequency 𝜈 to 𝜈 + 𝑑𝜈 where 𝑑𝐸 = ℎ𝑑𝜈.
h h
So we use a lineshape function 𝑔 𝜈 to denote the probability of
having a photon at frequency range 𝜈 .
Thus we can write:
∞
0
𝑔 𝜈 𝑑𝜈 = 1

The probability that an excited atom will emit a photon

in the frequency range 𝜈 to 𝜈 + 𝑑𝜈 is:
𝑝 𝜈𝑖 = 𝑔 𝜈𝑖 𝑑𝜈
This lineshape function depends on the transition as well
as on the environment.
R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 22
 Homogeneous broadening
The transition between the energy levels of excited states are non
radiating
The atoms interact with the incident excitation with equal
h(+d)

probability
h(-d)
h

This leads to homogeneous broadening of the emission about

central frequency . It can be defined by a Lorentzian distribution:
Δ𝜈
𝑔 𝜈 = 2𝜋 𝜈−𝜈0 2 − Δ𝜈 2 2

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 23

 Inhomogeneous broadening
Inhomogeneous broadening arises from processes which distinguish individual atoms
or molecules.
In a gas, Doppler broadening leads to an inhomogeneous line shape because an atom
moving toward the optical wave can be distinguished from an atom moving away from
the source.
Many solid-state lasers, including the Er-doped fiber amplifier, utilize rare-earth atoms
doped into glass or crystals to provide gain at particular wavelengths. The exact
transition frequency of a given ion depends very strongly on its local environment. The
electrons which covalently bond the ion in the lattice establish what is known as a
ligand field, which is effectively a potential well that binds the ion to the lattice. This
ligand field depends strongly on the dimensions of the lattice. Due to internal strain in
the crystal caused by defects and dislocations, there will be small differences in the
local structure surrounding each ion. Each ion will experience a slightly different ligand
field, leading to inhomogeneous broadening due to Stark splitting.

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 24