LASER

Part 1:
Fundamentals of Laser
Operation

2
 Introduction OF LASER

 L – LIGHT
 A – AMPLIFICATION
 S – STIMULATED
 E – EMISSION
 R - RADIATION

 By A. L. SCHAWLOW and C. H. TOWNES IN 1958

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4
5
 Definition of laser
Semiconducting lasers are multilayer
semiconductor devices that generates
a coherent beam of monochromatic
light by laser action. A coherent
beam resulted which all of the
photons are in phase.

6
 Laser Fundamentals
 The light emitted from a laser is monochromatic, that is, it is
of one color/wavelength. In contrast, ordinary white light is a
combination of many colors (or wavelengths) of light.
 Lasers emit light that is highly directional, that is, laser light
is emitted as a relatively narrow beam in a specific direction.
Ordinary light, such as from a light bulb, is emitted in many
directions away from the source.
 The light from a laser is said to be coherent, which means
that the wavelengths of the laser light are in phase in space
and time. Ordinary light can be a mixture of many
wavelengths.

These three properties of laser light are what can make it

more hazardous than ordinary light. Laser light can
deposit a lot of energy within a small area.
7
 Incandescent vs. Laser
Light

1. Many wavelengths 1. Monochromatic

2. Multidirectional 2. Directional
3. Incoherent 3. Coherent

8
 The operation of the
Laser

 Gordon Gould coined the name LASER

while Schawlow –Townes described their
idea as an “Optical Maser”
 In 1958, Charles Townes and Arthur
Schawlow theorized about a visible laser,
an invention that would use infrared and/or
visible spectrum light.
 Common Components of all Lasers
1. Active Medium
The active medium may be solid crystals such as ruby or Nd:YAG, liquid
dyes, gases like CO2 or Helium/Neon, or semiconductors such as GaAs.
Active mediums contain atoms whose electrons may be excited to a
metastable energy level by an energy source.
2. Excitation Mechanism
Excitation mechanisms pump energy into the active medium by one or
more of three basic methods; optical, electrical or chemical.
3. High Reflectance Mirror
A mirror which reflects essentially 100% of the laser light.
4. Partially Transmissive Mirror
A mirror which reflects less than 100% of the laser light and transmits the
remainder.
1
0
 Basic Idea
 Consider a group of atoms exposed stream of photons, each with
energy h. Let us assume two energy levels E1
and E2 of an atom.
 During transition from one energy state to another, the light
is absorbed (or) emitted by particles. Under this action,
3 processes can occur.
 They are,
 Stimulated absorption
 Spontaneous emission
 Stimulated emission

11
 Absorption

 Spontaneous event in
which an atom or
molecule absorbs a
photon from an incident
optical field

 The absorption of the

photon causes the atom
or molecule to transition
to an excited state

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 Absorption

E1

E2

13
 Spontaneous Emission

 Statistical process (random phase) – emission by an

isolated atom or molecule
 Emission into 4π steradians
14
 Spontaneous
Emission

15
 Stimulated Emission
 A photon interacting with an atom already in the
excited state causes the atom to:
 immediately drop to ground state
 simultaneously emit a photon of the same
frequency
 Stimulated Emission
E2

2hn
hn

E1

 Same phase as “stimulating” optical

field
 Same polarization
17
 Same direction of propagation
 Stimulated Emission

18
 Stimulated Emission

1
 Stimulated Emission
E1

stimulating coherent photons

photon

E0
 absorption, spontaneous emission &
stimulated emission
E2 E2 E2
h h
h h In
Out
h

E1 E1 E1

(a) Absorption (b) Spontaneous emission (c) Stimulated emission

Absorption, spontaneous (random photon) emission and stimulated
emission.
© 1999
21 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)
 DIFF B/W SPONTANEOUS & STIMULATED EMISSION
S.NO SPONTANEOUS EMISSION STIMULATED EMISSION

1. The atom in the excited state returns to An atom in the excited state is induced
ground state thereby emitting a photon to return to ground state thereby
,without any external inducement . resulting in two photons of same
frequency and energy

2. The emitted photons can move randomly The emitted photon move in same
direction and is highly directional

3. The photons are not in phase The photons are in phase

4. The rate of transition is given by The rate of transition is given by

R sp = A21 N2 R st = B21 N2 ρ

5. Incoherent radiation Coherent radiation

6. Having more angular spread during Having less angular spread during
propagation propagation
Ex: light from sodium (or) mercury vapour Ex: light from laser source
2 lamp
6/14/2019
 Lasing Action
1. Energy is applied to a medium raising electrons to an unstable
energy level.
2. These atoms spontaneously decay to a relatively long-lived, lower
energy, metastable state.
3. A population inversion is achieved when the majority of atoms have
reached this metastable state.
4. Lasing action occurs when an electron spontaneously returns to its

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ground state and produces a photon.
5. If the energy from this photon is of the precise wavelength, it will
stimulate the production of another photon of the same wavelength
and resulting in a cascading effect.
6. The highly reflective mirror and partially reflective mirror continue
the reaction by directing 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 “beam”.
8. Laser radiation will continue as long as energy is applied to the
lasing medium.
 Lasing Action Diagram

Excited State
Spontaneous
Energy

24
Emission
Metastable State
Introduction

Stimulated
Energy

Emission of
Radiation

Ground State
 Two level system

E2 E2
hn hn
hn

hn =E2-E1
E1 E1

absorption Spontaneous Stimulated

emission emission

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 Lasers: Terms
 Stimulated emission
 Population inversion
 Metastable state
 Stimulated emission
 Normal conditions  most atoms in ground state
 spontaneous emission the more likely event

 To make stimulated emission the more likely

event:
 most atoms must be in excited state
 Population Inversion
 When the majority of atoms of a substance are in
the excited state
 we call this population inversion
 Cannot maintain population inversion with a
single excited state:
 atoms cannot be excited any faster than the rate
of stimulated emission
 Population Inversion
 Therefore we must have a mechanism where N2 > N1
 This is called POPULATION INVERSION
 Population inversion can be created by introducing a so call
metastable centre where electrons can piled up to achieve a
situation where more N2 than N1
 The process of attaining a population inversion is called pumping
and the objective is to obtain a non-thermal equilibrium.
 It is not possible to achieve population inversion with a 2-state
system.
 If the radiation flux is made very large the probability of stimulated
emission and absorption can be made far exceed the rate of
spontaneous emission.
 But in 2-state system, the best we can get is N1 = N2.
 To create population inversion, a 3-state system is required.
 The system is pumped with radiation of energy E31 then atoms in
state 3 relax to state 2 non radiatively.
 The electrons from E2 will now jump to E1 to give out radiation.
2
 Population Inversion &
Metastable States
 At least two excited states required for population
inversion
 One of these excited states must be metastable (atoms
must remain there for microseconds or longer instead
of nanoseconds)
 Two excited states plus a ground state mean that the
simplest laser must utilize at least three energy levels
 Population Inversion

When a sizable population of electrons resides in upper levels, this

condition is called a "population inversion", and it sets the stage for
stimulated emission of multiple photons. This is the precondition for
the light amplification which occurs in a LASER and since the emitted
photons have a definite time and phase relation to each other, the light
has a high degree of coherence.

3
 Condition for the laser operation E2

E1
If n1 > n2
• radiation is mostly absorbed absorbowane
• spontaneous radiation dominates.
if n2 >> n1 - population inversion
• most atoms occupy level E2, weak absorption

• stimulated emission prevails

• light is amplified

Necessary condition:
population inversion

3
 Three-level Laser (e.g. Ruby Laser)
Short lifetime
E2 pump level
rapid drop to E1
E1 Metastable state
upper laser level
stimulating
Fig 82, p 134
Pump photon

coherent
photons

E0 Ground state
 Four-level Laser (e.g. Nd-YAG Laser)
Short lifetime
E3 pump level
rapid drop to E2
E2 Metastable state
upper laser level
stimulating coherent
Pump photon photons

E1
Rapid decay
E0 Ground state
 Stimulated vs. spontaneous
emission
 Spontaneous emission:
  isotropic: occurs in random directions
 has random polarization
 occurs over a broader bandwidth
 Stimulated vs. spontaneous
emission
 Stimulated emission
 relative to the exciting photon, the new
photon has the same:
 wavelength
 phase
 state of polarization
 direction of emission
 Laser “Pumping” Energy
 To raise the majority of atoms to an excited state,
and keep them there, requires a constant supply
of energy to the laser cavity.
 Pump may consist of UV energy, electrical or
chemical energy
 Putting the Laser Together
 Pumping  population inversion of metastable
atoms
 When a metastable atom eventually decays 
spontaneous emission
 When this photon hits another metastable atom
 stimulated emission
 Putting the Laser Together
 The two coherent photons  incident on two
other atoms in the metastable state (most likely
state of any atom):
 result  stimulated emission of two more
coherent photons
 rapidly builds an avalanche of stimulated
emission  amplification
 Amplification: Three-level Laser
E2
rapid drop to E1
E1 E1
coherent photons
stimulating
Pump photon

coherent photons coherent photons

E0
 Amplification
E1 E1

etc.
4
 Putting the Laser Together
 Because the pump is raising atoms to E2 it is not
competing with metastable E1 atoms for photons.
This improves laser efficiency
 Chamber Resonance & Coherent
Photons
 In the early stages of stimulated emission, both
spontaneous and stimulated emission occur.
 To ensure amplification of stimulated emission,
mirrors at each end of the laser cavity allow the
“axial” beam to oscillate through the cavity
 Chamber Resonance & Coherent
Photons
 Non-axial photons (spontaneous emission) quickly
die out due to their random direction of emission
 the axial beam is continually amplified with each
pass
 To further amplify the axial beam, constructive
interference must occur in the axial direction
 Constructive Interference &
Standing Waves
 Standing waves are produced in the laser cavity
when cavity length is an integral multiple of /2
 Because there are mirrors at each end, this is
analogous to two light sources separated by an
integral multiple of /2 propagating light waves
toward each other
 Constructive Interference & Standing
Waves

 One way to look at standing waves is with the same

sort of “rope” analogy that we used for plane
polarization
Rope: Producing Standing Waves
Rope: Producing Standing Waves
 
Rope Length L 
2
Antinode

Node
 Standing Waves

 Standing waves are characterized by stationary

positions called nodes and vertically oscillating
positions called antinodes
 2
L    
2
Antinode Antinode

Node
 3
L  
2

To produce standing waves,

must have nodes at each end
of rope/laser cavity
Standing Waves “Amplify”
with each Pass
 5 Constructive interference  composite
L   wave amplitude builds with each pass
2
 Standing Waves

 In the laser cavity, as the number of coherent photons

builds, the amplitude of the antinodes increases
L  3

L  7
L  28

 A laser will have MANY more wavelengths than

28 through the cavity, but any multiple of /2
will produce standing waves and is a potential
cavity mode
Polarization and Brewster Windows
 Brewster windows ensure that the emergent
beam is plane polarized and allow 100%
transmittance (zero reflection loss) in the plane
of incidence
 Light polarized in other planes rapidly becomes
excluded from the system
The beam of light produced by a laser, while
monochromatic and highly focused, is not
necessarily polarized. The function of a
Brewster window is to produce a laser beam
that is not only monochromatic but polarized
as well.
Brewster’s angle
When light encounters a boundary
between two different media –
such as air and glass, for example –
some of it is refracted, or
transmitted through the glass,
while the rest is reflected. The ratio
of transmitted to reflected light is
dependent on the angle at which
the light strikes the surface of the
glass and the orientation of the
electric vector.
A stack of plates at Brewster's angle to a beam reflects
off a fraction of the s-polarized light at each surface,
leaving a p-polarized beam. Full polarization at
Brewster's angle requires many more plates than
shown. The arrows indicate the direction of the
electrical field, not the magnetic field, which is
perpendicular to the electric field
Brewster’s angle (also known as the polarization angle) is an
angle of incidence at which light with a particular polarization
(called p-polarization) is perfectly transmitted through a
transparent dielectric (electrically non-conducting) surface,
with no reflection. When un-polarized light, whether
monochromatic or consisting of various wavelengths, is
incident at this angle, the light that is reflected from the
surface is therefore perfectly polarized (s-polarization). The s-
polarization has its electric vector perpendicular to the plane
of incidence while the p-polarization is parallel. This special
angle of incidence is named after the Scottish physicist Sir
David Brewster (1781–1868).
Brewster’s angle is proportional to the index of
refraction (denoted by “n”) of the medium through
which the light is refracted divided by the index of
refraction of the medium through which it initially
travelled. For a glass medium (n ≈ 1.5) in air (n ≈ 1),
Brewster’s angle for visible light is approximately 56°,
while for an air-water interface (n ≈ 1.33), it is
approximately 53°. Since the refractive index for a
given medium changes depending on the wavelength
of light, Brewster’s angle will also vary with
wavelength which, in the case of monochromatic laser
light, is uniform.
By inserting a Brewster window into the
path of a laser beam in such a position that
the laser light strikes it precisely at
Brewster’s angle, the laser beam can be
configured to produce exactly the polarized
light required for a particular application.
 Polarization and Brewster Windows

High Output
reflectance coupler
mirror (mirror)

Laser cavity

Output
Brewster beam
Brewster
window window
 Initial Effect of Brewster Window
100% of vertically polarized
Brewster component transmitted
window

B
85% of
Unpolarized Normal
incident beam 15% of pure horizontally
horizontally polarized
polarized component component
reflected (and lost) transmitted
from laser beam
 Initial Effect of Brewster Window
100% of vertically polarized
Brewster component transmitted
window

B

Unpolarized Normal
incident beam
At each successive pass through a Brewster
window, 15% of the horizontal component is
lost  does not take too many passes to
eliminate the horizontal component
 Eventual Effect of Brewster Window
High 100% of beam
reflectance Brewster Output
vertically polarized coupler
mirror window

B
Vertically Normal horizontal
polarized no horizontal component
incident beam component remains has been
after several beam eliminated
passes through the from system
laser cavity
 Polarization and Brewster Windows

 The laser beam reflects back and forth between the

cavity mirrors (~ 109 round trips per second)
 Loss of 15% per reflection at Brewster’s window rapidly
wipes out the horizontal component, leaving only the
vertical (50% of initial beam power)
 NET RESULT: almost instantaneously, the cavity and
output beam become 100% polarized in the vertical
direction.
Continuous Beam Lasers
Continuous Beam Lasers

The Helium-Neon Laser

 The Helium-Neon Laser
Brewster Brewster
Window Window
LASER CAVITY Beam

“High DC Power Output

Reflector” Supply Coupler
 He-Ne Laser – Energy Level Diagram
(e)
He-Ne energy exchange amplification
collision + 0.05 eV
metastable stimulated emission
thermal energy coherent photons

21S0 3S2 3S2

(b) 1.96 eV (c) 632.8 nm etc.
20.66 eV spontaneous emission
20.61 eV 2P4 2P4
(a) Pump (d)
18.7 eV extremely
e- He extremely
rapid
collision rapid
de-excitation
de-excitation
E0 E0 E0
Helium Neon Second Neon
Atom
 Continuous Wave (Beam) Lasers
 Small percentage of light (1 -3 %) leaks continuously
from CW laser cavity through a partially transmitting
mirror  output coupler
An output coupler (OC) is a partially reflective mirror used
in lasers to extract a portion of the laser beam from the optical
resonator.
Lasers operate by reflecting light between two or more mirrors
which have an active laser medium between them. The medium
amplifies the light by stimulated emission. For lasing to occur,
the gain of the active medium must be larger than the total loss,
which includes both unwanted effects such as absorption, and the
intentional release of energy through the output coupler. In other
words the laser must attain threshold.
 He-Ne CW Laser
 Stability is improved slightly using spherical, rather
than plane mirrors. Typically, the mirror radius of
curvature equals cavity length  confocal
configuration
 The light “leakage” output mechanism makes CW
lasers inherently inefficient in terms of output power
 Most “garden variety” He-Ne lasers do not have
Brewster windows (requires external mirrors; high
maintenance; expensive)
Continuous Beam Lasers

More on Amplification
 Standing Waves & Possible Modes of
Oscillation

 A frequency (mode) of oscillation is a

frequency (wavelength) that will:
 produce standing waves in the laser cavity 
 promote stimulated emission (i.e. will “lase”)
Standing Waves & Possible Frequencies
of Oscillation
 Only oscillating frequencies (cavity modes) close to
laser frequency (photon frequency produced by
stimulated emission) can be amplified through the laser
cavity
He-Ne Laser: Possible Frequencies (Modes) of Oscillation

632.8 nm transition for typical He-Ne laser:

 is not a discrete (sharp) peak
 actually a Gaussian (bell-shaped) frequency curve

Combining the cavity length (n/2) requirement with

the need for wavelengths (near 632.8 nm for Neon) that
will actually undergo stimulated emission and
amplification, we get:

n* L*2 c*n

L     OR  
2 n L*2
He & Ne Bright Line Spectra

632.8 nm
 Possible He-Ne Emission 
Wavelength Color
543.5 nm Green
593.9 nm Yellow
611.8 nm Orange
632.8 nm Red
1,152.3 nm Near Infra-Red
1,523.1 nm Near Infra-Red
3,391.3 nm Mid Infra-Red
Increasing Laser Efficiency

Pulsed Lasers
 Some Definitions
 Lasing action requirements: the gain provided by stimulated
emission from the upper laser level just exceeds any losses due to
spontaneous emission, off axis photons and absorption and
scattering at the mirrors
 Optical Resonance: establishment of standing waves by light of
specific frequencies
 Laser Cavity: the optical resonator formed by two coaxial mirrors,
one totally and one partially reflective, positioned so that laser
oscillations will occur
 Mode: possible resonant frequency (meets n/2 requirement)
 Cavity Mode (of oscillation): frequency that can “support” lasing
action in the laser cavity (meets both n/2 and stimulated emission
requirement)
 Pulsed Lasers
Energy  Joules 
Power  Watts  
Time  sec 

Increase power by either:

 increasing energy output, or
 decreasing time of emission of a single pulse - i.e.
compress laser output
 Pulsed Lasers
 Compressing laser output into extremely short
duration bursts  pulsed lasers can achieve
much higher power output than CW lasers
 Pulsed Laser:
Pulse Compression Methods
 Mode Locking

 Q-switching
 Mode Locking
 Again use theory of Cavity Modes; frequencies:
 that will resonate (produce standing waves) in a laser
cavity (L = n/2)
 close to “laser” frequency (photon frequency produced
by stimulated emission) so they can be amplified by
oscillation through the laser cavity
 Mode Locking
 Mode locking requires at least two cavity modes of
equal amplitude and similar frequency
 All cavity modes (supported resonant frequencies) must
be synchronized so that they are in phase at regular
intervals
 Mode Locking
When the phases of two (or more) cavity modes are
synchronized, the modes are locked
 Mode Locking
 Simplest possible case is two cavity modes:
 maximum constructive interference each time two
modes are in phase.
 as the two modes drift out of phase  partial
destructive interference reduces composite
amplitude
 cycle repeats periodically
The period of each beat frequency is longer than that of either
component frequency
The closer the frequencies of component modes, the longer
the period of each “beat”:
 Beat Frequencies:
the First Step in Pulse-Shaping
 The composite beat frequency pattern shows how a
continuous wave output can be modified to form a
periodic “pulsed” output
 This alone is not sufficient to create extremely short
duration, high power pulses
 Enhancement of Mode-Locking
 Several additional mechanisms farther shape and
shorten the mode-locked pulses
 A shutter mechanism synchronizes phase relationships
of cavity modes to amplify the beat pattern as it
oscillates through the laser cavity
 The shutter also quenches lower power pulses
 Passive Mode-Locking
 A saturable dye near one cavity mirror is often used as
the “shutter”
 The dye absorbs and quenches sub-threshold pulses, so
they cannot compromise the building interference
pattern
 Effectively the shutter is closed for these low-power
pulses
Mode-Locking: Pulse-shaping
Shutter Shutter
open open

Shutter closed Shutter closed

Mode-Locking: Pulse-shaping
Shutter Shutter
open open

Shutter closed Shutter closed

Amplitude
builds with each
pass through
cavity
 Passive Mode-Locking
 High power pulses cause rapid dye bleaching  open
the shutter and allow light to pass

 Quenching of low power pulses “clips” the wings of

the composite wave, decreasing t (time) in the power
equation for each pulse.

 Free passage of high power pulses rapidly builds the

amplitude of the composite wave with each successive
pass, increasing E (energy) in the power equation
 Passive Mode-Locking
 Pulse duration for a mode-locked laser may be in the
10-15 (femto) to 10-12 (pico) second range
 Maximum energy output is ~ 4.5 millijoules
4.5  10 3 joules
Typical Power  12
 1.8  10 9
Watts
25  10 seconds
 A train of maximum energy 4.5 mJ mode-locked pulses
emitted in 25 psec bursts would have a power of 1.8
gigawatts
 Powers in the terawatt (1012 watt) range are possible
for highly shaped pulses
 Q-Switching
 Q-switching results in the emission of single, high
power pulses
 The Q-switch is the intracavity shutter
 It facilitates storage of maximum potential energy by
the laser medium (as many atoms as possible in the
metastable state)
 This requires an active medium allowing atoms to
remain in the high-energy state for a long period
 Q-Switching
 As potential energy builds in the active medium and
optimum gain conditions approach  the Q-switch
opens, exposing the mirror
 Extremely rapid stimulated emission and oscillation
ensues, resulting in the output of a single, high-powered
pulse (typically of the order of 10-8 sec duration).
 Q-Switching Shutter Mechanisms
 May be rotating mirror or saturable dye
 A common ophthalmic laser Q-switch is the Pockels
cell  opens by rapidly changing the state of
polarization of a “birefringent” liquid crystal so that it
changes from opaque to clear
 Pockels Cell and Half-Wave Plates
 Plane-polarized light passing through a birefringent
half-wave (/2) plate at an angle  to the optic axis
changes its state of polarization by 2. This is because
the component E ( to the plane of incidence) changes
phase by 180 (+E becomes E)
Half-Wave Plate
 Pockels Cell and Half-Wave Plates
 Plane-polarized light passing through a birefringent
half-wave (/2) plate at an angle  to the optic axis
changes its state of polarization by 2. This is because
the component E ( to the plane of incidence) changes
phase by 180 (+E becomes E)

 “Double-passing” plane polarized light through a

quarter-wave (/4) plate using a mirror has the same
effect as a single pass through a half-wave plate
(circular polarization is produced between passes
through the quarter-wave plate)
HR /4 Plate Pockels cell
OFF

B

OFF Zero axial intensity

ON
 Pockels Cell

Horizontally
polarized light 90 change in state of polarization
when voltage applied
 The Q-Switch
 “Q” means quality factor of the laser cavity:

Energy stored ( per cycle )

Quality Factor : Q 
Energy lost ( per cycle )

 Opening the Q-switch changes the quality factor from

high Q to low Q as power is rapidly emitted from the
laser cavity
 Q-switched Laser
 Typical pulse duration is 10 - 15 nsec
 Peak energy may be 10 to 30 mJ

30  103 joules
Typical Power  9
 3  10 Watts
6

10  10 seconds

 Shorter duration Q-switched pulses may reach

maximum power outputs in the gigawatt (109 watt)
range
THE END