MTsol_2007.

nb 1

EE231 Midterm Solutions

Problem 1
Just like for the case considered in the notes, to find the circulating power, we set the round trip gain equal to the loss:
2 am ÿ 2 L = 2 a ÿ 2 L - lnHR1 R2 L
In this case, the gain comes from the two species, so the total gain is just the sum of the gain from each species:
DN0,i
2 am = s1 DN1 HIL + s2 DN2 HIL, with DNi HIL = ÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅ
ÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅ . Here the signal intensity is twice the circulating intensity , and
1 + Isig êIsat, i
Ñw
the saturation intensities are: Isat, i = ÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅ ÅÅÅ . Putting it all together, we have:
si ti
DN0,1 DN0,2
2 L ÿ Is1 ÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅ
ÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅ
1 + 2 Ic êIsat, 1
Å ÅÅÅ + s ÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅ
ÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅ
2 1 + 2 Ic êIsat, 2 Å Å Å M = 2 s ÿ 2 L - lnHR1 R2 L

Problem 2
(a) The general stability condition for a cavity is 0 < g1 g2 < 1. For this cavity, g1 = g2 = 1 - L ê R. The stability condition
tells us L1,max = 2 R.
i 1 Ln ê n yz
(b) The ABCD matrix for a length Ln of material with index n is jj z. So a propagating through a length Ln of material
k0 1 {
Ln
with index n is the same as propagating through a length Ln ê n of free space. Leq = ÅÅÅÅ n
ÅÅ + 2 d = L2 - Ln H1 - 1 ê nL.The
cavity becomes unstable when Leq = 2 R Ø L2, max = 2 R + Ln H1 - 1 ê nL.
(c) The lens and mirror at each end of the cavity have an ABCD matrix given by: Mtot = Mlens Mmirror Mlens , with
i 1 0y i 1 0y
Mlens = jj zzand Mmirror = jj zz. So ÅÅÅÅ
1 fR
ÅÅÅÅÅ = ÅÅÅÅ1f Å + ÅÅR1ÅÅ Ø Req = ÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅ
ÅÅÅÅÅÅ . The cavity becomes unstable when
k -1 ê f 1 { k -2 ê R 1 { Req f +R
fR
L3 = 2 Req Ø L3,max = 2 ÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅ
ÅÅÅÅÅÅ .
f +R

Problem 3
(a) The rate equations are:
N2 ' HtL = R p - gN N2 - kHN2 - M3 L
M3 ' HtL = kHN2 - M3 L - g32 M3
M2 ' HtL = g32 M3 - gM M2
M2 k g32
(b) After some algebra, it's possible to show that in the steady-state: ÅÅÅÅ
N2
ÅÅÅÅ = ÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅ
Hk+g32 L g M
ÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅ
M2 k M2 M2
(c) If g32 >> k, then ÅÅÅÅ
N2
ÅÅÅÅ º ÅÅÅÅ
gM N2
ÅÅÅÅ . If ÅÅÅÅ1k =1ms and ÅÅÅÅ
ÅÅÅÅ . So k >> gM maximizes ÅÅÅÅ 1
gM
ÅÅ Å = 1ms, then ÅÅÅÅ
N2
ÅÅ Å º 1000.
Problem 4 Solution.

(a) From lecture notes on ASE, the gain coefficient for a four-level system is:
W14τ
γ (z) = σ 32 N 3 (z) = σ 32 N 0 (1)
1 + W14τ + W32τ
where τ is the excited state lifetime, σ32 is the stimulated emission cross-section, and the
rates Wij are given by:
σ 14 I p (z)
W14 (z) =
hω
σ 32 I s (z)
W32 (z) =
hω
By using the definitions of the pump absorption and signal emission saturation intensities
Ip,sat and Is,sat, respectively, these can be re-written as W14(z)τ = Ip(z)/Ip,sat and W32(z)τ =
Is(z)/Is,sat. Inserting these expressions in Eq. 1 gives:
W14τ
γ (z) = σ 32 N 0 (2)
I p (z) I s (z)
1+ +
I p, sat I s,sat

(b) If we assume that the pump is very strong throughout the gain medium, then Ip(z) >>
Ip,sat at all locations z. Ip(z) then does not vary much with z, and we can approximate it by
a constant of z. Equation 2 can then be written as:
σ NW τ 1
γ (z) ≈ 32 0 14 (3)
Ip I s (z) 1
1+ 1+
I p, sat I s, sat 1 + I p I p, sat
The form of the gain coefficient that we derived in class in the absence of pump
saturation (i.e., in the absence of ground-level depletion) is:
σ NW τ
γ 0 (z) = 32 0 14 (4)
I s (z)
1+
I s,sat
So comparison between Eq. 3 and 4 shows that the effect of pump saturation is to (1)
reduce the gain (first fraction in Eq. 3) and to increase the signal saturation intensity.
To write Eq. 3 in the form of Eq. 4, as hinted in the statement of the problem we need to
define a new pump-power-dependent lifetime that explains both of these changes.
Mathematically, we need to make the first fraction in Eq. 3 look like the first fraction in
Eq. 3, and the saturation intensities in the two equations also look the same. The first step
is obvious: we need to define a new, power-dependent lifetime:
τ
τ'= (5)
Ip
1+
I p, sat
This is not at all unexpected given what we learned about the lifetime of a two-level
system under pump saturation.
For the second step, we obviously need to define a pump-power-dependent signal
saturation intensity:
 I s,sat ' = I s,sat (1 + I p I p,sat ) (6)
But since I s,sat = hω (σ 32τ ) , by making use of Eq. 5 we can write Eq. 6 as:
hω hω
I s , sat ' = (1 + I p I p , sat ) = (7)
σ 32τ σ 32τ '
Equivalently, the same new lifetime given by Eq. 5 explains both the reduction in the first
fraction in the gain coefficient (Eq. 3) and the change in the signal saturation intensity.

(c) Physically, as shown for a two-level system, the presence of the pump replenishes the
excited state, which increase the probability of stimulated emission, which forces the
electrons to cycle through from ground state to excited and back faster. The factor of 2 in
front of the ratio Ip/Ip,sat is gone because there is no population in the pump level N4 (ideal
system), hence no pump-induced stimulated emission from level 4 to level 1.

Problem 5 Solution.

(a) Physically, we expect that larger cross-sections (both pump and signal) and longer
upper laser level lifetimes will result in larger gain.

(b) The population inversions in the three and four-level systems are:
∆N 3 W3τ 3 − 1 x3 − 1
= = (1)
N 0 W3τ 3 + 1 x3 + 1
∆N 4 W4τ 4 − 1 x
= = 4 (2)
N 0 W4τ 4 + 1 x4 + 1
Where x3 = I/Isat,3 and x4 = I/Isat,4. Since I is greater than both Isat,3 and Isat,4 we know that
x3 >1 and x4 > 1. For the population inversion in the three-level system to be greater than
in the four-level system, we need:
x3 − 1 x
> 4 ⇒ x3 > 2 x4 + 1 (3)
x3 + 1 x4 + 1
Since x3 >1 and x4 > 1, a sufficient condition is x3 > 3x4, which means I/Isat,3 > 3 I/Isat,4.
So the final result (valid for any pump intensity greater than both Isat,3 and I/Isat,4) is
hω
Isat,4>3Isat,3. Since saturation intensities are defined as I sat = , this result is in
στ
agreement with our intuition from part (a) - the three-level system must have a longer
lifetime τ and a larger cross-section σ.