Online class 2

ET721/2
 Optical gain

When a radiation with intensity I passes through a system 3 event can occur:
1. Absorption
2. Spontaneous emission
3. Simulated emission
Now if we write I in terms of energy density then
𝐼 = 𝜌𝜈 𝑐

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 2

 Optical gain
Then we can write the change in intensity Δ𝐼 as
Δ𝐼 = 𝑑𝑁 𝑑𝑡. ℎ𝜈
𝐼 𝐼 1 𝛿Ω (1)
= 𝐵21 𝑐 𝑔 𝜈 𝑁2 . Δ𝑧. ℎ𝜈 − 𝐵12 𝑐 𝑔 𝜈 𝑁1 . Δ𝑧. ℎ𝜈 + 𝐴21 2 𝑔 𝜈 𝑁2 . Δ𝑧. 4𝜋

Stimulated emission Absorption Spontaneous emission

𝑔2
If we use the relation 𝐵12 = 𝐵
𝑔1 21
then eqn. (1) becomes:
𝐼 𝑔2 𝐼 1 𝛿Ω
Δ𝐼 = 𝐵21 𝑐 𝑔 𝜈 𝑁2 . Δ𝑧. ℎ𝜈 − 𝐵21 𝑔 𝑐 𝑔 𝜈 𝑁1 . Δ𝑧. ℎ𝜈 + 𝐴21 2 𝑔 𝜈 𝑁2 . Δ𝑧. 4𝜋
1

Now we assume spontaneous emission is negligible. So we can write:

𝐼 𝑔2 𝐼
Δ𝐼 = 𝐵21 𝑐 𝑔 𝜈 𝑁2 . Δ𝑧. ℎ𝜈 −𝐵21 𝑔 𝑐 𝑔 𝜈 𝑁1 . Δ𝑧. ℎ𝜈 (2)
1

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 3

 Optical gain
eqn. (2) can be written as:
𝐼 𝑔2
Δ𝐼 = 𝐵21 𝑐 𝑔 𝜈 Δ𝑧ℎ𝜈 𝑁2 − 𝑔 𝑁1 (3)
1

Now if we use the relation

𝐴21 8𝜋ℎ𝑛3 𝜈3
=
𝐵21 𝑐3
We can write eqn. (3) as:
Δ𝐼 𝑑𝐼 𝐴21 𝑐 3 𝐼 𝑔2
= = 3 3
𝑔 𝜈 𝑁2 − 𝑁1
Δ𝑧 𝑑𝑧 8𝜋ℎ𝑛 𝜈 𝑐 𝑔1
𝐴21 𝜆2 𝑔
= 8𝜋𝑛2
𝑔 𝜈 𝑁2 − 𝑔2 𝑁1 𝐼 = 𝛾0 𝜈 𝐼 (4)
1
𝑔
Eqn. (4) suggest that we get an amplification if 𝑁2 > 𝑔2 𝑁1 . This condition is called
1
population inversion.

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 4

 3 level system
In a 3 level system the ground state is naturally
populated. So we first have to equalize the population
at level 2 and 1 to avoid absorption loss. Then we need
more population at level 2 to get a net gain.
If Ni is the population at level ‘i’ then at t=0
𝑁1 + 𝑁2 + 𝑁3 = 𝑁
At certain level we achieve 𝑁2 𝑔2 = 𝑁1 𝑔1 and the
medium becomes transparent. It means no light will
get absorbed.

The power per unit volume required to pump a three-level laser to transparency is:
𝑃 𝐸3 −𝐸1 𝑁
=
𝑉 𝜏21 1+𝑔1 𝑔2
𝜏21 is the lifetime at level 2, V is the volume of active medium.
R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 5
 4 level system

The shortcoming of 3 level system can be overcome in 4 level system.

Since level 2 and 1 are initially unpopulated so it is quite easy to establish population inversion.
The power required for population inversion is much less in 4 level system compared to 3 level
system.

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 6

Example of 3 and 4 level system

Ruby laser – 3 level Helium-Neon – 4 level system

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 7

 Gain saturation

For every photon added to the optical field, two ions are removed from the inversion. The
upper-state population decreases by one, while the lower-state population increases by one.
If the population inversion N is large then the decrease in inversion is small. But if we
keep on increasing the number of input photon then the depopulation of the excited state
occurs at a faster rate. The best situation will be all photons in the input field is amplified.
But any further increment will no longer leads to amplification. The medium will get
saturated and we get a gain saturation.

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 8

 Optical pumping
To achieve a gain in an optical system we need to satisfy the condition
𝑔2
𝑁2 > 𝑁
𝑔1 1
In an optically active medium this can be achieved through optical pumping. The basic
scheme is:

Optical pumping of Er+3 ion

R. Chattopadhyay, IIEST 9
 Gain cross-section
We derived the relation:
𝑑𝐼 𝐴21 𝜆2 𝑔
= 𝑔 𝜈 𝑁2 − 𝑔2 𝑁1 𝐼 = 𝛾0 𝜈 𝐼
𝑑𝑧 8𝜋𝑛2 1

The solution of it can be written as:

𝐼 𝑧 = 𝐼 0 exp(𝛾0 𝜈 𝑧)
If 𝛾 is positive and constant, the intensity increases exponentially. Physically, as the beam
becomes more intense, its chance of stimulating even more transitions increases.
Now one can write the gain coefficient as:
𝛾0 𝜈 = 𝜎(𝜈)∆𝑁
Where 𝜎 is the gain cross-section :
𝐴21 𝜆2 𝜆2 𝑔 𝜈
𝜎= 8𝜋𝑛2
𝑔 𝜈 = 8𝜋𝑛2 𝜏𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛

R. Chattopadhyay, IIEST 10
 Noise in optical amplifier

Consider an optical amplifier consisting of an inverted medium with a diffraction-limited laser beam
passing through it. The medium has population densities N2 and N1 in the upper and lower laser
levels, respectively.
For the small area dz coherent amplification of the incident power will be
𝑑𝑃 = 𝜎 𝑁2 − 𝑁1 𝑃𝑑𝑧 = 𝛾0 𝑃𝑑z (1)
In addition to coherent gain, the gain medium will also display spontaneous emission. The element
dz of the gain region with area A has a total spontaneous emission power of
𝑁2 ℎ𝜈𝐴𝑑𝑧
𝑃𝑁 =
𝜏𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑡
R. Chattopadhyay, IIEST 11
 Noise in optical amplifier
The coherent amplification occurs only in the incident beam direction, with a bandwidth
defined by the beam and in the same polarization as the beam.
Spontaneous emission is uncorrelated with the input beam, any spontaneous photons that
exit within the solid angle and spectral bandwidth of the input beam will be noise.

The amount of spontaneous emission that falls on the

detector due to spontaneous emission can be spatially
filtered using an aperture that matches the size of the
beam at the detector. Spatial filtering reduces the
spontaneous noise by d/4 where d is the solid angle
of the signal beam, typically on the order of 10-6 sterad.

R. Chattopadhyay, IIEST 12
 Noise in optical amplifier
The probability that an emitted photon falls within the bandwidth of the probe beam is
simply 𝑔𝜈 𝑑𝜈. Using a spectral filter such as a monochrometer to restrict bandwidth, the
spontaneous power that reaches the detector is
1 𝑁2 ℎ𝜈𝑔𝜈 Δ𝜈𝐴 𝑑Ω
𝑑𝑃𝑛 = 𝑑𝑍 (3)
2 𝜏𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛 4𝜋

The factor ½ is for polarization. A is the area of the incident beam.

The laser beam has area A in the gain medium, and has a diffraction angle of  determined
by the area of the beam,
𝜃 = 𝜆 𝜋𝑤𝑛
Hence for a diffraction limited beam the optimal solid angle can be set by a spatial filter is
2 𝜆2
𝑑Ω = 𝜋𝜃 = 𝑛2 𝐴
(4)

R. Chattopadhyay, IIEST 13
 Noise in optical amplifier
Hence we write eqn. (3) as:
1 𝑁2 ℎ𝜈𝑔𝜈 Δ𝜈𝐴 𝑑Ω 𝑁2 ℎ𝜈𝑔𝜈 Δ𝜈𝐴 𝜆2 𝜆2 𝑔𝜈
𝑑𝑃𝑛 = 𝑑z = 𝑑𝑧 = 𝑁2 ℎ𝜈Δ𝜈 8𝜋𝑛2 𝜏 𝑑z
2 𝜏𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛 4𝜋 8𝜋𝜏𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛 𝑛2 𝐴 𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛
𝜆2 𝑔𝜈
Now by using the definition of cross-section 𝜎 = we get:
8𝜋𝑛2 𝜏𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛

𝑑𝑃𝑛 = 𝑁2 ℎ𝜈Δ𝜈𝜎𝑑z (5)

Now using eqn. (1) we get 𝜎 = 𝛾0 (𝑁2 − 𝑁1 ) we can write
𝑁2 𝛾ℎ𝜈𝑑𝑧
𝑑𝑃𝑛 = 𝑁2 −𝑁1
Δ𝜈 (6)
Taking account of this spontaneous emission component, the total increase in optical power
for the input beam is more accurately described as:
𝑑𝑃 𝑁2 𝛾ℎ𝜈𝑑𝑧
= 𝛾𝑃 + Δ𝜈 (7)
𝑑𝑧 𝑁2 −𝑁1

R. Chattopadhyay, IIEST 14
 Noise in optical amplifier
We got soln. of eqn. (7) for initial condition 𝑃 0 = 𝑃0

𝑁2
𝑃 𝑧 = 𝑃0 𝑒 𝛾𝑧 + ℎ𝜈Δ𝜈(𝑒 𝛾𝑧 − 1) (8)
𝑁2 −𝑁1

Noise
Gain
Now if we define 𝑒 𝛾𝑧 = G as the gain factor then the signal (s) to noise(N) ratio becomes:
𝑆 𝐺𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑃0 𝐺
𝑁
= 𝑁𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑒
= 𝑁2 (9)
ℎ𝜈Δ𝜈 𝐺−1
𝑁2 −𝑁1
So the effective noise from spontaneous emission becomes:
𝑁2 1
𝑁𝑒𝑓𝑓 = 𝑁2 −𝑁1
ℎ𝜈Δ𝜈(1 − 𝐺
) (10)
In case of 4-level system 𝑁1 = 0. Then for high gain limit i.e. 𝐺 ≫ 1 so we get
𝑁𝑒𝑓𝑓 = ℎ𝜈Δ𝜈

R. Chattopadhyay, IIEST 15
 Laser principle
Basic electronic amplifier

𝐴
The output gain is 1−𝐴𝛽
In optical system we need a feedback system and a gain medium to achieve a net output
gain.

R. Chattopadhyay, IIEST 16
 Febry-Perot cavity

The basic feedback mechanism in Laser.

Et1
Ei

Er1 Et2

Er2
R. Chattopadhyay, IIEST 17
 Febry-Perot cavity
If we consider that the ith mirror has reflectivity r1 and transitivity t1 then
𝐸𝑡1 = 𝑡1 𝑡2 𝐸𝑖
𝐸𝑡2 = 𝑡1 𝑟1 𝑟2 𝑡2 𝐸𝑖 𝑒 −𝑖𝑘2𝑑
𝐸𝑡3 = 𝑡1 (𝑟1 𝑟2 )2 𝑡2 𝐸𝑖 𝑒 −𝑖𝑘4𝑑
𝐸𝑡𝑞 = 𝑡1 (𝑟1 𝑟2 )(𝑞−1) 𝑡2 𝐸𝑖 𝑒 −𝑖𝑘2(𝑞−1)𝑑
Here the factor 𝑒 −𝑖𝑘2𝑑 comes from the addition of phase due to propagation through distance
2d.
Therefore the total transmitted field is
𝐸𝑖 𝑡1 𝑡2
𝐸𝑡 = 𝐸𝑡1 + 𝐸𝑡2 + 𝐸𝑡3 + ⋯ 𝐸𝑡𝑞 = 1−𝑟1 𝑟2 𝑒 −𝑖2𝑘𝑑
The output intensity will be
𝑡12 𝑡22 𝐼0
𝐼𝑡 ∝ 𝐸𝑡 𝐸𝑡∗ = 4𝑟1 𝑟2 𝑠𝑖𝑛2 𝑘𝑑
1−𝑟1 𝑟2 2 1+
1−𝑟1 𝑟2 2

R. Chattopadhyay, IIEST 18
 Febry-Perot cavity
For the special condition 𝑡1 = 𝑡2 and 𝑟1 = 𝑟2 and defining 𝑟 2 = 𝑅 , 𝑡 2 = 𝑇 , 𝑅 + 𝑇 = 1
The output intensity can be simplified to
𝐼0
𝐼𝑡 = 4𝑅𝑠𝑖𝑛2 𝑘𝑑
1+
1−𝑅 2

kd
R. Chattopadhyay, IIEST 19
 Febry-Perot cavity design
Two parameters are to be considered
1. Bandwidth of resonance
2. Frequency spacing between adjacent transmission (free spectral range)
Let us assume the resonance is sharp. Then for 𝐼𝑡 = 𝐼0 2 we have
𝐼0 𝐼0
= 4𝑅𝑠𝑖𝑛 2 𝑘𝑑
2 1+
1−𝑅 2
4𝑅𝑠𝑖𝑛2 𝑘𝑑
Which leads to =1
1−𝑅 2
Now at resonance 𝑘𝑑 ≈ 𝑞𝜋. Therefore resonance occur for frequency 𝜈 = 𝑞𝑐 2𝑑.
This gives FSR as: 𝑐 2𝑑.
Then at resonance we get sin 𝑘𝑑 + 𝛿 = 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝛿 . Since 𝑘 = 𝜔 𝑐, then the half power
frequency becomes
2 𝑐 2 1−𝑅2
𝜔1 2 = 𝑑 4𝑅
R. Chattopadhyay, IIEST 20
Laser

R. Chattopadhyay, IIEST 21