LASERS

Introduction: Laser is an optical device to amplify the light. Laser produces a highly intensified,
monochromatic, parallel, and coherent beam of light. Laser is an acronym for light amplification
by stimulated emission of radiation. Production of laser is a particular consequence of interaction
of radiation with matter.

Different Light Sources are

Properties of Laser Light

 The laser beam is strictly monochromatic i.e., of single frequency.

  Laser beam are highly directional and hence angular spread is very minimum.

Coherence: Two waves are said to be coherent if the phase difference between them remains
constant. The degree of coherence is very high for laser.

Energy Levels and Energy States of atoms and molecules:

A material medium is composed of identical atoms or molecules each of which is characterized by
a set of discrete allowed energy states. According to quantum theory , the energy of an atom or
a molecule can take only discrete values. Transitions from lower levels to higher levels are
accompanied by absorption of radiation whereas transitions from higher levels to lower are
accompanied by emission of radiation. It is called a “quantum jump or transition”.
Ground State: It is the lowest possible energy state of an atom which is the most stable state.
Atoms can remain in this state for unlimited time.
Excited state : These are the possible energy states of an atom which are higher than the
ground state. Atoms remain in such energy states for a very short time called life time . it is
of the order of 10-8 sec.
Meta stable States : These are excited states of an atom with relatively larger life times of
the order of 10-3 sec. (The general life time of an excited state is 10-8 sec). As these energy states
are neither as stable as ground state nor as unstable as the excited states, they are known as meta
stable states .

Expression for energy density in terms of Einstein coefficients (or) Interaction of Radiation
with matter :

An atom can move from one energy state to another when it receives or releases an amount of
energy equal to the energy difference between these two states.
There are 3 possible ways through which interaction of radiation and matter can take place.
1. Stimulated (or) Induced absorption 2. Spontaneous emission 3. Stimulated emission
 Stimulated absorption (or) Induced absorption:

It is the process in which atom in the lower energy state

absorb an incident photon and moves to higher energy state
where the difference in energy of the two states is exactly
equal to the energy of the absorbed photon.

The number of induced absorptions per unit time per unit volume is called ‘rate of stimulated
absorption transition(Nab)’
The rate of stimulated absorption depends upon
1. number of atoms in the lower energy state E1 ie N1
2 number of photons in the incident beam ie. energy density U
 Rate of absorption  N1 U
Rate of Stimulated absorption = B12 N1 U Where B12 is called Einstein coefficient of stimulated
absorption and it is the probability of occurrence of stimulated absorption.

Spontaneous emission:

In this process , to attain stability, atom in the

excited state makes a transition to a lower energy
state by the emission of a photon, without the aid
of any external agency

The number of spontaneous transitions per unit time per unit volume is called rate of spontaneous
emission.
 Rate of spontaneous emission  N2 (no of atoms in excited state)
Rate of spontaneous emission Nsp = A21 N2 where A21 is called Einstein’s coefficient of
spontaneous emission.

Stimulated emission:

It is the process in which an atom in the higher

energy state under the influence of a photon of
just right energy, moves to lower energy state
by emitting a photon. The inducing photon
and emitted photon should be coherent in
nature.

The number of stimulated emissions per unit time per unit volume is called rate of stimulated
emission transition and is proportional to
1. number of atoms in the higher energy state E2 i.e. N2
2 number of photons per unit volume or energy density U
 Rate of stimulated emission  N2 U
Rate of stimulated emission Nst = B21 N2 U Where B21 is the Einstein coefficient of stimulated
emission.

If these two coherent photons then

interact with two more excited state
atoms and four coherent photons
are produced and so on.
Stimulated emission process
leads to photo amplification
ie,emission of laser light.

Let the system be in thermal equilibrium, which means that the total energy of the system
remains unchanged in spite of the interaction that is taking place between itself and the incident
radiation. Under such a condition, the number of photons absorbed by the system per second must
be equal to the no of photons it emits per second by both the stimulated and the spontaneous
emission processes.

 At thermal equilibrium

Rate of absorption = Rate of spontaneous emission + Rate of stimulated emission.

B12 N1 U = A21 N2 + B21 N2 U

U (B12 N1 - B21 N2 )= A21 N2

U = energy density = A21 N2 / (B12 N1 - B21 N2 )

A21
B21
=
 B12 N 1 
 1
 B21 N 2 
 
A  1 
= 21  
B21  B12 N 1 
 B N 1
 21 2 
 
 
= A21  1  --- ()
B21  B12 kT h

 e  1
 B21 
  E E 
 2 1 
 kT 
[by Boltzmann’s law N2 = N1 e

= N1 e -h/kT

N1/N2 = 1/ e-h/kT

= eh/kT ]

According to Planck’s law the equation U is

8h 3 1
U = { h
} ---------------()
c3
e kT
1

Comparing equation () and equation( ) we have

(A21 / (B12 ) = (8h3  c3) and (B12 / B21 ) =1 ie. B12 = B21

which implies that the probability of induced absorption is equal to the probability of stimulated
emission.

At thermal equilibrium the equation for energy density is

A
U = h
 
B e kT
1
 

Conditions for laser production or Light amplification:

For laser production stimulated emission should dominates over the other transitions

At thermal equilibrium, the ratio of stimulated to spontaneous transitions is very small and
stimulated emission is negligible. The ratio is given by

Stimulatedemissiontransition B21 N 2U  B21U  1

=   h
Spon tan eousemissiontransition A21 N 2 A21
e kT
1

Stimulated emission transition = B21 N2 U = N2

Stimulated absorption transition B12 N1 U N1

1. From the ratios it is clear that in order to increase the stimulated transitions, the energy density
U is to be made larger ie., energy should be supplied from the external source
2. Stimulated transition dominates over stimulated absorption only when N2 > N1.
The active medium amplifies light only when above two conditions are fulfilled.

Population inversion: The state of a system at which the population or no of atoms in a higher
energy state is more than that of a specified lower energy state. ie., N2 > N1.

Active Medium: The working substance in which population inversion is achieved is called active
medium.
Active centers: The Particular atom between whose energy levels the pumping and lasing action
occur is called an active center or active system.

Pumping: The process of supplying energy to the medium with a view to excite atoms from lower
energy state to a higher energy state is called pumping
The process of achieving population inversion by supplying energy is called pumping.

Types of pumping:

1) Optical pumping: Here the atoms are excited with the help of photons emitted by an external
optical source like flash bulb. The atoms absorb energy in the form of photons and raises to excited
state. Ex. 1. Ruby laser 2. Nd-YAG laser

2) Electric discharge or Electron excitation method:

Electrons from the discharge tube are accelerated to very high velocities by strong electric field
and they collide with gas atoms and these atoms are raised to excited state. Ex. CO2 Laser, He-Ne
lasers.

3) In elastic atom – atom collision method (or)Resonance energy transfer method :

In this method a combination of two types of gases (A+B) are used, both having same and nearly
coinciding excited states A* B*. During the electric discharge A atoms get excited due to collision
with electrons. The excited A* atoms collide with B atoms so that B goes to the excited state B*.
Ex : Helium – Neon laser.
e* + He  He* + e  He* + Ne  He + Ne*

4) Direct conversion: Due to electrical energy applied (forward bias voltage) in direct band gap
semiconductor like GaAS, the combination of conduction electrons with holes leads to the photon
emission. i.e. Electrical energy is converted into light energy directly ex: semiconductor laser.

Laser cavity or resonator cavity or optical resonator :- To generate laser beam, we need an
active medium which should be capable of amplifying an incident radiation. In order to generate
laser this amplifying medium is placed in an optical resonator. It consists of a pair of parallel
mirrors facing each other. One mirror is made fully reflecting and the other is partially reflecting.
 Partially reflecting mirror

100% laser
reflecting mirror ACTIVE MEDIUM

The radiation , that bounces back and forth between the mirrors is amplified by the active medium.
By keeping one of the mirrors 100% reflecting and another partial, a fraction of the amplified light
is drawn as output through the partially reflecting mirror and remaining part of the light is fed back
to the active medium for further amplification. This is similar to electronic oscillator with +ve
feedback.

In the resonator cavity or laser cavity, two types of waves exist, one type of waves moving to the
right and other type of waves moving to the left. The two waves interfere constructively if there is
no phase difference between them.

In order to arrange for constructive interference, the distance ‘L’ between the two mirrors should
be such that the cavity should support integral number of half wavelengths.

ie. L = m 
2
where m is an integer > 0 and  is the wave length of the laser light inside the active medium.
In such a case the cavity is said to be” resonant” at wavelengths  = 2L/m

Threshold population inversion

Radiation which bounces back and forth between the mirrors is not only amplified by the
amplifying medium but also suffers losses due to the finite reflectivity of the mirrors and scattering
and diffraction losses.

If the oscillations have to be sustained in the cavity then the losses must be exactly compensated
by the gain. Thus a minimum population inversion density is required to overcome the losses. This
is called the threshold population inversion.
Lasing: The process which leads to the emission of stimulated photons after establishing the
population inversion is called lasing.

Requisites of a laser system:

There are 3 requisites

1. An excitation source for pumping action

The excitation source provides the appropriate energy for pumping the atom to higher
energy levels.

2 An active medium, which supports population inversion

A part of the input energy is absorbed by the active medium in which population inversion
occurs at a certain stage. After this stage the medium attains capability to emit laser light.

3.A laser cavity

To sustain the laser action, the laser cavity provides the feedback necessary to tap certain
permissible part of the laser energy from the active medium.

CO2 Laser:
CO2 Laser: Characteristics
Type : molecular gas laser
Active medium : a mixture of CO2 , N2 and He
Active centre : CO2
Pumping Process : Discharge pumping &
resonance energy transfer
Optical Resonator : 2 mirrors one is 100% and
other is partial mirror
Power output : 1 00 kW
Nature of output : Continuous wave form
Wave length : 10.6 µm. and 9.6 µm.
Frequency : 4.7  1014 hertz
In molecular gas lasers ,the laser oscillations are achieved by transition between the vibrational
and rotational levels of molecule.
Principle: In order to understand the working of this laser we shall know about the energy
levels of CO2 molecules. Each electronic energy level is associated with nearly equally spaced
vibrational levels and each vibrational levels in turn has a number of rotational levels.
CO2 molecule is a linear molecule consisting of a central carbon atom with two oxygen atoms
attached one on either side. At any time a CO2 molecule can vibrate in a linear combination of
three fundamental modes.
1.Symmetric or stretching mode:
The carbon atom is fixed in its position and each oxygen atom can vibrate in opposite directions
symmetrically to the carbon atom along a straight line. The corresponding frequency is called
symmetric stretching frequency.
2. The oxygen atom and the carbon atom may vibrate at right angles to the line passing through
the center of gravity. This is known as bending frequency.
3. In asymmetric mode the two oxygen atoms may vibrate about the central carbon atom
asymmetrically and at the same time the carbon atom also vibrates from its mean position. The
corresponding frequency is called asymmetric stretching frequency.
The energy states of the molecule are represented by 3 quantum numbers (mnq)
Laser light will be produced when CO2 molecule shifts between different vibrational
energy levels
Construction:
 It is basically a discharge tube having a bore of diameter of 2.5 cm and a length of about
5m. The discharge tube is filled with a mixture of CO2 , N2 and He gases in 1: 2: 3
proportion respectively. The pressure inside the tube is 6 - 17 torr. The gas mixture can
be pumped either longitudinally or transversely into the gas discharge tube. The tube is
water cooled.

 The ends of the discharge tube are tilted to Brewster angle to produce plane-polarized light.

 The electrodes of the discharge tube are connected to the radio frequency oscillator or DC
battery to produce electrical discharge in the gas mixture.

 A fully reflecting and partial reflecting mirrors made up of gold are placed at the left and
right ends of the discharge tube to act as laser cavity.

WORKING:
  When voltage is applied between the electrodes , high energetic electrons will be
produced by discharge phenomenon and these electrons collide with ground state N2
molecules . By electrical discharge pumping method the ground state N2 molecules are
excited to higher energy level √ =1 .

N2 + e-* N2* + e-

 The excited state of an N2 molecule is metastable and is identical in energy to (001)

vibrational level of CO2 molecule (i.e E5 level)

N2 * + CO2 N2 + CO2*

The excited N2 molecules collide inelastically with the ground state CO2 molecules and N2
molecule delivers its energy to CO2 molecule by resonant energy transfer and CO2 molecule
will be raised to (001) (E5 level) vibrational level. After exciting the CO2 molecule , the N2
molecule de-excited and come back to ground levels.

 The E5 level is the upper lasing level while (020) and (100) states marked as E3 and E4 levels
act as the lower lasing levels.
 As the population of CO2 molecules builds up at E5 levels population inversion is
achieved between E5 level and the levels at E4 and E3 .
 The lasing transition between E5→ E4 levels produces for IR radiation at the wavelength
(106000A0)
 The lasing transition between E5→ E3 levels produces for IR radiation at the wavelength
(96000A0)
 E4 and E3 levels are also metastable states and CO2 molecules at these levels fall to the
lower level E2 through inelastic collisions with normal unexcited CO2 molecules
 This process leads to accumulation of population at E2 level. As the gasous mixture heats
up, the E2 level ,tends to be populated through thermal excitation.
 The helium atom de-excite CO2 molecules through inelastic collisions and decrease the
population density of CO2 at E2 level. It also aids cooling the gaseous mixture through heat
conduction.
 The CO2 molecules are once again available for excitation to higher state and participate in
lasing action.

OUTPUT Characterisation
 Power output = 100 kw
 Efficiency = 40%
 Type of output = continous wave mode
 Wavelength = 10.6 µm.
SEMI CONDUCTOR LASER (GA-AS LASER )

Characteristics

Type : Semiconductor laser

Active medium : P-N junction diode made from Ga- As
Active centre : Recombination of electrons and holes
Pumping Process : Direct pumping
Optical Resonator : a pair of faces of Junction are highly polished
GaAs refractive index is more, no need of mirrors
Power output : 1 mW
Nature of output : Continuous wave form
Principle : In direct band gap semiconductors like GaAs, when electron in conduction band
Wave length
combines with a :hole
8400in A-8600 A
the valence band emits energy in the form of light. This photon , in turn
induce stimulated emission in another electron leading to laser emission
Frequency : 4.7  10 hertz
14

Construction: 1.Laser diode is nothing but a p-n junction diode made from Gallium Arsenide.
To get the p- region, GaAs is doped with Zinc and to get n- region GaAs is doped with
Tellurium.
2.The upper and lower electrodes fixed in the ‘p’ and ‘n’ region helps to provide forward bias
.
3.One pair of faces at junction ‘p’ and ‘n’ regions are well polished and are made parallel to
each other. Since the refractive index of GaAs is high, no need of external mirrors to act as laser
cavity.

Working :

1. The population inversion is achieved by heavily doping ‘ p’ and ‘n’ materials , The donar
24 3
and acceptor concentrations are about 10 atoms/ m .
2. If the junction is forward biased with an applied voltage nearly equal to the band gap
voltage , direct conduction takes place. and active region is generated near the depletion
region.
3. At this stage, when electron in conduction band combines with a hole in the valence band
emits energy in the form of photon.
4. If The energy of the incident photon is in the range E g  h  ( EFc  EFV )
then, the emitted photons increases the rate of recombination of electrons and holes by
stimulated emission leading to the laser emission.
5. The wavelength of the emitted laser depends on (1.) the band gap and (2.) doping
concentration of donar and acceptor atoms in GaAs. (3)temperature of the semiconductor
hc
6. We can calculate wavelength of the emitted laser using the formula :  =
Eg

For ex. Band gap of GaAs = 1.44 eV

hc hc 6.626X 10 X 3 X 10
34

= h 
8

Eg = => = = =8628 A

19
Eg 1.44 X 1.6 X 10

(near IR Region)
7. Characteristics of output laser

Power output : 1 mW
Nature of output : Continuous wave form
Wave length : 8400 A-8600 A
Frequency : 4.7  1014 hertz

APPLICATIONS OF LASERS

LASER WELDING:

Principle: The ability of the laser beam to concentrate large power in a small volume (i.e., focus
ability) is utilized for welding of metal parts.
Ex. : 1. Ruby Laser and
2. CO2 laser of power 105W and  of 10m is used for welding.
Working

1. Laser beam is focused on to the spot to be welded.

2. Because of the generated heat, the material melts over small area on which the beam is
focused.

3. Due to high intensity heat produced by the beam, the impurities in the material (such as
oxides) float upon the surface.

4. After cooling the inner material becomes homogeneous solid and makes it a strong joint.

Advantages

1. No destruction occurs in the shape of the work piece because (i) total input of heat is small
and (ii) heat is dissipated immediately.

2. One can even weld difficult to reach locations in a material because, it can be focused to a
small spot.

3. Since it is a contact less process, no foreign material enters welded joint.

4. Since heat affected area is very small, heat sensitive components can be welded.

LASER CUTTING

Principle

The material to be removed in laser cutting can be accomplished by melting and blowing
out the molten metal. For blowing out the molten metal, a very high velocity gas jet of inert gas
or O2 is used.
Working
i) The laser focusing part is surrounded by a nozzle into which oxygen gas is fed.

ii) A jet of the gas is issued through the nozzle right at the spot where laser beam is focused.

iii) The tiny splinters along with the molten part of the metal will be blown away by the oxygen
jet.

iv) The combustion of the gas burns the metal thus reducing the power requirement for cutting.
v) The blowing action increases the depth and the speed of cutting.
vi) This process is also known as “Gas assisted laser beam machining”.

Application of laser cutting

i) Laser cutting is employed in tailoring industry where mass production is employed.
ii) In the fabrication of space craft.
iii) In the process of production of micro electronic components.
Advantages of laser cutting
1. Laser cutting process increases high production rates.
2. Quality of cutting is very high.
3. There will be no thermal damage and chemical change when cutting is done in inert
atmosphere.
4. Cutting a complicated profile even in 3 dimensions is possible.
Ex. A CO2 laser of 100 W continuous output can cut a cloth at a speed of 1m/s.

A number of layers of the cloth material are stockpiled. A laser beam is focussed on the
pile and moved in a path along which cutting is required. The movement path details are
programmed in a computer. The beam cuts the entire stock pile right through along the path.
 A CO2 laser of 3 KW continuous output cuts titanium sheets of 50 mm thickness at a
velocity of 0.5 m/min.
LASER DRILLING
Principle: The principle of laser drilling is mainly to heat the metal to its boiling point and
vaporizes it or remove it by high pressure vapor.
Working
1. The spot to be drilled is focused by a laser beam.
2. Drilling is done with high power pulsed lasers with pulse duration 10-4s to 10-3s.
3. When high power pulsed lasers are projected onto the metal spot a vapour key hole
surrounded with molten metal is formed.
4. With continued heating by laser beam, the metal vapourises and atoms ionize.
5. The metal vapour interacts with light beam and e- in the metal get accelerated.
6. This further heats the metal vapour and increases number of ions i.e., plasma will be
formed.
7. Plasma absorbs laser light and emits blackbody radiation.
8. This plasma interactions in the keyhole generate detonation waves, combined with high
power pressure.
9. Due to high power pressure, the molten metal gets ejected from the key hole forming the
hole. This drilling operation is performed.
Advantages of laser drilling
1. The tools wear out while drilling by conventional methods whereas that problem does not
exist with laser set-up.
2. Very fine holes of dimensions 0.2 to 0.5 mm diameter can be drilled adjacent to each other.
3. Since there is no mechanical stresses, very hard or brittle materials can be drilled using
laser light.
4. Drilling can be achieved at any oblique angle through the material.
MEASUREMENT OF POLLUTANTS IN THE ATMOSPHERE

Lasers are used for the remote probing at the atmosphere, including the measurement of
traces of pollutant gases, temperature, water vapour concentrations at ranges of 8-15 km away.
The pollutants in the atmosphere include carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, sulphur dioxide
Freon, ethylene, vinyl chloride, dust, smoke, fly ash etc.
 In the application of laser for measurement of pollutants, laser is used as LIDAR (Light
Detection and Ranging). The laser senses the atmospheric density variation, distance, altitude and
velocity of variation of the object.
Construction
1.In the Lidar System, the transmitting part consists of pulsed laser.
2. The receiving part consists of
a) a concave mirror which receives the reflected pulses.
b) a photo detector which converts optical energy to electrical energy.
c) a narrow – band filter which cuts off the background noises and extraneous light.
d) a data processor which gives out the information regarding distance, dimensions etc.

Working

 While measurements are carried out, the laser beam undergoes scattering at places in the
atmosphere where there is a congestion due to higher concentration of particulate matter.

 The back scattered light is received by the concave mirror.

 The distance of congestion from the measuring station is calculated on the basis of time
delay between the pulse emission and the reception of back scattered light.
 By scanning the space around the station, the concentration of pollutants can be mapped
for different vertical sections of the atmosphere.
To know the compositions of the pollutants
Raman Back – Scattering method is employed.
Working
In this method laser light is passed through the sample, and the spectrum of the transmitted
light is obtained. Since laser is highly monochromatic we expect only one line in the
spectrum. But due to Raman Scattering, not one line but several lines are seen in the
spectrum. Among these lines there will be a line of high intensity corresponding to the
incident lights wavelength as expected. The other lines at low intensity lie symmetrically
to this line. Their wave length values will be close to that of the incident light. These
additional spectral lines are called side bands and their frequencies result when the
oscillating frequencies of the molecules of the pollutants are added to or subtracted from
the incident lights frequency. Since the oscillating frequencies of different types of
molecules will be different, different gases produce different side bands. The shift in
frequencies are termed Raman Shifts. Thus by observing Raman Spectra of the
backscattered light in the gas sample one can assess the composition of the pollutants.