Introduction to Lasers

Laser is an acronym that stands for “Light

Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of
Radiation”.

It is the combination of quantum

mechanical and thermo – dynamical
process.

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HISTORY OF LASER

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 The theoretical background of laser action was made
possible by Albert Einstein when he first predicted
the existence of a new irradiative process called
“stimulated emission”.

C.H. Townes developed a microwave amplifier based on

stimulated emission radiation.
It was called a maser.

T.H.Maiman built the first laser device

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TYPES OF LASER

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 Solid Medium  Ruby Laser
Solid State Lasers

Gaseous Medium He-Ne Laser

Gaseous Lasers

Liquid Lasers Liquid Medium Tunable Lasers

Recombination of Electrons and holes

Semi Conductor Lasers

Dye Lasers
Organic Dye  Tunable Lasers
Uses Chemical Reactions for
Chemical Lasers
laser output HF Laser, HCl laser
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EINSTEIN’S QUANTUM THEORY
OF RADIATION

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According to Einstein, the interaction of radiation
with matter could be explained in terms of three
basic processes:

1. Spontaneous Emission

2. Absorption

3. Stimulated Emission

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Absorption:
An atom or molecule in the ground state E1 can absorb a
photon of energy hν, so that it will go to higher energy state E2.
This is called absorption.
The rate of upward transition from ground
state E1 to excited state E2 is “R12”.
Population of the lower energy level is N1
Energy density of radiation ρν.
R12 α ρν
α N1
R12 = B12 ρν N1
Where,
N1 - Number of atoms per unit volume and
B12 – Probability of absorption per unit time.
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Spontaneous Emission:

The atom or molecule in the

higher energy state E2 is coming back to the
ground state by emitting excess energy
spontaneously.

*This process is independent of the external

radiation and doesn’t need any inducement of
radiation.

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The rate of spontaneous emission is directly proportional to
the population of the energy level E2.
R21 (SP) α N2
R21 (SP) = A21 N2

Where,
A21 – Probability per unit time that
the atoms will spontaneously fall
to the ground state.
N2 – Number of atoms per unit
volume in E2.

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 Stimulated Emission:

The atom or molecule comes from higher energy

level to lower energy level with the inducement of
external radiation is known as Stimulated Emission.

During this emission, atoms come to metastable

state and the duration of atoms in metastable
-3
state is 10 seconds

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The rate of stimulated emission R21 (ST) is,
R21 (ST) = B21 ρν N2

Where, B21 – Probability

per unit time that the
atoms undergo from
higher energy state to
lower energy state by
stimulated emission.
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 Mechanisms of Light Emission
Laser action is the result of 3 key process: photon absorption,
spontaneous emission, and stimulated emission
Photon absorption: When a photon of energy h12 impinges on the
system, an electron in ground state E1 can absorb the photon energy and
be excited to state E2.
Spontaneous emission: The electron in state E2 falls down to state E1 By
itself quite spontaneously, and emits a photon of energy h12 in random
direction
Stimulated emission: The electron in state E2 falls down to state E1,
induced by a coming photon of energy of h12 , and emits a photon of
energy h12 in the same direction.
 Spontaneous
Absorption
Emission
E2

E1

Stimulated
Emission
CONDITIONS FOR LASER
ACTION

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 1. Population Inversion.

2. Stimulated emission should

dominate Spontaneous Emission.

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POPULATION INVERSION
AND LASER OPERATION

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# If there are more number of atoms in the
ground state (N1>N2), then there will be more
absorption than stimulated emission.
# If large number of atoms are present in the
excited state (N1<N2),
then stimulated emission will be more.
Under the conditions of thermal equilibrium,
N2/N1 = e-(E2-E1) /kT
Where, k – Boltzmann’s constant &
T – Absolute temperature.

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For Laser action, Stimulated emission should be a
dominate process. So it is necessary to increase the
population of excited state and it is greater than that of
ground state. This is known as Population inversion.

During Population inversion, number of atoms in excited

state are more than number of atoms in ground state.

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LASER- S. RUBALYA VALANTINA 21
Methods for Population Inversion:
Some of the most commonly used
methods are:

Optical pumping

Direct electron excitation

Inelastic atom-atom collisions

Chemical reactions

Direct Conversion

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 Optical Pumping:
Population inversion is achieved by using external
optical source, which produces electromagnetic
radiation.

Mostly Xenon flash lamp

is used an external source.

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Direct Electron Excitation:
By using strong electric field inside a
discharge tube, electrons in the atoms are released
from it and these electrons are accelerated to higher
velocities.
Thus the electrons transit
from ground state to
excited state, so that
population inversion is
achieved.
E.g. Argon laser.

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 Inelastic atom-atom Collision:
In this method, two types of gases (A & B) are used,
with both excited states coincide.
First, the gas ‘A’ is excited due to the electron
discharge. The excited gas ‘A*’ now collide with gas
‘B’, so it gets excited to higher energy ‘B*’.

A + e- A*
A* + B  A + B*

This type of Population Inversion is used in He-Ne Laser.

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Chemical Reactions:

The molecules undergo chemical changes in

which the product of the reaction (molecule or an
atom) is produced at excited state under suitable
conditions.
The Chemical reaction
H2 + F2  2(HF)*
Brings HF molecule to excited state.

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Direct Conversion:

Conversion of Electrical Energy into

Kinetic Energy.

Example: Semi conductor Laser

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PROPERTIES OF LASER

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Following are the properties of Laser:

Directionality

Monochromaticity

Intensity

Coherence

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 Directionality:
Travel in a single direction within a narrow
cone of divergence.
Φ = λ/d
*Divergence angle – Φ
*Wavelength – λ
*Diameter of the
aperture – d.

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LASER- S. RUBALYA VALANTINA 31
Monochromaticity:

The energy of a photon determines its

wavelength through the relationship
E = hc/λ
where
c is the speed of light
h is Planck's constant
λ is wavelength.
The laser emits all photons with the same
energy, and thus the same wavelength, it is said to be
monochromatic.

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LASER- S. RUBALYA VALANTINA 33
Intensity:
- The intensity (I) of a wave is the energy per unit time
flowing through a unit normal area.
1 watt laser would appear many thousand times
more intense than 100 watt ordinary lamp.

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The Number of photons emitted /time is given by N= P/h

Where h is the energy of a single photon

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 Coherence:
Two sources are said to be coherent sources, if they
have same phase or constant phase difference,
same frequency, same amplitude, same wavelength and
same direction of emission.

Incoherent Coherent
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Types of Coherence:

Spatial Coherence

Temporal coherence

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Spatial Coherence:
If two sources are having same phase at a
particular distance, then it is said to be
Spatial Coherence.

Temporal Coherence:

If two sources are having same phase at a

particular time, then it is said to be Temporal
Coherence.

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 The Coherence property is used to produce
interference pattern. The term Coherence length
(Lc) Is used to find out how long the two sources are
maintaining the coherence property.
Lc = CTc
C—Velocity of Light
Tc-- Coherence time

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LASER- S. RUBALYA VALANTINA 40
 Three level Laser

Four Level Laser

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APPLICATIONS OF LASER

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Nd.YAG Laser
DISCOVERY
-- Laser Action of Nd:YAG was first
demonstrated by J.E. Geusic

Nd:YAG Laser
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Introduction

Nd.YAG—Neodymium-doped Yttrium
Aluminum Garnet (Y3Al5O12)

Nd.YAG Laser is a crystal that is used as a

lasing medium for solid-state lasers

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What is the use of Neodymium ions?
The Dopant, triply ionized Neodymium, Nd(|||), replaces
a small fraction of yttrium ions in the crystal structure
of YAG, since two ions are similar in size. These Nd ions
Provide lasing activity in the crystal.

They will also increase the Degenerate levels.

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Characteristics of Nd.YAG Laser
Type: Solid State/Four-level/Heavily-doped Laser
Active Medium: Nd.YAG
Active Centre: Nd(3+) ions
Pumping: Optical Pumping
Output Wavelength: 1.064 Micrometers
Output Power: 10-20 Kilowatt
Nature of Output: Continuous and pulsated

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PRINCIPLE

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 “When Flash Lamp is switched on,
Nd(|||) ions get excited and return to
ground state emitting a wavelength of
1.064 micrometers.”

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CONSTRUCTION

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Main Parts:

Flash Lamp

Nd:YAG Rod

Power Supply

External Mirrors

Elliptical Cavity

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 Nd : YAG Laser: Principle

The active medium Nd: YAG rod is optically pumped by Xenon flash
tubes. The Neodymium ions (Nd3+) are raised to excited levels. During
the transition from meta stable state to ground state, a laser beam of
wavelength 1.064μm is emitted.
Partially reflecting
mirror
Nd:YAG rod
Laser Output
100% reflecting
mirror Flash lamp

capacitor

+ -
Power Supply Resistor
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Nd:YAG Laser
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 External Mirrors are used as optical
resonators.
What is the use of resonators?
Resonators amplify the signal.

Increase the coherence of signal.

Produces a stable frequency as output.

There are two external mirrors-

Partially reflecting mirror and Fully
Reflecting mirror.
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 Flash Lamp and Nd.YAG rod
are enclosed in elliptical cavity.
Elliptical Cavity ensures continuous flow
of ions.
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Pumping Sources:
Krypton arc lamp or Xenon lamp is used.
Thus optical pumping is used to achieve
population inversion.

Nd:YAG Rod:
Two ends of rod are made perfectly parallel,
silvered and highly reflecting. One is made totally
Reflecting while the other end is made partially
reflecting for optical resonating system.
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WORKING

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 Nd : YAG Laser: Working

E4 Excited state
2 Non-radiative decay

E3 (ULL)
1
3 1.064 m
E2 (LLL)

0.73 m 0.8 m
4 Non-radiative decay

E1 Ground state

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> Nd ions from ground state to E(3) or E(4) level
Nd3+ + hv  Nd3+*
> Ions from higher level to E(2) level
due to non-radiative transfer of ions.
> Occurrence of Laser transition when ions
are de-excited from E(2)
to E(1) level

> Spontaneous Decay of ions from

E(1) to ground state.
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 Heat produced due to laser transition
In elliptical cavity– removed by passing
Liquid H2, Xe or Kr.

This ensures continuous output of laser

and high life-time.

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ADVANTAGES AND
DRAWBACKS

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Advantages:
Produces continuous output

Easy Maintenance

Generates High peak powers of about 20 KiloWatt

Drawbacks:
These lasers are rugged.

Efficiency is only up to 0.1%

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APPLICATIONS OF
ND-YAG LASER

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Industrial
Visualization Long Open
Purposes Bloodless Range To remove
of Fluid flow Communicati
(Cutting, Surgery Finders Skin Cancers
techniques on
Welding)

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Nd yag

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Thank You

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