Laser System and application

LASER stands for Light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. Laser is a device which emits a
powerful, monochromatic collimated beam of light. The emitted light waves are coherent in nature.

1. Directionality

Ordinary light spreads in all directions and its angular spread is 1m/m. But it is found that laser is highly
directional and is angular spread is 1mm/m. For example, the laser beam can be focused to very long distance
with a few divergence or angular spread.
Divergence or angular spread is given by

Where d1 , d2 are any two distances for the laser source emitted and r1, r2 are the radii of the beam spots at a
distance d1, and d2respectively as shown

2. Intensity:

Since an ordinary light spreads in all directions, the intensity reaching the target is very less. But in the
case of laser, due to high directionality, the intensity of laser beam reaching the target is of high intense beam.
For example, 1 mill watt power of He-Ne laser appears to be brighter than the sunlight.
3. Monochromatic:
Laser beam is highly monochromatic; the wavelength is single, whereas in ordinary light like
mercury vapour lamp, many wavelengths of light are emitted.
4 Coherence:
It is an important characteristic of laser beam. In lasers the wave trains of same frequency are in phase,
the radiation given out is in mutual agreement not only in phase but also in the direction of emission and
polarization. Thus it is a coherent beam. Due to high coherence it results in an extremely high power.

Principle of Spontaneous and Stimulated emission – Einstein’s Quantum theory of radiation

We know that, when light is absorbed by the atoms or molecules, then it goes from the lower energy
level (E1) to the higher energy level (E2) and during the transition from higher energy level (E2) to lower energy
level (E1) the light is emitted from the atoms or molecules.
Let us consider an atom exposed to light photons of energy E2 -E1= hv , three distinct processes take
place.

a. Absorption
b. Spontaneous emission
c. Stimulated Emission

Absorption:
An atom in the lower energy level or ground state energy level E1 absorbs the incident photon radiation of
energy hv and goes to the higher energy level or excited level E2 as shown in figure.
 This process is called absorption
If there are many numbers of atoms in the ground state then each atom will absorb the energy from the
incident photon and goes to the excited state. then,
The rate of absorption (R12) is proportional to the following factors.

Where B12 is a constant which gives the probability of absorption of absorption transition per unit time.
Normally, the atoms in the excited state will not stay there for a long period of time , rather it comes to ground
state by emitting a photon of energy E=hν Such an emission takes place by one of the following two methods.
Spontaneous emission:

The atom in the excited state returns to the ground state by emitting a photon of energy
E=(E2-E1)=hν
Spontaneously without any external triggering as shown in the figure.

This process is known as spontaneous emission. Such an emission is random and is independent of incident
radiation. If N1 and N2are the numbers of atoms in the ground state (E1) and excited state (E2) respectively,
then
 Where A21 is a constant which gives the probability of spontaneous emission transitions per unit time.
Stimulated Emission:
The atom in the excited state can also return to the ground state by external triggering or inducement of photon
thereby emitting a photon of energy equal to the energy of the incident photon, known as stimulated emission.
Thus results in two photons of same energy, phase difference and of same directionality as shown.

Therefore, the rate of stimulated emission is given by

Where B21 is a constant which gives the probability of stimulated emission transitions per unit time.

Einstein’s theory
Einstein’s theory of absorption and emission of light by an atom is based on Planck’s theory of radiation. Also
under thermal equilibrium, the population of energy levels obeys the Boltzmann distribution law
Under thermal equilibrium
The rate of absorption = the rate of emission
 Where KB is the Boltzmann Constant,
T is the absolute temperature and
N0 is the number of atoms at absolute zero.
At equilibrium, we can write the ratio of population levels as follows.
 The constants A and B are called as Einstein Coefficients, which accounts for spontaneous and
stimulated emission probabilities.

Ratio of magnitudes of Stimulated to Spontaneous emission rates

From equations (2) and (3) we have

 Generally Spontaneous emission is more predominant in the optical region (Ordinary light). To increase
the number of coherent photons stimulated emission should dominate over spontaneous emission. To achieve
this, an artificial condition called Population Inversion is necessary.
Differences between Stimulated and spontaneous emission of radiation
Population Inversion:

Population Inversion creates a situation in which the number of atoms in higher energy state is
more than that in the lower energy state.

Usually at thermal equilibrium, the number of atoms N2 i.e., the population of atoms at higher
energy state is much lesser than the population of the atoms at lower energy state N1 that is N1 > N2 .

The Phenomenon of making N2 > N1 is known as Population Inversion.

Conditions of Population inversion.

1. There must be at least two energy levels E2 > E1.

2. There must be a source to supply the energy to the medium.

 3. The atoms must be continuously raised to the excited state.

Meta stable States

An atom can be excited to a higher level by supplying energy to it. Normally, excited atoms have short life
times and release their energy in a matter of nano seconds (10-9) through spontaneous emission. It means atoms
do not stay long to be stimulated. As a result, they undergo spontaneous emission and rapidly return to the
ground level; thereby population inversion could not be established. In order to do so, the excited atoms are
required to ‘wait’ at the upper energy level till a large number of atoms accumulate at that level. In other words,
it is necessary that excited state have a longer lifetime. A Meta stable state is such a state. Metastable can be
readily obtained in a crystal system containing impurity atoms. These levels lie in the forbidden gap of the host
crystal. There could be no population inversion and hence no laser action, if metastable states don’t exist.
Principle of Laser action

Principle: Due to stimulated emission the photons multiply in each step-giving rise to an intense beam
of photons that are coherent and moving in the same direction. Hence the light is amplified by Stimulated
Emission of the Radiation. Termed LASER.

ACTIVE MEDIUM:

A medium in which population inversion can be achieved is known as active medium.

Active Center: The material in which the atoms are raised to the excited state to achieve Population Inversion
is called Active Center.

PUMPING ACTION:

The process to achieve the population inversion in the medium is called

Pumping action.
It is essential requirement for producing a laser beam.

Methods of pumping action:

The methods commonly used for pumping action are:

1. Optical pumping (Excitation by Photons)

2. Electrical discharge method(Excitation by electrons)

3. Direct conversion

4. In elastic atom – atom collision between atoms

a. Optical pumping:
When the atoms are exposed to light radiations energy hv , atoms in the lower energy state absorb these
radiations and they go to the excited state. This method is called Optical pumping. It is used in solid state lasers
like ruby laser and Nd-YAG laser. In ruby laser, xenon flash lamp is used as pumping source.

b. Electrical discharge method (Excitation by electrons)

In this method, the electrons are produced in an electrical discharge tube. These electrons are
accelerated to high velocities by a strong electrical field. These accelerated electrons collide with the gas atoms.

By the process, energy from the electrons is transferred to gas atoms. Some atoms gain energy and they go to
the excited state. This results in population inversion. This method is called Electrical discharge method.

It is represented by the equation

A + e* = A* + e
Where A – gas atom in the ground state

A* = same gas atom in the excited state e* = Electrons with higher Kinetic energy e – Same electron
with lesser energy.

This method of pumping is used in gas lasers like argon and CO2 Laser.

C. Direct Conversion
In this method, due to electrical energy applied in direct band gap semiconductor like Ga As,
recombination of electrons and holes takes place. During the recombination process, the electrical energy is
directly is converted into light energy.
d. In elastic atom – atom collision

In this method, a combination of two gases (Say A and B are used). The excited states of A and B nearly
coincides in energy.
In the first step during the electrical discharge atoms of gas A are excited to their higher energy
state A* (metastable state) due to collision with the electrons .

A + e* = A* + e

Now A* atoms at higher energy state collide with b atoms in the lower state. Due to inelastic atom -
atom collision B atoms gain energy and they are excited to a higher state B* . Hence, A atoms lose energy and
return to lower state.

A* + B = A + B*

Optical resonator

An optical resonator consists of a pair of reflecting surfaces in which one is fully reflecting (R1)
and the other is partially reflecting (R2). The active material is placed in between these two reflecting surfaces.

The photons generated due to transitions between the energy states of active material are bounced back and
forth between two reflecting surfaces.

This will induce more and more stimulated transition leading to laser action.
Flow Chart of Laser action
Types of Laser
Based on the type of active medium, Laser systems are broadly classified into the following categories.
S.NO TYPE OF LASER EXAMPLES
1. Solid State laser : Ruby Laser Nd:YAG laser
2. Gas laser : He-Ne Laser, CO2 Laser, Argon – ion laser
3. Liquid Laser : SeOCL2 Laser, Europium Chelate Laser
4. Dye laser : Rhodamine 6G laser, Coumarin dye laser
5. Semiconductor Laser : GaAs laser, GaAsP laser

Semiconductor Diode laser:

Definition:

It is specifically fabricated p-n junction diode. This diode emits laser light when it is forward biased.

Principle:

When a p-n junction diode is forward biased, the electrons from n – region and the holes from the p- region
cross the junction and recombine with each other.

During the recombination process, the light radiation (photons) is released from a certain specified direct
band gap semiconductors like Ga-As. This light radiation is known as recombination radiation.

The photon emitted during recombination stimulates other electrons and holes to recombine. As a result,
stimulated emission takes place which produces laser.

Construction:
 Figure shows the basic construction of semiconductor laser. The active medium is a p-n junction diode
made from the single crystal of gallium arsenide. This crystal is cut in the form of a platter having thickness of
0.5μmm.

The platelet consists of two parts having an electron conductivity (n-type) and hole conductivity (p-
type).

The photon emission is stimulated in a very thin layer of PN junction (in order of few microns). The
electrical voltage is applied to the crystal through the electrode fixed on the upper surface.

The end faces of the junction diode are well polished and parallel to each other. They act as an optical
resonator through which the emitted light comes out.

Working:

Figure shows the energy level diagram of semiconductor laser.

When the PN junction is forward biased with large applied voltage, the electrons and holes are injected
into junction region in considerable concentration
 The region around the junction contains a large amount of electrons in the conduction band and a large
amount of holes in the valence band.

If the population density is high, a condition of population inversion is achieved. The electrons and holes
recombine with each other and this recombination’s produce radiation in the form of light.

When the forward – biased voltage is increased, more and more light photons are emitted and the light
production instantly becomes stronger. These photons will trigger a chain of stimulated recombination resulting
in the release of photons in phase.

The photons moving at the plane of the junction travels back and forth by reflection between two sides placed
parallel and opposite to each other and grow in strength.
After gaining enough strength, it gives out the laser beam of wavelength 8400o A . The wavelength of laser
light is given by

Where Eg is the band gap energy in joule.

Characteristics:

1. Type: It is a solid state semiconductor laser.

2. Active medium: A PN junction diode made from single crystal of gallium arsenide is used as
an active medium.

3. Pumping method: The direct conversion method is used for pumping action

4. Power output: The power output from this laser is 1mW.

5. Nature of output: The nature of output is continuous wave or pulsed output.

6. Wavelength of Output: gallium arsenide laser gives infrared radiation in the wavelength
8300 to 8500o A .

Advantages:

1. It is very small in dimension. The arrangement is simple and compact.

2. It exhibits high efficiency.

 3. The laser output can be easily increased by controlling the junction current

4. It is operated with lesser power than ruby and CO2 laser.

5. It requires very little auxiliary equipment

6. It can have a continuous wave output or pulsed output.

Disadvantages:

1. It is difficult to control the mode pattern and mode structure of laser.

2. The output is usually from 5 degree to 15 degree i.e., laser beam has large divergence.

3. The purity and monochromacity are power than other types of laser

4. Threshold current density is very large (400A/mm2).

5. It has poor coherence and poor stability.

Application:

1. It is widely used in fiber optic communication

2. It is used to heal the wounds by infrared radiation

3. It is also used as a pain killer

4. It is used in laser printers and CD writing and reading.

Helium Neon Laser

He-Ne stands for Helium-Neon. The He-Ne laser active medium consists of two gases which do not
interact form a molecule. Therefore He-Ne laser is one type of atomic gas lasers.
Construction of He-Ne Lasers
The construction of typical He-Ne laser plasma tube can be shown as:
The tube where the lasing action takes place consists of a glass envelop with a narrow capillary tube
through the center. The capillary tube is designed to direct the electrical discharge through its small
bore to produce very high current densities in the gas.
The output coupler and the HR (high reflective) mirror are located at the opposite ends of the plasma
tube. To make laser tubes more economical and durable manufacturers often attach the mirror s
directly to the ends of the capillary tube as shown above. This is very common with small low power
lasers. With high power tubes or when optically polarized output is desired, the capillary tubes ends
are cut at an angle and sealed with glass planes called Brewster windows. When this is done then the
mirrors mush be mounted in mechanically stable but adjustable mounts. This allows the operator to
align the mirror surfaces parallel to each other but perpendicular to the axis of the capillary tube.
The plasma tube has a large cylindrical metallic cathode and a smaller metallic anode. The current is
directed from cathode to anode.
In figure shown, the gas reservoir provides a supply of extra gas. This reservoir helps to maintain a
uniform pressure over long period of time and provides extra gas to replace any gas that may escape
through the tube or through the seals where the loads pass through the glass envelop. Usually all He-
Ne plasma tubes have a gas reservoir.
Note that! In He-Ne lasers active medium is low pressure gas mixture of Helium & Neon gas, which
is contained in the plasma tube. The ratio of He to Ne within the tube vary from 5:1 to 20:1. Usually
this ration average 8:1 can be considered.
Function of He in He-Ne Laser
In the He-Ne laser the light is produced by atomic transitions within the Neon atom. The Helium does
not directly produce laser light but it acts as a buffer gas, the purpose of which is to assist/help the
atoms of the other gas to produce lasing in as manner.
When energy from the pumping source is applied He-Ne gas mixture then some of the energy is
observed by the Helium atoms. In other words we can say that helium atoms achieve an excited state.
Now when the Helium atoms move within the laser tube, they collide with the Neon atoms. At each
collision some of the energy within the helium atom is transferred to the Neon atom and so raising it
to an excited meta-stable state. When a sufficient number of Neon atoms reach to this state then
population inversion occurs and hence the lasing can take place.
This can be shown by simplified energy level diagram as:

Here upward transition shows the absorption of energy from the pumping source by Helium atom.
While down ward transition shows the emission of energy / light or lasing present in the Neon atom
only.
In diagram above there are 3 down word energy transitions for Neon that produce lasing. If transition
occurs at the relatively small energy step from E5 to E4 then low energy infrared photon is released
with a wavelength of 3.391 microns. If transition occurs at E5 to E2 which is much larger energy step
then it produces short wavelength more energetic photon at 632.8nm. This gives the red light which
is most desirable for He-Ne laser applications.

E3 to E2 then it produces a laser output at 1.152microns in infrared portion of the spectrum.

Note that! In all He-Ne lasers the feedback mechanism consists of pair of coated mirrors. The coating
is usually reflecting mirror and 95%-99% of the light at output coupler. The reflection at the output
mirror must be higher if the active medium is short in length because the gain of the active medium is
low. If the active medium is longer more gain is produced an a larger percentage of the beam can be
provided as an output. Therefore in He-Ne laser with a longer active medium, the reflectivity of the
output coupler can be less.
Characteristics of He-Ne Laser
The He-Ne laser is a relatively low power device with an output in the visible red portion of the
spectrum. The most common wavelength produced by He-Ne lasers is 632.8nm, although two lower
power (1.152µm and 3.391µm) infrared wavelengths can be produced if desired. Majority of He-Ne
lasers generate less than 10m watt of power, but some can be obtained commercially with up to 50m
watts of power. For He-Ne lasers the typical laser tube is from 10 to 100 cm in length and the life
time of such a tube can be as high as 20,000 hours.
Applications / Uses of He-Ne Laser
The Helium-Neon gas laser is one of the most commonly used laser today because of the following
applications.

• He-Ne lasers are produced in large quantities from many years.

• Many schools / colleges / universities use this type of laser in their science programs and
experiments.
• He-Ne lasers also used in super market checkout counters to read bar codes and QR codes.
• The He-Ne lasers also used by newspapers for reproducing transmitted photographs.
• He-Ne lasers can be use as an alignment tool.
• It is also used in Guns for targeting.

Advantages of He-Ne Laser

• He-Ne laser has very good coherence property

• He-Ne laser can produce three wavelengths that are 1.152µm, 3.391 µm and 632.8nm, in
which the 632.8nm is most common because it is visible usually in red color.
• He-Ne laser tube has very small length approximately from 10 to 100cm and best life time of
20.000 hours.
• Cost of He-Ne laser is less from most of other lasers.
• Construction of He-Ne laser is also not very complex.
• He-Ne laser provide inherent safety due to low power output.
Disadvantages of He-Ne Laser
The weak points of He-Ne laser are

• It is relatively low power device means its output power is low.

• He-Ne laser is low gain system/ device.
• To obtain single wavelength laser light, the other two wavelengths of laser need suppression,
which is done by many techniques and devices. So it requires extra technical skill and
increases the cast also.
• High voltage requirement can be considered its disadvantage.
• Escaping of gas from laser plasma tube is also its disadvantage.

Applications of Laser:

a. Welding and Cutting: The highly collimated beam of a laser can be focused to a microscopic dot of
extremely high energy density for welding and cutting. The automobile industry makes extensive use of
carbon dioxide lasers with powers up to several kilowatts for computer controlled welding on auto assembly
lines.
b. Communication: The lasers have significant advantages in communication because they are more nearly
monochromatic and this allows the pulse shape to be maintained better over long distances when used in
optical fiber.
c. Barcode Scanner: Supermarket scanners typically use helium-neon lasers to scan the universal barcodes to
identify products. The laser beam bounces off a rotating mirror and scans the code, sending a modulated
beam to a light detector and then to a computer which has the product information stored.
d. Laser Printing: The laser printer has in a few years become the dominant mode of printing in offices. The
laser is focused and scanned across a photoactive selenium coated drum where it produces a charge pattern
which mirrors the material to be printed. This drum then holds the particles of the toner to transfer to paper
which is rolled over the drum in the presence of heat.
e. CD’s and Optical Discs: The detection of the binary data stored in the form of pits on the compact disc is
done with the use of a semiconductor laser.
f. Surveying and Ranging: Helium-neon and semiconductor lasers have become standard parts of the field
surveyor's equipment. A fast laser pulse is sent to a corner reflector at the point to be measured and the time
of reflection is measured to get the distance.
g. Laser cooling: The use of lasers to achieve extremely low temperatures has advanced to the point that
temperatures of 10-9 K have been reached
h. Laser Spectroscopy: Laser spectroscopy has led to advances in the precision with which spectral line
frequencies can be measured, and this has fundamental significance for our understanding of basic atomic
processes.
i. Holography: Holography is "lens less photography" in which an image is captured not as an image focused
on film, but as an interference pattern at the film.
Typically, coherent light from a laser is reflected from an object and combined at the film with light from a reference
beam. This recorded interference pattern actually contains much more information that a focused image, and enables the
viewer to view a true three-dimensional image which exhibits parallax. That is, the image will change its appearance if
you look at it from a different angle, just as if you were looking at a real 3D object.

Application of laser in Medicine: