LASERS

LASER is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. It is a device

which is used to produce a unidirectional, extremely intense and coherent beam of light.

Characteristics /properties of Laser light

Laser light differs from ordinary source light by having properties like,

1. Directionality
2. Monochromaticity
3. Intensity
4. Coherence

1. Directionality: Conventional light sources emit photons in all direction but in laser,
photons are emitted in one direction i.e. along the optical axis of the system. This is
achieved by means of stimulated emission. In ordinary sources photons will be emitted
in all directions by means of spontaneous emission.
2. Monochromaticity: Laser beam consists of photons of almost same wavelength which
gives single colour to the light. There are no light sources which is ideally
monochromatic, but compared to ordinary light sources, laser light is highly
monochromatic. Line width is measure of monochromaticity. For ordinary light
sources it is of the order of 1000 Å , however for laser light it is of the order of 10Å to
10-4 Å
3. Intensity: The laser gives out light into a narrow beam and its energy is concentrated in
a small region. Intensity of 1 mW power laser is 10,000 times bright than light from the
sun at the earth’s surface.
4. Coherence: The light waves emitted by the laser source will be in phase and of same
frequency so it will be highly coherent..

Interaction of radiations with matter

The production of laser light is a consequence of interaction of radiation with matter. There are three
processes by which the radiation interacts with matter.
(1) Induced absorption
(2) Spontaneous emission
(3) Stimulated emission.

1) INDUCED ABSORPTION:
The process of absorption of incident photon by an atom and hence the excitation of the atom
to the higher energy state is called induced absorption wherein the energy of incident photon
is exactly equal to the difference in energies of two states.

Explanation: Consider two energy levels E1 and E2 such that E2 > E1 as shown in the figure.
Consider an atom in the lower energy state E1. When a photon of energy equal to the energy
difference between E1 and E2 is incident on the atom in the state E1, it absorbs the photon. Due
to the absorption of photon, the energy of the atom increases to the value of E2. Therefore the
atom gets excited to the energy state E2.
It can be represented by:
Atom + Photon = Atom*
A + hν = A*
2) SPONTANEOUS EMISSION:
The process of emission of a photon of suitable frequency by an atom due to the transition
from a higher energy state to a lower energy state without any supply of external energy is
called spontaneous emission.

Explanation: Consider an atom in an excited state E2. Let E1 be its ground state energy. In the
excited state the atom is unstable and hence it stays in the state E2 only for 10-8 seconds and
then undergoes transition to the ground state E1 by emitting a photon whose energy is equal to
the difference between the energy states E1 and E2. For this emission, the atom does not
require any aid (extra energy). Therefore, the emission is known as spontaneous emission.
The atom can emit photon in any direction. Two such photons emitted by two different atoms
may or may not be in phase. Therefore the spontaneous emission is considered as incoherent
emission. This kind of emission is observed in glowing electrical bulb, and candle flame.
It can be represented by:
Atom* = Atom + Photon
A* = A + hν

3) STIMULATED EMISSION:
The process of emission of a photon by an atom in the excited state under the incidence of a
passing photon of right energy on the atom and hence the transition of the atom to a lower
energy state is called stimulated emission.

Explanation: In this process the incident photon stimulates the atom to emit an identical
photon. Hence this process is known as stimulated emission. In this process both incident
photon and stimulated photon travel in the same direction and will be in phase. Hence,
stimulated emission is called coherent emission. This kind of emission is suitable for laser
action.
 Boltzman relation for ratio of Population of two atomic States:
The number of atoms per unit volume in an energy state is known as the population
density of that energy state. The population densities of different energy states are
related to each other if the system is in thermal equilibrium.
Consider two energy states E1 and E2 with population densities N1 and N2 respectively
such that E2 > E1.
The relation between the two is given by Boltzmann factor,

But E2 – E1 = ΔE

is always less than unity because ΔE is always positive.

Therefore,

Thus under ordinary conditions the population of any higher energy state is less than
the population of its lower energy states.
If the population of any higher energy state is more than the population of any
specified lower energy state then it is called population inversion.

N2 N2
Population
inversion
E N1 E N1
E E

N N
 EXPRESSION FOR ENERGY DENSITY OF RADIATION IN TERMS OF EINSTEIN’S
COEFFICIENTS

Consider two energy levels E1 and E2 of an atomic system such that E2 > E1. Let the
population densities of E1 and E2 be N1 and N2 respectively. Let radiations with continuous
spectrum of frequencies be incident on the atomic system. Then Uν represents energy
density (energy per unit volume of the frequency range) of frequency ν. In case of induced
absorption, when this energy is incident on an atom in the energy level E 1, it absorbs the
energy and makes a transition to the energy level E2. The number of such absorptions per
second is called rate of absorption. The rate of absorption depends on the number of atoms
in the lower energy state and the energy density Uν of the incident radiation.
Rate of absorption R12 N1Uν
R12 = B12N1Uν
Where, B12 is Einstein’s coefficient of induced absorption.
In case of spontaneous emission, an atom in the higher energy level E2 undergoes
transition to the energy state E1, voluntarily by emitting a photon. The rate of
spontaneous emission depends only on population density N2.
Rate of spontaneous emission R21 N2
R21 = A21N2
Where, A21 is Einstein’s coefficient of spontaneous emission.
If the energy density Uν is incident on an atom in the energy state E2, it
undergoes stimulated emission. The rate of stimulated emission is proportional to the
population density N2 and the incident energy density Uν
Rate of stimulated emission R*21 N2Uν
R*21 = B21N2Uν
Where, B21 is Einstein’s coefficient of stimulated emission.
At thermal equilibrium,

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

R12 = R21 + R*21
From Boltzmann’s law for thermal equilibrium of an atomic system we have

But =h

Substituting this result in equation (1) we get

From Planck’s law of energy distribution, the energy density is given by,

Comparing equations (2) and (3), we find

These two equations are called Einstein’s relations.

Then Equation (2) becomes

 
A21  1 
Uν=
B21  hkT 
 e 1
B21)[1/{(e(hν/kT))-1}]
From, B12 = B21 we see that the rate of induced absorption is equal to the rate of stimulated
emission, at thermal equilibrium.

CONDITIONS FOR LASER ACTION

Laser photons are produced due to stimulated emission. Three processes are possible when radiation
interacts with matter.
 1)For laser action, that is produce coherent photons, ratio of Rate of Stimulated emission to the Rate of
spontaneous emission should be high.

Rate of stimulated emission N 2U B21 U B21

  should be high
Rate of spon tan eous emission N 2 A21 A21

From above equation it is clear that stimulated transition will dominate the spontaneous emission
if density of radiations is large. Further, stimulated transitions will dominate the spontaneous
B 21
transitions if the value of ratio is also large. To increase the probability of stimulated emission,
A21
the life time of atoms at the excited state should be larger i.e. excited state has a longer life time. or
it is a metastable state.

Rate of stimulated emission N 2U B21 N 2

2) Also   should be high
Rate of induced absorption N 1U B12 N1

Here B12 = B21 according to Einstein’s relation between the coefficients. The above
condition indicates that stimulated emissions will overwhelm the induced absorptions we can
achieve the condition N2 > N1, hence we can get lasing action.

The condition in which N2 > N1 is called as population inversion which is the required
condition for a laser action.

REQUISITES OF A LASER SYSTEM

The following are the three requisites of a laser system
Active medium:
A material medium in which the population inversion and hence the lasing action can be
achieved is called active medium. Active medium provides energy levels for atomic
transitions and helps for lasing action. A material will be chosen as active medium only if it
possesses metastable states and by which we can achieve population inversion from which
we can have more stimulated emissions.
Depending on the type of active medium used, the lasers are classified into four
groups in the following way
a) Gas lasers: They consist of a mixture of gases as the active medium.
Example: He-Ne laser, CO2 laser
b) Solid-state lasers: They consist of crystals as the active medium,
Example: Ruby laser, Yttrium Aluminium garnet (YAG) laser
c) Semiconductor lasers: They consist of semiconductors as the active medium.
Example: Gallium Arsenide (GAs) laser
d) Liquid lasers: They consist of chemicals as the active medium.
Example: Dye lasers

Pumping: To raise the atoms from a lower to a higher energy state by supplying
sufficient energy is called pumping. There are different types of pumping techniques.
a) Optical pumping: Intense light source is used to supply luminous energy and raise
the atoms.
Eg: Ruby laser.
b) Electric Discharge: In this process electric discharge is used for the excitation of
 atoms.
Eg: He-Ne laser
c) Direct Conversion: Electrical energy is directly converted into radiation in devices
like LEDs and semiconductor lasers.
d)Chemical Reactions: In this, energy for excitation comes from chemical reactions
without any need for other energy sources.

Resonant cavity:
In order to generate a coherent and amplified light output, it is necessary that photons
with a specific direction are selected while others are rejected. Also these stimulated photons
are to be made to pass through the active medium a number of times. These requirements are
met with an optical resonant cavity.
Optical resonant cavity consists of two parallel mirrors facing each other with active
medium placed in between them. One of the mirrors is 100% reflecting while the other
is made partially reflecting.

Only those photons emitted parallel to the axis of resonant cavity suffer multiple reflections
by the opposite mirrors and gain in strength while other photons are lost.
In order to sustain the standing wave pattern in the resonator, the distance between the
mirrors is made to be equal to n (λ/2).
i.e. L = n λ/2 (This is called resonance condition).
where n = 1,2,3,…., L is the distance between the mirrors and λ is the
wavelength of light.

. Metastable State:
The higher energy state of an atom (or molecule) in which it stays for unusually longer
duration of time (of the order of ms or more) is called metastable state.

Population Inversion (The process in which the number of atoms in a higher energy state of an
atomic system is made more than the number of atoms in any of its lower energy states is called
population inversion.

Three level pumping scheme

The three level scheme first excites the atoms to an excited state higher in energy than the upper
laser state. The atoms then quickly decay down into the upper laser state. A typical three level
 pumping scheme is shown in fig. Consider three energy levels E1, E2 and E3 of an atomic system,
in such a way that E1 < E2 < E3. Let E2 be the metastable state. Under normal conditions the atoms
remain in the lower energy state E1. But when suitable amount of energy is supplied to them they
start undergoing excitation to the state E3.The excited atoms in the state E3 stay for a period of 10-8
seconds and then undergo non-radiative transition to the metastable state E2, where they stay for a
long duration of the order 10-2 seconds. If the pumping of atoms from E1 to E3 is maintained
continuously, then the population of E1 decreases continuously. The atoms excited to the state E3
undergo immediate downward transition to E2, as a result of which the population of E2 increases
more. Due to this process a stage will reach at which the population of E 2 will be more than that of
E1. This stage of operation is known as population inversion. Now a chance photon can trigger
stimulated emission.

In this scheme, population inversion is achieved only when more than half of ground
state atoms are pumped to upper state. Thus, scheme requires very high pump power. The three
level scheme produces light only in pulses.

For level pumping scheme

A typical four level pumping scheme is shown in fig.

Four level systems follow roughly the same process as that of 3-level scheme except that population is
moved from the lowest state E1 to the highest fourth level E4 where they stay for only about 10-8s.
Then it decays to the third level E3 which is metastable upper lasing level. As spontaneous transitions
from the level E3 to level E2 cannot take place, the atoms get trapped in the state E3 and population
grows rapidly here. The level E2 is well above the ground state so that at normal temperature atoms
cannot jump to level E2. As a result level E2 is virtually empty. Therefore population inversion is
attained between the states E3 and E2 and lasing happens when the incident light matches the energy
between the third (E3) and second level E2 which is lower lasing level. After lasing atoms from state
E2 subsequently undergo non-radiative transitions to ground state E1.
The lower laser transition level in this scheme is nearly vacant. Therefore, les power is
sufficient to achieve population inversion. Four level lasers operate in continuous wave mode.

Helium-Neon Laser
Construction:
 Helium-Neon laser is a gas laser.
  The active medium is a mixture of Helium and Neon gases in the ratio 10:1with pressure
inside the tube is maintained as 1: 0.1 torr.
 The resonant cavity (or discharge tube) is a sealed quartz tube of 1m length and 1 cm
diameter. The ends of the glass tube are sealed with Brewster windows to reduce reflection
losses. The quartz tube is placed between two mirrors, one completely silvered and one
partially silvered.
 Two electrodes are provided in the tube which are connected to external potential source of
the order of 1KV, to excite the He-Ne mixture.

Working:

 The energy level diagram of a He-Ne laser is as shown in the figure.

 When a suitable voltage of the order 1000 V is applied to the electrodes, the gaseous mixture
of He and Ne undergoes electrical discharge producing free electrons and ions.
 The electrons get accelerated by the applied voltage and collide with the He and Ne atoms
due to which the atoms are excited to the higher energy states.
 Since the proportion of Helium atoms is greater, a large number of Helium atoms are excited
to F2 and F3 levels, which are metastable.
 Levels F2 and F3 of Helium have approximately the same energy as levels E4 and E6 of Neon.
Thus when a Helium atom in the metastable state collides with a Neon atom in the ground
state, it transfers its energy to the Neon atom. This transfer is called resonance transfer. By
gaining the transferred energy, the Neon atom gets transferred to E4 or E6 level.
 The population of E4 and E6 states of Neon increases rapidly and population inversion is
achieved.
 The atoms in E4 and E6 undergo radiative transitions to their lower E3 and E5 levels.
Three wavelengths of light are emitted.
a) E6 → E5 level which gives rise wavelength 3.39 µm.
b) E6 → E3 level which gives rise wavelength 6328 Ao.
c) E4 → E3 level giving rise to 1.15 µm.
 E3 and E5 are not metastable states and so the atoms undergo spontaneous transition to the
metastable state E2 by emitting photons.
 Since E2 is a metastable state, atoms tend to stay in this state for a longer duration. This has
an adverse effect since the atoms in this state may be excited to the E5 or E3 levels again due
to the photons from the spontaneous emission. This is counteracted by making the diameter
of the discharge tube very small (order of a few millimetres), since atoms in this metastable
 state immediately come down to the ground state when they collide with the walls of the laser
tube.

The radiation of wavelength 6328 Ao is the output laser light.

Since the electrical discharge is maintained continuously, the population inversion also takes place
continuously and the laser emission is continuous. Therefore, He-Ne laser is a continuous wave
laser.
Salient Features
1. Use Four level pumping scheme
2. The active centres are Ne atoms.
3. Electrical discharge is pumping agent.
4. Low efficiency and low output power.
5. operates in continuous wave(CW) mode

SEMICONDUCTOR LASER (Gallium Arsenide Laser)

Principle
It is based on the principle of electron hole recombination in a direct band gap semiconductor
which results in emission of photons.
Construction:
 It consists of a p-n junction in which p- and n- regions are heavily doped.
 Each side of the laser is of the order of 1 mm. The p-n junction layer width is ~ 1µm.
 The top and bottom faces are provided with metallic contacts to pass current through
the diode.
 The front and rear faces are polished parallel to each other and perpendicular to the
plane of the junction. The polished faces constitute the optical resonator.
 The other two opposite faces are roughened to prevent lasing action in that direction.
Working

 When the laser diode is forward biased, electrons move to p-region and holes to n-
region.
 These electrons and holes recombine in the junction region and photons are emitted.
 At low forward current only spontaneous emission takes place. As the current
increases and reaches a threshold value, the depletion region contains high
concentration of electrons within the conduction band and a large concentration of
holes within the valence band. This is the state of population inversion.
 Thus the forward bias plays the role of pumping source. At this stage, any
spontaneously emitted photon triggers stimulated emission and laser beam is
produced.
 The emission wavelength depends on doping and threshold current.

The energy gap of a GaAs semiconductor is 1.4 eV,

From, Eg = hc/λ
Wavelength of emitted photon λ = 8400 Ao
Semiconductor lasers have many advantages such as compact in size, lightweight, good
reliability, long service life, low power consumption, safe operation and low cost of
maintenance.
Semiconductor lasers are used in optical communication, optical data storage, laser pointers,
writing or reading from CD and DVD, metrology, spectroscopy, material processing, pumping
of other lasers, and medical treatments.

Applications of LASER:
1) LIDAR — Light Detection and Ranging
LIDAR is a remote sensing method used to examine the surface of the Earth. Remote sensing
means measuring remotely and not physically with our hands. We are using sensors which
capture information about a landscape and record things that we can use to estimate conditions
and characteristics. To measure vegetation or other data across large areas, we need remote
sensing methods that can take many measurements quickly, using automated sensors.
LIDAR, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging, is a remote sensing method that
uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure ranges (variable distances) to the Earth.
LIDAR is an active remote sensing system that can be used to measure vegetation height across
wide areas. Lidar systems allow scientists and mapping professionals to examine both natural
and manmade environments with accuracy, precision, and flexibility. These light pulses—
combined with other data recorded by the airborne system — generate precise, three-
dimensional information about the shape of the Earth and its surface characteristics.
Generally, a LIDAR instrument consists of a laser, a scanner, and a specialized GPS receiver.
Airplanes and helicopters are the most commonly used platforms for acquiring LIDAR data
over broad areas. Two types of LIDAR are topographic and bathymetric. Topographic LIDAR
typically uses a near-infrared laser to map the land, while bathymetric LIDAR uses water-
penetrating green light to also measure seafloor and riverbed elevations.
In a LIDAR system, light is emitted from a rapidly firing laser. This light travels to the ground
and reflects off of things like buildings and tree branches. The reflected light energy then
returns to the LIDAR sensor where it is recorded. A LIDAR system measures the time it takes
for emitted light to travel to the ground and back. That time is used to calculate distance
travelled. Distance travelled is then converted to elevation. These measurements are made
using the key components of a LIDAR system including a GPS that identifies the X,Y,Z
location of the light energy and an Internal Measurement Unit (IMU) that provides the
orientation of the plane in the sky.
Light energy is a collection of photons. As photon that make up light moves towards the
ground, they hit objects such as branches on a tree. Some of the light reflects off of those objects
and returns to the sensor. If the object is small, and there are gaps surrounding it that allow
light to pass through, some light continues down towards the ground. Because some photons
reflect off of things like branches but others continue down towards the ground, multiple
reflections may be recorded from one pulse of light.
A Discrete Return LiDAR System records individual (discrete) points for the peaks in the
waveform curve. A Full Waveform LiDAR System records a distribution of returned light
energy.

2) Laser Printing:
When a document is sent to the printer, a laser beam "draws" the document on a selenium-
coated drum using electrical charges. The drum is then rolled in toner, a dry powder type of
ink that adheres to the charged image on the drum. The toner is transferred onto a piece of
paper and fused to the paper with heat and pressure.
Laser printers use a laser, a mirror and electrical charges to make the printing process work.

The following steps detail how a laser printer works:

1. A photographic or text image is sent to the printer, which begins the process of
transferring that image to paper using a combination of positive and negative static
electric charges.
2. The revolving drum gets a positive charge.
3. The system's electronics convert the image into a laser beam.
4. The laser beam bounces off a mirror onto the drum, drawing the image on the drum
by burning a negative charge in the shape of the image.
5. Then the drum picks up the positively charged toner from the toner cartridge. The
toner sticks to the negatively charged image on the drum.
6. Paper entering the printer receives a negative charge.
7. As the paper passes the drum, the paper's negative charge attracts toner from the
positively charged drum; the toner literally sits on top of the paper.
8. The paper's charge is removed and a fuser permanently bonds the toner onto the
paper.
9. The printed paper is released from the printer.
10. The electrical charge is removed from the drum, and the excess toner is collected.
3) Bridge Deflection:

Bridge is an important part of the transportation infrastructure. In order to detect the

performance of bridge, it usually needs to determine the deformation of key parts of it. The
deformation is caused by changes of natural conditions and long-term load even overload. The
direct measurement method of the displacement sensor and the indirect measurement method
of strain measurement are used to measure the deformation. Moreover, the method of laser
image has the advantages of convenient installation, low maintenance cost and high precision,
which becomes research hotspot.
Laser emitter is installed on the measurement base point and laser receiver is fixed at the
measurement point of bridge. Laser projects on the fixed laser screen. Laser image will be
sampled by CCD (Charge coupled device: is a light-sensitive integrated circuit that captures
images by converting photons to electrons) and sent to the MCU (multiple control unit). A laser
spot is formed in the imaging, and it is processed by digital image processing technology. The
coordinate of the center of the laser spot will be calculated. With deformation of the bridge, the
position of the center of the laser spot is changed. This variation is equal to the deflection of
bridge, so the deflection of bridge can be obtained by calculating the variation of the center of
the laser spot. When the bridge deformation occurs, laser receiver will also have a slight angle
of inclination, as shown in Figure. In order to reduce measurement error, this study introduces
tilt sensor to measure the angle of the laser emitter.

As shown in the Figure, it designates that A is the datum position, B is the laser light spot
position, l is the length of AB line, which is the deformation relative to datum plane.  is the
obliquity of light spot receiver relative to datum plane.  is the displacement value of the
measured point perpendicular to the datum plane, so  is the deformation result. The
relationship between the three is shown in the eq.(1). The vertical deformation of the position
can be analyzed by collecting the center coordinates of the spot image.
  l cos (1)