H.

CoSojieB
«AT0MH3AaT»
JIA3EPLI
MocKBa
h h x Ey/jymEE
 Lasers
and
Their Prospects
N. Sobolev

Translated from the Russian

by V. PURTO

Mir Publishers
Moscow
UDC 021.375.8 = 20

First published 1974

Ha amjaiiicKOM sisune

© English translation, Mir Publishers, 1974

r 0237 —374
041(01) — 74
 Contents
Introduction .............................................. 7
Chapter 1. The Nature of Light . . . 13
Particles or Waves? ....................... 13
Photons—Quanta of Light ............................... 18
Chapter 2. Atom as Quantum System . . . . 23
Quantum Concepts on the Atomic Structure 23
Structure of the Atom. Quantum Numbers . .25
Radiation and Absorption ............................... 31
Distribution of Particles Among EnergyLevels 36
Active Systems ....................... 38
Chapter 3. Generators of Light 43
Ruby Laser ................... .4 3
Properties of Laser Beam ............... .5 1
Active Materials ........................... . 56
Methods and Sources of Excitation . . . . 63
Resonant Systems . . . . . 70
Continuous-Wave Lasers . . 74
Glass Lasers . 77
Giant Pulses ..................................................... 80
Gas Lasers ......................................................... 85
Methods of Concentrating Gas Laser Radiation at
One Frequency . . .101
Liquid Lasers . . . 104
Semiconductor Lasers ............... 106
Chapter 4. Application of Lasers 117
Lasers in Communications . . . . 117
Light Beam Modulation Methods 120
Beam Waveguides ............... 132
Lasers in Computers ...........................................138
Application of Lasers in Metrology ....................143
5
Lasers in Chemistry ...............................................145
Lasers in Photography ...........................................147
Lasers for Treating of Materials ........................... 155
Laser Gyroscopes .................................................. 159
Lasers in Detection and R a n g i n g ........................... 163
Laser Range Finders ...........................................167
Laser Tracking of Satellites ............................... 170
Lasers in Space Equipment ............................... 177
Communication with Spacecraft During Atmos­
pheric Re-Entry ...................................................... 182
Detection and Communications Under the Sea . 185
Other Military Applications of Lasers . . . . 188
Lasers in Medicine and Biology ........................194
Chapter 5. Lasers and Science ........................... 200
Testing Einstein’s Theory of Relativity . . . 200
Measuring the Drift of Continents by Means of
Lasers ................................................................. 204
Lasers for Geodetic Studies and Atmospheric
Sounding ..............................................................208
Measuring of Speeds ...............................................210
Laser Space Communications ............................... 210
Chapter 6. The Prospects of Lasers ....................225
Pipeline out of a Laser Beam ............................... 225
Lasers and Communications with Extraterrestrial
Civilizations .......................................................... 228
Spaceship of the Future .......................................241
Looking Ahead .............................................. 243
 Introduction

Lasers are one of the biggest achievements made

in the second half of the twentieth century.
Lasers are quantum generators working in the optical
region of the spectrum, or, simply, generators of light.
The principle on which their work is based is the
amplification of electromagnetic oscillations by means
of forced or induced radiation of atoms and mole­
cules. This kind of radiation was predicted by Albert
Einstein as long ago as 1917 when he studied the equi­
librium between the energy of atomic systems and
their radiation. Therefore it would be, perhaps, true
to say that the history of the creation of lasers begins
just as early.
Yet, at that time nobody was aware of the potential
value of this phenomenon for the future. Nobody
knew then how induced radiation could be brought
about and used.
In 1940, the Soviet scientist V. Fabrikant, analy­
sing the gas discharge spectrum, pointed out that in­
duced radiation effect could be employed for attain­
ing amplification of light. In 1951, together with
F. Butayeva and M. Vudynsky, V. Fabrikant carried out
first experiments in this direction.
7
 In 1952, scientists in three countries—N. Basov
and A. Prokhorov in the USSR, Ch. Townes, J. Gor­
don and H. Zeiger in the USA, and J. Weber in Ca­
nada—simultaneously and independently suggested
a new principle of generating and amplifying micro-
wave frequency electromagnetic oscillations, based
on the use of the induced radiation phenomenon.
This allowed the creation of quantum generators for
the centimetre and decimetre frequency bands, now
known as masers; these devices displayed a very high
stability of the frequency. The use of masers as am­
plifiers provided for a more than hundred-fold in­
crease in the sensitivity of radio receiving equipment.
First quantum generators employed two-level energy
systems and spatial separating of molecules with
different energy levels in a non-uniform electric fi­
eld. In 1955, N. Basov and A. Prokhorov suggested
that particles could be brought to the non-equilibri­
um state by using quantum systems with three ener­
gy levels, excited by an external electromagnetic
field.
In 1958, N. Basov, B. Vul, J. Popov and A-. Pro­
khorov in the USSR and Ch. Townes and A. Schaw-
low in the USA investigated the possibility of apply­
ing this method for developing optical generators.
Proceeding from the results of these investigations,
in December 1960, T. Maiman of the USA construc­
ted the first optical quantum generator which could
successfully operate and in which synthetic ruby was
employed as the active medium.
The first ruby quantum generator worked pulsed.
Its radiation lay in the red region of the optical spec­
trum. Excitation was effected by means of a powerful
light source.
With the appearance of the ruby optical quantum
generator, the word “laser” has come into existence,
$
 which is an abbreviation based on the English des­
cription of the function of this device, Light Amplifi­
cation by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.
A year later, in 1961, the American scientists A. Ja­
van, W. Bennett and D. Herriott constructed a gas
laser with a mixture of helium and neon as the active
medium. The active medium in this laser was exci­
ted by the electromagnetic field of a high-frequency
generator. This was a continuously working or conti­
nuous-wave (CW) laser.
The fact that induced radiation was obtained in a
semiconductor diode in both the Soviet Union and
the United States (1962) heralded the advent of a
semiconductor laser. The possibility of employing
semiconductors as the active medium in lasers was
first pointed out by the Soviet scientists N. Basov,
B. Vul and J. Popov as early as 1959. Much credit for
the development of the semiconductor laser is also
due to the American scientist R. Hall. The semicon­
ductor laser is excited directly by electric current.
This laser is capable of working both pulsed
and CW.
At present more than a hundred of substances are
used in lasers as the active media. Generation has
been obtained with crystals, activated glasses, plas­
tics, gases, liquids, semiconductors, plasma. As acti­
ve media use can be made of organic compounds acti­
vated with ions of rare-earth elements. Success has
been made in obtaining generation by employing
common water vapours and even air. A new class of
gas lasers, so-called ion lasers, have been created.
The operating wavelength range of the present-
day optical quantum generators extends from 0.23 to
538 p (from 1.3-1015 to 5.571011 Hz). The scale of
the spectrum for electromagnetic radiation in the op­
tical region is shown in Table 1.
9
 Table 1
Scale of Spectrum of Electromagnetic Radiation in
Optical Region

Frequency
R a n g e s o f o p t ic a l r e g io n W a v e le n g t h . X, A f, T

Jnfra-red:
long-wave range 7.5-106 — 2.5-105 0 .4 - 1 2 . 0
medium-wave range 2 .5 • 106 — 2 .5 -104 12.0 — 120
short-wave range 2.5-104 — 7.G-103 120 — 400
V is ib le :
7600 —6200 400 — 485
rod
6200 — 5900 485 — 509
orange
5900 -5600 509 — 537
yellow
5600 — 5000 537 — 600
green
5000 — 4800 600 — 625
blue
48C0 -4 5 0 0 625 — 668
indigo
4500 — 4000 668 — 750
violet 4000 — 50 7 5 0 — f i. 1 0 4
Ultra-violet

1 A = 10-"n = 10-8 cm
1 T (one terahertz) = 1012 Hz

But what is the key advantage offered by these de­

vices? This advantage resides in a number of remark­
able properties of laser radiation. In contrast to
light emitted by conventional sources, this radiation
is coherent with space and time, it is monochromatic,
propagates in the form of a very narrow beam and is
characterised by an extremely high concentration of
energy which only recently seemed fantastic. All
this makes the laser beam a finest instrument in
the hands of scientists for the investigation ^of various
10
substances, for the study of the characteristic proper­
ties of atomic and molecular structures, for a better
understanding of their interaction, for the determi­
nation of the biological structure of living cells.
Laser beam can be used to transmit signals for com­
munication both on the Earth and in space practi­
cally over any distance.
It is quite obvious that in the nearest future commu­
nications with space rockets and spaceships will be
effected with the help of lasers. The use of lasers in
terrestrial communications will bring about a real
revolution in the communication engineering. The
amount of information that can be transmitted via
communication lines will grow immensely. It suf­
fices to say in this connection that theoretically one
laser beam offers a channel for about one thousand
million telephone conversations to be carried out si­
multaneously.
Lasers make possible radar observations of celestial
bodies. In November 1963 a first experiment was con­
ducted in the Soviet Union to explore the Moon with
the help of a laser. The radiation of the laser instal­
led in the focus of the 2.6-m telescope of the Crimean
Astrophysical Observatory was sent in the form of
powerful pulses towards the Moon. The beam reflec­
ted from the Moon returned to the Earth and was
detected by very sensitive receiving devices. The in­
tensity of the reflected beam was 1019 times weaker
than that of the original beam. Yet it proved to be
sufficient for determining the configuration of the
natural Earth’s satellite and the dimensions of sepa­
rate areas of the lunar surface wTith an accuracy more
than one hundred times exceeding that attainable
with any other method, however perfect it may be.
The depth of the lunar craters was determined in this
way.
11
 Lasers hold the greatest promise for diverse techni­
cal uses. They can find application in ranging and
navigation, in medicine and biology, in chemistry
and geophysics. Lasers will also be widely employed
in industrial treatment of materials. Apparatus have
already been created for performing various technolo­
gical operations which could hardly, if at all, be per­
formed before. For example, rough finishing of a
hole in a diamond die usually takes more than two
hours; with the use of a laser this operation can be
completed in less than one tenth of a second.
Our time is that of space travels. But before start­
ing space journeys to other distant worlds men should
make certain about the existence of extra-terres­
trial civilizations. If such civilizations really exist
somewhere in the Universe, then, quite probably,
lasers will help us to get into communication with
them.
Taking into account that lasers were created only
a little more than ten years ago, to-day it is impos­
sible to predict all those fields in which they can and
actually will be employed. Yet there can be no doubt
that these wonderful devices have a great future.
The possibility of using optical quantum genera­
tors in various branches of science and technology is
under active investigation now. The creation of op­
tical quantum generators owes much to Soviet scien­
tists. In 1959, N. Basov and A. Prokhorov were awar­
ded the Lenin Prize for the research work in the field
of quantum electronics. In recognition of the funda­
mental research in quantum radiophysics which led
to the creation of the new type of generators and
amplifiers—lasers and masers, the Swedish Academy
of Sciences awarded N. Basov and A. Prokhorov of
the USSR and Ch. Townes of the USA, by the Nobel
Prize for physics of 1964.
 CHAPTER 1

The Nature
of Light

PARTICLES OR WAVES?

The world in which we live is full of light. Light

is radiated by the Sun, by stars, by glowing electric
lamps, by a burning match, and by dazzling flashes
of lightning. Light enables us to see the beauty of the
universe around. But what is light? What are the
nature and structure of it? What processes in matter
cause light radiation? These and many other problems
iiave always been of interest to man, but it took cen­
turies before he could riddle them. And small wonder,
since an insight into the nature of light gives a clue
to the understanding of matter.
The earliest investigations into the nature and be­
haviour of light were made by the ancient Greeks.
According to one of the theories which they put for­
ward, light emanated from the eyes of man and there­
fore he could see objects around him.
The well-known German astronomer Johahn Kep­
ler who lived in the seventeenth century considered
that light was a kind of substance continually emitted
by light-radiating bodies. He was of opinion that the
propagation of light was instantaneous.
The first definite view-point on the nature of light
13
was formulated by Isaac Newton. He held that light
is a flux of specific material particles (corpuscles)
which are emitted by luminous bodies and propagate
in a homogeneous medium in straight lines with a
definite finite velocity. “By the rays of light I under­
stand its least parts”, Newton wrote, convinced in
the correctness of his idea.
Newton was the first to observe dispersion of light
with the help of a prism and to give an explanation
of this phenomenon. He explained colour by the sizes
of corpuscles which produced it. “Nothing more is
requisite for producing all the variety of colours”,
Newton wrote, “than that the rays of light be bodies
of different sizes, the least of which may make violet
... and the rest as they are bigger and bigger, may
make ... blue, green, yellow and red.” Depending on
their sizes, corpuscles travelled with different velo­
cities. Newton held that the velocity of light was also
dependent on the medium in which it propagated:
that it was greater in a denser medium and smaller
in a medium of a lower density. He came to this con­
clusion when trying to explain the laws of refraction
and reflection of light. As we shall see later, Newton
proved to be right only in the first part of his asser­
tion.
Thus in the end of the seventeenth century the cor­
puscular theory of light, otherwise called “Newton’s
theory of emission”, came into being. It gained wide
recognition and reigned supreme in science almost
throughout the eighteenth century. Though generally
accepted, the corpuscular theory could not explain
many of the phenomena in the behaviour of light,
such as diffraction, interference and polarization.
Such weak points in the corpuscular theory made
even Newton’s contemporaries feel somewhat dissa­
tisfied with it.
14
 In the same seventeenth century, only some years
after Newton had formulated his theory of emission,
the Dutch physicist Christian Huygens proposed an
undulatory theory of light, which was to become the
irreconcilable rival of the corpuscular theory. Huy­
gens denied the existence of light corpuscles. Accord­
ing to his theory, light had a vibrational character
and was a kind of elastic impulse propagating in a
specific medium, the aether, which pervaded all spa­
ce. Huygens’ theory postulated the presence of the
aether in water, air, glass, and even in vacuum. In
Huygens’ opinion, the propagation of light in the
aether was analogous to the propagation of sound in
air, the both phenomena being of undulatory charac-
ler.
When explaining the refraction of light, Huygens,
as well as Newton, proceeded from the difference in
light propagation velocities in different media. But
the conclusions drawn by Huygens were diametrically
opposite to those made by Newton.
Huygens’ theory, however, did not become wide­
spread at that time. In the “age of Newton” not every
scientist was bold enough to doubt the rightness of
the views professed by the man of the highest scienti­
fic authority, all the more so that Newton himself
discarded Huygens’ theory.
In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centu­
ries some scientists could quite successfully account
for a number of phenomena with the help of the wave
theory of light. Thus, after the British scientist Tho­
mas Young had thoroughly investigated the interfe­
rence and diffraction of light, the French scientist
Augustin Fresnel gave full theoretical interpretation
of these phenomena, reasoning from the wave theory.
Fresnel offered a consistent explanation of all the
experimental data on the diffraction and interference
15
 known by that time. He also put forward the idea
that light vibrations were transverse, which permit­
ted the polarization phenomenon to be understood
and explained.
By then the velocity of light was already known to
be finite. The Danish astronomer Olaf Romer was
the first to establish this fact in 1675. He also succee­
ded in fixing a definite value for the velocity of light
by observing eclipses of Jupiter’s satellites. This va­
lue proved to be 300 000 km/s. In 1849, the French
physicist Armand Fizeau measured the velocity of
light in air. One year later another French physicist
Leon Foucalt determined the velocity of light in wa­
ter. It was found that the velocity of light in water
was approximately 1.33 times less than in air. For
the first time the validity of Newton’s and Huygens’
hypotheses on the refraction of light at the boundary
between two media could be practically tested. Fou-
calt’s experiment on the velocity of light in water was
crucial between the two theories: it did not confirm
Newton’s hypothesis and decided in favour of the
wave theory.
Thus, in the end of the nineteenth century, the wave
theory of light at last won recognition.
But the nature of light was still an enigma. As be­
fore, the corpuscular theory and the wave theory had
their adherents. Quite a number of phenomena could
be well explained from the standpoint of the wave
theory, while the corpuscular theory could offer no
explanation for them; other phenomena, on the con­
trary, could well be described with the help of the
corpuscular theory but could not be described at all
in terms of the wave theory.
In the second half of the nineteenth century the
famous British theoretical physicist James Clerk
Maxwell constructed his harmonious theory of the
16
electromagnetic field, which was based on the discove­
ries made by Coulomb, Ampere and Faraday in elec­
tricity. According to this theory, the electromagne­
tic field was a specific all-pervading medium. Max­
well succeeded in describing all the laws governing
electromagnetic phenomena by a comprehensive sys­
tem of equations. On the strength of these equations
he assumed that light should be regarded as a variety
of electromagnetic vibrations. This was indeed a bril­
liant idea. Calculations showed that electromagnetic
waves propagate with a velocity of 300 000 km/s,
which is exactly the same as that of light. The connec­
tion between two fields of physics—light and electri­
city—was thus discovered.
So, light wave is a wave of the electromagnetic
field. This wave is characterized by the electric field
vector E and the magnetic field vector H, that are
at right angles to each other, and by the velocity of
propagation u.
The electromagnetic wave is transverse, which
means that both field vectors are oscillating in time
perpendicularly to the direction of their propagation,
in the same phase (Fig. 1).
z

Fig. 1. Electromagnetic wave

2—471 17
 Experiments carried out by the German physicist
H. Hertz on the production of electromagnetic waves
and studies of their properties confirmed the deep
analogy between electromagnetic and light waves.
No one could be any longer in doubt as to the wave
nature of light.
The discovery of the electromagnetic nature of light
disproved Huygens’ hypothesis of the “elastic aether”.
Nevertheless, the conceptions of the aether as the me­
dium for the propagation of electromagnetic waves
were still entertained, only the aether was thought
to be not “elastic”, but “electromagnetic”.
The untenability of the hypothesis of the aether as
the only and quite specific medium in which electro­
magnetic waves (light) can propagate became evident
only after the advent of Albert Einstein’s theory of
relativity in 1905.

PHOTONS — QUANTA OF LIGHT

The development of physical concepts on the nature
of light during the period of two and a half centuries
was complicated and even unexpected in many res­
pects. Physicists kept on investigating and searching.
New experiments were made, new facts became known,
and new outlooks on the nature of light appeared.
For conducting experimental research of the laws
of thermal radiation, the German physicist Gustav
Kirchhoff suggested a model of a perfectly black body.
While studying the radiation characteristics of dif­
ferent bodies at different temperatures, the German
scientists Josef Stefan and Ludwig Boltzmann disco­
vered the law which states that the radiant emittance
£ of a perfectly black body is proportional to the fourth
power of its absolute temperature T; E = gT4, where
a is a constant.
18
 Fig. 2. Dependence of spectral concentration of radiant
emittance on wavelength

Another law, known as Wien’s displacement law,

states that the wavelength in the radiation spectrum
of a black body, corresponding to the maximum spec­
trum density of radiant emittance, >.max, is inversely
proportional to its absolute temperature: Xmax=
= c!Ty where c is a constant.
Wavelength curves for the distribution of radiant
energy at different temperature are shown in Fig. 2.
Curve 1 corresponds to a relatively lower temperature,
curve 2, to a medium temperature, and curve 5, to a
higher temperature. The area defined by each of the
curves is equal to the total energy radiated by the
surface of a perfectly black body per unit of time.
As can be seen from this figure, for higher tempera­
tures the radiation maximum shifts to the left, to­
wards shorter wavelengths.
The British scientists J. Rayleigh and J. Jeans
derived a formula trying to combine the above two
laws. According to this formula, the radiant emittance
of a hot body is directly proportional to its absolute
temperature and inversely proportional to the square
of the wavelength of light emitted by it.
2* 19
 This formula was in good agreement with the ex­
perimental data, but only in the long wave region of
the visible spectrum. For waves of the ultra-violet
region no such agreement could be observed. From the
Rayleigh—Jeans formula it followed that the shorter
the wavelength, the higher the radiant emittance, i.e.
the intensity of thermal radiation, should be. With
the transition to shorter waves the intensity should
increase indefinitely. This, however, was in contra­
diction with experimental data.
In Fig. 2 the dashed curve corresponds to the com­
bined Rayleigh—Jeans formula. It fits the experi­
mental data obtained for the region of long waves
but is drastically at variance with those obtained for
the region of shortest waves. While the experimental
curve drops to zero within this region, the curve based
on the laws of classical physics tends to infinity. The
situation which thus arose in the theory of radiation
was termed by the physicists “ultra-violet catastrophe”.
To explain the laws of thermal radiation, in 1900
the German physicist Max Planck made a quite daring
assumption: he suggested that energy in the form of
electromagnetic waves must be emitted not continual­
ly, but only in discrete amounts — quanta. This was
in contradiction with the classical laws of physics,
but using this idea M. Planck was able to derive an
equation which established the dependence of inten­
sity on frequency, which was in excellent agreement
with the experiment. According to Planck, for the
frequency v, the energy of the quantum is hv, where
ft is a constant, quantum of action, called Planck's
constant. Its value is 6.625 •10~27 erg-s. Planck’s cons­
tant is a fundamental quantity which was to play
the greatest role in the entire physics. The very idea
put forward by Planck about the discontinuous, dis­
crete character of radiation was revolutionary for the
20
physics of that time. It ushered in the period of tran­
sition from the old tenets of classical physics to quan­
tum mechanics. Later on it led to the creation of the
photon theory of light.
The introduction of the idea of discreteness into the
interpretation of phenomena which at that time seem­
ed to be typically continuous suggested that electro­
magnetic waves must also partake of the nature of
particles. The results of investigations into photoelec­
tric effect, which brought the classical theory to a
deadlock, could be explained, as was shown by A. Ein­
stein, only with the help of the quantum theory, as­
suming that the energy of electromagnetic waves can
he absorbed and emitted in quanta, each with the
energy of hv. Quanta display the properties of partic­
les. To emphasize this fact, light quanta were called
photons. Thus, in the beginning of the twentieth cen­
tury, physicists again turned to Newton’s views on
the corpuscular nature of light. The French physicist
and astronomer D. Arago was right indeed in remark­
ing that one should never neglect the foresight and
conjectures of great men.
The main characteristic of light quanta—photons—
is the amount of energy associated with them. Mono­
chromatic luminous flux consists of quanta having
the same energy. The frequency of radiation, according
to the concepts of the quantum theory, is characteri­
zed just by the energy of the quanta E .
According to the wave theory, different kinds of
vibrations differ from one another by the frequency
of vibrations v, this being the main parameter charac­
terizing the wave process. The relationship established
between these quantities is E=hv.
The intensity of the luminous flux is determined by
the number of quanta traversing one square centi­
metre of a surface area per second. Since any luminous
21
flux is made up of separate quanta, bodies are capable
of emitting and absorbing light only in amounts that
are integral multiples of the fundamental energy
unit hv.
The mass of the light quantum manifests itself
only when the latter is in motion; in the state of rest
this mass is zero. It should be pointed out that the
quantum properties of light show up the stronger,
the greater its energy and mass are.
The picture created by scientists at the present stage
of development of the theory of light reflects the dia­
lectical unity of its contradictory corpuscular and
wave properties. Yet, even to-day we cannot say that
this picture is complete.
The light quanta, how and where do they originate?
 CHAPTER 2

Atom as Quantum
System

QUANTUM CONCEPTS ON THE ATOMIC STRUCTURE

The first model of the atom, fundamental for our
present-day concepts of its structure, is due to the
great British physicist Ernest Rutherford. Rutherford
suggested that the atom consists of a positively char­
ged nucleus in which almost the whole mass of the atom
is concentrated and of negatively charged electrons
revolving about the nucleus in certain orbits. This
model was advanced by Rutherford as a result of his
numerous experiments on the bombardment of tar­
gets made of different elements with thin bunches of
helium nuclei, carried out in 1911.
At first sight Rutherford’s model of the atom has
much in common with the model of the solar system.
For this very reason Rutherford’s model of the atom
was called planetary.
Rutherford’s model, however, was not free from
certain disadvantages. For instance, it could furnish
no explanation of the exceptional stability of the atom.
Reasoning from the laws of classical physics, the revo­
lution of electrons about the nucleus cannot be stable,
since, as any accelerated motion of charged particles,
it must be accompanied by electromagnetic radiation.
23
An electron moving in a circular orbit, even with a
constant speed, possesses an acceleration, according
to the laws of classical physics. For an electromagnetic
field to be set up a certain amount of energy is to be
expended. Therefore the energy of the electron must
gradually diminish and the speed of its motion gra­
dually decrease. Eventually the electron should spi­
ral down into the nucleus. It can be calculated that
with an atom of hydrogen this process would be com­
pleted in about 10~8 s. Experimental, practical evi­
dence, however, does not confirm such behaviour of
electrons. On the contrary, atoms are very stable
and can exist for as long as many a thousand million
years.
In 1913, the Danish physicist Niels Bohr was suc­
cessful to find the correct way out of this difficulty
and explain the origin of line spectra of different ele­
ments, as well as the stability of the atom. Bohr sho­
wed that the laws of classical physics could not be
applied to intra-atomic processes and that such pro­
cesses should be interpreted in terms of the quantum
theory.
He maintained that the electron in the atom is res­
tricted to particular stable orbits (or shells) which
are at different distances from the nucleus; the electron
can never be found between such orbits. As long as
the electron remains in steady, definite energy states,
it does not radiate or absorb electromagnetic waves.
The electron can pass from its one steady state to ano­
ther only in a jump. Such transitions are accompanied
by radiation or absorption of electromagnetic waves.
With the atom passing from one steady state of
energy E 2 to another one E i, the radiation or ab­
sorption of electromagnetic waves is always in inte­
gral quanta only, and the frequency of radiation (ab­
sorption) v, multiple of Planck’s constant fe, is given
24
by the formula
E2 — E l = hv
As can be seen from this formula, the frequency
of radiation depends only on the difference between
the energies the atom had in its respective energy sta­
tes, whereas, according to classical physics, the fre­
quency of radiation is in no way related to the amount
of the energy radiated.
The Bohr theory could well describe the discrete
spectrum of the one-electron atom of hydrogen, but
could not account for the spectrum of an atom as simple
as helium having two electrons. Nor could Bohr’s
theory explain the relationship between the intensities
of different lines in the atomic spectrum. Nevertheless,
the quantum theory of Niels Bohr offered a way to
the understanding of complicated processes of atomic
radiation and, following the theory of Albert Einstein
to whom we owe our present-day views on the nature
of light, for the first time answered the question how
and where light quanta originated.
The quantum theory or, as it is more often called,
quantum mechanics, was later developed into a still
more rigorous logical system by such prominent scien­
tists as Arnold Sommerfeld, Erwin Schrodinger, Wer­
ner K. Heisenberg, and others.

STRUCTURE OF THE ATOM. QUANTUM NUMBERS

Let us consider the structure of the atom taking as
an example the simplest case of a hydrogen atom.
A hydrogen atom consists of a nucleus (proton)
and an electron moving about the nucleus in definite
orbits (shells) (Fig. 3). The electron and the proton
are charged particles and their charges are equal in
magnitude but opposite in sign. As a whole, the hydro­
gen atom is electrically neutral. The nucleus of hydro-
25
 ©
Fig. 3. Model of hydrogen atom
gen and its electron are mutually attracted by the
electrostatic force and therefore the electron does not
fly away from the nucleus.
To make the characteristic of the hydrogen atom
more complete, it should be mentioned that the mass
of its nucleus is 1 836 times that of the electron. The
mass of the hydrogen atom is thus practically determi­
ned by the mass of its nucleus (proton). The mass of
the atom is 1.67 -10-24 g. The diameter of a hydrogen
atom is approximately equal to 10"8 cm. This value
corresponds to one angstrom. The dimensions of an
atom cannot be determined precisely: its boundaries
are somewhat fuzzy.
The radius of the nucleus of a hydrogen atom is
about one hundred thousandth that of the atom and
equals 1.3-ID"13cm. The density of the substance in
the nucleus is extremely high: it comes to about
2-1014g/cm3, that is, to about two hundred million tons
per cubic centimetre. If we could make a pinhead from
a substance with such a density, it would be heavier
than a block of iron as big as a ten-storey building.
The orbits or shells an electron can occupy in an
atom are designated by letters K, L, ikf, Ar, etc. The­
refore an electron occupying the shell nearest to the
nucleus is called /^-electron. The shells can be num­
bered by ascribing respective numeric symbols 1, 2,
3, 4, etc. to them. These numbers are called principal
quantum numbers and denoted by the symbol n.
26
 The lowest orbit, nearest to the nucleus, for which
n= 1, is the most stable orbit for a hydrogen atom;
and an electron in this orbit or shell is said to be in
its ground state. The energy the electron possesses in
this shell is characterized by a certain value Ex. For
the electron to be transferred to another shell, more
remote from the nucleus, a quite definite amount of
energy should be imparted to the electron. In a parti­
cular case this energy may be a light quantum, photon.
In another shell the energy of the electron will be E2,
equal to the energy the electron had in the previous
shell plus that of the photon.
All the states of a hydrogen atom, when the electron
occupies a shell other than the nearest to the nucleus,
are called excited states. If we relate this concept to
the principal quantum numbers, excited states are
those with the principal quantum number greater than
unity. The radii of a hydrogen atom in different exci­
ted states are proportional to the square of the princi­
pal quantum number.
The atom cannot reside in an excited state for a
long period of time and tends to return to its normal,
stable state with minimum energy. With the electron
returning to its initial orbit, the atom emits the same
amount of energy it had received, as a quantum of
electromagnetic radiation hv. Similar transitions in
the atom can take place between other orbits as well.
As a result, there is a whole series of frequencies cons­
tituting the emission spectrum of an atom. Every
atom has its own strictly definite spectrum of frequen­
cies. The more complicated the structure of the atom,
the more complicated its spectrum is.
Figure 4 is a diagram which shows the energy levels
and the corresponding radiation frequencies of a hydro­
gen atom. Possible transitions are indicated by ver­
tical arrows. Numbers at the arrows identify the radia-
27
 6
13 S
4
12 3
vM. ^ ^ ^ U

11 g
-» c, § «6 •'s S S S ts
H■| | | iii
115 Z
10
9

8
7

6
5

4
3

0- 1-

Fig. 4. Knergy levels of hydrogen atom

tion wavelength corresponding to the energy of a given
transition.
Not only the energy of an electron, but other charac­
teristics of the atom are also quantised.
The electron possesses an angular momentum. As
is known from mechanics, angular momentum of a
particle is the product of its mass, velocity and the
distance of this mass from the centre about which it
rotates. According to quantum mechanics, the angular
momentum of an electron is quantised as well, i.e.
it can have not any arbitrary, but quite definite va­
lues, known as orbital (or asimuthal) quantum num­
bers. These numbers are denoted by the letter Z. The
maximum value of the orbital quantum number for
a given shell is equal to the principal quantum number
minus unity. For example, for the shell M n = 3. The
possible values of the orbital quantum numbers for
this shell are Z=2, Z= l, Z= 0. The states corresponding
to the values of Z= 0, 1, 2, 3, etc. are denoted by res­
pective letters s, p , <Z, /, etc.
The principal quantum numbers characterize the
value of the energy of the electron, which depends
on the radial distance of the electron from the nucleus.
Orbital quantum numbers express possible values of
the angular momentum of the electron in the orbit.
Besides these, there are two more quantum num­
bers, so that the total number of possible states of an
electron in the atom is still greater. It is known that
an electron, while in orbit, creates electric current and,
as a result, a magnetic field is set up. The magnitude
of the magnetic field due to circular current is charac­
terized by a magnetic moment. If an atom is placed
into an external magnetic field, the direction of the
magnetic moment of the orbital current may happen
to be at a certain angle to this field. The smaller the
angle of inclination, the greater the projection of the
29
 magnetic moment of the orbital current onto the direc­
tion (vector) of the external field will be.
The projection of the orbital moment onto the vector
of the external magnetic field is also a quantised va­
riable. For the orbital quantum number equal to Z,
the magnetic quantum number can take up all values
from Z to —Z differing from one another by unity. In
the magnetic field the sub-level corresponding to the
orbital number Zconsists of 2Z+1 states which are cha­
racterized by different magnetic quantum numbers.
These numbers are denoted by the symbol mi.
The electron has its own angular momentum termed
the spin. The spin is also a quantised variable. It can
be either parallel or anti-parallel to the orbital mo­
mentum. The spin quantum number is denoted by the
symbol mz.
We thus have to deal with a series of different quan­
tum states of the atom. The picture of energy levels
for atoms with a large number of electrons is extremely
complicated.
With a system consisting of atoms, molecules and
ions the picture of the distribution of energy levels
differs substantially from that we have for an indivi­
dual atom, since the electromagnetic fields of separate
particles interact with one another. In solids the neigh­
bouring atoms are found so close to each other that
their outer shells are in contact and even overlap.
The interaction of the electron shells results in a shift
of the energy levels and in the formation of energy
zones of a definite width. Gases in which the interac­
tion between the particles is weak, have narrow energy
bands. In solids, instead of narrow energy levels cha­
racteristic of individual atoms, broad energy zones
aro observed.

30
 RADIATION AND ABSORPTION
Let us discuss quantum transitions in greater detail.
Light is emitted and absorbed by atoms during their
transition from one energy state to another. This
is characteristic not only of atoms, but of molecules
and ions as well. The process of the particle transfer
from its normal (stationary) state corresponding to
the minimum energy of the system to a higher energy
state is termed excitation and the particle itself is
said to be excited (Fig. 5a). This process is accompanied
by the absorption of the energy of the external field.

ez
hv
E, ♦

i
EZ O
Ei

*z vwvhv
hv-vW ^ “sA/V/W/jj/
Ei
(C)
Fig. 5. Excitation and emission of a particle
( a ) e x c i t a t i o n o f a p a r t i c l e a c c o m p a n ie d b y a b s o r p t io n o f a p h o t o n . T h e
e n e r g y o f t h e p a r t i c l e a s a r e s u l t o f e x c i t a t i o n c o r r e s p o n d s t o a h ig h e r
e n e r g y le v e l ; (6 ) s p o n t a n e o u s r a d ia t i o n a c c o m p a n ie d b y t h e o r ig in a t io n
o f a p h o t o n . T h e e n e r g y a n d f r e q u e n c y o f th e p h o t o n a r e d e t e r m in e d b y
th e e n e r g y d if fe r e n c e in t h e l e v e l s b e tw e e n w h ic h t h e t r a n s i t i o n to o k
p la c e ; (c) in d u c e d r a d i a t i o n . A s a r e s u l t , tw o p h o t o n s o r i g i n a t e , w h o s e
e n e r g y , fr e q u e n c y a n d p h a s e a r e t h e s a m e

31
The particle (an atom, molecule or ion) can pass to
an excited state not only when it absorbs a quantum
of the electromagnetic field but also when colliding
with other particles of the same kind (atoms, mole­
cules or ions) that have a certain store of energy. The
system can be excited, e.g. if a flux of electrons or
electric current is passed through it.
Usually the number of excited atoms in a system,
i.e. of the atoms whose energy corresponds to a higher
energy level, is smaller than the number of non-exci-
ted ones. The time during which an atom can exist
in its ground state is unlimited. On the contrary, in an
excited state an atom can remain only for a limited
period of time which is termed lifetime and is denoted
by x. For example, the lifetime t of excited hydrogen
atoms is of the order of 10~8 s. However, there exist
such excited states which are characterized by a rela­
tively long lifetime (x>10~8 s). These states are called
metastable.
The transition of an atom from one energy level to
another can also be non-radiative. In such a case energy
is transmitted to some other atom and converted into
heat.
Only certain transitions are possible in the atom,
which are determined by the probability value and
allowed by selection rules. The set of allowed transi­
tions between the energy levels makes up the energy
spectrum of an atom. This spectrum consists of series of
lines separated by forbidden intervals.
For an atom which is in an excited (higher energy)
state there exists a probability that after some time
it will return to its ground (lower energy) state. For
the quantitative estimation of the number of tran­
sitions possible in one atom of an excited system per
second, the concept of transition probability A is re­
sorted to. The average transition probability for a
32
large number of similar atoms has a strictly definite
value. The transition probability A and the average
lifetime t of a given energy level are reciprocal quan­
tities
A = 1/x
When passing from one energy state to another, an
atom radiates energy. The process of radiation when the
transition of an atom to a lower energy level is sponta­
neous (not caused by any extraneous effects) is called
spontaneous radiation (Fig. 5b).
Spontaneous radiation is specific in being of a ran­
dom character, since such radiation is a random mix­
ture of quanta having various wavelengths. The waves
coincide neither in their length nor in phase. This kind
of radiation is therefore incoherent and has a broad
spectrum.
What the components of radiation of a conventional
incoherent light source are like can be seen in Fig. 6

t
Fig. 6 . Incoherent radiation

.1 - 4 7 1 33
(bottom part of it). The length and amplitude of the
waves radiated by such a source can be quite diverse.
The difference in the phases of oscillations is also
random in character. In the top part of the same
figure the resultant curve equal to the sum of indivi­
dual oscillations is shown. The character of this cur­
ve is complicated, and it would be very difficult to
find any periodicity in the amplitude variation.
In 1917, Einstein predicted that besides sponta­
neous emission there must exist still another, induced
radiation. Sometimes such radiation is called stimu­
lated. This implies that a particle (an atom, molecule
or ion) can pass from an excited state to its normal
state emitting a light quantum (photon) not only
spontaneously, but also when forced to it, under the
effect of another external quantum. Induced radiation
is a process opposite to absorption. Contrary to ab­
sorption during which a light quantum disappears,
induced radiation is associated with the appearance
of a new quantum (see Fig. 5c).
Quanta of electromagnetic radiation, which owe
their origin to the effect of an external magnetic field
are absolutely indistinguishable from those light quan­
ta (photons) which have caused the atom to pass to
a lower energy level. The quantum of electromagnetic
energy, which induces stimulated emission under­
goes no alterations either. A photon, having encoun­
tered an excited atom in its path, “knocks out” a
similar photon from the latter. The wavelength, di­
rection of propagation and phase of the both photons
are in a strict coincidence. The resulting radiation is
coherent and the spectral line is narrow.
The character of coherent radiation can be better
understood when considering Fig. 7. In the bottom part
of this figure you can see the diagrammatic presenta­
tion of oscillations that are equal in frequency and
34
 I W W W
l*/wwvv
II vwwv
j 'W W W ,
Fig. 7. Coherent radiation

have the same initial phase. The phase difference

remains constant for a very long period of time. Since
the phases of all these oscillations are of the same sign,
they coincide and their amplitudes are added toge­
ther. No mutual damping of the oscillations takes
place. The intensity of the resultant oscillation (shown
in the top part of the figure) equal to the sum of all
the components is in this case very high.
Induced transition leads to the appearance of two
photons instead of one; in other words, their number
is doubled. Now, if a system is in an excited state,
these two photons may cause further induced transi-
3* 35
tions, and so on. The result will be an avalanche pro­
cess. Ultimately, the light which has passed through
such an excited medium will be amplified. For this
reason an excited medium is called an active medium.
The above situation, however, is possible only when
the majority (more than half) of all the particles in
a system are in an excited state. Otherwise the process
will be attenuating and no amplification of the light
passing through the given medium will take place.
Evidently, amplification of light (generation) can be
attained by specially creating such active media. As
has been pointed out above, under normal conditions
the number of excited particles even in an excited sys­
tem is always less than the number of non-excited ones.
For the number of excited particles in a system to
exceed the number of particles in the stationary state,
special conditions are required.

DISTRIBUTION OF PARTICLES AMONG

ENERGY LEVELS

In any substance the atoms can perform not only

spontaneous transitions from a higher energy level
to a lower one, but also direct and inverse transitions
under the effect of a thermal radiation field. As a
whole, the substance is in the state of thermodynamic
equilibrium, since the probability of these direct and
inverse transitions is the same. But the number of
particles which are found in an excited state depends
on the temperature. The equilibrium distribution of
particles among energy levels is described by the well-
known Boltzmann formula
£±
kr
N i = Ne
36
where iV* is the number of particles in the state of
energy E{
N is the total number of particles:
k is Boltzmann’s constant equal to
1.38-10”16 erg/deg; and
T is the absolute temperature
It will be recalled here that the absolute scale of
temperature (Kelvin’s) is related to the Celsius scale
by the equation
T = *° + 273.16°C
The zero point of Kelvin’s absolute scale of tempe­
rature corresponds to the temperature t° = —273.16°C.
As can be seen from the Boltzmann formula, the
number of excited particles depends, first of all, on
temperature. The ratio between the number of atoms
in two definite energy levels, or the population of
these levels, is given by the equation which can be
deduced from the Boltzmann formula
E2 - E i

From this formula it follows that with any positive

T the number of particles in a higher energy level
decreases with a higher serial number of this level;
there holds the following inequality:.
for E1<^E2, N 1'^>N2
In other words, the population of higher energy le­
vels is less than the population of lower energy levels.
A system with such distribution of particles absorbs
quanta of electromagnetic energy.
The creation of systems in which the number of
particles in a higher energy level is greater than in
a lower energy level turned out to be practically pos­
sible. These systems are termed inverted population
37
 systems. If we refer once again to the Boltzmann for­
mula, we shall see that this situation corresponds to
a state when the absolute temperature is negative (i.e.
when the exponent in the formula is positive). The
states of a system, in which the population of a higher
energy level exceeds that of lower energy level are
called negative temperature states. It should be borne
in mind that here negative temperature is to be un­
derstood not as a physical quantity, but only as a
convenient mathematical expression signifying the
non-equilibrium state of the system.
If a system has several energy levels, one of them
may have a negative temperature with respect to so­
me other level (or levels), whereas with respect to the
remaining levels its temperature will be positive.
The state of a system having a negative tempera­
ture is unstable. Spontaneous radiation, an external
electromagnetic field return the system to its steady
state. Hence, there appears a possibility of mass in­
duced transitions in the system and, consequently,
of attaining an amplification of the electromagnetic
radiation.
But in what way can a negative temperature state
be obtained? What is to be done in order that the popu­
lation in the higher energy levels of an active medium
should exceed the population in its lower energy le­
vels?

ACTIVE SYSTEMS
Suppose there is a system of atoms (molecules or
ions) capable of having only two energy levels (states),
namely, the lower level E x which corresponds to the
stationary, non-excited state and the higher level
E2 which corresponds to the excited state.
If we excite this system by using an electromagne-
38
tic field that has a frequency corresponding to the
difference of the transitions

some particles of the system will pass from the lower

to the higher level. At the same time induced transi­
tions, i.e. those from the higher to the lower level,
will also take place. These transitions will be accom­
panied by the emission of quanta of electromagnetic
energy. If the exciting field intensity is sufficient,
after a certain period of irradiation one half of the
atoms in the irradiated system will be in the excited
state and the other half, in the stationary state. Since
the probability of induced radiation is the same as
that of excitation, from a certain moment of time the
number of the atoms passing from the higher to the
lower level will be equal to the number of the atoms
rising to the higher level. A dynamic equilibrium
will thus be established in the system.
If now a procedure could be found for separating
the excited atoms, in other words, for creating an ac­
tive medium in which the excited atoms would pre­
vail, then the radiation passed through such medium
with the frequency corresponding to the transition
will be amplified by it.
Such a method of radiation amplification has found
practical application in molecular amplifiers (oscilla­
tors) where molecules of ammonia preheated in a spe­
cial furnace are separated. Molecules of ammonia,
which after such heat treatment acquire different ener­
gy states are then passed through a non-uniform elec­
tric field created by specially designed (quadrupole)
capacitors. When a bunch of ammonia molecules is
passed through such a capacitor, excited molecules
will be concentrated mainly along the capacitor axis,
39
while non-excited molecules will be deflected towards
its periphery.
Such a bunch of excited molecules that possess ex­
cess energy is inversely populated. If a radiation with
an appropriate wavelength (A,=1.27 cm) is passed
along such bunch, this radiation will be amplified.
In practice this effect is attained in special cavity
resonators. These are so-called two-level systems.
However, the method of obtaining a negative tem­
perature medium by using two-level systems is not
free from serious disadvantages. Systems with two
energy levels, for instance, amplifiers based on this
method are capable of operating only at one frequency.
A more successful method for the excitation of quan­
tum systems and producing a negative temperature
medium, based on the use of three-level systems, was
suggested by N. Basov and A. Prokhorov.
Suppose we have a system possessing three energy
levels, and all transitions between these levels are
allowed. If we expose this system to the effect of a
field from an external source (oscillator) with a fre­
quency
E3 —
Ex
v“ h
corresponding to the transition from level 1 to level
5, some of the particles will pass to level 5.
In case the irradiation intensity is higher, the num­
ber of particles in the higher level 3 and in the lower
level 1 will be the same (Ag^Aj), that is, the quantum
transition from Es to E x will be saturated (Fig. 8a).
Provided the lifetime of the particles in level 3 is
sufficiently long, their number in this level will ex­
ceed that in level 2\ in other words, level 3 will be
inversely populated with respect to level 2. This will
be an active system.
40
 3 £L,.Qn
'to32
2 -f l---------Q_____ Q _

/-oJ -QQ 0 n 8 0 °0 08 Qpg^g^^a L

(a)
Fig. 8 . Diagram of producing inverted population in three-
level systems
( a ) in v e r t e d p o p u la t io n b e t w e e n e n e r g y l e v e l s 3 a n d 2; ( b) in v e r t e d p o p u la ­
tio n b e tw e e n le v e ls 2 a n d i

Now, if through this system we pass an electromagne­

tic radiation with a frequency

corresponding to the transition from level 3 to level

2, this radiation will be amplified due to mass induced
transitions from level 3 to level 2. The amplification
will take place as a result of liberation of the excess
energy the system acquired during its initial excita­
tion with the electromagnetic field from the external
source. Mass induced transitions in an excited system of
such kind may also be caused by random spontaneous
transitions. In this case the system will behave as a
generator.
From level 2 the particles then return to level 1.
It is also possible to create systems in which excited
particles will accumulate in level 2 and mass induced
transitions will occur between levels 2 and 1\ the wa­
ve that has initiated the induced transition and that
corresponds to the transition between these two levels
will be amplified (Fig. 86).
Besides three-level systems there also exist and
41
 4-°iu Qft g o nun *'

J■ J ■ ,,n Q„ o„o „ 9-A..g-

2- 2■

/ Qjn a -u— / Q pu n o ^--a-g- 9-6 11

^6)
Fig. 9. Operation diagram of a tour-level system
(a ) p o p u la t io n o f l e v e l s a t th e f ir s t m o m e n t a f t e r e x c i t a t i o n ; ( 6 ) p o p u la t io n
o f l e v e l s b y th e m o m e n t o f in d u c e d r a d ia t i o n t r a n s it io n s

find practical application four-level systems. Most of

these systems operate on the following principle. Un­
der the effect of radiation emitted by an excitation
source, particles of an active substance pass from ener­
gy level 1 to energy level 4 (Fig. 9a). Energy level 3
is metastable. The transition of electrons from level
4 to level 3 is non-radiative. The inversion of popula­
tions is created between levels 3 and 2 (Fig. 96). Level
2 is sufficiently remote from level 1 and, therefore,
under thermodynamic equilibrium conditions, its po­
pulation is close to zero. Consequently, for obtaining
a negative temperature state in a four-level system a
considerably less powerful excitation is required than
in a three-level system where the inverted population
is obtained with respect to level 1 which, being the
ground level, usually remains considerably populated.
These methods of creating negative temperatures
and inverted population levels by using three- and four-
level systems have found wide application in optical
quantum generators (lasers) and are fundamental for
their operation.
 CHAPTER 3

Generators
of Light

RUBY LASER
Let us consider the operation of an optical quantum
generator employing a ruby crystal as the working
material. Such a generator of light is called a ruby
laser. Ruby lasers are most widespread type of genera­
tors using solid crystalline substances as their active
material.
P a r tia lly re fle ctin g
si Leered end face of
Glass tube ruby rod
Totally reflecting /
silvered end face
of ruby rod. '
/ f % -^ i u-b e a r '
1

Power supply
source

Fig. 10. Design of a ruby laser

43
 This laser consists of three main parts: an active
(working) material, a resonant system made as two
parallel plates with reflecting coatings applied on
them, and an exciting system usually made up of a
helical xenon flash tube and a power supply source
(Fig. 10).
Ruby is a crystal of aluminium oxide where part of
aluminium atoms are substituted by chromium atoms
(A120 3 : Cr20 3). The active material in the ruby are
chromium ions Cr3+. The colour of a ruby crystal de­
pends on the content of chromium in it. For lasers
use is usually made of pale pink ruby crystals con­
taining about 0.05 per cent of chromium. Ruby crys­
tals are grown in special furnaces, then annealed and
shaped into rods. Such rods are 2 to 30 cm in length
and from 0.5 to 2 cm in diameter. Flat end faces of
the rod are made strictly parallel, ground and polished
to a high degree of precision. Sometimes reflecting
coatings are applied not on special plates but directly
on the end faces of the ruby rod. The end faces of the
rod are silvered so that the surface of the one end
face becomes fully reflecting and that of the other end
face, partially reflecting. Usually the light-transmis­
sion coefficient of the partially reflecting end face of
the ruby rod is about 10 to 25 per cent, but other va­
lues are also possible.
The ruby rod is arranged along the axis of a helical
xenon flash tube in such a manner that the coils of
the helix encompass the rod. The flash of the tube
lasts several milliseconds. During this period of time
the tube consumes energy amounting to several thou­
sand joules and most of it is spent for heating the ap­
paratus. The other smaller part of the energy in the
form of blue and green radiation is absorbed by the
ruby. This energy ensures the excitation of chromium
ions.
44
 ELUpUcaC cylinder

Fig. 11. Design of a laser w ith a ruby rod and a flash tube
housed in an ellip tical reflector

Fig. 11 shows a laser of a different design. In this

laser a flash tube is straight. It is placed in one of
the focal axes of an elliptical reflecting cylinder,
while a ruby rod is in the other focal axis of this cylin­
der. A pulse power supply for the xenon flash tube is
obtained from a high-capacity capacitor charged to
a required voltage from a rectifier.
An energy diagram illustrating the operation prin­
ciple of a ruby laser is shown in Fig. 12. In this dia­
gram lines i, 2 and 3 correspond to energy levels of

45
 chromium ions. Negative temperatures (inverted po­
pulation) in a ruby laser are obtained by using a three-
level system.
In the normal, non-excited state chromium ions
are in the lower level 2. When the ruby crystal is irra­
diated with the light of a xenon flash tube, containing
the green component of the spectrum, the chromium
atoms are excited and pass to the upper level 3 where
the light absorption band is 5600 A. The absorption
band width of this level is about 800 A.
From level 3 part of the excited chromium atoms
return to the ground level 2 and the other part, to le­
vel 2. The so-called non-radiative transition takes
place, during which chromium ions give off part of
their energy to the crystal lattice in the form of heat.
The probability of transition from level 3 to level 2
is 200 times greater and from level 2 to level 2 300
times smaller than the probability of transition from
level 3 to level 2. As a result, level 2 turns out to be
more populated than level 2. In other words, the po­
pulation is inverted and thus conditions required for
intensive induced transitions are created.
As we know, such a system is extremely unstable.
The probability of spontaneous transitions at any
moment of time is very high. The very first photon
appearing during such spontaneous transition, in ac­
cordance with the law of induced emission, will knock
out a second photon from a neighbouring atom and
the atom from which the first photon was emitted will
be brought to its ground state. Now these two photons
will knock out two more photons and their total num­
ber will be four, and so on. The process grows practi­
cally instantaneously. The first wave of radiation,
on reaching the reflecting surface, will return and
cause further increase in the number of induced tran­
sitions and in the radiation intensity.
46
 Such a process will repeat many times. The genera­
tion will rise and the power will increase till the ma­
jority of the excited particles of the active material
(chromium ions) give off the energy acquired at the
moment of excitation. All this will take place on con­
dition that power losses at reflection (due to imper­
fections of the reflecting coatings and to that one of
the end faces of the rod is made semi-transparent so
that a radiation flux will start emerging from it at the
very beginning of the generation) do not exceed the
power acquired by the beam forming in the laser rod
as a result of the commenced generation. A very high-
intensity beam will emerge through the partially
silvered end face of the ruby rod. The direction of
this beam will be strictly parallel to the ruby axis
(Fig. 13).
Those photons the direction of propagation of which
at the moment of origination failed to coincide with
the axis of the ruby rod will leave the rod through
its side walls without having caused any noticeable
generation.
It is just the multiple pass of the resulting light
wave between the end walls of the resonator without
any substantial deviation from the ruby rod axis
that ensures strict directivity and tremendous output
power of the laser beam.
Since level 2 (Fig. 12) is in fact constituted by
two close sub-levels, in case the exciting power is
insufficient, two weak lines R L and i?2 are emitted,
their respective wavelengths being 6943 and 6929 A
(Fig. 14a). The width of these lines is about 6 A.
This radiation is mainly due to spontaneous transi­
tions.
With an increase in the exciting power, the intensity
of radiation at the wavelength of 6929 A is practically
no more increasing, and at the wavelength of 6943 A
47
 Fig. 13. Process of shaping a beam in the active medium
of a laser
(o ) a t o m s o f t h e a c t i v e m e d iu m in n o n - e x c it c d s t a t e ; (b ) p u m p in g l i g h t
tr a n s fe r s m o s t o f th e a t o m s to th e e x c i t e d s t a t e ; (c ) s o m e o f t h e a t o m s
r a d ia t e s p o n t a n e o u s ly : p a r t o f t h e p h o t o n s r u s h o u t s id e , s o m e p h o t o n s ,
m o v in g p a r a lle l t o t h e r o d a x i s , c a u s e in d u c e d r a d ia t i o n ; (d ) h a v in g r e f ­
le c t e d fr o m th e m ir r o r s u r fa c e o f t h e r o d e n d f a c e , th e f lu x o f p h o t o n s is
a m p l i f i e d w h i l e p a s s i n g th r o u g h t h e e x c i t e d m e d iu m ; (e) l i g h t b e a m e m e r ­
g e s th r o u g h t h e p a r t i a l l y s ilv e r e d s u r fa c e o f th e r u b y r o d e n d f a c e
 6925 Rz" R, O 6950 6925 Rz R, $950
W avelength, /7 Wavelength, A
(a) (b)

Fig. 14. Emission spectra of a ruby laser

(a ) e m is s io n s p e c t r u m in c a s e o f i n s u f f i c i e n t p u m p in g p o w e r ; (b ) e m is s io n
s p e c t r u m a t h ig h p u m p in g p o w e r

generation is established, the radiation drastically

increases and the spectral line become narrower (Fig.
146). Most ruby lasers operate in a pulse mode. The
emitted pulse usually is produced some 300 ps after
the excitation pulse, this time lag being necessary
for the creation of a difference in the population of
the levels. The duration of a laser pulse is several
milliseconds and the energy of a single pulse reaches
dozens and hundreds of joules.
The emissive power of a laser grows with an increa­
se in the concentration of active particles and the dir
mensions of its active element. But the laser power
cannot be raised indefinitely, limitations being pla­
ced by internal losses which are the higher the greater
the dimensions of the active element.
Studies of pulses emitted by the laser have shown
that each such pulse consists of several hundreds of
short pulses called “spikes” with a duration of about
1 ps and a rise time of 0.1 ps. These pulses are superpo­
sed on a certain average level of radiated power. In­
tervals between these “spikes” are of the order of 5
to 10 ps (Fig. 15).
4 — 471 49
 1 1 I 1 1 { 1 1 i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1t (i 1l 1l t i l l l l i i l i l l 1 1 1 1
I I I I t i l l 1 1 1 1 t i l l 1 1 1 1 i l l ! t i l l i 1 1 i 1 1 1 1

A
1 i f u & LA M
1 1

u
, I
1
%v/
Fig. 15. Radiation of a ruby laser on an expanded time scale
(1 cm corresponds to 5 ps)

Fig. 16. Soviet ruby laser

 In some cases it is desirable that pulse emission
should be stable. To this end attempts have been made
at creating stabilising systems which could ensure
sufficiently stable emission instead of random pulses,
smaller width of the spectral line, smaller divergence
angle and greater coherence of radiation.
Figure 16 is a photograph of one of the ruby lasers
made in the Soviet Union. The ruby rod of this laser
is 240 mm long and has a diameter of 12 mm. The
period of one laser pulse is several minutes and its
energy is 40 to 60 J . The laser is intended for studying
the processes of interaction between high-intensity
light and various substances.

PROPERTIES OF LASER BEAM

An extremely important feature of laser radiation is

its coherence. A high coherence of the laser beam can
be verified by a procedure known as Young’s experi­
ment on interference.
This experiment requires the use of a remote source
of light having a small size. Such a source can be re­
placed by a slit illuminated by a remote light source
(this experiment will be difficult to carry out if the
light source is either too large or located near the
screen). If we pass a light pencil from a remote source
through two narrow parallel slits, then an interferen­
ce pattern of alternating bright and dark bands will
be observed on a screen located behind the slits.
Now, if instead of a remote source of light we take a
laser and make two slits directly on the semi-transpa­
rent silvered surface of one of its end faces through
which radiation will emerge, a very distinct interfe­
rence picture will be easily obtained on the screen
(Fig. 17). This experiment confirms that different
4* 51
 Screen
Fig. 17. Experiment on interference, confirming coherence
of laser radiation

points of radiation emerging from the laser are cohe­

rent.
Another important property of laser radiation is
its emission in the form of a narrow directed beam.
In the general case the width of the beam of an op­
tical quantum generator is determined by diffraction
and the diameter of the rod of active material
0 = 1 . 2 2 (radian)
where 0 is the beam angle, radians; X is the radiation
wavelength, cm; D is the diameter of the ruby rod,
cm.
Hence, the shorter the wavelength and the larger
the rod diameter, the smaller the angular divergence
of the laser beam.
However, an increase in the rod diameter brings
about a sharp increase in the number of vibrations in
the resonant cavity, with a frequency differing from
the working frequency of the laser. These vibrations
propagate within the resonant cavity at larger angles
52
to the rod axis than the vibrations at the working
frequency. Asa result, when the diameter of the active
material is increased, the monochromaticity and co­
herence of laser emission become deteriorated and
therefore the possibility of narrowing the beam to
the theoretical limit is rendered difficult. According
to calculations, the width of a laser beam in an arran­
gement employing a ruby rod of 1 cm in diameter
should not exceed 10"4radian. Practically, however, the
beam divergence exceeds this theoretical value. For
example, for a ruby crystal of 1 cm in diameter the
beam divergence is 6*10"3 radian. Under thoroughly
controlled conditions it can be brought down to 1 -10"3
radian.
Nevertheless, high coherence and monochromaticity
of laser emission allow the light beam emerging from
the laser to be focused with the help of a system of
lenses onto an extremely small surface area. In the
limit, the diameter of the spot of the focused laser
beam approaches the length of the wave radiated by
the laser. If we take a conventional light source (such
as a common electric lamp), our attempt at focusing
its light rays into one point will prove unsuccessful,
because these rays are not parallel and propagate in
all directions. In the focal plane we shall obtain an
image of the object (light source) and, however small
the dimensions of this image may be, they will be far
greater than a geometrical point (Fig. 18a). Another
reason why our attempt will fail is that radiation from
a conventional light source contains a great number
of components with different wavelengths and these
components undergo different refractions in the fo­
cusing lens. Consequently, only radiation of one par­
ticular wavelength can be focused in the focal plane
(Fig. 186). Radiation emitted by the laser is, on the
contrary, strictly parallel, has only one definite and
53
Fig. 18. Conventional light source and laser beam characte­
ristics
( a ) l i g h t b e a m c a n n o t b e m a d e to c o n v e r g e a t o n e p o i n t o n a c c o u n t o f i t s
s e p a r a t e c o m p o n e n t s b e in g n o n - p a r a lle l; t h e l i g h t s o u r c e h a s f i n i t e d i ­
m e n s io n s ; (6 ) l i g h t b e a m c a n n o t b e m a d e t o c o n v e r g e a t o n e p o i n t o n a c ­
c o u n t o f d if f e r e n t w a v e le n g t h o f i t s s e p a r a t e c o m p o n e n ts ; (c) l i g h t b e a m
o f a la s e r c a n b e m a d e to c o n v e r g e a t o n e p o i n t c o m m e n s u r a t e w i t h
t h e r a d ia t i o n w a v e le n g t h b e c a u s e la s e r b e a m s a r e p a r a lle l a n d m o n o ­
c h r o m a t ic

constant wavelength, and therefore, with the help

of optical systems, it can be focused into one point,
the result being a spot having a diameter close to the
radiation wavelength (Fig. 18c). This circumstance
makes possible the obtaining of an extremely high
power density of laser radiation.
The minimum diameter of the light spot for a ruby
laser is 0.7 p. In the general case the spot diameter
is determined by the focal length of the lens and angu­
lar divergence of the beam. If these values are known,
the possible minimum diameter of the spot can easily
be determined from the following simple formula:
d = fQ
54
where / is the focal length of the lens, m; d is the spot
diameter, m; and 0 is the angular divergence of the
beam, radian.
For example, in case the focal length of the lens
is 5 cm and the angular divergence of the beam is cho­
sen to be 10~4 radian, then
d = 0.05 • 10~4 = 5 p
The shorter the focal length, the smaller the dimen­
sions of the light spot will be.
If we assume that the power of radiation generated
by a laser is one million watts and the beam diameter
at the laser outlet is 1 cm, then, if this power is con­
centrated on a surface area of 5 \i in diameter, we shall
obtain the luminous flux density of 4-1012 W/cm2!
So fantastic a density of the luminous flux, however,
will be obtained only in the immediate vicinity of
the focal point. Any extended thin pencil of light can­
not be obtained on account of diffraction.
Since the laser beam exhibits neither ideal coherence
nor ideal monochromaticity, the spot diameter actual­
ly proves to be 100 to 150 times larger, and the power
density of the luminous flux diminishes accordingly.
But there are sound grounds to expect that with ad­
vances in crystal growing and crystal finishing techni­
ques and better qualities of mirrors and optical sys­
tems the power density of the luminous flux will be
considerably increased.
The pulses of the so far created lasers have a dura­
tion of 10”8 s and energy of several dozens of joules.
This means that the instantaneous power in a pulse
reaches one thousand million watts. When focused
into a small spot, such a beam creates the flux density
lying within the above-considered range: 1012 W/cm2
and even higher. A few years ago scientists could only
dream of such a colossal concentration of power.
55
 It will be of interest to consider the character of
the processes which take place at the point of the laser
beam focusing. The character of these processes is
obvious to depend on the beam power. With the flux
density of the order of 106 to 108 W/cm2, there will
take place an intensive evaporation from the surface
of a sample exposed to the effect of the beam. The
temperature on the surface of the sample reaches se­
veral thousand degrees. For instance, one pulse with
an energy of about 10 J and a duration of one milli­
second can shoot through a 3 mm thick plate. The hole
made in the plate has a small convergence angle, of
the order of 3 to 4°, and the length of the hole is 5 to
15 times its diameter. Vapours of the substance have
time to scatter without screening the crater.
If the density of the luminous flux is increased to
108 W/cm2 and the duration of the pulse is shortened
to 0.01 ps, no hole will be made in the plate, but a
fused spot will appear at the point where the beam
was focused. Plasma that has formed in this place,
probably has no time to dissipate, absorbs all the ener­
gy of the light beam and then, when dissipating, trans­
mits a mechanical impulse to the surface of the sub­
stance. Experiments with thin foils confirm such an
assumption: a hole is made in the foil, with its edges
pressed out as if by a shock wave. At higher powers a
plasma breakdown occurs, accompanied by a cracking
sound. In case the power is increased still further, a
plasma breakdown will take place already in air.
Such is, in general terms, the picture of the pheno­
mena taking place in a focused laser beam.

ACTIVE MATERIALS
Active materials most often used in lasers are sub­
stances having a crystalline structure. At the time
56
when first lasers were created such substances were
best studied. It is not by chance either that the first
active material employed in a laser was artificial
(synthesized ) ruby. Corundum (and ruby is a variety
of corundum coloured due to the presence of chro­
mium atoms in it) has found wide application in most
diverse branches of engineering, which fact, no doubt,
contributed to advances in the technology of growing
corundum crystals. The colour of ruby depends on the
percentage of chromium in it: the higher this percen­
tage, the more intensive the colour of ruby is. Optimal
percentage of chromium in ruby is considered to be
0.05. But rubies with other concentrations of chromium
ranging from 0.005 to 0.5 per cent are used as well.
The red colour of ruby is accounted for by that chro­
mium atoms in the crystal absorb light in the broad
green, blue and indigo bands of the visible spectrum,

Fig. 19. Ruby rods

57
as well as in the ultra-violet region, passing the light
in the red region only. Ruby crystals are manufactured
into rods that are from 2 to 30 cm long, have a diame­
ter from several millimetres to 1-2 cm and are round,
hexagonal or square in cross-section (Fig. 19). Rods
with round cross-sections are preferred since they are
less difficult to manufacture.
Experimental data which have been accumulated
allow formulation of definite requirements on ruby
rods. Thus, the deviation of the optical axis of the crys­
tal from the geometrical axis of the rod should not ex­
ceed 5'. The end faces of the rod should be worked
with a particular precision. Permissible deviation of
the shape of the surface of the rod end faces from the
plane is 0.1 of the wavelength at which the laser is
to operate. Particular care is taken that the end faces
of the rod should be parallel to each other within 2",
and that the angle between the plane of the end face
and the cylinder generatrix should not deviate from
90° by more than 1'.
All the above-listed requirements pursue the objec­
tive of improving the beam characteristics and obtain­
ing the generation with a minimum possible power of
the excitation source.
The shape and dimensions of crystal rods are selec­
ted depending on the required power of radiation and
are also determined by the characteristics of the source
and optics of the excitation system, the design of the
rod holder and the method of cooling adopted.
The quest for a higher laser-conversion efficiency
and for obtaining stimulated emission at new frequen­
cies of the optical region necessitates the study of other
crystalline materials. For this purpose crystals of va­
rious halides, tungstates, titanates, molybdates and
other materials with addition of rare-earth and other
elements as activators are grown.
58
 Besides the wide-spread ruby laser whose design and
operation principle have been discussed above, lasers
employing other crystalline substances are also used.
Most of them operate on the principle of a four-level
system (Fig. 20). Characteristic of a four-level system is
that induced radiation originates when the atoms of
an active material pass from their metastable state not
to the ground level as is the case with a three-level
system but to a certain intermediate level. The po­
pulation of this intermediate level at a low temperatu­
re proves to be not high, and the power required for
exciting the system is less than that needed for three-le­
vel laser systems. An increase in the working tempera­
ture drastically reduces the laser effectiveness; such
lasers yield adequate results only at low temperatures
and most of them cannot operate at room tempera­
ture.
Lasers on uranium-doped crystals. Calcium fluoride
doped with trivalent ions of uranium (CaF2:U3+) was
one of the first crystals employed in lasers.

Fig. 20. Scheme of transitions in a four-level system

59
 Fig. 21. The energy le­
vel scheme of urani­
um

A simplified diagram of energy levels in such a

crystal is shown in Fig. 21. Ions of trivalent uranium
display several absorption bands in the visible and
near infra-red regions of the spectrum. The strongest
absorption bands lie in the green and indigo parts
of the spectrum. Intensive emission lines lie in the
infra-red region.
At room temperature the emission spectrum of
calcium fluoride doped with uranium consists of four
lines, two of which coincide with the absorption lines
and correspond to the transition from metastable state
3 to ground state i . The two other emission lines are
associated with the transition to intermediate level
2. Induced radiation takes place as a result of transi­
tion from the metastable state 3 to state 2 at a wave­
length of 2.49 p.
The arrangement of such a laser is the same as of
a ruby laser. This laser operates at a temperature of
liquid helium. A xenon flash tube can be used in it
as an excitation source.
Lasers on neodymium-doped crystals. A crystal of
calcium tungstate doped with trivalent ions of neody-
60
mium can be used as the active material in such lasers.
The energy diagram in a crystal of calcium tungsta­
te is rather complicated and therefore we shall not give
it here. The absorption spectrum of neodymium ions
lies mainly in the visible and near infra-red regions.
Neodymium ions have several emission lines. One of
them, which is the strongest at the temperature of
liquid nitrogen, has a wavelength of 1.063 p. In a
pulse mode, a laser employing such a crystal can ope­
rate both at room temperature and at the temperature
of liquid nitrogen. At room temperature the emission
wavelength is 1.0646 p. A xenon flash tube is also
used for excitation.
Laser crystals can be doped with other rare-earth
elements as well, for instance, with bivalent samarium
included into crystals of calcium fluoride (CaF2:Sm2+).
Induced emission of samarium ions takes place at a
wavelength of 7080 A at temperatures of liquid hydro­
gen and liquid helium. Besides crystals of calcium fluo­
ride doped with bivalent samarium ions, crystals of
strontium fluoride with the same dopant are employed:
SrF2:Sm2+. The wavelength in this case is 6969 A.
For lasers operating in the infra-red region use can be
made of trivalent ions of thulium and holmium included
into crystals of calcium tungstate.
For GW lasers the use of calcium tungstate crystals
doped with trivalent praseodymium ions (CaW0 4 :
: Pr3+) is rather promising. The induced radiation
wavelength of this material is 10 470 A and the exci­
tation power is 30 J.
For ensuring CW operation of a laser, crystals of
calcium fluoride doped with bivalent dysprosium ions
(CaF2:Dy2+) are employed. This material features a
very low excitation level (of the order of 0.1 to 1.0 J)
since it absorbs wide frequency bands.The induced
radiation wavelength is 23 600 A.
61
 The number of rare-earth elements which can find
application in lasers is rapidly increasing. The range
of wavelengths at which stimulated emission can be
obtained is also extending. Crystals doped with these
elements are also produced in the shape of small rods
having a length of several centimetres.
Table 2

Main Characteristics
of Solid Active Media Employed in Lasers

A c t i v e m e d iu m
E m is s io n
w ave­ W o r k in g L a se r o p e ­
le n g th te m p er a ­ r a t io n
a c tiv a to r m a t r ix K A tu r e , °K

Chromium, Cr 3+ A 12 0 3 6929 300 Pulsed

6934 77 CW
6 943 293 Pulsed, CW
Uranium, U 3+ CaF 2 25 100 300/77 Pulsed, CW
26 130 300/77 Pulsed, CW
Ditto SrF 2 24 070 90 Pulsed
Ditto BaF 2 25 560 2 0 Pulsed
Samarium, Sm 2+ CaF 2 7 082 2 0 Pulsed
SrF 2 6 969 4 Pulsed
Dysprosium, Dy 2+ CaF 2 23 600 293/27 Pulsed, CW
Neodymium, Nd 3+ CaF 2 10 461 300 Pulsed
SrF 2 10 370 293 Pulsed
BaF 2 1 0 600 77 Pulsed
CaWO 4 10 646 293 Pulsed
10 650 77 CW
CrMoO 4 10 643 293 Pulsed
Thulium, Tm 3+ SrF 2 19 100] 77 Pulsed
CaWO 4 19110 77 Pulsed
Praseodymium, CaWO 4 10 468 90 Pulsed
p r 3+ SrMoO 4 10470 77 Pulsed

62
 For attaining a higher effectiveness of stimulated
emission, in some cases coatings are applied on the side
surface of crystals. For example, ruby^crystals with a
sapphire coating are grown. These crystals are single
rod-shaped structures. A ruby rod and a sapphire tube
for such structures can be manufactured separately
with a high degree of precision. Then the rod is in­
serted into the tube so that a close contact between
them is ensured. The sapphire tube functions as a re­
fracting envelope enhancing the concentration of light
incident on the ruby core and, at the same time, contri­
buting to a more rapid cooling of this core.
A very important factor which determines the charac­
ter of the emerging radiation is the orientation of the
crystal, i.e. the relative position of the optic axis of
the crystal and of the rod axis. If the optic axis of
the crystal and the rod axis are parallel, the orien­
tation is said to be zero. Rods with the zero orienta­
tion give a circular or an elliptical polarisation of
the beam. Rods with a 90° orientation (when the op­
tic axis is perpendicular to the rod axis) give beams
polarised in one direction. Rods with other orientations
of the optic axis, e.g. with that of 60°, are also used.
The main characteristics of crystal lasers are given
in Table 2.

METHODS AND SOURCES OF EXCITATION

Excitation of an active substance in lasers is often

termed pumping. There are several methods of pump­
ing. Most widespread and simplest of them is optical
pumping.
Most conventional sources of optical pumping are
flash-discharge tubes, mainly xenon ones. Such tubes
may vary in design. The pumping system usually

63
 Ruby rod

Fig. 22. One of possible laser excitation system s. The ruby

rod together w ith two U-shaped flash tubes is wound with a
layer of foil functioning as a reflector

consists of two main elements: a light source and a

reflector which concentrates the light from the source
on the active material.
The character of laser emission is closely related
to the pumping power. When this power is small,
the emitted pulses contain a great number of short
spikes which last for 1 ps and are separated by 5 to
10 ps intervals. With the pumping power increasing,
the intervals between the spikes become shorter and
the amplitude of the spikes rises.
The first models of ruby lasers employed helical
flash-discharge tubes encompassing the ruby rod
(Fig. 10). The energy provided by such a pumping
system was approximately 2000 J. Later, other more
effective pumping systems were developed.
In one of such systems a ruby rod is positioned bet­
ween two flash tubes which almost touch the rod.
A layer of foil which functions as a reflecting cover
is wound around the flash tubes and the crystal rod
(Fig. 22). The pumping threshold for this arrange­
ment is 120 to 200 J. Sometimes for increasing the pum-
64
 Fig. 23. Types of reflectors
(a) e llip tic a l; (b ) w ith fo u r e llip tic a l re fle c to rs

ping power four or six flash tubes are arranged in a

similar manner in the pumping system.
Another design uses an elliptical cylindrical reflec­
tor housing a ruby rod disposed along one focus line
of the reflector and a pumping flash tube disposed al­
ong the other focus line of the reflector (Fig. 23a).
Such a design ensures an effective utilisation of the
flash tube power, since its entire radiation is focused
on the ruby rod. The threshold energy in this case
comes to several hundreds of joules.
In those cases when a high output power is to be
obtained, a pumping system with several, e.g. with
four reflectors can be used. Such a system is shown
schematically in Fig. 23b. In this arrangement four
elliptical reflectors have a common focus line along
which a ruby rod is placed. Four flash tubes are pla­
ced at the other respective focus lines of the elliptical
cylinders. This provides a possibility of focusing the
light from the four flash tubes on the ruby rod. With
the dimensions of the reflector system appropriately
selected, the efficiency of each of the four reflectors
will be about 75 per cent that of a system using one
5 — 471 65
 elliptical cylinder. Lowering of the efficiency is asso­
ciated with a reduction of the focusing surface area.
The structure consisting of four elliptical cylinders
appears to be optimal. Though a greater number of
these cylinders will lead to a higher pumping power
due to the addition of new flash tubes, yet there will
be a reduction in the degree of energy concentration
by individual reflectors since their reflecting surface
areas diminish. The best conditions for a complete
utilisation of the energy radiated by the flash tube in
such a reflector are the largest possible cross section
of the elliptical reflector, minimum diameter of the
flash tube and minimum diameter of the rod of active
material.
With this kind of a system, the total pumping ener­
gy is 8000 J, the duration of the flash tube pulse is
1 ps, and that of the laser pulse is 0.5 ps.
The threshold pumping power can be reduced by
using a ruby rod with a sapphire envelope (Fig. 24)
which focuses the pumping light in such a manner that
the radiation intensity is concentrated in the middle
portion of the ruby rod (Fig. 25) where optical excita­
tion is most easily set up. The light pumping energy
which passes along the sapphire layer towards the cen­
tre of the ruby rod is absorbed to a considerably smal­
ler extent than would be the case with the same layer
of ruby instead of sapphire. Besides, sapphire is a
good conductor of heat, and this contributes to rapid
cooling of the ruby. Ruby rods with a sapphire envelo­
pe are excited with a pumping energy of 50 to 80 J.
The repetition frequency of excitation pulses de­
pends on the conditions of cooling the active material
and the pumping tube. With air cooling, the pulse re­
petition frequency of a ruby laser having an output
power of 1 kW is 10 Hz; for a laser with an output of
20 kW the respective figure will not exceed 1 pulse
66
 Fig. 24. Ruby rod in a sapphire
envelope. The sapphire enve­
lope as if increases the ruby
rod dimensions

Fig. 25. Scheme of a composite ruby rod illustrating the prin­

ciple of concentrating radiation on a ruby rod by means of a
sapphire envelope
 Protective housing
Ruburod Emerging
---^ ra d ia tio n

Sapphire sphere

-'Lens S e m i-tra n sp a re n t
m irro r
' 110 cm dta.
parabolic mirror
Fig. 2G. Solar pumping of a ruby laser

per second. If the system is cooled with liquid nitro­

gen, the repetition frequency of laser pulses is 30 Hz
for the output power of 10 kW and pulse duration
of lps.
The heating of the active element and flash tube can
be diminished by using glass reflectors with an inter­
ference coating, which reflects light only in the absor­
ption band of the ruby and transmits the rest of the
pumping tube radiation.
Besides optical, there are other methods of excita­
tion, for example, by using solar energy, the energy
of exploding wires, cathodoluminescent excitation,
etc.
Figure 26 is a schematic presentation of an exciting
system using solar energy. As these lines are being
written, first experimental sunlight pumping systems
are under development. Sunlight is focused by means
of parabolic mirrors up to 110 cm in diameter. The
light reflected from a parabolic mirror is concentrated
by a glass lens onto a sapphire sphere which adjoins
68
 Capacitor
bank
Exploding wire
Ruby rod
' ' 'V ' t

Light beam Elliptical reflector

Screen
Fig. 27. Exploding wires pumping

one of the end faces of a ruby rod. Instead of a sapphire

sphere it is possible to use a glass lens filled with wa­
ter, which will function both as a focusing and a cool­
ing element. Radiation emerges from the other, semi­
transparent end face of the ruby.
Another method of excitation is based on using the
energy of an exploding wire (Fig. 27). An exploding
wire is a very powerful source of light. This wire is
placed in one of the focus lines of an elliptical reflector
made from stainless steel. A ruby rod is disposed in
the other focus line of the reflector. The wire is explo­
ded by a high current pulse.
Experiments with such pumping sources were con­
ducted using tungsten, aluminium and copper wires
which were 50 mm long and had a diameter from 0.1
lo 0.2 mm. The radiation of a flash created by an ex­
ploding wire is most intensive in the ultra-violet re­
gion of the spectrum. In the visible region of the spec­
trum the intensity of such radiation is one third that
of a xenon flash tube.
The surface of the ruby rod is protected against
drops of molten metal and shock wave effects by a
special screen made of glass or plastic.
In improved exploding wire pumping systems an
69
exploding wire is inserted into a cylindrical rotor and
at a certain moment of time this wire is exploded by
a strong pulse of current, with the rotor rotating at a
very high speed.
This method is most applicable in quantum genera­
tors which work pulsed and is rather promising for the
creation of superpowerful lasers.
Cathodoluminescent excitation is based on the use
of cathode-ray tubes (Fig. 28). The cylindrical surface
of these tubes is coated with a special luminescent
material called phosphor. A ruby rod is placed axially
in the cathode-ray tube cylinder. The phosphor is
luminescent when being bombarded with electrons.
The radiant energy of such luminescence causes exci­
tation of the ruby rod.
A very interesting and, evidently, promising is a
method of exciting one laser by the beam of another
laser.
Particularly effective may prove to be a method of
pumping a ruby rod with incoherent light of a semi­
conductor laser (Fig. 29).
Experiments were reported* on pumping active ma­
terials by means of nuclear sources. With this method
the radiation obtained will be close to X-ray radiation.

RESONANT SYSTEMS
The interaction between electromagnetic radiation
and an active material is most effective when this
material is placed into a resonant cavity. A resonant
cavity usually employed in lasers is a Fabry-Pcrot
interferometer. The cavity of a Fabry-Perot interfero­
meter is an air space bounded by two plane-parallel
glass plates facing each other and having thoroughly

* Electronic Design, 10, No. 25, p. 96, 1962.

70
 . Screen
- Ruby rod

Emerging
U ght^am

Ph0SP% ta U i 7t ^ r ath ° f eleciron *™»el

Fig. 28. Cathodoluminescent pumping

B a tte ry of ex citin g
sem iconductor lasers

r f f k i

Radiation

B a tte ry o f exciting
semiconductor Lasers

Fig. 29. Pumping of a ruby laser by radiation of semiconduc­

tor lasers
 Non - tran sparent Non - transparent
re fle cto r re fle ct or

Semi - transparent Semi - tra n sp a re n t

reflector reflector
(*) (b)
Fig. 30. Types of resonators
(a) re s o n a n t c a v ity w ith p la n e - p a r a lle l m ir r o r s ; (b ) r e s o n a n t c a v ity w ith
sp h e ric a l m irro rs

ground and polished surfaces that are silvered or other­

wise metallised to ensure a high reflection coefficient
(Fig. 30a). A light beam, after having entered the
interferometer, undergoes a multiple reflection and
gives an interference pattern at the exit.
Fabry-Perot interferometers are used for studying
fine structures of the spectra. A modification of the
Fabry-Perot cavity used in lasers resides solely in
that it is not an air layer but an active material which
is confined between the reflecting plates.
In a laser with a resonant system the wave travelling
from one mirror to the other is amplified while passing
through the active medium between them. When the
wave reaches the second mirror it loses some of its
energy at reflection on account of a finite transmittan­
ce of the mirror, and some other part of the wave ener­
gy is lost at the edges of the mirrors. For the generation
to take place, it is necessary that the total losses of
energy conditioned by scattering within the medium,
by diffraction and reflection should be less than the
energy gained by the light during its passage through
the active medium. The mirrors need not be only pla­
ne-parallel; confocal spherical mirrors can be used
as well (Fig. 30 b).
72
 Systems of resonant cavities with spherical or para­
bolic mirrors are to meet much less stringent require­
ments on the accuracy of manufacture and adjustment
of the mirrors than plane-parallel resonators, this be­
ing a definite advantage. The parameters of the reso­
nant cavity vary but little with small deviations in
the radius of curvature of the mirrors or in the distan­
ce between them. In resonant cavities losses prove to
be most considerable in the optical and infra-red re­
gions on account of absorption at reflection. Therefore
their reflecting surfaces are to meet quite stringent
requirements.
As has been mentioned earlier, if the active ma­
terial in a laser is a crystalline substance, the ap­
propriately finished end faces of the rod func­
tion as the reflecting surfaces. These end faces are
coated either with a metal layer or with several layers
of a dielectric film. One of the mirrors is made slightly
transparent for the emission to emerge. Sometimes a
small aperture is left in the mirror coating.
The reflecting ability of silver is inferior to that
of a dielectric coating; this leads to considerable ener­
gy losses, especially when silver coatings are applied
on the end faces of a ruby crystal which is to operate
at high powers.
Besides, silver coatings are liable to deteriorate
in service and have to be replaced, since otherwise
the output power of the quantum generator will gra­
dually drop and the energy required for the stimulated
emission will have to be increased. The properties of
dielectric coatings, on the contrary, undergo no adver­
se changes of such kind and though their application
on the crystal surfaces is a more labour-consuming
process than silvering, in modern practice preference
is given to dielectric coatings.
Sometimes, for ensuring a total internal reflection,
73
Fig. 31. Ruby rod with one of its end faces shaped as a prism

one of the mirrors in the resonant cavity is substituted

by a roof prism (Fig. 31).
In certain cases the mirrors in resonant cavities,
though they adjoin the active substance, are made
detached. The end faces of such mirrors are ground
and polished, but no silver or dielectric coatings are
applied on them. If required, the mirror in such a
system can be rapidly replaced without disturbing the
active substance. Moreover, the mirrors in this sys­
tem can be mounted parallel to each other with a
high precision by means of an adjusting device.

CONTINUOUS-WAVE LASERS

So far we have considered crystal lasers operating

in a pulse mode. In some cases it is preferable to have
continuously-operating or continuous-wave lasers. CW
operation can be obtained with gas and semiconductor
lasers which will be discussed in greater detail later.
Now we shall only mention that CW gas lasers have a
small output power and the emission of semiconduc­
tor lasers, likewise capable of continuous operation,
is insufficiently monochromatic.
One of the reasons why operation of crystal lasers
involves difficulties is as follows. A CW laser requires
continuous removal of heat, since otherwise the crys­
tal and the excitation source may become overheated.
As is known, only a small part of the radiant energy
74
emitted by the pumping source is actually utilised
for the excitation of the active material while a consi­
derable part of this energy is spent on heating of the
apparatus.
Special measures are to be taken for a continuous
removal of this useless heat so that the laser could
operate under the required conditions. The heat re­
moval is effected by a cooling system particularly
envisaged for the purpose. However, in case of high
pumping powers, a certain period of time is still
needed after each excitation cycle for the arrange­
ment to return to its initial temperature conditions
and for a balance to be established between the quan­
tity of heat received by and removed from it.
At present several designs of continuously-operat­
ing crystal lasers are known. In one of them a sapphire-
and-ruby crystal joined for CW operation is emplo­
yed. This composite crystal consists of a ruby rod and
a trumpet-like colourless sapphire light pipe. The
sapphire light pipe adjoins with its narrow end face
one of the end faces of the ruby rod and serves for ga­
thering the incident exciting light produced by the
pumping source which is a mercury-vapour arc lamp.
The radiation spectrum of this lamp abounds in green
and violet rays prerequisite for the excitation. The
emission of the mercury lamp is focused on the trum­
pet-like part of the sapphire pipe by a spherical mir­
ror. The ruby rod is cooled with liquid nitrogen. The
size of the crystal is very small: its length is 1.15 cm
and its diameter is 0.061 cm. The length of the sapphi­
re pipe is 1.05 cm and the diameter of its trumpet
is 0.15 cm. The surface of the ruby rod is optically
polished. The tolerances within which its end faces
are kept plane-parallel are 0.1 of the laser operating
wavelength. With the pumping power of 930 W the
power of the CW-laser emission is 4 mW.
75
 Fig. 32. Design of a continuous­
ly-operating laser
l — r a d ia tio n d e te c to r;# — la s e r b e a m ;
3 — liq u id o x y g e n ; 4— x e n o n f la s h t u ­
be; 5— w a te r c o o lin g o f e llip tic a l
r e f le c to r; 6— c r y s ta l o f a c tiv e m a te ­
r i a l ; 7— l i q u i d f i l t e r ; 8— d e w a r ; 9 -
m e rc u ry la m p ; i d — e llip tic a l re fle c ­
to r ; l i — w a te r ja c k e t; 12— h e a t in s u ­
la tio n

In another form of a con­

tinuously-operating laser
(Fig. 32) the crystal is
calcium tungstate activa­
ted with trivalentneodymi­
um ions (CaW04:Nd3+). This
material has a relative­
ly low pumping threshold.
The crystal shaped as a rod
with confocal spherical end
faces is placed in one of
the focus lines of an el­
liptical cylinder and sur­
rounded by a liquid filter
which does not pass the ul­
tra-violet and infra-red rays
of the light emitted by a pumping mercury tube po­
sitioned in the other focus line. In this laser the crys­
tal is cooled with liquid oxygen; the excitation source
and the reflector are provided with a water cooling
system to protect the apparatus against overheating.
The mercury tube consumes about 900 W and the laser
output power ranges within 3 to 5 mW, its operating
wavelength being 1.065 p. For the laser to be capable
76
of pulsed working, the reflector, besides the mercury
tube, also houses a xenon flash tube.
Other lasers of a similar design have been construc­
ted, in which the crystals are 38 mm long and 3 mm
in diameter. With the pumping power of the order of
600 W their output power ranges from 0.5 to 1 W.
For increasing the output power of lasers, systems
with more powerful excitation sources are suggested.
In one of them the excitation source is a 500 kW arc
furnace filled with a gas under pressure. The radiation
emitted by the electric furnace is focused on the crys­
tal surface by two spherical mirrors. The ruby crystal
is housed in a spherical cavity made of pyrex and fil­
led with a solution of metallic copper which absorbs
infra-red, red and ultra-violet rays and transmits light
within the range of 4500 to 6000 A. This solution also
serves for cooling the ruby crystal. A laser of this
construction could operate continuously for a period
of 0.2 to 1.2 s. A more prolonged excitation caused
overheating and destruction of the crystal.
Besides the above-considered crystals for use in
CW lasers, about ten other crystals most fit for the
purpose are known at present (see Table 2).

GLASS LASERS
The development of lasers with glass as the active
material doped with rare-earth elements such as neo­
dymium, ytterbium, gadolinium, holmium or terbium
is of great interest. The design of glass lasers is essen­
tially the same as of the crystal ones. An important
advantage of glass lasers resides in that glass rods of
any required size and shape are relatively easy to ma­
nufacture, this being a prerequisite for the creation
of lasers with a high output power. Glass batches can
be pulled to fibres for making optical waveguides.
77
 The distribution of the energy levels of rare-earth
ions in glass is almost the same as in crystal matrices.
But, unlike crystals, glass features no definitely orien­
ted and regular structure; therefore spectral lines of
emission in it are somewhat broader than in crystals.
One of the first glass lasers, which have become
widespread nowadays, was a laser with neodymium-
doped barium glass as the active medium. The concen­
tration of neodymium in glass may vary from 0.13 to
10 per cent. The laser behaves as a four-level system
with the induced radiation taking place at the wave­
length of 1.0G p.
Early glass lasers employed thin barium glass rods
76 mm in length coated with a glass layer that had a
somewhat smaller refractive index than the rod ma­
terial. This increased the translucence of the rod and
ensured a more effective excitation. Yet, on account
of a strong absorption displayed by neodymium ions,
the penetration of the pumping energy into the glass
was poor and the quantity of this energy was not suf­
ficient for exciting the inner layers of the glass rod.
The rods, therefore, had to be of a small diameter
(0.3 and 0.032 mm in the test specimens). The parallel
end faces of the rods were polished and coated with
a layer of silver having a 2% coefficient of transpa­
rency. The laser worked pulsed at room temperature;
pumping was effected by means of a xenon flash tube.
An essential disadvantage of the first lasers with thin
glass rods as the active material was their low output
power.
By now several models of glass lasers with a high
stimulated emission energy have been developed. Thus,
glass lasers have been created with rods having a
length of about half a metre and a diameter of several
centimetres. Their output power is over 100 J.
If a glass laser beam is allowed to pass through a
78
 Fig. 33. Soviet neodymium glass laser TCH-1
crystal having definite non-linear optical characte­
ristics, a green beam will emerge from this crystal as
a result of the appearance of radiation harmonics.
Glass lasers where ions of rare-earth elements other
than neodymium are used as dopants differ from
the laser discussed above by the wavelength of the in­
duced radiation. Thus, the operating wavelength of
glass lasers doped with ytterbium is 1.015 p; of those
with holmium, about 1.95 p; with gadolinium, 0.3125 p;
and with terbium, 0.535 to 0.55 p.
Figure 33 is a photograph of the Soviet TGH-1 glass
laser designed for studying the interaction of light
with the substance. Neodymium glass plates 8 x45 x
Xl50 mm in size are used as the active material in
this laser. Pumping is effected by eight flash tubes.
The laser generates light pulses of 0.7 ms duration
at the wavelength of 1.06 p; its maximum energy is
75 J. The weight of this laser together with its power
supply unit is 200 kg.
79
 GIANT PULSES

In the creation of lasers, alongside of the main tren­

ding towards increasing their output energy, efforts
are made to increase the power of individual pulses.
As has been pointed out in our previous discussion,
a laser pulse, if “expanded” along the time scale, will
display a number of spikes or peaks. The laser energy
is radiated during a comparatively long period of time
which is determined by the pumping time and usually
amounts to several milliseconds.
However, there is a possibility of concentrating the
radiation within a time interval as short as milliardth
fractions of a second. The power of such a pulse, with
the radiation energy remaining the same, increases
by millions of times (it will be recalled that power is
equal to energy divided by time). Tremendous amounts
of power concentrated in extremely short pulses rece­
ived the name of “giant pulses”. The power of these
pulses reaches dozens of megawatts and even more.
What are the methods of producing giant pulses?
As is known, in conventional lasers the radiation
starts while pumping is still going on, and this circum­
stance is a hindrance to bringing the majority of acti­
ve particles to an excited state. In other words, no
great difference in the inverted population of energy
levels can be attained.
Nevertheless, there can be obtained such a state of
the active medium when almost all its active partic­
les will be excited. This state can take place before
the onset of generation. Consequently, for these con­
ditions to be ensured, the generation should be preclu­
ded till the pumping process has been accomplished.
As we know, generation in a laser is ensured by the
provision of a resonant cavity in it. If during pumping
the resonant cavity in the laser system is kept inope-
80
rative, no generation will take place and, as a result,
most of the particles in the active medium will be
brought over to the excited state.
One of the methods of obtaining giant pulses in
operating laser systems consists in placing an optical
shutter between the laser rod and one of the mirrors.
At the moment of pumping, when the flash tube is
switched on, the shutter does not pass light to the
mirror and no reflection occurs. Though a very great
number of particles of the active material are brought
to the excited state, generation does not take place.
When pumping is over and the number of excited ions
reaches a maximum, the optical shutter is rapidly
opened. As soon as it is done, generation is immedia­
tely set up in the rod. All the energy accumulated in
the excited ions is released in a single giant burst
pulse which lasts for about 10"9 s and has a power of
the order of 50 MW.
The principle by which giant pulses are obtained
can be understood from a consideration of Fig. 34.
One of the most commonly employed optical shutters
is a Kerr cell.
As has been mentioned before, the radiation of a
ruby crystal, in case its optic axis does not coincide
with the axis of the ruby rod, is polarised. A Kerr cell
filled with nitrobenzene is arranged in such a manner
that the vector of the electric field applied to it should
be at 45° to the plane passing through the optic axis
and the axis of the ruby rod. The plane of polarisation
of the light which traverses the cell twice (towards
the mirror and back) is rotated through 90° in relation
to the initial direction. The reflected light proves to
be insufficient for generation in the laser rod.
For obtaining a powerful pulse, first the flash tube
is switched on, and then, in 0.5 ms, the Kerr cell is
de-energized during 0.02 ms. The optical shutter being
6 — 471 81
 oooooooooooooooo
(a) o o o o o o o o o o o o o o op
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o oo

• • '• b i
( 6) o * * i * * * » * p * » * * * o»

p • 0 -0 # O %Q M O # O # • •
(C) jo • »«e-e-#-»p o %mo o # o o
>o o-o o o o • • o o # o # # #

(d )

Fig. 34. Producing of giant pulses

( a) c r y s t a l o f a c t i v e m a t e r i a l ; s h u t t e r i s p l a c e d b e t w e e n t h e c r y s t a l a n d
o n e o f t h e m ir r o r s ; ( b) t h e c r y s t a l is p u m p e d , a c ti v e p a r t i c l e s a r e e x c ite d ,
n o g e n e ra tio n ta k e s p la c e ; (c), (d) th e s h u tt e r is o p e n , g e n e r a tio n ta k e s
p la c e , and e n e rg y is r e le a s e d in o n e g ia n t p u ls e

thus opened, the generation follows immediately and

proceeds with a higher degree of excitation than in
a conventional laser having no optical shutter. A
giant light pulse emerges from the laser.
Instead of a Kerr cell, an ultrasonic cell filled with
alcohol or kerosene can also be used as an optical
shutter. In this case the structure of the substance
which fills the cell undergoes changes on account of
transverse compressions and rarefactions caused by
82
ultrasonic vibrations usually produced with the help
of a high-frequency oscillator. These changes in the
structure of the cell determine its refractive index
and the degree of light scattering. When the light
scattering is zero, i.e. when the substance in the ul­
trasonic cell is most transparent, conditions necessary
for the generation are created. During one period of
vibration such favourable conditions occur twice and
therefore the repetition frequency of laser pulses is
twice that of ultrasonic vibrations in the cell.
Rotary disks and mirrors are also employed as op­
tical shutters. With these shutters it is possible
to produce both individual pulses and series of
pulses.
Though all the above-described methods have found
practical application, yet they prove to be rather com­
plicated and require additional equipment. Therefore,
still another method is used for producing giant pul­
ses, in which so-called brightening filters are emplo­
yed. The brightening filter in this case is a solution of
phthalocyanine. Under the action of light this liquid
changes its colour and transparency. A simple small
cuvette with a phthalocyanine solution is placed be­
tween the laser rod and one of its mirrors. The solution
strongly absorbs light at the frequency of the ruby
generation and therefore the resonant cavities of the
laser do not amplify the light until a considerable
number of chromium ions in the ruby crystal have
been pumped into the upper energy state.
When the pumping energy reaches a value at which
the ruby amplification exceeds the absorption losses
in the phthalocyanine solution, the laser will start
rather weakly radiating coherent light. Nevertheless,
a small quantity of this additional light proves suf­
ficient for the solution to become colourless to such
an extent that all of a sudden it turns out to be ab-
6* 83
solutely transparent. At this very moment the genera­
tion will be sharply increased and all the energy accu­
mulated in the ruby will be instantaneously emitted as
a giant pulse. The pulse having been emitted, the solu­
tion regains its absorbing capacity and the next pulse
can be formed in a similar manner.
In an experiment conducted for obtaining giant
pulses the cuvette with a solution of phthalocyanine
about 30 mm long was placed between a ruby crystal
and a mirror having a rather high coefficient of re­
flection. The other end face of the ruby was shaped
as a 90° prism for ensuring internal reflection and
necessary generation conditions (see Fig. 31). The
concentration of the solution was selected such as to
provide a 50 per cent transmission of light at low ener­
gies. When the ruby rod was pumped to an energy
at which under usual conditions (with no solution)
the onset of generation took place, a giant pulse last­
ing for about 20 nanoseconds was observed. At higher
pumping energies a series of giant pulses was obser­
ved, with intervals between the pulses of the order
of 100 ps. The power obtained in this experiment was
50 MW.
It is believed that such a method can ensure obtai­
ning of much higher power values.
There are methods by which a giant pulse can be
amplified again, so that a still more powerful pulse
will be produced. To this end, a second rod from an
active material is arranged in the path of a giant
pulse. This can be, for example, a ruby rod with
unsilvered end faces. In this case the second rod fun­
ctions merely as an amplifier and does not generate.
Such an amplifier must be pumped by means of a
special flash tube. The light of the latter brings al­
most all the particles of the active material of the
rod to the excited state. The second tube is switched
84
on somewhat later than the first. When passing through
the second rod, the giant pulse causes induced radia­
tion in it, which is added together with the giant
pulse. As a result, the emerging giant pulse is more
powerful. Since induced transitions are caused alrea­
dy by the leading edge of the pulse entering the rod,
the newly formed pulse becomes more intensive,
yet of a shorter duration. The power of the pulse in
this case may reach 500 MW.

GAS LASERS

Concurrently with crystal lasers wide application

has been found by lasers in which gases and vapours
of metals are employed as active media. Such lasers
are usually called gas lasers and their main advan­
tage resides in that they operate continuously, though
some gas lasers are also capable of pulsed working.
Gas lasers display exceptionally high monochromati­
city, most pure spectrum and high stability of fre­
quency. All these features make gas lasers extremely
useful in various branches of science and engineering;
probably, the most wide application of these lasers
will be in communications. The output power of gas
lasers, however, still remains rather moderate and
much inferior to that of crystal lasers.
The first gas laser developed by A. Javan, W. Ben­
nett and D. Herriot operated on the principle of re­
sonant transmission of excitation energy in a gas
discharge. The gas laser is a fused quartz tube with
a diameter of about 1.5 cm and 80 cm long. This
tube is filled with a mixture of gases: neon (Ne) un­
der a pressure of 0.1 mm Hg and helium (He) under
a pressure of 1 mm Hg. The tube is connected with
flexible glass-to-metal seals with metallic heads ac-
85
^ 'p ta te ^ Inclination a d ju stm e n t R eflecting p l a te

commodating plane reflecting plates. A simplified

diagram of such laser is shown in Fig. 35.
Insofar as during its passage through the ac­
tive He-Ne mixture the light beam is amplified
but to a small extent (of the order of 2 per cent per
metre of the tube length), much attention is paid
to the quality of the reflecting plates. Their surfaces
are ground and polished to a tolerance in flatness
of 0.01 of the laser wavelength. For ensuring better
reflection conditions multilayer dielectric films are
also employed. A film consisting of 13 alternating
zinc sulphide and magnesium fluoride layers allows
the obtaining for waves within the region of 11 000
to 12 000 A the coefficient of reflection of 98.9 per
cent, coefficient of transmission of 0.3 per cent,
the absorption and scattering losses being 0.8 per
cent.
All the elements of the active part of the laser
are annealed and degased under ultra-high vacuum
conditions. Should a single drop of water condense
on the dielectric reflecting layers when the evacua-
86
tion process is started or atmospheric air be present
in the system after the annealing, this will damage
the layers. The position of the reflecting plates is
adjusted with the help of a micrometer device emplo­
ying flexible bellows. The initial adjustment of the
plates is performed before starting the generator.
A system of mirrors makes up a Fabry-Perot re­
sonant cavity which ensures an optical feedback re­
quired for the creation of self-excitation conditions
and generation.
The active mixture is excited by means of a high-
frequency generator with a frequency of several tens
of MHz and an input of about 50 W. The electromag­
netic field in the gas mixture is set up by means
of external electrodes that encompass the quartz tube
of the laser. The mechanism of excitation of atoms
in gas lasers is quite different from that in crystal
lasers and therefore requires a more detailed expla­
nation.
The operation of a gas laser is based on the inte­
raction of atoms of two gases that are in close energy
levels (Fig. 36). As can be seen from the energy dia­
gram shown in Fig. 36, the level 23s of helium lies
close to the level 2s of neon, which consists of four
sub-levels. The atoms of helium are excited by the
gas discharge and pass to the upper level 23s. On
account of inelastic collisions between the atoms of
the two gases, the excited atoms of helium give off
their energy to the atoms of neon, so that the latter
rise to one of the four metastable levels 2s.
When the population of the neon level 2s becomes
sufficient, an induced coherent radiation correspon­
ding to the transition to the level 2p sets on. The
neon atoms then return to their ground state. The
neon level 2p consists of 10 sub-levels. The total
number of possible transitions corresponding to diffe-
87
 Fig. 36. Energy levels of helium and neon

rent lengths of the radiated waves is 16, all of them

lying in the near infra-red region within 9400 to
15 500 A. By now generation has been obtained on
five waves, the best results in terms of intensity being
for the wavelength of 11 533 A. Recently generation
in the visible region at 6328 A was produced.
The emission of a gas laser is highly monochroma­
tic and coherent. The angular divergence of a gas
laser beam is less than one minute. The width of
the spectral line of a gas laser emission is approxi­
mately one hundred thousandth that of a ruby laser.
In the general case a gas laser linewidth lies within
10 to 80 kHz. The elimination of so-called micropho-
nic effect (jitter of mirrors) has lately allowed obtai­
ning of a He-Ne gas laser linewidth of about 1 kHz.

88
 Fig. 37. A helium-neon laser

With the generator input power of about 40 to 90 W,

the laser output is 0.5 to 10 mW.
One of the designs of a He-Ne laser is shown in
Fig. 37.
Experimental models, in case optimal generation
conditions are ensured as to the pressure and discharge
current values, can have an output of up to 100 mW.
The length of a helium-neon laser displaying such a
power is about 2 m, and the diameter of its tube is
7 to 10 mm.
Though, for increasing the radiation power, such
a laser can be made with a longer tube, this is not
always advisable, since practical use of the appara­
tus will be more difficult. Any further increase in
the tube diameter will give no positive effect: on the
contrary, the output power of the helium-neon laser
will be diminished.
The helium-neon mixture is not the only active
medium which can be employed in gas lasers: a mix­
ture of argon and oxygen (Ar-02) can also be used for
this purpose. The operation of lasers with such an
active medium is based on the excitation of disso­
ciated molecules of oxygen. An atom of the inert
89
gas (argon) excited by a high-frequency discharge,
when colliding with a molecule of biatomic oxygen,
becomes excited to a higher level, this resulting in
an inverted population, while another oxygen atom
absorbs the remaining energy. Emission takes place
at 8445 A. The output power of Ar-02 lasers is about
2 mW. The same principle is employed in a laser with
a mixture of helium and carbon oxide (He-CO) as
the active medium.
Single-gas lasers have also developed; they use
inert gases—helium, neon, argon, krypton, and xe­
n o n -tak en individually as the active medium. All
these lasers generate in the near infra-red region of
the spectrum at several tens of different wavelengths.
Maximum power is obtained with a xenon laser (about
5 mW). The operation of this kind of gas lasers
is based on direct excitation of atomic levels due to
inelastic collisions with electrons in a gas discharge.
Figure 38 is a photograph of a Soviet gas GW la­
ser. Its output power is 1 mW and it is designed for
conducting various investigations in physics, chemis­
try, medicine and radiobiology.
At present a GW output of 11.9 W is obtained with
transitions corresponding to the wavelength of 10690A.
Power radiated at the most intensive frequency is
about 75 per cent of the total output. The laser-con­
version efficiency is about 3 per cent. The experimen­
tal laser system employed mirrors placed inside the
laser tube provided with a special device which allo­
wed mixing the gaseous substances in a continuously
circulating flow. The discharge was obtained by pas­
sing direct current through the active zone of the
laser, having a diameter of 25 mm and a length of
2 m. The optical resonator consisted of a concave
mirror with a radius of curvature of 11 m and a con­
vex mirror with a radius of curvature of 10 m. The
90
 Fig. 38. One of Soviet continuously-operating gas lasers,
Model OKT-11

mirrors were spaced 240 cm apart. The energy from

the resonator emerged through a 8 mm circular aper­
ture made in the centre of the concave mirror. The
both mirrors were coated with gold.
The above-described laser is the first apparatus
capable of a high-power emission in the infra-red re­
gion at the wavelength of 10690A. It is expected that
with greater dimensions of the laser tube a conside­
rable gain in the power of coherent radiation can be
obtained in CW operation.
This laser is also advantageous in that its radia­
tion stability is almost unaffected by external electric
and magnetic fields. The high power of coherent radiation
of the gas laser will make possible the study of non-linear
optical phenomena in the infra-red region of the spec­
trum. This laser proves to be of great interest for
communication engineering as well, since its radia­
tion wavelength lies within the range of 8 to 14 p
9i
where the atmospheric absorption of light is insig­
nificant.
One of the latest developments is a whole group
of gas lasers in which the active medium are strongly
ionized inert gases, as well as sulphur, chlorine and
phosphorous vapours. Ionisation in such lasers is usu­
ally effected by means of an arc discharge with a
very high current density (several thousand amperes
per square centimetre). These are so-called ion gas
lasers or, simply, ion lasers. Most ion lasers work
pulsed, though some of them, under certain condi­
tions, are capable of continuous operation.
In such lasers generation is not due to atomic tran­
sitions, as in the helium-neon laser, but to transi­
tions between excited energy states of an ionised gas.
Ion lasers are most powerful sources of coherent
radiation in the visible and ultra-violet regions. The
efficiency of these lasers remains not high and reaches
only 0.01 to 0.1 per cent.
Shown in Fig. 39 is a powerful pulsed gas laser
JjrH-37 made in the Soviet Union. This laser radia­
tes in the visible region of the optical spectrum.
It is excited by voltage pulses of 20 to 25 kW. The
power radiated in a pulse is about 2 kW. The gas
discharge tube of the laser is water-cooled.
Most typical in the group of ion lasers is an argon
laser. Inversion of the population in ionised argon
occurs (see Fig. 40) when its ions are directly excited
from the state l(3 p b) to the state Some
transitions to the excitation stage proceed stepwise.
Inverted population in the 3-2 transition takes place
mainly on account of a short lifetime of argon ions
in the state 2, which is approximately 4 per cent their
lifetime in the state 3. The level 2 is depleted rather
quickly, so that the inversion of the population and
generation can be maintained continually.

92
 Fig. 39. Powerful pulsed-working gas laser JirH-37

The levels 3 and 2 consist of groups of sub-levels

and therefore generation can take place at several
frequencies simultaneously. The output radiation of
an argon ion laser is predominantly green and blue
(5145 A and 4880 A wavelengths, respectively).
Typical output power figures are unities of watts,
but some models can give up to 150 W. Theoretical
calculations show that in the not distant future the
power of argon lasers can be increased to several
hundred watts.
Structurally an ion argon laser is a narrow water-
cooled fused silica capillary tube in which an arc
discharge takes place (see Fig. 41). Arranged at the
ends of this capillary tube are an anode and a catho­
de. The anode and the cathode spaces communicate
through a by-pass gas tube which ensures free circu­
lation of the gas. For increasing the laser output po­
wer and efficiency, sometimes a solenoid or a perma­
nent magnet is put on the capillary tube, its fun-
93
Fig. 40. Diagram of energy levels of ionised argon Ar+
 |
f:
C ooling l i q u i d |

Fig. 41. Design of an argon laser

/ — o u tle t w in d o w s ; 2— c a th o d e ; 3— w a te r c o o lin g c h a n n e l; 4 — a rc d is ­
c h a r g e c h a n n e l ( c a p i l l a r y ) ; 5— m a g n e t ; 6 — a n o d e ; 7— b y - p a s s g a s tu b e

ction being to constrict the discharge area and increa­

se the concentration of ions along the capillary axis.
Fused silica capillary tubes, however, cannot ensure
long-term service of the laser. Therefore, for exten­
ding its service life, metallic capillary tubes are re­
sorted to, made as cylinders partitioned by thin cera­
mic rings.
Shown in Fig. 42 is a Soviet argon laser “Mala-
k h it”. This laser is designed for conducting laboratory
investigations in physical optics, spectrometry, te­
lephone and television communications, and holo­
graphy. The laser radiates in the indigo-green region
of the spectrum at 10 wavelengths: 0.4545; 0.4579;
0.4609; 0.4658; 0.4726; 0.4765; 0.4880; 0.4965; 0.5017
and 0.5145 p. Its output power is 0.2 to 1.0 W,
input power is 5 kW. The laser is water-cooled and
weighs 40 kg.
The main disadvantage of gas lasers employing
atomic and ion transitions is their low efficiency,
which can be accounted for by a small effectiveness
of the electron pumping mechanism. Gas lasers in
which the mechanism of the oscillatory states of
95
 Fig. 42. Argon laser “M alakhil”

molecules is employed proved to be rather promising

in this respect. These are so-called molecular gas
lasers.
The energy state of a molecule is known to be deter­
mined not only by the internal energy of the atoms
of which it consists, but also by their oscillatory mo­
tions in the molecule. These states are quantised,
they have definite allowed levels and are characte­
rised by a certain set of discrete values. In the mole­
cule, as in the atom, there are non-excited energy
levels with a minimum value and excited states with
a higher energy. Naturally, the more complicated
the molecule, the more complicated the structure of
its oscillatory states is.
At present in gas lasers employing molecular energy
transitions generation is effected in carbon monoxide,
carbon dioxide, molecular nitrogen and nitrogen mo­
noxide.
96
Fig. 43. Diagram of oscillatory levels of C 02 and N2 molecules

Let us consider a gas laser with carbon dioxide as

the active medium. The working material in such a
laser is a mixture into which, besides carbon dio­
xide, nitrogen and, sometimes, for increasing the
radiation power, also helium or water vapours are added.
Fig. 43 shows energy diagrams of oscillatory le­
vels with which the main physical processes taking
place in this laser are associated.
The molecules of carbon dioxide are excited by
resonant energy transfer effected by excited molecu­
les of argon. Generation sets on at transitions 4-3
and 4-2. Radiative transition 4-3 corresponds to the
wavelength of 10.6 p and transition 4-2, to 9.6 p.
The design of a C02 laser is shown in Fig. 44.
7— 471 97
 Z 3 4 L to To

Fig. 44. Design of a powerful C 02 laser

1— m ir r o r ; 2— m ir r o r m o u n t; 3— f le x ib le c o n n e c tio n ; 4 — e le c tro d e s ; 5
a n d 6— g a s m ix t u r e e v a c u a t io n a n d s u p p ly

A positive feature of this laser is the dependence

of the radiation power on the tube diameter, there­
fore the output power can be raised by increasing
the tube diameter. In powerful carbon dioxide lasers
the length of the gas discharge tube (or cuvette) may
be several metres and its diameter, several centimet­
res. For the glow discharge to be sustained in such a
cuvette, the latter is divided into several individual
sections. The laser is powered with a.c. or d.c. of an
industrial frequency (50 Hz). A serious problem with
powerful C02 lasers is the manufacture of durable
reflecting coatings (mirrors). For low-power lasers
the mirror surface is manufactured from a multi­
layer dielectric. In powerful lasers metallic mirrors
are employed, mostly from gold. Since such a mirror
cannot be made semitransparent, a small aperture
is left in it for the exit of radiation. These lasers are
either water-cooled, or employ forced-air cooling
systems. Their efficiency is 20 to 30 per cent.
At present the method of raising the laser output
power by pumping gas through the discharge tube
becomes most widespread. This procedure is neces-
98
sary insofar as the gas mixture decomposes in the
course of the laser operation. The gas can be primped
through either longitudinally or transversely of the
gas discharge tube. The laser radiation power can
be strongly increased if the gas is pumped through
at such a rate that it would have no time for being
heated to the critical temperature under the effect
of the discharge current. Thus in a tube having a
length of 10 cm and a diameter of 1.35 cm with the
longitudinal pumping-through rate of about 100 m/s,
the power obtained under continuous operation con­
ditions was 140 W. In case a longitudinal pumping-
through is used, the gas rate should increase with
an increase in the length of the gas discharge tube.
Therefore lasers with the transverse pumping-through
are considered to be most promising and convenient.
Transverse pumping-through calls for modifications
in the conventional design of a laser. The walls in
such a laser are two plane plates. The discharge glows
and the laser radiation propagates in one direction,
along the plates, and the gas is pumped through in
the other direction, perpendicular to the first. The
necessary effect is attained at lower rates of pumping-
through than in lasers where the gas is pumped
through longitudinally of the gas discharge tube.
Already in the first models of such lasers with the
resonant tube 1 m in length, with the transverse pum­
ping-through of the gas and preliminary cooling of
the mixture (to diminish the population of the lower
energy level), the output radiation power attainable
was about 1000 W. An increase in the length of the
gas discharge tube leads to an almost proportionate
increase in the output power. The output power at­
tained recently in CW operation is close to 60 kW.
The significance of such power will be perhaps
better appreciated if we say that a 100 W laser beam
99
can burn a brick through. A 60 kW beam is capable
of destroying rocks. Such a laser can be employed
for tunnelling, for mining, for power transmission,
etc., the more so that the power of 60 kW so far attai­
ned is not at all the limit. Table 3 gives the main
characteristics of active media for gas lasers.
Table 3
Main Characteristics of Active Media for
Gas Lasers

R a d ia t io n
w ave­ L a se r
A c t i v e M e d iu m le n g t h , o p e r a t io n
A

Ionised neon, Ne 3+ 2 358 Pulsed

Ionised neon, N e 2+ 3 324 Pulsed
Molecular nitrogen, N 2 3 371 Pulsed
Ionised argon, A r 2+ 4 880 CW
5 145 CW
Ionised krypton, K r 2+ 5 682 GW
Helium and neon mixture, He+No 6 328 GW
11523 CW
33 920 GW
Argon and oxygen mixture, A r + 0 2 8 445 Pulsed, GW
Mixture of helium and cadmium
vapours, He-fCd 3 250 GW
4 420 GW
Helium and carbon oxide mixture,
He+GO 14 540 Pulsed, GW
Atomic xenon, Xe 20 610 Pulsed
Caesium vapours, Cs 71821 GW
Mixture of carbon dioxide, nitrogen
and helium, C 0 2+ N 2+ H e 106 000 GW, pulsed
Water vapours, H20 279 000 Pulsed
1 186 000 Pulsed
Hydrocyanic acid, IlCN 3 370 000 CW

100
METHODS OF CONCENTRATING GAS LASER RADIATION
AT ONE FREQUENCY

In our discussion of the laser radiation we more

than once emphasized its being highly monochroma­
tic. Indeed, as compared to the emission of conven­
tional light sources, the monochromaticity of radia­
tion of all kinds of lasers is extremely high. Maximum
monochromaticity is displayed by the gas laser: its
radiation line width is one hundred thousandth that
of a ruby laser.
Now, if we “expand” the scale of frequencies of a
gas laser radiation, we shall see that the radiation in qu­
estion, though it occupies a certain very narrow band,
features a number of peaks. The distance between
these peaks depends on the distance between the mir­
rors of the resonant cavity employed. Thus, if the
distance between the mirrors is 1 m, the separation
between individual frequency peaks will be 150 MHz.
The amplitude and phase of each vibration mode do
not depend on the amplitude and phase of other vi­
bration modes. The phases of these vibrations are
random in character.
In conventional gas lasers the dimensions of their
resonant cavity considerably exceed the optical ra­
diation wavelength. With the cavity in the resonant
state, an integral number of waves of many different
modes can occur between the mirrors. This accounts
for the resonance taking place at different frequen­
cies.
Numerous attempts have been made at creating a
gas laser which would operate at one frequency. To
this end, the following three methods can be resor­
ted to:
1. Diminishing the length of the resonant cavity
to such an extent that only one resonant frequency
101
of the Fabry-Perot resonator should correspond to
the amplification range of the active medium.
2. Subjecting the resonant cavity to attenuation,
or diminishing the amplification of the active medium
in such a manner that the amplification should ex­
ceed losses in the resonant cavity only at one vibra­
tion mode.
3. Placing the mirrors of Fabry-Perot resonators
employed in conventional helium-neon lasers farther
apart, so as to ensure greater separation of the fre­
quencies.
These three methods do give the desired result,
but at the expense of other performance characteris­
tics of the laser (its output power is reduced or fre­
quency stability lowered).
A new method which was suggested recently allo­
wed the laser radiation to be concentrated at one fre­
quency, without making the system disadvantageous in
the above-mentioned respects.
This was attained by incorporating a phase modu­
lator in the Fabry-Perot cavity of a conventional
He-Ne laser.
If the modulator operates at the frequency equal
to the difference in the frequencies of neighbouring
peaks of the resonant cavity oscillations, say of 100
MHz, then the distribution of the amplitudes and
phases in the total emission becomes similar to that
it would be in the side bands of a frequency-modula­
ted signal. All the radiation energy of the laser is
distributed in the side bands, substantially at two
frequencies.
Modulation is effected by means of a crystal on
which a high-frequency voltage is impressed. The
crystal is placed between the laser tube and one of
the mirrors, i.e. inside the resonant cavity. The ele­
ctric field induced in the crystal is oriented parallel
102
 Internal phase External pi>hasb
modulateor
modulator
id u la to r /
M irror
IB Laser
tube ■11111.
Spectrum of frequ­ „Super-intensive "
ency - modulated radiation a t one
laser radiation frequency
Phase shift inq
device

High -frequency
oscilla to r
Fig. 45. Basic diagram illustrating the method of concentrat­
ing gas laser radiation at one frequency

to the direction of polarisation of the laser radiation.

On account of variation of the voltage impressed on
the crystal, the length of the optical path in the re­
sonant cavity also varies. This phenomenon resemb­
les the effect observed when one of the mirrors in the
resonant cavity is vibrating. The frequency of such
vibration corresponds to that of a high-frequency
oscillator. The ultimate result is phase modula­
tion.
Another method consists in passing the frequency-
modulated laser radiation through a second phase
modulator which is phase-shifted by 180° in relation
to the first modulator and has the same modulation
factor as the first modulator. With this method mono­
chromatic “super-intensive” emission can be produ­
ced at one frequency. This emission is noted for the
absence of many kinds of noises present in the emis­
sion of a conventional laser.
The principal diagram of operation of a single­
frequency laser is shown in Fig. 45.
103
 Good spectral characteristics of the above-conside­
red laser system in which both of the last-mentioned
methods are employed make it fit for use in commu­
nication equipment as a carrier frequency oscillator
and as a local oscillator in optical receivers and ra­
dars.
LIQUID LASERS
Soon after the creation of lasers in which solid and
gaseous substances were used as the active media,
it was established that generation could be obtai­
ned in certain liquids as well.
We know that the main advantage of solid mate­
rials as active media is a high concentration of active
particles per unit volume. This makes possible the
obtaining of high radiation powers. The dimensions
of solid active elements, however, are limited by
technological factors: thus, it is difficult to ensure
high optical homogeneity of the crystal or glass and
high-quality finishing of the rod end faces. When
heated, the active solid material is liable to des­
truction.
Gas lasers are capable of ensuring a high average
radiation energy and a small divergence of the beam.
But since the density of the active medium in gas
lasers is not high insofar as they operate at a very
low pressure, attempts at raising their radiative ener­
gy lead to a considerable increase of the dimensions
of the gas laser. Most powerful gas lasers are up to
10 m in length and 1-2 dm in diameter.
Liquid lasers combine the advantages offered by
solid-state and gas lasers. Liquid active media are
capable of ensuring a high optical homogeneity in a
large volume together with a considerable concentra­
tion of active particles in it. The problem of cooling
becomes less complicated, since the required tempera-
104
ture can be maintained with the help of an external
heat exchanger.
First liquid lasers employed solutions of organic
complex compounds (europium chelates). These li­
quids, however, have an excessively high light-ab­
sorption coefficient.
Present-day liquid lasers employ inorganic liquids
and organic dyes as the active media. As the inorga­
nic liquid use is made of phosphorus oxychloride or
selenium oxychloride with the addition of tin tetra­
chloride or other metal halides. The activator is a
few per cent solution of neodymium oxide Nd20 3.
Such a laser resembles a glass laser. But in a liquid
laser the active medium line width is substantially
narrower (of the order of 1 A) due to the higher homo­
geneity of the active medium.
Structurally the active element of a liquid laser is
a liquid-filled cylindrical cuvette made from high-
quality glass or fused silica. The excitation is by
optical pumping.
A rather promising method is the use of solutions
of organic dyes. Its main advantage is the possibility
of generation at any frequencies in the visible and
near infra-red regions of the spectrum and of smooth
frequency retuning.
The optical pumping source can be a conventio­
nal flash tube. A ruby laser or a neodymium glass
laser can also be used for optical pumping. In this
case an organic dye laser functions as a frequency chan­
ger. The resonant cavity, besides the cuvette with
an organic dye, also accommodates an interferometer-
selector for narrowing the emission spectrum and
frequency retuning.
In many cases the laser-excitation efficiency rea­
ches 50 per cent. Among organic dyes generating at
visible-spectrum frequencies pyronine, rhodamines,
105
trypaflavine are the most effective. Conventionally
employed solvents are alcohol, glycerol, sulphuric
acid, water.
Thanks to the high gain factors these organic dyes
are suitable for creating wide-band quantum ampli­
fiers of light.

SEMICONDUCTOR LASERS
In crystal, liquid and gas lasers stimulated emission is
excited by means of light or a gas discharge. In se­
miconductor lasers active media are semiconductor
materials, and excitation is effected directly by elec­
tric current. Semiconductor lasers have a high effi­
ciency which in the existing models reaches 60 to
70 per cent. It is believed that even a 100 per cent
efficiency is attainable with semiconductor lasers.
However, these are not the only features which make
semiconductor lasers worthy of attention. Semicon­
ductor lasers allow easy variation of their radiation
frequency with the help of a magnetic field and at
the same time are capable of ensuring a high sta­
bility of the output frequency, which is characteris­
tic only of gas lasers. Modulation in semiconductor
lasers is most simple to effect—by using exciting
current.
There can be no doubt that these remarkable pro­
perties of semiconductor lasers will guarantee them
wide application. It is true that in their monochro­
maticity, coherence and beam divergence characteris­
tics semiconductor lasers cannot compete with gas
and crystal lasers, being rather inferior to them.
The output power of semiconductor lasers is not high
either. In these lasers the linewidth-to-wavelength
ratio is approximately 1 : 105, whereas in gas lasers
this figure is 1 : 1010 and even 1 : 1013. But one
106
should bear in mind that the semiconductor laser is
the youngest in the family.
The appearance of semiconductor lasers has exten­
ded the range of materials which can be used in light
generating systems, offered new possibilities for pro­
ducing an active medium.
How does a semiconductor laser operate? In what
way is a non-equilibrium energy state required for the
amplification and generation of light established in
such a laser?
Unlike individual atoms, semiconductors do not
have separate energy levels. Semiconductors display
groups of energy levels, so-called bands, which are
arranged in a continuous succession (Fig. 46). The
upper group of levels is termed a conduction band
or an empty band, the lower group is called a valence
or filled band, and the separation between these two
bands is called the bandgap (or forbidden region).
If an electron occupying one of the energy levels of
the valence band is imparted an additional energy,
it will pass to a higher energy level in the conduction
band. This will result in the appearance of a positive
V ////////A Empty band
' / / / / / / / / / / {conduction band)

Bandgap

F illed band
(valence band)

Fig. 46. Energy bands in a semiconductor

charge carrier in the valence band, this being the

vacancy the electron left behind it, which is called
a hole, and in the appearance of a negative charge
carrier in the conduction band, this being the elect-
107
ron. With the return of the electron to the valence
band, which can occur as a result of spontaneous or
induced transition, a reverse process takes place,
namely, a recombination of the electron-hole pair,
accompanied by the emission of energy in the form
of a quantum of light radiation.
In a pure (so-called intrinsic) semiconductor the
number of free electrons and holes is the same, being
dependent only on the temperature: the higher the
temperature, the greater the number of current car­
riers. However, the concentration of such current car­
riers in an intrinsic semiconductor is relatively small.
Non-equilibrium conditions are absent, since the num­
ber of particles in the upper energy level cannot be
greater than the number of particles in the lower
energy level. Therefore non-equilibrium conditions
are created by using special methods.
The concentration of current carriers in an intrin­
sic semiconductor can be increased by doping it with
special impurities that have an electron or hole con­
ductivity. These impurities introduced into different
parts of a semiconductor form conductivity regions
of two types, one of which is called an electron con­
ductivity region (rc-region) and the other a hole con­
ductivity region (p-region). Such a semiconductor is
called extrinsic. By applying an electric field to an
extrinsic semiconductor, it is possible to make the
electrons and holes in it move towards each other.
In a small part of the extrinsic semiconductor crys­
tal, which corresponds to the transition from the
rc-region to the p-region (called a p-n transition or
junction), the concentration of electricity carriers be­
comes very high, non-equilibrium conditions are crea­
ted, holes and electrons undergo recombinations with
the emission of quanta of electromagnetic energy
(Fig. 47).
108
c u rre n t f lo w s th ro u g h th e p -n J u n c tio n , e le c tro n s and h o le s u n d e rg o r e c o m b in a tio n , r a d ia tio n
ta k e s p la c e a t h ig h c u rr e n t v a lu e s
 f< ZT\ Upper electrode

Side
su rfa c e

Lower electrode Front surface

Fig. 48. Design of a semiconductor laser em itting element

In the first models of the semiconductor laser the

active medium was a single crystal of gallium arse­
nide GaAs cut into a platelet having a thickness of
only 0.5 mm. (Fig. 48). This platelet is not homoge­
neous: it consists of two parts exhibiting an electron
conductivity and a hole conductivity respectively.
The thickness of the p-n junction layer is as small
as some thousandths of a centimetre, but it is in this
layer that the emission is stimulated. Electric cur­
rent is applied to the crystal platelet through a strip
electrode fixed to its upper surface.
With the current supplied from a suitable source,
the stimulated emission is propagated in the plane
of the p-n junction. Photons emitted at the moment
of recombination of an electron with a hole will sti­
mulate recombination of other carriers of electric
charges. The result will be stimulated emission of
radiation. The frequency of this radiation is deter­
mined by the width of the bandgap. If the two oppo­
site faces of the crystal, lying perpendicular to the
boundary of the p-n junction are made strictly paral­
lel, ground and polished to a high precision, the crys-
110
Fig. 49. Spectral characteristics of semiconductor laser radia­
tion
l — w ith lo w c u rre n t d e n s ity ; 2— w ith h ig h c u rre n t d e n s ity

tal will be a resonator which at a sufficient current

density will be capable of generation.
The first models of gallium arsenide lasers genera­
ted in a pulse mode only at current densities of the
order of 8000 A/cm2 and low temperatures correspon­
ding to that of liquid nitrogen. The duration of a
pulse was from 5 to 20 ps. Usually, however, in semi­
conductor lasers the threshold current density ranges
from 700 to 20 000 A/cm2 and is determined by the
pulse duration and semiconductor temperature.
When exciting currents are small, only a small
part of carriers undergo recombination, and the ra­
diation process is spontaneous. The laser radiation
is therefore random, incoherent and broad-band, with
a low intensity (Fig. 49). With an increase in the cur­
rent density the emission becomes more and more
coherent, the spectral linewidth sharply decreases,
the radiation intensity markedly increases, and the
emergent beam narrows.
ill
 The first gallium arsenide semiconductor laser ge­
nerated at 8400 A, its linewidth being several angs­
troms and beam divergence in the plane of the p-n
junction, 4°.
One of the first lasers employing gallium arsenide
doped with zinc and tellurium and working pulsed
at room temperature gave radiation with a power of
several tens of watts. When cooled with liquid neon
(27 °K), the laser operated CW, its output power be­
ing up to 3.1 W and efficiency, 50 per cent.
By now, besides gallium arsenide lasers, several
lasers using other semiconductor crystals have been
developed. Such are a semiconductor laser with gal­
lium arsenide-phosphide (GaAs-P) as the active me­
dium, having the radiation wavelength of 0.65 to
0.85 p and working pulsed at the temperature of
liquid oxygen; an indium phosphide (InP) laser with
the radiation wavelength of 0.91 p, working pulsed
at 90°K and CW at 20°K; an indium arsenide (InAs)
laser with the wavelength of 3.1 p, working pulsed
at 77 °K and CW at 40 °K.
There are many other semiconductors which may
be used as active media for obtaining coherent radia­
tion. It is possible to create lasers on the basis of
mixed semiconductor crystals, which would ensure
generation at all wavelengths from the red, visible
region of the spectrum to 5-10 p.
In the last few years, besides the method of direct
electric excitation, termed injection, other methods
of obtaining inverted population have also come
into use. Thus if a semiconductor is subjected to
bombardment with a bunch of electrons possessing
a sufficient energy (of the order of 20 keV and higher),
such as is formed in electron-beam devices, coherent
radiation can also be generated.
Electrons, possessing a large amount of kinetic
112
 energy, penetrate into the semiconductor and in the
path of their travel ionise its atoms. The electrons
which have formed as a result of this ionisation, when
colliding with the atoms of the semiconductor crystal
lattice, excite other electrons and bring them from
the valence band to the conduction band. Electron
bombardment causes avalanche ionisations in the se­
miconductor. Each ionisation act is accompanied by
the appearance of a pair of carriers—an electron and
a hole. Each exciting electron of the bunch creates
up to several tens of thousands of electron-hole pairs
in the semiconductor. Giving off the excess energy
to the crystal lattice, the charge carriers accumulate
in energy levels near the edges of the valence and
conduction bands. From these states the electrons
and holes can recombine with the emission of light
quanta. Induced emission emerges from the semicon­
ductor through its reflecting side surfaces in a direc­
tion perpendicular to the incidence of the electron
beam (Fig. 50).
This excitation method is advantageous in that a
considerable depth of penetration of exciting electrons
allows the obtaining of inverted population in grea­
ter volumes of the active medium and, hence, makes
possible the creation of more powerful semiconductor
lasers. A disadvantage of this method resides in that
with electron-beam pumping radiation can be obtai­
ned only at low temperatures. The efficiency of such
lasers does not exceed 12 per cent.
Recent laboratory investigations have shown that
semiconductor optical generators can be pumped in
the same manner as solid-state ones, i.e. by using
light. Photons possessing an energy greater than the
width of the bandgap, on being absorbed in the semi­
conductor, are capable of transferring electrons from
the valence band to the conduction band, thus ensu-
8 — 471 113
 Fig. 50. Design of a semicon*
ductor laser with electron-beam
pumping
J — d e w a r; 2— liq u id n itro g e n o r h e ­
liu m ; 3— e x it w in d o w ; 4— s e m ic o n ­
d u c to r c ry s ta l; 5— e le c tro n beam

ring inverted population

and, consequently, condi­
tions required for the ge­
neration. Optical pumping
can be performed by me­
ans of an injection laser or
a ruby laser. However,
the efficiency of optically
pumped semiconductor la­
sers so far remains insig­
nificant (not over 1 per
cent).
Finally, generation of
charge carriers and inverted
population in semiconduc­
tors can also be achieved
with the aid of a strong electric field. Moving in an
accelerating electric field, free carriers acquire con­
siderable energy and, colliding with the semicon­
ductor atoms, can ionise them. This results in a hig­
her concentration of electrons in the conduction band
and holes in the valence band, so that an inverted
population state can be set up. Direct electric exci­
tation was attained only in one material—gallium
arsenide (GaAs). Recombination in the semiconductor
114
 Table 4

W a v e le n g t h , M e th o d of e x c ita ­
Semiconductor material n t io n

Gallium arsenide, GaAs 0.85 Injection

Indium phosphide, InP 0.9 Same
Gallium anlimonide, GaSb 1.6 Same
Indium arsenide, InAs 3.2 Same
Lead sulphide, PbS 4.3 Same
Indium antimonide, InSb 5.3 Same
Lead telluride,PbTe 6.5 Same
Lead selenide, PbSe 8.5 Same
Zinc sulphide, ZnS 0.33 Electron-beam
Cadmium sulphide, CdS 0.5 Same
Cadmium selenide, CdSe 0.69 Same
Cadmium telluride, CdTe 0.8 Same
Gallium arsenide, GaAs 0.85 Same
Gallium antimonide, GaSb 1.6 Same
Cadmium sulphide, CdS 0.5 Optical
Gallium arsenide, GaAs 0.85 Same
Indium arsenide, InAs 3.2 Same
Lead telluride, PbTe 6.5 Same
Gallium arsenide, GaAs 0.85 Ionisation

takes place only after the removal of the external

electric field. Therefore such a laser is capable of
pulsed working only.
Semiconductor lasers are finding an ever increasing
application in laboratory research, in communica­
tion, in high-speed computers, in laser ranging, in
medicine, and in biology, since these devices feature
wide frequency spectrum, are compact, capable of
inertialess operation and can be excited by various
methods.
8* 15
Fig. 51. Semiconductor optical quantum generator “Mayak”

Shown in Fig. 51 is a semiconductor optical quantum

generator “Mayak” which gives coherent infra-red
radiation at the wavelength of 0.9 p. It can be emplo­
yed for investigating emission under various atmos­
pheric conditions, for information transmission, for
measuring distances, for remote control of mecha­
nisms, for scientific research in biology and other
branches of science and engineering. The output
power per pulse is 6 to 8 W, with the pulse duration
being 0.15 ps. The weight of the laser is 1.5 kg.
The main characteristics of semiconductor lasers
are given in Table 4.
 CHAPTER 4

Application
of Lasers

LASERS IN COMMUNICATIONS
The radio-frequency range has become so “crow­
ded” that scientists were to tackle the problem of
mastering a new range. But wavelengths of some de­
cimal fractions of a millimetre turned out to be the
limit attainable with conventional radioengineering
methods in the present state of technology.
The mastering of the optical range opens new pros­
pects for communications. The entire range used for
radio communications is known to occupy the fre­
quency band of approximately from 104 to 3-1011 Hz,
while the optical range extends from 3-1012 to 15 -1015
Hz. Simple calculations show that the optical range
is approximately 50 000 times wider than the radio
range. Using a laser beam as a communication link,
it would be possible to transmit hundreds of thou­
sands of television programmes or ensure simultaneo­
us telephone conversations for the entire population
of our planet. Calculations show that with relatively
small powers it is feasible to communicate in the
outer space over such distances which only yesterday
seemed fantastic. But communications with the help
of lasers can not only broaden the potentials of ra-
117
dioengineering means. Such techniques can aid and,
where necessary, replace conventional telephone com­
munications. Successful experiments in this direction
indicate that practical implementation of lasers in
telephone communications is well in sight.
For the development of real laser communication
systems under the conditions of the terrestrial atmos­
phere, it is necessary to take into account the charac­
teristic properties of the propagation of the electro­
magnetic oscillations of the visible and infra-red
regions in it.
Gases, minutest solid and liquid particles suspen­
ded in the atmosphere can substantially affect the
propagation of light. The optical properties of the
atmosphere are influenced mainly by carbon dioxide
gas, ozone and aerosols (dust, smoke, droplets of
water, small crystals of ice, etc.). The layers in the
atmosphere are constantly intermixing. In the lower
layers of the atmosphere the main quantity of water
is concentrated, coming to 4 per cent of the atmos­
phere volume, in the form of minutest drops, mist,
and vapours. The propagation of light is influenced
by atmospheric precipitations. Rain and snow stron­
gly affect the transparency of the atmosphere.
Fog is very hazardous for reliable optical communi­
cations. The period of heavy fogs, rains and snow­
falls during a year depends on the geographical
region, season and time of day. In Moscow, for
example, heavy fogs average 70 to 80 hours a
year.
All these factors impose specific requirements on
the organisation of communication links using la­
ser systems. It is obvious that for the communicati­
ons to be stable and high-quality under any meteoro­
logical conditions, the influence of these adverse
factors must be minimised.
118
 Retransla tor

RetransLator

Fig. 52. Scheme of effecting simultaneous transmission in

several directions

For raising the reliability of the communication

system it is necessary to properly select its operation
frequencies since the passage of light vibrations ha­
ving different frequencies through rain, fog or snow
regions is not the same.
Another way of overcoming these difficulties and
increasing the reliability of communication can be
the development of a system with the transmission
doubled simultaneously in several directions (Fig. 52).
Atmospheric absorption imposes a limitation on
the use of lasers for terrestrial communications.
Nevertheless, even now with the help of gas lasers
information can be transmitted over distances of
dozens of kilometres in fine weather at night and of
about some ten kilometres in case of thin fog and
rain. If the emitters and receivers are placed at an
altitude of 60 to 100 m, the adverse influence of the
fog will be drastically diminished and the communi­
cation coverage can be extended.
119
 A further increase in the power of the laser and
sensitivity of the receiver will allow an extention
of the transmission coverage under any meteorologi­
cal conditions.

LIGHT BEAM MODULATION METHODS

The most important engineering problem in the
creation of laser communication lines and in the trans­
mission of signals over such lines is the modulation
of the light beam. There are many physical phenome­
na on which different methods of modulation are
based.
The choice of the light beam modulation method
is dictated by the requirements to the intensity of
the luminous flux, maximum modulation factor and
work of the laser (whether it operates by emitting
individual pulses or trains of pulses).
None of the existing modulation methods can be
considered universal: in each particular case its choi­
ce lies with specific requirements to be met.
The simplest modulator can be a rotary disk with
radial slots. Such a disk arranged in the path of a
laser beam will periodically interrupt the luminous
flux. An advantage of such a modulator is that the
laser radiation frequency has no influence on the
modulator characteristics, so that it can ensure a
100 per cent modulation. The modulation frequency
is determined by the number of slots in the disk,
by the speed with which it rotates, and reaches se­
veral megahertz.
This method of modulation cannot be employed
for transmitting information, but if the slots in the
disk are of different transparency and calibrated to
a high degree of precision, then such a rotary disk
can function as an optical attenuator.
120
 Modulation can also be effected by means of a ro­
tary mirror. In this case use is made of an octahedral
mirror and the so-called image dissection method is
employed. Two gratings are employed for the pur­
pose. The image of one grating is superimposed on
the image of the second grating. The speed with
which the image of one grating shifts in relation to
the surface of the second grating is determined by
the rotation speed of the mirror, the distance between
the gratings and the distance by which these gratings
are spaced from the mirror. With this method
the modulation frequency is of the order of 100 MHz
(Fig. 53).
Another method of modulation is based on varying
the transparency of a prism by bringing another au­
xiliary prism close to the reflecting surface of the
first prism (Fig. 54). Piezoelectric and magnetostric-
tive crystals are employed as an auxiliary prism.
Modulation can also be performed by varying the
quality factor of the laser cavity. In this case the
modulating element is arranged between the end face
of the ruby rod and the surface of the reflector, the
active zone thus being as if increased. Such modula­
ting element is a crystal with electrooptic properties.
By applying a certain voltage to it and varying this
voltage, it is possible to vary the optical path length
of the resonant cavity, its quality factor and the in­
tensity of the laser output signal, i.e. to effect its
modulation.
But most effective and, probably, most promising
are polarisation methods of modulation.
As is known, a light beam can be polarised, that is,
there can be obtained a light wave with a definite
orientation of its electric and magnetic vectors. Or­
dinary light consists of light waves whose oscilla­
tions may occur in any direction whatsoever. Polari-
121
Fig. 53. Scheme of an image dissector w im a rotating mirror
1— l i g h t s o u r c e ; ~ ,4 — le n s ; 3 ,5 — g r a t i n g ; 6 — d e te c t o r ; 7 — o c ta g o n a l m ir­
ro r

R esonant c a v i t y

E xit

Fg. 54. Scheme of modulation based on varying the transpa­

rency of a prism. Radiation intensity is varied by varying
gap “a ”
sed light consists of light waves whose oscillations
occur only in one quite definite direction.
Light can be partially polarised as well. Such
light can be regarded as a mixture of ordinary and
polarised light.
Polarisation phenomenon is observed, for example,
when light passes through a tourmaline plate. The
ray of light which emerges from such a plate is plane
polarised. Now, if a second tourmaline plate is inter­
posed in the path of the ray emerging from the first
tourmaline plate, then, depending on the orientation
of the second plate in relation to the first one, the
intensity of the light ray can be modified till its
complete extinction. The polarisation phenomenon is
also observed in case of reflection or refraction of
light at the boundary between two isotropic dielect­
rics.
Double refraction is displayed by some crystals,
for instance by Iceland spar which is a variety of
calcium carbonate CaC03. If one takes a crystal of
Iceland spar and looks at a printed page through it,
all the letters will be doubled. This phenomenon is
caused by two mutually perpendicular rays emerging
from the Iceland spar crystal, one of these being
called the ordinary ray and the other, the extraordi­
nary ray.
The most commonly used polariser is a Nicol prism,
often referred to simply as a nicol. The Nicol prism
is a crystal of Iceland spar sliced from the one blunt
corner to the other in a plane parallel to the long dia­
gonal of the end faces; the cut faces are re-united with
a film of Canada balsam. One of the rays originating
in the Nicol prism as a result of double refraction is
eliminated in a rather ingenious manner. Since the
ordinary ray suffers a stronger refraction, it falls
on the boundary with Canada balsam at an angle
123
greater than the angle of incidence of the extraordi­
nary ray. The refractive index of Canada balsam being
lower than that of Iceland spar, a total internal re­
flection takes place, and the ray falls on the side face
which is painted black and therefore completely ab­
sorbs the incident ray. As a result, only one plane-
polarised (extraordinary) ray emerges from the prism.
The plane of polarisation of this ray is called the
principal plane of the nicol. Two nicols arranged so
that their principal planes are at right angles to each
other do not transmit light. In case their principal
planes are parallel, light will pass through freely.
With any other mutual arrangement of the principal
planes, light will pass through the nicols only partial­
ly. With the principal planes arranged parallel, ma­
ximum amount of light will be transmitted through
them.
The above-considered effect, as well as the well-
known Kerr, Pockels and Faraday effects, are emplo­
yed for the modulation of the outgoing laser beam.
Let us now briefly discuss how amplitude modula­
tion of light is performed on the basis of these effects.
The Kerr effect consists in that certain transparent
liquids, when subjected to the action of an electric
field which creates a structure similar to crystalline,
as a result of a definite orientation of their molecu­
les, become doubly refracting.
If we take a vessel with transparent plane-parallel
walls, fill it with nitrobenzene (which is an electri­
cally non-conducting liquid), immerse two plate­
shaped electrodes into it, apply a high voltage across
the electrodes, and then pass polarised light between
them, the result will be the Kerr effect. The arrange­
ment by means of which it is produced is a Kerr cell.
The phenomenon observed at the cell output will be
double refraction.
124
 Fig. 55. Scheme of modulator with a Kerr cell
/ - lig h t so u rc e ; 2— o b je c tiv e ; 3— p o la ris e r; 4— K e r r c e ll; 5— a n a ly s e r;
6— le n s

The shift between the ordinary and extraordinary

rays passing through the liquid is proportional to
the distance travelled by the light in this liquid, to
the square of the electric field strength and to a cer­
tain constant characteristic for a given medium. The
Kerr effect is displayed by many liquids, but it is
most pronounced in nitrobenzene, for which reason
in modulators preference is now given to this com­
pound. Figure 55 is a schematic diagram of a modu­
lator with a Kerr cell.
The beam from a light source located at point
/ passes through condensor 2 and further through
polariser 3 which is a Nicol prism. Here the laser
beam becomes linearly polarised. Then the light beam
focused in the interelectrode space passes through
Kerr cell 4 to the electrodes of which a voltage is
applied, and becomes elliptically polarised. If the
applied voltage is variable, the direction of the beam
polarisation will also vary in accordance with the
value of the voltage applied. With no voltage across
the plates of the Kerr cell the system will be non­
transparent.
Then the beam is directed to a second polariser 5
which is referred to as an analyser, the optic axis of
this second polariser being at right angles to that of
the first polariser.
125
 Fig. 56. Scheme of modulator w ith a Pockels-effect cell
l — lig h t s o u rc e ; 2— o b je c tiv e ; 3 — p o la r is e r ; 4— c r y s ta l o f a c tiv e m a te r ia l;
5— e le c tro d e s ; 6— a n a ly s e r

The advantage of this method consists in that it

is practically inertialess. The Kerr effect has rather
long been known to be used in engineering. For instance,
one of sound recording systems employed in cinema­
tography is based on it.
This is the least complicated and so far preferred
method of modulation. It can be practised for modu­
lating beams in the visible and near infra-red regions
of the spectrum.
Another kind of a modulator employs the Pockels
effect. The Pockels effect is displayed only by pie­
zoelectric crystals. These crystals do not split a
light beam into the ordinary and extraordinary rays
along one of the axes (Z-axis), but they do along the
others. But if an electric field is applied to the crys­
tal along its Z-axis, then the optic axis will be split
into two and the crystal will become biaxial. A light
beam will be split into the ordinary and extraordi­
nary rays. This phenomenon is called the Pockels
effect. At present crystals of ammonium dihydrophos­
phate and potassium dihydrophosphate are widely
used for obtaining this effect.
A schematic diagram of a modulator operating on
the Pockels effect principle is shown in Fig. 56.
Light from source 1 is passed through objective
126
2 and, after having traversed polariser 3 falls as a
parallel beam upon crystal 4 parallel to its Z-axis.
Modulating voltage is applied to the crystal by means
of grid electrodes 5. When analyser 6 and polariser
3 are crossed and the system is de-energized, it does
not transmit the light. With voltage fed to electrodes
5, the crystal becomes doubly refracting in the direc­
tion of Z-axis. The plane of polarisation is rotated
and the system transmits light in accordance with
the voltage impressed. Modulation is thus effected.
Unlike the case of the Kerr cell, the light beam here
must be parallel to the Z-axis. The modulator can
operate within the entire visible range and in the
near infra-red region of the spectrum.
There is still another kind of modulator, whose
operation is based on the Faraday effect. The Faraday
effect consists in that in some optically active media
the plane of polarised light is rotated under the action
of a magnetic field. In this case the direction of light
must coincide with the direction of magnetic lines
of force. The rotation of the plane of polarisation
depends on the optical path length in the active me­
dium, on the magnetic field strength and on a certain
constant for a given medium. The Faraday effect is
displayed by some solids (quartz, glass) and liquids
(carbon disulphide, petrol, water).
A schematic diagram of a modulator in which the
Faraday effect is employed is shown in Fig. 57. Light
from source 1 through objective 2 and polariser 3
passes as a parallel beam through active material 4
in the magnetic field of solenoid 5. Analyser 6 is
arranged in such a manner that its plane of polarisa­
tion should make an angle of 45° with the plane of
polariser 3. In case the voltage applied to the sole­
noid is zero, the transmission coefficient of the mo­
dulator is 0.5. With the applied voltage varying
127
 5
0

Fig. 57. Scheme of modulator based on Faraday effect

1— l ig h t s o u rc e ; 2 — o b je c tiv e ; 3—p o la ris e r; 4— a c tiv e m a te ria l; 5— so ­
le n o id ; 6— a n a ly s e r

from positive to negative, the direction of the magne­

tic field of the solenoid will also vary, which, in turn,
will determine the rotation of the light beam polari­
sation plane. The luminous flux at the output of the
system will be changed.
The polarisation method of light modulation can
be realised resorting to the Pockels effect. While
with amplitude modulation the result was a modu­
lated light signal whose amplitude (i.e. the magni­
tude of the luminous flux) changed in accordance
with the modulating signal, with the polarisation
method only the polarisation plane will change in
accordance with the modulating signal, the luminous
flux remaining the same. This change of the polari­
sation plane will be detected at the receiving end by
a demodulator made as an analyser. A modulated
signal will be obtained at the output.
This method is most promising for terrestrial com­
munication lines, i.e. under atmospheric conditions.
One of its disadvantages lies with polarisation dis­
tortion because of atmospheric turbulence.
Besides the amplitude modulation of light, frequ­
ency and phase modulations of light can be perfor­
med as well. In other words, it is possible to effect
any type of modulation, which is based on varying
one of the characteristics of the light wave (or seve­
ral such characteristics simultaneously).
128
 Frequency modulation of light is based on the
Zeeman effect. When the active material of a laser
is subjected to the action of a magnetic field, one
of the spectral lines of the laser radiation may be
split into two. This brings about the origination of
the so-called super-fine structure of the spectral
lines, which is caused by a change in the projection
of the electron orbital moment onto the vector of the
external magnetic field. In other words, new levels
appear in the energy spectrum of the atoms. With
a variation of the external magnetic field, the fre­
quency of radiation which takes place as a result
of transitions from these new levels also varies in
accordance with their energy.
Frequency modulation of light can be effected by
using a tunable Fabry-Perot interferometer. As is
known, the interferometer transparency changes for
each wavelength as light passes from one reflecting
surface to the other, this transparency depending on
the distance between the reflecting surfaces. There­
fore, if the distance between the reflecting surfaces
is varied, the frequency of the laser operation will
vary accordingly. Hence, frequency modulation can
be achieved by fixing one of the mirrors on a piezoe­
lectric plate whose thickness can be varied depen­
ding on the voltage applied to it.
The same principle is employed for amplitude mo­
dulation, though frequency modulation should be
preferred as ensuring better signal-to-noise ratio un­
der otherwise equal conditions.
Since laser output beams are coherent, phase modu­
lation is not difficult to effect either. To do this,
the light beam must be passed through an electroop-
tical medium subjected to the action of a modula­
ting electric field. At the output of such a modula­
tor the light wave of the extraordinary ray will be
9 — 471 129
phase-modulated because the propagation velocity o
the extraordinary ray in the electrooptical mediuir
differs from the initial phase velocity of this ray.
To detect the phase-modulated oscillations, they must
be compared with a reference frequency signal. Foi
obtaining this signal, part of the output energy ol
the quantum generator can be directed past the modu­
lator and then mixed on a photodetector with the
light signal which has undergone phase modulation.
Experimental investigations of this method of mo­
dulation have shown it to be most promising. The
phase modulator is almost insensitive to internal
stresses and optical adjustment inaccuracies.
It should be pointed out that though not much
time has passed since quantum generators were crea­
ted, many other methods of modulation besides those
mentioned above, such as pulse, pulse-code, single­
sideband modulation methods, have been suggested
and realised.
In receiving communication systems with the use
of lasers electric photodetectors are employed. The
principle on which they operate is the conversion
of radiation energy into electric energy due to inter­
nal or external photoeffects. Photodetectors whose
operation is based on the external photoeffect are
photocathodes, photoelectron multipliers, and those
whose operation is based on the internal photoeffect
are photoresistors and photodiodes.
For optical communication systems with a wide­
band modulation preference is given to travelling-
wave tube photodetectors and photoparametric dio­
des. One of the possible particular designs of optical
telephone communication system is shown schemati­
cally in Fig. 58.
The sharing equipment of two central offices is
interconnected by optical range beam waveguides.
130
 sjnuBis auoLfdo'jd^ BuwBy.nO

1111 ♦ 1 1 1 1 1

Fig. 58. Version of a laser telephone communication system

syvu 6is ouoLjdayay Bmiuooui

<)*
 A subscriber’s call signal comes to a selector which
performs hunting and offers a free main. Then the
message signal passes through a number of high-fre­
quency modulators and a group signal is shaped.
Such group signal may contain the information per­
taining to hundreds and thousands of conversations
carried out simultaneously. The group signal further
comes to a next modulator where it modulates the
laser light beam arriving at the modulator along an
optical waveguide.
On leaving the modulator, the modulated light
beam enters an optical waveguide and is transmitted
along this waveguide to the second central office.
The process which takes place at the second central
office is opposite to that at the first central office,
and it results in restoring the initial speech signal
at the output of the sharing equipment, this restored
signal being then sent to the second subscriber.
The system just described is only one of the possible
versions of realising optical telephone communica­
tions with the use of lasers.

BEAM WAVEGUIDES
Limitations imposed on the applicability of laser
beams for communication purposes in the lower at­
mospheric layers call for the creation of some kind
of protected long-path media for the propagation of
light.
For instance, an ordinary tube or pipe can be used
for transmitting light through it, by making the
laser beam propagate along this pipe. Since the beam
divergence is small, the length of the pipe could be
5 km or so. But actually it is not at all easy to make
such a pipe straight, even if it is laid on the ground
or rests on special supports. The light beam will
132
 inevitably strike against the inner surface of the
pipe, which will bring about substantial transmis­
sion losses and considerable phase distortions.
It is possible to manufacture pipes (and attempts
have been made in this direction) with a very precise
boring and a mirror finish of the internal surface.
Light, while propagating along it, undergoes multiple
reflections.
Taking into account the possibility of creating op­
tical communication systems with a high degree of
sharing (millions of simultaneous telephone conver­
sations, thousands of television programs transmitted
via a single beam), attempts are made at developing
an effective method for transmitting the radiant
energy of a laser along a waveguide. In case of suc­
cess, any complexity of the design of such a wavegui­
de would very soon be justified.
At present three types of beam waveguides are
under consideration: diaphragmatic waveguides, wa­
veguides employing dielectric lenses, and wavegui­
des in which gas lenses are used.
A diaphragmatic waveguide is a tube with dia­
phragms mounted inside it on stable supports equally
spaced from one another (Fig. 59a). The light beam
diameter in such a waveguide is somewhat restricted
by the diaphragm aperture. The resulting distortions
are compensated for as the beam passes from one
diaphragm to another.
When the aperture is large as compared to the wa­
velength, the losses will be small. Thus, assuming
Ihe wavelength X to be 1 p, the space between the
diaphragms I) = 10 m, and the radius of the diaphragms
H = 1.7 cm, the losses will be 1 db/km only.
An important step in tuning the diaphragmatic
waveguide is the adjustment of its apertures. High
sensitivity of the diaphragmatic waveguide to the
133
adjustment of the apertures has been confirmed by
the experiments. The waveguide diameter must be
such that the light beam could negotiate the bends
unobstructed.
A waveguide with dielectric lenses (Fig. 596) has
lens-shaped phase correcting plates. Each subsequent
lens restores the phase distribution along the beam
cross section, which existed immediately after the
previous lens. Diffraction at the lens aperture exerts
but small influence on the passage of the beam,
though is a source of losses.
As in the case of a diaphragmatic waveguide, los­
ses may be very low, if the aperture is large as com­
pared to the wavelength. Thus, a lens waveguide ha­
ving the same distance between the lenses as that
between the diaphragms in a diaphragmatic wavegui­
de (D = 10 m), with the wavelength X = t p, can be
made with the aperture radius of only 3 mm. Since
such a size is very small, it is reasonable to set ano­
ther distance between the lenses. If this distance
D = 100 m, then the radius should be increased to
10 mm. In such a case the diffraction losses should
be of the order of 0.01 db/km.
The accuracy of the adjustment of the lenses here
may be not so high as with diaphragms. It should
be pointed out in this connection that small curva­
tures of the lenses or a variation in the distance bet­
ween them have little effect on the losses. Naturally,
sharp turns should be made with the help of prisms
or mirrors.
Such a lens waveguide will possibly be less expen­
sive to manufacture than a diaphragmated one and
work better.
A special mock-up was constructed with a view to
answering a number of problems associated with
practical realisation of a laser beam transmission
134
 Diaphragms

(a) Dielectric lenses

i) - ik T "7
lb)
Fig. 59. Waveguides

along a waveguide employing dielectric lenses. The

waveguide was an aluminium pipe having 102 mm in
diameter. To preclude temperature fluctuation and
turbulence effects in the path of the light beam,
this pipe was placed into another aluminium pipe
with a diameter of 152 mm. The external pipe was
mounted on conventional pole supports. The length
of all the pipe sections taken together was 970 m.
Lenses were spaced 97 m apart and their focal length
was about 48 m.
In this experiment the source of light waves for
the waveguide was first a mercury lamp, and then a
conventional tungsten incandescent lamp. No conti­
nuous-wave lasers existed at the time of this experi­
ment. A collimator lens with the focal length of 1 m
and an optical filter for passing only part of the spe­
ctrum was arranged in the path of the light. The
light source was modulated by a mechanical inter­
rupter with a frequency of 1000 Hz.
The results of the experiment showed the beam
passage to be considerably influenced by the air mo­
tion and thermal stratification in spite of the double
screening, and this presents difficulties in the adjust-
135
 ment of the lenses. The output signal was stable only
at night when temperature fluctuations were small.
The level of the signal at the line output proved to
be lower than expected.
The experiment is planned to be repeated with
greater attention being paid to the quality of the
lenses. In this new experiment it will be possible
to use a CW gas laser instead of an incoherent source.
With a CW gas laser measurements can be conducted
both in the optical and infra-red regions. A new me­
thod with the use of gas lenses, which appears to have
considerable promise, has been developed in the
USA. The operation principle of gas lenses is based
on temperature variation of the refractive index of
gas. In contradistinction to the above-considered me­
thods of transmitting the energy of a laser beam along
waveguides, gas lenses practically neither reflect nor
absorb transmitted light.
A narrow laser beam can be made to be directed
along the axis of the pipe in case a long gas lens or
a series of such lenses are employed. These lenses do
not possess any considerable power; they only compen­
sate for the natural divergence of the laser beam w it­
hin rectilinear sections of the pipe. Where the pipe
is bent, the light beam, getting into the area with
a lower refractive index, is deflected towards the area
with a higher refractive index. The sharper the bend,
the stronger the beam focusing should be. Thus a
pipe whose bends follow the variations of the Earth’s
surface can be used as a laser long-range communica­
tion line.
The principle of operation of gas lenses is based
on the well-known phenomenon consisting in that
light beams are refracted towards a medium having
a higher refractive index. On account of this property
the light beam can be focused axially along a region
136
 which has a higher refractive index than the surro­
unding medium.
One of the possible designs of a gas lens is shown
in Fig. 60a. Arranged along the axis of a gas-filled
pipe is a spiral through which electric current is
passed for heating the gas. In the direct vicinity of
the spiral turns the gas is heated to a greater extent
than inside the spiral. The refractive index of the
gas is proportional to its density. This allows the
focusing of the light beam.
A mock-up of a gas lens was constructed. The ex­
perimental gas lens was a small section of a pipe
with a spiral, 75 cm in length. The pipe was filled
with different gas-and-air mixtures. The possibility
of using carbon dioxide, freons and certain hydro­
carbons for this purpose was investigated. The gas
lens was adjusted by varying the temperature of the
spiral. No aberration was observed with the focal
length over 5 m.
Besides the lens of the type discussed, it is possible
to use counterflows of two gases which have different
optical densities and are admitted into a mixing
chamber (Fig. 60fc). The two gases entering the cham­
ber are mixed in it and then the mixture is withdrawn
from the chamber. The rate of flow of the gases and
the geometry of the mixing chamber are selected
such that a symmetrical boundary layer should be
formed in the region where the two gas flows meet.
A light beam is focused as it passes through such a
mixer.
The model of the lens just described was tested
with flows of argon and carbon dioxide having the
same temperature. As with thermal gas lenses, no
aberrations were observed for the same convergence
factors. All the above considered types of waveguides
offer an essentially new approach to the problem of
137
 Spiral Gas exit
Light beam
Light
beam
Focusing
area
Gas with Gas with
m 7 £ r ,“ " W refru n ,'
index
(a)
(b)
Fig. GO. Design of gas lenses
(a) c o n v e c t io n le n s ; ( b) m i x i n g le n s

transmitting light signals over large distances, though

further research is needed before they can be practi­
cally employed.
It is not improbable that soon we shall see beam
waveguides being laid instead of telephone communi­
cation cables and radio relay lines, which will serve
both local telephone exchange and long-range commu­
nication purposes, replace former small-capacity fa­
cilities and ensure the transmission of any kind and
amount of information between any localities on our
planet.

LASERS IN COMPUTERS
Improvements in modern electronic computers are
directed towards increasing their high speed and re­
liability. To this end, literally all the achievements
made in present-day physics are used: magnetic pro­
perties of films, parametric oscillations, tunnel ef­
fect, etc. Increase in the high speed of the computer
operation goes hand-in-hand with miniaturisation of
computer components. But the challenge faced here
was the mutual interference of conductors which
138
behave as radiating aerials and induce noises in the
near-by elements.
Therefore the appearance of lasers at once sugges­
ted the use of their principles in computer designs.
This idea, when realised, would solve two problems
simultaneously: increasing of the high speed and eli­
mination of mutual interferences.
Any modern computer consists essentially of logi­
cal circuits, a memory (storage) system, and means
for transmitting the information being processed.
It appears feasible to create electronic computers
built around lasers with a circuitry based on a radi­
cally new principle.
Quite a number of investigations have been con­
ducted in this direction, though it would be prema­
ture to draw any final conclusions. One thing is ob­
vious, however: with optical transmission lines the
wavelength of signals is many times less than the
dimensions of any circuit elements and therefore
mutual parasitic influences can be obviated.
The possibility of transmitting signals between in­
dividual components of the computer system without
recourse to any contacts opens new vast prospects
for the design of computer elements. The use of op­
tical signals offers an absolutely new approach to
the construction of information transmission cir­
cuits.
Optical computers on lasers will have very high
operational velocities, much superior to those of which
the now existing electronic devices are capable. The
information processing capacity of future systems
will be greatly increased.
For transmitting light pulses between the internal
cdements of an optical computer, materials can be
employed in which the propagation of light suffers
only a small attenuation. Glass fibres noted for
139
 very insignificant losses are of greatest interest as a
material for such conductors. By coating such optical
fibre with a thin layer of glass featuring a lower
refractive index than that of the fibre, it is possible
to eliminate completely the mutual interference bet­
ween two neighbouring transmission lines.
Optical fibres used as light guides can be very thin.
Thus a bunch that is 10 \i in cross section consists
of up to 100 light guides.
A computer on laser neuristors is planned to be
created in the United States. All signals, 'whether
information or control ones, will be optical. The main
elements of the computer will be made from glass
fibre with a definite concentration of active (radia­
ting) and passive (absorbing) ions. The computer
will be powered from a continuous light medium to
ensure constant pumping power for maintaining in­
verted population of the radiating ions.
The principal advantages of such a system will
be: no need for connecting wires to power individual
circuits of the computer, possibility of transmitting
signals without any auxiliary connectors, and great
high-speed potentialities.
Other suggestions have also been made for the
realisation of various optical computer designs. In
the creation of logical circuits or memory systems on
lasers use can be made of their optical interaction.
The light emitted by one semiconductor laser can be
extinguished by the coherent light of the other laser.
The same phenomenon is observed with neodymium
glass lasers. The essence of this phenomenon is as
follows.
Suppose we have a system of two lasers and the
directions in which the beams are formed in their
respective active media are mutually perpendicular.
The active material of each laser is square in section.
140
 If we pass coherent radiation of one of the lasers
through the preliminarily excited active medium of
the other laser, radiation will set up in the latter,
the direction of this radiation being the same as in
the first laser. The energy of the excited particles of
the second laser will be given away to the light beam
emitted by the first one. Naturally, the second laser
will then be unable to generate on its own. If the two
lasers are of the same power, the beam of the first
laser, when emitted, totally extinguishes the beam
of the second laser. A system of two lasers which mu­
tually extinguish each other and have extinction
coefficients somewhat greater than unity can be
shown to possess two stable working states 1 and 2,
i.e. to be a bistable system. The state when the laser
radiates will be referred to as state 1 , and the state
when it does not radiate, state 2.
The extinction coefficient should be understood as
the ratio of the power taken away from the laser being
extinguished to the power radiated by the extin­
guishing laser.
In the system shown in Fig. 61 two similar semicon­
ductor lasers A and B are employed, each being square
in cross section. One side of the square is an ideal
reflecting mirror, and the side opposite to it, a parti­
ally reflecting mirror. The two other sides of the
square are wholly transparent. Coherent light emer­
ging from laser A passes through laser B crossing the
non reflecting planes of the latter and therefore the
two lasers are not embraced by a feedback.
The simplest symmetrical arrangement of two las­
ers in which they can extinguish each other is
shown in Fig. 62. In this scheme absorbing sections
or focusing can be employed. But such a scheme is
disadvantageous in that the optical distance between
the elements cannot be smaller than the length of
141
 Extinguishing Extinguished
la s e r laser

Total
reflection

Fig. 61. Extinguishing of semiconductor lasers

M irror
Exit f o r state
2 # / ....................

'A
v//^
SU1
KAv^ f or
^ sta te 1
M irror

Fig. 62. Bistable two-laser system

Exit f o r sta te 1

Emm
Exit fo r J=
state Z r:
mmif^ =♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
I
: ~ £ x it for
i - state Z
W ////M
♦
♦
♦♦
♦
♦♦
♦
♦
Exit fo r state 1

Fig. 63. Bistable four-laser system

the laser side. Hence, for limiting the diffraction
divergence of the beam, the dimensions of the both
lasers must be minimised. This difficulty is over­
come in an arrangement using four appropriately
positioned lasers. The scheme of such an arrangement
is shown in Fig. 63. No additional mirrors are needed
in it.
Under extinction conditions, the power of the emer­
ging beam is approximately twice that of the induced
radiation of a single laser. Therefore, an apparatus
employing two lasers (Fig. 62) can switch over two
similar devices when it splits the beam; in other
words, the multiplication factor for these apparatus
is 2. In the arrangement shown in Fig. 63 four simi­
lar devices can be switched over.
Apparatus on lasers built in accordance with these
schemes may find application in logical and memory
systems. In such systems light pulses produced by
semiconductor lasers are the sole carriers of informa­
tion. The function of electric current here is confined
to the excitation of optical quantum generators.

APPLICATION OF LASERS IN METROLOGY

Optical quantum generators can be used in metro­
logy. The conventional techniques of measuring lengths
with an accuracy of fractions of a micron, based on
interference phenomena are extremely complicated and
not fit for measuring lengths exceeding one metre.
As is known, the standard of length adopted at
present is the wavelength of the orange line emitted
by the isotope of krypton with the mass 86. In one
metre this length is contained 1 650 763.73 times. By
using an interferometer with a krypton lamp, the
length of any specimen can be measured with a high
degree of precision. But if the specimen has a length
143
 Fig. 64. Measuring lengths by means of a laser
1,2— m ir r o r s o f a la s e r re s o n a to r; 3— g a s la s e r ; 4 — a d d itio n a l m ir r o r

over one metre, the process of measurement will be

rendered difficult on account of incoherence of the
krypton lamp radiation. These difficulties can be
easily overcome by using a gas laser as the radiation
source. Since complete coherence is ensured in this
case, lengths of hundreds of metres can be measured
with a high degree of precision.
The basic diagram of an arrangement for measu­
ring various lengths with the help of a gas laser is
shown in Fig. 64.
The laser is composed of mirrors 1 and 2 and a gas
discharge tube 3 between them. A light beam emer­
ging from mirror 2 falls on additional mirror 4, is
reflected from it and returns into the resonant cavity
of the laser. The phase of the reflected beam depends
on the distance the beam has traversed in the course
of its travel to the additional mirror and back.
With mirror 4 shifted, the phase and power of the
laser vary accordingly. The power variation can be
measured by photocell. The periodicity of the va­
riation of the phase and power of the generator de­
pends on the wavelength and equals X/2, For example,
if mirror 2 is shifted by the distance of 100 wave­
lengths, then the output power recorded by the measu­
ring instrument (counter) associated with the photo­
cell will change by 200 times. The number of the pe-
144
riods being known, it is easy to find the number of
the wavelengths by which mirror 2 was shifted. If
the shifting of the mirror was determined by the
length to be measured, then the actual measured
length will be known with an accuracy of fractions
of a micron from the product of the laser operation
wavelength and the number of the periods.
Thus, in the National Bureau of Standards (USA)
a one-metre long rod was measured by means of a
laser interferometer. The length of this one-metre
specimen within the measuring accuracy limits
(0.07 -10“6) was found to be 1.00000098 m. The result
obtained when the length of the same rod was mea­
sured by other methods proved to be 1.0000105 m.
There are grounds to expect that in due course the
working wavelength of the gas laser will be adopted
as the standard of length.

LASERS IN CHEMISTRY

Lasers may prove to be invaluable aids in chemis­

try. They make it possible to accelerate chemical
processes, cause them to proceed with a greater acti­
vity and in a definite required direction which here­
tofore seemed impracticable. Many specialists are of
opinion that the application of lasers in chemistry
will bring about radical changes similar to those
caused by the discovery of atomic energy.
What are the possible uses of lasers in chemistry?
Chemical compounds are known to consist of mo­
lecules and the latter, of atoms. Both molecules in
compounds and atoms in molecules are bound with one
another. The strength of such bondings depends on
bonding energy. Atoms in molecules perform vibra­
tions. They vibrate about certain points which cor-
10— 471 145
 respond to an average energy state of particles. If
such a molecule (or a group of molecules) is irradiated
with a powerful beam of ordinary light, the ampli­
tude of atomic vibrations in it will be increased in
relation to the average state. Since the energy spec­
trum of ordinary light corresponds to electromagnetic
oscillations of most diverse frequencies, the irradia­
tion will increase the amplitude of vibrations of
many atoms. In case the irradiation intensity is suf­
ficiently high, some bonds in the molecule may be
broken and the molecule will be destroyed. This,
however, will be of little benefit. It would be much
more interesting if one could succeed in breaking
only some definite bonds in the molecule. Then the
structure of molecules could be easily changed and
reconstructed as required. But how to do it? The om­
nipotent laser beam is the tool needed here.
If we irradiate a molecule of a chemical compound
with a powerful laser beam having one frequency,
this frequency will affect only a definite bond in the
molecule. The frequency of the laser radiation in this
case must correspond to the bonding energy of the
molecule. Provided that the radiation intensity is
sufficiently high, this particular bond will be broken,
while other bonds in the molecule will remain intact.
This specific procedure holds the greatest promise
for chemists. By using it, one can selectively break
chemical bonds and carry out chemical reactions in
a required direction. Obviously, to obtain the requi­
red reaction, one should be able to vary the laser
frequency. Instead of one variable-frequency laser a
set of lasers operating at different frequencies can be
employed. Probably, the irradiation of a chemical
compound should be performed with several laser
beams simultaneously, each having a definite fre­
quency.
146
 As with any new problem, this is certainly asso­
ciated with difficulties of its own. The frequency
required for destroying atomic bonds can be obtained
only by using a laser in which the active material
consists of the same kind of atoms as those whose
bonds are to be destroyed and this is not always
feasible. At the same time it is practically impossible
to obtain the same frequencies, if the active material
of a laser consists of other atoms or molecules: as a
rule, different atoms or molecules do not give the
same frequencies. Therefore, it is necessary to know
the way in which the required frequencies can be
obtained. Besides, the laser power should be suffi­
ciently high.
It is hoped, however, that in time these difficul­
ties will be surmounted and chemists will have a
powerful tool for creating new chemical compounds.

LASERS IN PHOTOGRAPHY
Photography was invented some hundred years ago
and since then no principal changes have taken place
in it, except for improvements in the methods of
processing and in the quality of photographic mate­
rials. Everyone knows how photographs are taken
and made. The image of an object of interest is fo­
cused on a light-sensitive surface by means of an
objective, i.e. by a system of lenses and, as a result,
a two-dimensional image of a three-dimensional ob­
ject is obtained.
Lasers open new, very interesting prospects for
photography and offer basically different photogra­
phic techniques.
A new method based on the wave front reconstru­
ction became possible due to the use of a coherent
light source.
10* 147
 The wave front reconstruction was discovered in
1947 by the British scientist Dennis Gabor. D. Ga­
bor systematically introduced improvements into his
method, trying to employ it in electron microscopy.
Yet, at that time when no required coherent radia­
tion sources were available, it was very difficult
to succeed in the effective utilisation of this method.
Emmet Laith and Juris Upaitnieks of the USA re­
vived the original method of D. Gabor. Conditions
for the successful realisation of this method were
created with the invention of the laser. By now a
high-quality three-dimensional (and this fact should
be particularly emphasized—three-dimensional!) ima­
ge of objects has already been obtained. Laith and
Upaitnieks in their experiments with a 5 W argon
laser were the first to obtain a three-dimensional
image of a 0.5 m-long toy locomotive.
The new photographic method requires neither
lenses nor objectives.
A laser beam (better a gas laser beam for ensuring
maximum monochromaticity) is directed onto an
optical system (Fig. 65) which shapes it and makes
it wider. The coherence of the beam is not disturbed.
A wide laser beam is needed here for covering a broad
area within which the object to be photographed is
found.
Then the laser beam is directed onto the object.
The part of the radiation falling on the object is cal­
led the object-bearing beam. The other part of the
radiation, having travelled past the object, falls on
a mirror. This part of the luminous flux is called
the reference beam. The beams reflected both from
the object being photographed and from the mirror
get onto a photographic plate.
After development such a photographic plate bears
an interference pattern. This is the so-called holo-
148
Fig. 65. Making photographs with the help of a laser and wave
front reconstruction technique. Reference beam is obtained by
means of a mirror

gram. The term “hologram” is derived from the

Greek word “holos” which means “whole”. The in­
terference pattern is the result of interaction of the
waves reflected from the object and those of the refe­
rence beam.
As is known, the waves of the reference beam have
the same amplitude and length, and are characteri­
sed by the same phase relationship. The waves of the
beams reflected from the object have different ampli­
tudes and their phases are random. The resulting se­
ries of spherical waves each of which originates in a
definite point of the surface of the reflecting object
are extremely complicated.
This complicated pattern must be recorded on the
photographic plate. The wave amplitude is recorded
as a darkened area on the light-sensitive layer of the
plate. The phase of the wave that has come to the
149
 Lens

Fig. 66. Reproduction of the image of an object photographed

photographic plate can be recorded by virtue of the

reference beam, whose waves, on being added with
those reflected from the object, give an interference
effect which shows up on the photographic plate as
interference bands. In a point where the waves of
the reflected and reference beams are in phase, the
waves are amplified; in some other point where these
waves are in antiphase, they become mutually can­
celled. In those points where the phase shift of the
waves differs from the two extreme cases, the inten­
sity will be intermediate.
The recording of such an interference pattern gives
a hologram. The density with which interference
bands are found in the hologram depends on the angle
between the direction of propagation of the waves
carrying information on the object and the direction
150
of propagation of the reference waves (angle a in
Fig. 65).
Thus the entire information which is carried by
the waves reflected from the object is recorded on the
photographic plate as an interference pattern. But
the resulting hologram bears absolutely no resemblance
to the object being photographed.
For obtaining an image of the object, the hologram
must be illuminated with a laser beam having the
same frequency as the reference beam. The scheme of
reproducing the image of an object being photograp­
hed is shown in Fig. 66. A reference laser beam, on
having passed through the hologram, will behave in
exactly the same manner as the object-bearing beam
did while being reflected from the object, with the
photographic plate placed in its path. The process
of reconstructing the image when the reference beam
passes through the hologram is reverse to that of for­
ming the interference pattern when obtaining the
hologram. The similarity of these two processes is
the principle on which the wave front reconstruction
is based. If we place a photographic plate in the
path of propagation of the beams in the plane of
image formation, the image of an object will be re­
produced on the plate with a very high accuracy.
The real image is formed by spherical waves trans­
formed during the reconstruction of divergent waves
into convergent ones; at the moment of obtaining the
hologram, these divergent waves corresponded to de­
finite points of the object surface. If we look at the
hologram from the side of the lens (as indicated by
the arrow in Fig. 66), we shall see the virtual image
of the object.
The hologram exhibits a number of interesting pro­
perties. For instance, it is not at all similar in appea­
rance to the object photographed, so that looking at
151
 a hologram you can never guess what image it carries.
An exact similarity of the reconstructed and the ori­
ginal waves which were incident on the hologram
while it was produced makes it possible to reproduce
a three-dimensional image of the object. If we look
at the hologram, illuminated by a laser beam, from
the side of the arrow in Fig. 66, we shall see a natural
three-dimensional picture. It is important to note
that this is achieved without recourse to stereophoto-
graphic techniques or any other additional devices.
The reconstructed image displays all the features
characteristic of three-dimensionality. By changing
his posture, an observer will be able to see such de­
tails of the object which were hidden before, say,
by some other object; turning his head, the observer
can look behind this particular object.
If a photographic plate bearing a hologram is
broken into pieces, each fragment is capable of rep­
roducing the entire image, though the smaller the
fragment, the poorer the image quality will be. This
phenomenon is accounted for by the fact that each
point of the hologram receives light from all the
points of the object being photographed and there­
fore contains, in an encoded form, the entire infor­
mation on the object.
One more interesting peculiarity of holograms con­
sists in that several images (up to 150) can be recorded
on one hologram, and these images do not absolutely
interfere with one another when reproduced.
Holograms with a great number of images are pro­
duced by two methods. With one method, objects
can be located in different places in front of the pho­
tographic plate and illuminated simultaneously with
one reference beam. This is a method of coherent su­
perposition, since the light scattered by two objects
is coherent and capable of interference.
152
 The other method envisages multiple exposure.
The objects of interest are exposed in succession,
and each time it is necessary either to change the
spatial attitude of the object, or the inclination of
the reference beam, or, else, to turn the hologram
plate. This method is called incoherent superposi­
tion.
Experiments showed the quality of the reproduced
images to be satisfactory in either of the cases. By
using a divergent light beam during the reproduction
(in the cases we have discussed the beam was paral­
lel), the image can be considerably enlarged without
recourse to lenses. By illuminating an object with
three different monochromatic sources corresponding
to three primary colours, a colour three-dimensional
image can be obtained.
But not only photography will benefit from the
method of producing three-dimensional images. It
will find use in high-resolution microscopy, in volu-
menometry employing stereoscopic and interferomet­
ric techniques, for the recording, storage, retrieval
and processing of information by optical methods, for
the creation of three-dimensional colour cinemato­
graphy and television.
No doubt that soon a large-auditorium 3-D projector
will be constructed on the basis of super-powerful
and high-stability lasers. Three-dimensional moving
pictures can be made by producing a sequence of
holograms on a cine film and then shining coherent
light through it and simultaneously brightening up
the screen.
The participants of the annual conference in elect­
ronics at Stanford University in August of 1965 were
the first to see such a performance. Pictures were
taken on a standard 35-mm film.
In future, it will evidently be possible to create
153
three-dimensional television, though this will require
a manifold increase in the resolution of the television
equipment and, hence, broadening of the television
channel frequency band by as much as dozens of ti­
mes. Laser will come to the aid again—with its help
light channels will be feasible having a frequency
band of a practically unlimited width.
On getting acquainted with the spectacular possi­
bilities opened up by the use of laser radiation in
photography, one can easily imagine those far-reac­
hing advances which television and cinematography
will make in the course of time, first of all as regards
the creation of three-dimensional colour images. And
though the engineering of to-day cannot offer us
three-dimensional colour cinema and television sys­
tems, such systems will undoubtedly be created in
the not distant future.
Holographic principles open the way for optical
storage of information. While with the methods em­
ployed nowadays information can be stored only in
a thin layer of a carrier, the use of holography will
allow the information storage in a three-dimensional
medium. Coherent light sources will enable a wealth
of information to be recorded within a small volume
and then reproduced with relatively small distor­
tions.
Experimental tests have confirmed tremendous po­
tentialities of such a principle. The specific density
of information recording will reach 1012 to 1013 bits
per cubic centimetre. This means that each cubic
centimetre of a crystal can accommodate information
contained in a library holding 5 million volumes,
200 pages each, assuming that any printed page con­
tains 1000 words and each word is 7-letter long!

154
 LASERS FOR TREATING OF MATERIALS

The idea of treating materials with the help of a

laser was conceived as soon as it was found that a
laser beam concentrated on a material of any hard­
ness, be that a copper or steel sheet, a lump of grap­
hite or a crystal of diamond, could cause its instan­
taneous evaporation. Success achieved with the first
experiments in this direction confirmed the possibi­
lity of industrial treatment of most diverse materials
by using laser techniques. Studies are in progress in
this field, and first devices with a laser beam have
already appeared in industry.
At present various materials are treated, mainly,
by ruby and neodymium glass lasers, since they give
maximum output power. As has been mentioned
before, the light energy radiated by a laser in a single
pulse can reach about a thousand of joules. The pulse
lasts for negligible fractions of a second and the power
reaches fantastic values amounting to hundreds and
thousands of kilowatts.
A pulse lasting one thousandth of a second and
having an energy of 0.5 J will be sufficient for bur­
ning through a 1 mm-thick steel plate. The hole it
will make in the plate will be about 0.1 to 0.2 mm in
diameter. Using a beam of the same power, it is pos­
sible to weld together two pieces of 0.05 mm-thick
foil or two thin wires.
For burning through a steel plate up to 5 mm in
thickness, a pulse having an energy of 20 to 100 J is
required. In this case the laser beam must be focused
onto one point with the help of a system of lenses.
Holes made in the metal under the effect of such a
beam are, as a rule, of a rather large diameter.
Lasers prove to be particularly effective for treat­
ing super-hard materials, such as diamond, corun-
155
 dum and special alloys. Manufacturers of jewels for
clockworks and precision instruments, of fine dies,
etc., have long been faced with difficulties involved
in treating such articles. Thus, drilling of a hole in
a diamond die, when performed by conventional
techniques, takes more than two hours. The laser
drilling machine developed by the Moscow Experi­
mental Research Institute jointly with the Lebedev
Physics Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences
performs this operation in less than 0.1 s. Industrial
production of such machines for treating super-hard
materials in the Soviet Union was started by tho
“Stankokonstruktsiya” Works. Machines Models K-3
and K-4 can be cited as examples. The K-3 Model
is a machine based on a ruby laser. The laser radia­
tion is focused with the help of a high-quality optical
system. Light pulses with a duration of 0.5 or 5 ms
can be produced every 20 seconds. The pulse power
reaches 2 kW and is controlled by a special measuring
device. The beam setting accuracy is up to several
microns, and the diameter of the focused beam spot
can be from decimal fractions of a millimetre to 2
or 3 microns. The machine Model K-3 (Fig. 67) is
not large and can be particularly useful for labora­
tory research, where no high performance characte­
ristics are required.
The machine Model K-4 is of a more perfect design
and has a higher capacity. The machine has a water-
cooling system and therefore the pulse repetition rate
in this machine can be increased to one pulse per
second, the pulse duration being 0.5 ms. The machine
Model K-4 employs the same optical system as the
Model K-3.
It was suggested to use lasers in such operations
as balancing parts of precision mechanisms, rapidly
rotating magnetic memory disks for computers, etc.
156
Fig. 67. Laser Model K-3 in operation: laser beam pierces metal

With the help of a laser it is possible to remove ex­

cess metal directly from rotating component parts,
thus saving the time required for their balancing.
Moreover, during such treatment the part involved
is not subjected to considerable mechanical loads,
as is the case when excess metal is removed by dril­
ling.
In radioelectronics the trend today is toward minia­
turisation and microminiaturisation of various units
and elements. Many radioengineering devices combine
such a great number of diverse functions that if they
are constructed by resorting to previous conventional
methods, the devices will be both cumbersome and
rather heavy. Miniaturisation and microminiaturisa­
tion allow the creation of compact units which, while
being capable of performing the same functions as
their large-sized analogues, yet are hundreds and
thousands of times less bulky.
157
 Fig. G8. Connecting units of semiconductor integrated circuits
by means of a laser
7 — la s e r ; 2— v is u a l a d ju s tm e n t; 3 — g la s s s u p p o r t; 4 — d e p o s ite d m e ta l
f il m ; 5 — u n i t s o f s e m ic o n d u c to r in te g r a t e d c ir c u it ; 6— la s e r b e a m ; 7—
g la s s s u p p o r t w ith d e p o s ite d w ir in g c ir c u it

The difficulty arising when assembling such small

units resides in connecting their separate elements.
A usual electric soldering iron is not the tool to be
used here. The omnipotent laser beam comes forward
again. With its help one can assemble and connect
finest units. The application of lasers will improve
both the production techniques and reliability of
radioelectronic circuits.
The principle of assembling and connecting the
units of semiconductor circuits on an insulation sup­
port by means of a laser can be understood from
Fig. 68. Leads are prepared by depositing metal on
appropriate components of the circuit. The wiring
158
circuit is manufactured on a glass support in the same
manner.
The support is placed into a mask, the deposited
circuit downwards. Those units of the semiconductor
circuit whose tapping contacts are on top are arran­
ged below the support. With the help of a micro*
manipulator and a microscope they are connected
with the corresponding portion of the circuit deposi­
ted on the support. Contact between the semicon­
ductor circuit unit and the tapping circuit is ensured
by the application of pressure. Then, with the help
of the microscope, a laser beam is focused through
the glass onto the contact area. The output power
of the beam is selected such as to fuse together the
metal of the support and that of the circuit unit.
On completion of the assembly, the support is placed
into a metallic casing.
This method is advantageous in ensuring reliable
connections and a high packaging density of the
circuit elements.

LASER GYROSCOPES
Gyroscopes are devices widely used as instruments
in the navigation systems of ships, in automatic
flight control systems of aircraft and space vehicles,
etc. The basic component of the gyroscope is a small
heavy wheel rotating at a high speed. The gyroscope
can retain the direction preset to its spin axis and
resist any changes of this direction caused by distur­
bing forces acting on the gyroscope. The gyroscope
stability is the higher the higher the rotation speed
of its wheel, the latter amounting to 30 000 r.p.m.
and over.
Mechanical gyroscopes, however, are vulnerable
just on account of the presence of rotating parts in
159
 M ir r o r M ir r o r
/■
Gas o p tic a l
qu an tu m
*genera to r

Gas o p tic a l
/ Gas o p tic a l
q u a n tu m qu a n tu m
g e n e r a to r g e n e ra to r
/7xis of r o ta tio n
ir S em itra n s­
Gas o p tic a l p a re n t
quantum generator m ir ro r
M irror^ _/_________
A u x ilia r y

Fig.
I
P h o to d etecto r |__ |
09. Laser gyroscope
m ir r o r

them, since this impairs their reliability. Besides,

the sensitivity of such gyroscopes is not always suf­
ficient. At the same time reliability of equipment
functioning in flying vehicles is, certainly, of cru­
cial importance.
Latest researches have shown that lasers can be emp­
loyed for constructing such a navigation instrument
as the gyroscope.
The laser gyroscope is an instrument of a new type
operating on the principle of the well known Dop­
pler effect. This gyroscope has no moving parts and
therefore theoretically it must combine such advan­
tageous properties as long service life, high sensiti­
vity and stability. The output signal of the gyros­
cope can be presented in a digital form and therefore
the laser gyroscope can be conveniently employed in
combination with an electronic computer.
A laser gyroscope is a system of four He-Ne gas
160
lasers arranged so as to make a square (Fig. 69).
Set at each corner of this square at 45° to the axis
of the lasers is a mirror, which ensures the circulation
of the radiation of the lasers along an annular path.
Since each of the four lasers emits from both ends
of its tube, two light beams are created in the gyros­
cope, that are moving along a circle in opposite di­
rections. In case the laser square remains stationary,
the both beams traverse equal distances. But if the
lasers are mounted on a platform rotatable about
an axis perpendicular to the plane of the four lasers,
then the beam travelling in one direction will have
to cover a somewhat greater distance to reach its
initial emergence point than the beam travelling in
the opposite direction. The result will be a frequency
shift (Doppler effect). This shift can be measured
by optical methods. To this end, one of the four mir­
rors located at the corner of the square is made par­
tially transmitting, so that a small portion of the
light of the oppositely moving beams could pass
through the mirror and the rest of the light should
be reflected and continue its circulation.
By placing an additional mirror in the path of one
of the beams emerging from the partially reflecting
mirror, at right angles to the direction of the beam
travel, the beam will be caused to be reflected from
this additional mirror back to the mirror at the cor­
ner of the laser system and the both beams will emerge
from the system in the same direction. These beams
are then intercepted by a photodetector and their
mutual shift results in the origination of beats at an
audio frequency equal to twice the Doppler shift.
The angular velocity can be found from the formula

1 1 -4 7 1 161
 where co is the angular velocity; A/ is the frequency
shift (Doppler shift); X is the laser radiation wave­
length; p is the perimeter of the square; and A is the
area of the square.
In an experimental model of a laser gyroscope the
optical length of its arm was about 1 m with the
radiation wavelength of He-Ne lasers equal to 1.153 p.
The frequency difference signal obtained at the pho­
todetector output was 250 Hz per degree of rotation
per minute. The frequency of the output signal ob­
tained at the rotation velocity of 2 deg/min was
500 Hz and at that of 600 deg/min, 150 kHz.
The laser gyroscope of such a design has large di­
mensions and this is a disadvantage. These dimen­
sions can be essentially diminished by using semi­
conductor lasers instead of gas ones. Though a shor­
ter path of the beam tells on the gyroscope sensiti­
vity, this undesirable effect could be compensated
for by employing lasers operating at shorter wavelen­
gths (on the order of 0.71 to 0.84 p).
Though the dimensions of gyroscopes on gas lasers
are considerable, but despite this fact they can be
successfully used even now, e.g. in ships, where no
particular limitations are imposed on the weight and
dimensions of the gyroscope.
In one experimental model of a laser gyroscope an
equilateral triangular resonator was employed with
corner mirrors spaced at 138.56 cm. The gas laser
radiation wavelength was 6328 A. Experts are of
opinion that with this design the adjustment of the
instrument can be facilitated and optical aberrations
minimised.
A gyroscope of a similar design but with different
dimensions of the resonator, with the distance from
the centre of the triangle to the corner of 10 cm, is
capable of measuring angular velocities less than
162
0.001 deg per hour. It can be employed as a very pre­
cise standard of angular position. The resolution of
the instrument is less than 0.25" and drift, less than
5" a day.
At present work is in progress for the development
of small-size laser gyroscopes. It is contemplated to
build a gas laser gyroscope having a weight less than
0.9 kg and overall dimensions of 0.5 cu dm.

LASERS IN DETECTION AND RANGING

Radar systems use transmitted and reflected elec­
tromagnetic radiation for detecting various objects
and determining their spatial coordinates. Such ob­
jects can be found on the surface of the earth, in air
or at sea. They can be stationary or in motion; in
the latter case certain parameters of their motion
are determined. Devices that solve such a problem
are called radars.
Until recently electromagnetic waves belonging to
the radio range (metre, decimetre and millimetre
ones) were employed in radar systems. These systems
came into being during the World War II. In the
post-war period the radar techniques found rather
extensive applications and reached high scientific
and technical standards.
Laser radar systems constitute one of new branches
<>f modern quantum electronics. Considerable advan­
ces made in this field during a comparatively short
period became possible due to numerous theoretical
ami experimental research carried out by scientists
in the Soviet Union and other countries.
Laser radar techniques are based on the use of the
optical range of electromagnetic oscillations genera­
ted by lasers. Light has long been used as a means
I'or detection and observation. Before the advent of
ir 163
lasers search lights were the main apparatus emplo­
yed for detecting, observing and tracking of targets.
The energy radiated by such light sources was used
only to illuminate the object, the observation being
performed visually. Naturally, the possibilities of
search lights were limited.
With the appearance of coherent light sources the
methods of using light energy in observation facili­
ties have changed. Lasers made possible the formation
of light pulses having a small duration and an energy
level sufficient for recording a signal reflected from
an object at the receiving station.
The use of the optical range in laser radar systems
is justified for many reasons. Thus, as compared with
conventional radars, radars operating in the optical
range have a higher directivity of radiation with
comparatively small dimensions of their aerial devi­
ces, a better resolution with regard to angular coor­
dinates and range. An optical radar is capable of de­
tecting an object within a pre-set coverage using a
transmitter whose power is millions of times less
than that of transmitters of radar stations operating
in the millimetre range.
Laser radars are almost insensitive to the effect
of intentional interferences. These interferences can
affect a laser radar only when their source is within
the radar beam. But taking into account that the
beam is very narrow, the probability of an interferen­
ce source being found within the radar beam is very
small. The effect of interferences can also be reduced
by using special filters. Laser radars are noted for
their small overall dimensions and weight.
While featuring the above-mentioned advantages,
laser radars are not free from certain disadvantages.
Among these considerable attenuation of laser radia­
tion in case of fog, rain and snow should be pointed
164
 out, this factor imposing a limitation on the distance
over which laser radars are effective. In this connec­
tion laser radars appear to be most promising for
operation in the outer space where there is no atmos­
phere, and in mountains, above the level of precipi­
tation.
The block diagram of a laser radar resembles that
of a conventional radar. The laser radar determines
the same characteristics of objects: distance, altitude,
angular coordinates and velocity. The diagram of a
“Colidar” laser radar is shown in Fig. 70. The “Co-
lidar” system consists of three main parts: a trans­
mitting device, a receiving device and a data pro­
cessing device. The transmitting device comprises a
ruby laser, a collimator serving to narrow the laser
beam, and an optical shutter which shapes a rectan­
gular light pulse. The receiving device consists of a
concave mirror by means of which the light reflected
from an object is collected, a narrow-band filter
which diminishes the background noises or interfe­
rences, a photomultiplier which converts light oscil­
lations into electrical ones, and an amplifier of elect­
rical oscillations. The data processing device gives
the coordinates of the object involved.
Distance to the target is found from the time pe­
riod between the sending of an emitted (sounding)
pulse and the incoming of the reflected signal. The
“Colidar” laser radar emits a light pulse which lasts
for 0.003 s and has an energy of 2 kW. The weight
of this radar is 11 to 14 kg and coverage under nor­
mal meteorological conditions, 15 to 30 km. It can
discriminate between two objects that are at a dis­
tance of 10 km from the radar and spaced 3 m apart.
Other types of lasers, e.g. gas lasers can be used
as radiation sources as well.
According to publications, a laser radar with a mir-
165
 F ig . 70. B lo c k d ia g r a m of a la s e r radar

ror having 60 cm in diameter and an average radia­

tion power of 70 W can measure the distance to a
rocket having a diameter of 6 m with an accuracy
of 1.6 km when this distance amounts to 160 000 km.
Applicability of laser radars for underwater opera­
tion is under investigation. Good results can be ex­
pected here with the use of lasers radiating in the
blue to green region, since sea water is most trans­
parent within this region. A laser underwater radar
intended for the detection of submarines, torpedoes
and mines is expected to have a coverage of several
kilometres.
The velocity of an object is determined by using
the well-known Doppler effect.

166
 LASER RANGE FINDERS
In the last few years an urgent need has been felt
for the creation of an instrument which would be fit
for measuring distances to various objects under
various conditions with a high accuracy and, at the
same time, be free from the disadvantages inherent
in radar and optical range finders. The main disad­
vantage of a radar is its broad aerial directivity pat­
tern, which causes interferences from neighbouring
objects. Besides, the radiation of a radar can easily
be detected. For distance measurements to be made
with a high accuracy by using an optical range fin­
der, this instrument must have a very large base.
A laser range finder with its powerful signals and
monochromatic thin beam is free from all these dis­
advantages. The operation principle of such a range
finder is analogous to that of a conventional radar,
though, naturally, there are some specific features
in its design.
Shown in Fig. 71 is a block diagram of a laser range
finder. How does such a range finder operate?
P h o to d io d e

Fig. 71. Block diagram of a laser range finder

167
 Fig. 72. Laser range finder

A laser beam is directed to an object through a

transmitting objective tube and, after falling on the
surface of the object, is reflected from it. Part of the
reflected signal is received by a receiving objective
tube which is provided with a narrow-band optical
filter at the outlet. This filter makes possible the
separation of the reflected signal even against the
solar radiation background. Then the signal comes
to the input of a photomultiplier. An amplified sig­
nal triggers a generator of gating pulses. From the
number of the pulses that have arrived at the input
of the instrument during a certain period of time the
distance to the object can be determined.
Structurally a laser range finder consists of two
parts: a head and a power supply unit. The head in­
corporates a sighting device, a receiver and a trans­
mitter. The transmitter incorporates a ruby laser,
pumped with the help of a xenon tube. The head also ac­
commodates an indicator, a computing device, and
a photomultiplier. The general view of a laser range
finder is shown in Fig. 72.
The coverage of this apparatus is up to 6 km and
under the conditions of good visibility, to 10 km. Its
measuring accuracy is 10 m irrespective of the dist-
163
 Fig. 73. Soviet laser range finder Model rfl-314

ance being measured. The apparatus is easy to operate:

the operator must only select an object and press the
control button. The distance to the object will be
instantaneously displayed as digits in the indicator
window.
Reports have been made of experiments made with
an appropriately modified laser range finder function-
169
ing as an altimeter. It can also be used for precise ca­
libration and checking of conventional altimeters un­
der various flight conditions and various character
of the E arth’s surface.
Experimental flights showed that with the help of
a specially constructed airborne laser altimeter the
height of up to 300 m could be measured with an ac­
curacy of up to 1.5 m. It is interesting to point out
that when the surface of the Earth is covered by a
forest, the reflected signal has the character of a “dou­
ble echo'’. This phenomenon is conditioned by the
reflection from the tops of the trees and from the sur­
face of the Earth. The double echo effect allows measur­
ing the absolute height of the trees and makes laser
altimeters applicable under such conditions where any
conventional radar altimeter would be useless.
Figure 73 shows one of the laser range finders made
in the Soviet Union—Model I7J-314. The apparatus
is intended for precise measuring of distances within
a range of up to 2000 m. The measuring accuracy wit­
hin the entire range is 2 cm. The radiation source is
a semiconductor diode laser with the wavelength of
8600 A. The radiation power is 0.5 mW. The range
finder consists of an optical transceiver unit weighing
6 kg, a measuring package weighing 5 kg and a power
supply unit weighing 15 kg. Storage batteries ensure
continuous operation of the range finder during 50
hours.

LASER TRACKING OF SATELLITES

Numerous artificial satellites are now ploughing the
circumterrestrial space. These satellites serve most
diverse purposes. Geodetic satellites, for example, help
to obtain more exact information about the configu­
ration of the Earth.
170
 The velocity and altitude of the artificial satellites
are not constant, but vary with time. These characte­
ristics are very important for acquiring more precise
data concerning the parameters of our planet. For
instance, the processing of the data collected during
Iho flights of satellites allowed a more complete spe­
cification of the depth in one of the regions of the In­
dian Ocean.
The application of lasers in space technology is one
of the main tasks set before numerous companies and
research centres, the Air Force and other armed ser­
vices of the USA.
At present tracking of artificial Earth satellites
with the help of passive optical means can be practised
only in those cases when the satellite is illuminated
by the Sun and the ground tracking stations are in
Ihe shade. For obtaining all the necessary informa­
tion, e.g. on the distribution of the gravitational
field of the Earth, one should know the parameters
of the entire orbit of the satellite and not only such
data as can be collected while the satellite is illumina­
ted by the Sun. The use of lasers allows the informa­
tion on the orbit parameters to be obtained both in
the daytime and at night, the measuring range being
thus substantially broadened. An experiment carried
out in the United States furnished an answer to some
of the problems associated with the application of
lasers for tracking flying vehicles in the outer space
(Fig. 74).
An optical telescope sighted at the space vehicle
carried a laser which periodically illuminated the sa­
tellite. A corner reflector array located on the sate­
llite reflected the laser radiation towards the tracking
system. The reflected radiation was received by a
photomultiplier. The distance to the satellite and the
tracking error were determined from the detected signal.
171
 R e fle c te d tig
p u ls e

T racking telescope/ L a ser lig h t p u ls e

a n d detecto r f ✓ /
/ L a ser p u ls e t r a n s m i t t e r
I 7/ E le c tr ic p u lse to
\<A tr ig g e r la s e r
U nit fo r 1. I------ — Uni t f o r m easu rin g
m e a su rin g “ d is ta n c e
angle of __________ ^ to s a t e l l i t e
tu rn of te - E l e c t r i c p u l s e -----------------------------
lescope f r o m d e te c to r

Fig. 74. System for tracking artificial satellites

The experiment was carried out with the S-66 satel­

lite launched into an orbit at altitude of 1000 km.
The satellite was equipped with a magnetic stabili­
zation system designed to maintain it in such an at­
titude that the axis of the satellite should always be
directed parallel to the magnetic field of the Earth.
The satellite slowly rotated about its axis. The cor­
ner reflector array on the surface of the satellite was
directed towards the Earth when the satellite was
within the north hemisphere.
The reflector array was assembled from 360 mirror
corners, 2.6 cm in cross section each. The radiation
from the artificial Earth satellite was reflected at a
very small angle (within 10"4 radian, Fig. 75).
Presented in Fig. 76 is a diagram of a transmitter,
including a ruby laser and collimator optics, ensuring
the angular divergence of the beam on the order of
1 milliradian. An eyepiece and a pentaprism allow
172
 Fig. 7.r>. Satellite-borne reflector array

P e n ta p r is m brought
k= ou t of beam
Motor to ro ta
V / / t-h fe 'prism
f .
lr>*lll,

| j ^ | 12 000 r.p.m .
Ruby ro d
1
Flash tube
R o ta r y p r i s m D ivergin g Tracking
lens pentaprism i
O bjective le n s

Fig. 76. Diagram of a laser transm itter

the operator to perform accurate tracking of the sa­

tellite. When the laser is triggered, the prism is auto­
matically brought out from the beam. Another re­
flecting prism is rotated by a motor with a speed of
12 000 r.p.m. and ensures modulation. The pulse
repetition rate of the laser is 1 pulse per second and
its output energy is about 1 J.
The receiving device which is usually employed in
173
Fig. 77. B allistic camera for tracking artificial Earth satellites

tracking telescopes is located in place of the cine ca­

mera.
A 47-cm telescope of such type at the Wallops Test
Station (Wallops Island, USA) was used in the expe­
riments described (Fig. 77).
The principal diagram for determining the distance
to an artificial Earth satellite is shown in Fig. 78.
The sounding pulse of the transmitter is used for trig­
gering, scanning and indication of the reference pulse
on the screen. The pulse reflected from the satellite
produces a luminous mark on the indicator screen.
174
Pig. 78. DiagramTof a system for determining the distance to
an artificial Earth satellite

Tim distance between the pulse marks on the screen

indicates the delay of the reflected pulse in relation
In the reference one. The intensity of the reflected sig­
nal is sufficient for its being detected by a photode-
leclor at night. It is believed that a photographic pic-
Inro can also be recorded as reflected flashes against
llm starry background, provided that the pulse power
is increased and a large ballistic camera is employed.
If so, accurate angular tracking will be feasible in
Iwilight and in the shade of the Earth.
Photographs cannot be taken in the daytime, but
with the help of an electron photodetector and by
using special narrow-band filters the signal can be
separated against the sky background.
The system operation range is rated to be up to
IbOO km, the vehicle flight coordinates being measured
every 10 s. Theoretical calculations suggest that the
results thus obtained allow the satellite trajectory to
he determined with an accuracy of up to 30 m.
175
 The main difficulty in this experiment is to preclude
the beam deviation from the target. But the use of
electronic computers will, probably, offer a solution
of this problem as well.
American scientists created several such systems
which were located in various places of the globe.
Experiments with the tracking of the artificial Earth
satellite “Explorer-22” were conducted in 1964.
But at first the attempt at receiving the reflected
signal ended in failure. Scientists attributed it to dif­
ficulties involved in accurate tracking of the satellite
and to atmospheric interferences.
French scientists proved to be more lucky and suc­
ceeded where the Americans had failed. In the end of
January 1965 a series of experiments were conducted
by the staff of the Saint Michel-de-Province Obser­
vatory on tracking the same satellite with the help
of their own ground equipment. The duration of the
sounding pulse was 3-10"8 s. The distance to the satel­
lite was 1517.99 km and it was determined with an
accuracy of up to 8 m.
When estimating this experiment, one should take
into account a tremendous distance to the satellite
(more than 1500 km), its cosmic speed (2-104 km/hr),
small dimensions (the diameter of the “Explorer-22”
being 60 cm) and short duration of the pulse, which
was only 3 hundred millionths of a second! One French
astronomer made a witty remark, saying that this
experiment could be compared with an expert shot
at the eye of a fly darting at a speed of 100 kilometres
per hour from the distance of 5 kilometres.
Somewhat later, in February 1965, the same experi­
ment was successfully performed by American scient­
ists, when the satellite was flying at the altitude of
950 km. The reflected beam was received by the ground
equipment of the Hensfield Air Base.
176
 The success with this experiment allows one to come
to the conclusion that with the help of a laser it is
possible to measure distances between remote points
of the earth surface and send various signals to arti­
ficial Earth satellites.

LASERS IN SPACE EQUIPMENT

During the period prior to the “Gemini-7” space­
ship flight with two astronauts on board, the develop­
ment and tests of a laser air-ground communication
system have been completed in the United States.
'Phis system envisages the communication of the spa­
ceship with the ground station by means of a laser
beam. The given system was supposed to be employed
when launching spaceships in accordance with the
“Gemini” and “Apollo” programs, for the transmis­
sion of speech and communication through the plasma
screen during the landing. Besides, according to the
opinion of specialists, with this system it is possible
to determine the distinctive characteristics of the co­
herent beam passage through the atmosphere and the
potentialities of the space equipment for determining
the location of the ground communication station.
The system was tested with a jet aeroplane. The
laser communication system consisted of three parts:
a ground laser beacon, an airborne laser transmitter,
and a ground receiver. The laser beacon served for
aiming the airborne transmitter at the ground receiv­
ing station (Fig. 79\ For ensuring a continuous track­
ing of the laser transmitter by the receiver, the laser
transmitter and the beacon were mounted on the plat­
form of a conventional tracking device slaved with the
near-by aerial of the radar station.
During the tests of the laser communication system
the jet aeroplane performed regular daily flights, usu-
12-471 177
 \\
a \ —B eam f r o m
Speech-m odulo.- ' \ \ g ro u n d l a s e r beacon
te d b a se r b ea m \\

\ \ G ro u n d l a s e r
\\ beacon
R eceiver

C om m un ication
equ ipm ent c a n

Fig. 79. Laser communication with an artificial Earth satellite

ally just before the sunset, flying at a height of 3 to

12 km above the ground station in an anticlockwise
direction at a speed of 500 to 1300 km/hr describing
elliptical paths totalling about 1100 km, so that the
slant range to the receiving station was S to 24 km.
Since the laser communication system was ultima­
tely intended for use in a manned orbital spacecraft,
the flights of the jet aeroplane were such as to simu­
late the tracking angles and flying speeds of a space­
craft when in the near-earth orbit. One of the pro­
blems to be solved during the tests of the system was
to find out whether the astronaut would be able to
detect the laser beacon and then aim the beam of his
transmitter at it with an accuracy sufficient for esta­
blishing a reliable one-way telephone communication.
Another objective pursued during the tests was to
evaluate the quality of speech signals transmitted
178
by the infra-red beam, the sequence of unfiltered pul­
ses and background noises. The American specialists
hoped that the results of these tests would help to
reveal the influence of the terrestrial atmosphere on
the propagation of optical oscillations.
The signals received by the ground station in the
course of the first tests proved to be unintelligible.
The tests were carried out again and the recordings
obtained could be understood, though their quality
was poor. Nevertheless, the experiments showed the
possibility of employing lasers for work in the air-
ground communication system.
The experts engaged in this project came to the
conclusion that the creation of an operable communica­
tion system of such kind calls for the development
of a more reliable aiming and stabilization system.
A simplified block diagram of a laser communica­
tion system is shown in Fig. 80. A beacon which is a
gallium arsenide semiconductor laser functions as a
reference point for the satellite-borne laser transmitter
to be aimed at the receiving station. Since the co­
verage area of the transmitter beam at the reception
point for the distance of 16 km is only 30 m in dia­
meter, the aiming of the beam was of great importance.
The divergence of the beacon radiation was 10"3 ra­
dian; the pulse power was 1 W and its duration, 5 ps.
The beacon operation wavelength was 8400 A. The
sighting telescope of the transmitter employed in the
flight tests of the laser communication system was
provided with an image converter sensitive only to
the narrow-band emission of the beacon. The receiver
employed a collector having 75 cm in diameter and
consisting of a non-spherical primary reflector and
a spherical secondary mirror. Background noises were
cut off by passing the received signals through a mul­
tilayer filter with a pass band of 50 A. The filtered
12* 179
 as
o
t-H
as
A

a
o

o as

js
' ca1as
«4HW
o

bo
as

'T i
<D

Ph
6
K
©
00

.S3
bn
signal was passed through a diaphragm that restricted
the viewing angle to 0.001 radian. After that the light
energy was focused onto a photomultiplier, and its
output signal was sent to a video amplifier.
To bring the noise level below the operation thres­
hold of the demodulator in the receiver, the noise vol­
tage of the video amplifier was passed through a band­
pass filter, rectified, and then used for adjusting the
photomultiplier gain. A multivibrator produced a
train of standard output pulses whose frequency was
determined by that of the input video pulses. The
narrow-band filter ensured demodulation, and the
processed signal was then amplified and sent to a tape
recorder and a loudspeaker.
The receiver was protected against casual direct
sunlight by a special automatically actuated shutter
mounted on the collector. This shutter opened only
when the solar radiation level was within safety li­
mits.
The 4.5-kg laser transmitter was equipped with a
sighting telescope and incorporated a GaAs semicon­
ductor laser, modulation and control equipment and
storage batteries. The power of the transmitter out­
put pulse was 5 W.
During the transmission the operator used a micro­
phone built into the transmitter. The speech signal
came to an amplifier where amplification and com­
pression of the dynamic range were performed as re­
quired for protection against interference. The low-
frequency channel width was 0.3 to 3.0 kHz.
The amplifier output signal was sent to a pulse
frequency modulator. This modulator produced a train
of pulses which were passed to the exciter of the semi­
conductor laser—a delay line and a transistor switch.
When the transistor switch was actuated by the output
voltage of the modulator, the delay line was discharged
181
through a pulse transformer, thus exciting the laser
which emitted at 8900 A. The laser temperature was
maintained at a definite level (16CC) by means of a
thermoelectrical cooler. The infra-red beam emergent
from the laser was directed to the optical system thro­
ugh a lens with a focal distance of 7 cm. The divergence
of the laser beam was 2-10"3 radian.
As reported, during the flight of the “Gemini-7”
spaceship, the astronauts, after having made two un­
successful attempts to communicate with the Earth,
the failure being on account of some troubles in the
ground equipment, established the communication by
the laser beam when making the 105th orbit. The
communication was satisfactory, lasted for 2 minu­
tes, and some information was transmitted during it.
Thus, the feasibility of laser communications with
space vehicles was proved.

COMMUNICATION WITH SPACECRAFT DURING

ATMOSPHERIC RE-ENTRY
For space flights to be successful, it is a prerequisite
that the ground control over the spacecraft flight
should be continuous. As is known, during the earth
re-entry, the spacecraft body becomes strongly heat­
ed, on account of a high velocity with which it travels
and a tremendous resistance offered to it by the dense
atmosphere* The gas in the boundary layer between
the shock wave front and the spacecraft surface be­
comes ionised. A high-temperature plasma is thus
formed around the space vehicle, which may fully
envelop it and the high-frequency radio communica­
tion units it carries. This moment is critical for the
radio communication. The concentration of free elec­
trons in the layer of ionised gas is very high, and
this makes such layer conducting. Radio waves are
182
 either reflected from the plasma layer or absorbed by
Ihe ionised gases. During the break in the radio com­
munication with the spaceship it can be no longer
program-controlled. Some important information, in
rase the space vehicle gets in trouble while returning,
may be lost. The maintaining of constant radio com­
munication with the returning space vehicle for in­
formation exchange is still more necessary if such a
vehicle is manned, for it is quite probable that during
this most difficult and responsible period they may
need help from the Earth.
The plasma layer enveloping the shell of a missile
disturbs the operation of its antimissile and antisa-
lellite systems which can function only on continuous­
ly receiving the information about the presence of
such targets and their location.
In view of these and many other reasons the pro­
blems of ensuring communication with space vehicles
during their atmospheric re-entry at supersonic velo­
cities and re-establishing such communication when
it is disturbed by the exit gases of the rocket engine
have long been most urgent. Special measures are re­
ported to be developed for ensuring radio communica­
tions through a plasma layer. One of such measures
is the determination of an optimum frequency range
within which plasma features maximum transmittancy.
Another measure can be the selection of an approp­
riate configuration of a space vehicle, so that in cer­
tain places the thickness of the plasma layer would
he small and the attenuation of communication sig­
nals passing through it, insignificant. For diminish­
ing the thickness of plasma envelope, it is, probably,
advisable to make the head portion of the space ve­
hicle pointed. Space vehicle aerials should be mounted
as far as possible from its head portion, i.e. in such
places where the plasma envelope can be “washed
183
off”. It is suggested to set up special magnetic fields
near the space vehicle aerials and thus create better
conditions for the passage of radio waves. Such a
project, however, adds to the weight of the vehicle.
The concentration of free ions in plasma may be
reduced by introducing a special substance into the
plasma flow near the head portion of the space ve­
hicle; this substance will lower the temperature of
the gas and cause recombination of electrons and ions.
This can be achieved, however, only in case the space
vehicle travels at a comparatively low speed. The
substance should be introduced in the vicinity of the
aerials so as to neutralise positive ions in these pla­
ces. The substance was suggested to be introduced
in the form of negatively charged microscopic drop­
lets. Finally, it was proposed to cool the outside sur­
face of the vehicle with water jets for creating plasma-
free areas near the aerials.
All these measures which, by the way, are not at
all easy to realise and most of which lead to a consi­
derable increase in the weight of the space vehicle,
cannot guarantee stable communication at the moment
of its atmospheric re-entry.
The problem of ensuring stable communication with
the space vehicle also arises when exploring our neigh­
bour-planets Mars, Venus and Jupiter. These planets
are known to have atmospheric envelopes of a certain
density. Unless special measures are taken, the com­
munication with such spacecraft will be broken
as soon as they enter the atmosphere of these pla­
nets.
This was the case with an American space probe la­
unched in 1964 and missioned to explore the compo­
sition and density of the Martian atmosphere. The
communication with the space probe stopped as it
entered the dense layers of the Martian atmosphere,
184
mid no information on the composition and density
of the latter was obtained.
As is known, a laser beam can rather easily pass
Ihrough plasma. In view of this fact, and seeking for
nn effective solution of the communication problem,
extensive investigations have been carried out for
•studying the conditions of the modulated laser beam
passage through plasma. It was established that du­
ring the most critical part of the flight, namely, during
tho period of atmospheric entry (or re-entry) the com­
munication with space vehicles can be ensured with
the aid of a laser. Certain and rather essential diffi­
culties are encountered here as well. They are: the
choice of an effective modulation of the beam, elimi­
nation of the atmospheric absorption effect, accurate
tracking and holding of the beam at the point of the
vehicle location, etc.
Nevertheless, it is quite evident that these diffi­
culties will be overcome and the problem of ensuring
reliable communication with space vehicles during
their entire flight will be successfully solved by the
use of lasers.

DETECTION AND COMMUNICATIONS UNDER THE SEA

The main communication means of modern subma­
rines are radio communication facilities. Some scien­
tists abroad are of opinion that only long-wave and
superlong-wave bands are fit for communications with
submarines. It is known that long radio waves can
not only round the Earth but also penetrate deep into
the sea. No communication with an object found at
a depth can be effected on medium, short, or ultra-
short waves. The waves belonging to these bands are
almost completely scattered or absorbed by the water
medium and do not penetrate deep into it.
185
 To realise a long-wave communication is not an easy
matter either. Powerful transmitters will be required
for this. To give an example, it will suffice to mention
that one of special radio broadcasting stations operat­
ing on superlong waves uses a transmitter whose power
is 2000 kW. The aerials of this station are mounted
on 26 towers up to 300 m in height. Naturally, no
such system of aerials can be located on a submarine
and hence submarines employ only one-way communi­
cation systems, for reception. For transmitting any
message, the crew must surface the submarine and
send the message using a different frequency range.
Meanwhile the submarine bearings can be easily taken
and the submarine will be thus detected. The secrecy
of information transmission is ensured by using spe­
cial high-speed devices capable of transmitting a 200-
word message per second.
There is still another problem: to ensure communi­
cation between neighbouring submarines, ships and
aircraft. Here again two-way communications are ef­
fected using short-wave bands and this is a serious
disadvantage from the standpoint of secrecy and
security.
As a way out of this difficulty it is suggested to
employ lasers for communications under the sea. In
the USA it is planned to develop a laser communica­
tion system operating on the periscope-to-periscope
principle. In case of success such a laser system is
expected to be most high-speed and noise-resistant,
as well as adequate for meeting information transmis­
sion secrecy requirements.
An extensive research program sponsored by the
US Navy Department was started in the United States
on the use of lasers and for the development of new
apparatus. The objective pursued by the program was
twofold: to study the optical radiation transmission
186
»«»mlilions in sea water and develop new models of
did notion and communication equipment.
The investigations revealed that the radiation pro­
longation range in sea water depends, mainly, upon the
absorption of radiation by the substances dissolved
In water and upon the scattering of radiation on partic­
les suspended in the water. In some water samples
absorption was found to be predominant and in others,
'n attering. At the same time it was established that wa­
ter, similarly to the atmosphere, possesses different
spectral transparency. Radiation in the red region of the
spectrum (corresponding to that of a ruby laser) was
nliown to be absorbed by sea water stronger than radia-
ilon in the blue-green region of the spectrum. There-
I'oro, the latter radiation can propagate in sea water
over considerable distances and, hence, frequencies
belonging to the blue-green region of the spectrum
should be preferred for the detection and communica-
llons under the sea.
A powerful source of coherent light was developed
by the Laser Advanced Development Center (USA).
I’ll is source consists of an optical quantum generator
nml a potassium dihydrogen phosphate or an ammoni­
um dihydrogen phosphate crystal displaying non-li­
near characteristics.
A light beam generated by the laser is directed onto
Ibis crystal which separates the higher harmonic. The
radiation takes place at 5300 A, which corresponds
In the green region of the spectrum with the spectral
lino width of about 2 A. The beam divergence is as
small as 1 milliradian, and the radiation power is
10 kW. Radiation with the wave length of 2896 A
corresponding to the ultra-violet region of the spectrum
was obtained with an Ar-C02 gas laser. Radiation
at the wave of 3125 A, corresponding also to the ul­
tra-violet region of the spectrum, was obtained with
187
a laser employing gadolinium-doped silica glass as
the active material and excited by a xenon flash
tube.
A model of an underwater optoelectronic radar built
around a laser was also developed in the United
States. This apparatus employs a conventional image­
scanning circuit, and consists of a transmitting, a
receiving and a recording system. The radiation source
in the transmitting system is a laser; its scanning beam
irradiates a definite field of view. The receiving system
incorporates a narrow-band optical system operating
in synchronism with the laser beam. The radiation
reflected from the object is received by a photomul­
tiplier. The recording system of the radar produces
an image of the object involved.
The resolution of such an arrangement is higher than
that of present-day underwater television equipment;
the operation range of the arrangement is several ki­
lometres, whereas the present-day underwater televi­
sion equipment coverage is about 140 m.
It is also contemplated to employ lasers for detect­
ing submerged mines without running the risk of
triggering their fuses, sensitive to the operation of
sonars. It is considered that laser beams can be used
for homing torpedoes and other unmanned under­
water vehicles.

OTHER MILITARY APPLICATIONS OF LASERS

Besides those possible military uses of lasers which
we have already mentioned, there are other fields of
their application that appear no less important in
the opinion of foreign specialists. Many American
companies sponsored by the US Department of De­
fence are engaged in elaborating new equipment with
the use of lasers for military purposes. The laser tech-
188
nique is also rapidly developing in other economically
advanced capitalist countries such as France, Great
Mritain, the FRG and Japan.
Assuming that high-power lasers can be created in
Ilie near future, American specialists advance projects
of using them as a weapon in anti-missile and anti­
aircraft defence systems.
The main advantages offered by the laser weapon
In this case are: a high propagation velocity of radia­
tion, equal to the propagation velocity of light and
Moine tens of thousands of times exceeding the speed
nf antimissiles; absence of scattering and losses in the
medium when this weapon is used in the outer space;
less sophisticated ground equipment. The application
nf the laser weapon for destroying the atomic and ther­
monuclear warheads of ballistic missiles will cause
a much less radioactive contamination of the atmo­
sphere and the outer space than the use of antimissiles
with nuclear warheads.
To destroy an enemy missile, not to let it reach the
Inrget, it is sufficient to put its control system out
nf action. This can be done by burning through the
missile shell or rudders by a laser beam. This will
cause vibrations in the missile and result in its com­
plete destruction.
Kigure 81 shows a block diagram of an anti-missile
system based on the use of lasers. Such a system must
have a receiving unit for processing the signals in­
coming from the early-warning and target-tracking
radar stations. These signals contain information on
Ilie coordinates of the approaching missile. The track­
ing station must aim at the target an optical radar
in which a laser serves only for determining the dist­
ance to this missile.
Such an optical radar can furnish very precise data
on the coordinates of the target, and these data are
189
Fig. 81. Diagram of an anti-m issile system
 used to actuate another system employing a high-power
laser, designed for destroying the target. The optical
radar will focus and aim a powerful laser beam at
IIn* most vulnerable point of the missile during a
period of time required for a hole to be burnt through
in the missile.
'Hie authors of this project believe that the use of
Ihe laser weapon would make unnecessary the identi­
fic a tio n of decoy and combatant enemy missiles, since
l lie laser weapon ensures rapid destroying of both
c o m b a ta n t and decoy missiles.
Another possible anti-missile laser defence system
is a project of an orbital space station equipped with
Iargot-detecting and tracking radars, as well as with
lasers which can be excited by the solar energy. One
of the main difficulties associated with this project
Is the provision of a platform capable of ensuring suf­
ficient stability of the equipment and accuracy of
I lie target tracking. For the target to be destroyed,
a laser beam must be directed onto it during a long
period of time, and this will require the use of high­
speed servounits. Serious difficulties are also encoun­
tered with the ‘methods of focusing onto targets of
energy having a sufficient density. Therefore, though
lasers have already been created featuring an increased
pulse power amounting to several tens and even thous­
ands of megawatts, the creation of a laser weapon
that could be applicable in anti-missile and anti­
aircraft defence system still requires the solution of
a number of complicated engineering problems.
Much attention is paid to the development of spe­
cial phased gratings which make the radiations of
several lasers to be collected strictly in-phase into
nno common beam, with a view to increasing the radia­
ted power.
It was suggested to use lasers for semiactive guid-
191
ance. The essence of this method is as follows. The
beam of a laser which is not locked with an object to
be guided, say, a projectile, is aimed at the target.
After the projectile has been launched, the operator,
with the help of a programmed device, gathers it into
the beam and holds the projectile in the beam during
the flight till it reaches the target. After the projectile
has hit the target, the laser is used for guiding to other
targets.
Such a system is supposed to be applicable for guid­
ing anti-tank projectiles. The main advantage of this
guidance system is its being jamproof. A strictly di­
rective narrow laser beam always ensures a high accu­
racy of guidance.
Special devices for guiding aerial bombs are repor­
ted to have been developed for the US Air Force.
The guidance is effected by a laser radiation reflected
from the target, the radiation which illuminates the
target being furnished by other independent laser
sources. Laser-guided bombs are conventional aerial
bombs, only instead of ordinary fin assemblies they
are provided with assemblies controlled by a unit
with a laser homing head. Tests of these bombs show­
ed that the probable radial error of striking the target
is about one tenth that observed when using conven­
tional bombs. The Americans used laser-guided bombs
in their air raids in Viet-Nam.
Laser devices are coming into use in surveillance and
reconnaissance systems. The first laser cameras for
aerial reconnaissance borne by some craft of the US
Air Force allow the photographs to be taken during
night flights.
American military experts consider that laser wea­
pons can be used against enemy manpower. Possible
types of such a weapon may be a laser pistol, a laser
rifle, or a laser gun. For making a laser pistol, for
192
 deam

Fig. 82. Laser pistol

example, it is reasonable to employ pulsed-working

ruby lasers (Fig. 82).
11) this case the excitation source is made as an easily
replaceable cartridge. The ruby rod is arranged along
1lie axis of the cartridge together with battery-powered
chemical excitation sources.
A laser rifle for the US army has been developed
by the Maser Optics Go. The weight of this rifle is
11.3 kg. It is powered from a storage battery which
ensures 10 000 flashes. The rate of firing is one flash
every 10 seconds.
Such weapon as a laser pistol or a laser rifle can
injure the eyes of man. Powerful radiation concentrat­
ed on the retina by the crystalline lens causes its
damage. The laser radiation pulses being very short,
Ilie organism has no time to defend them.
Published reports, however, hold a laser rifle or pis­
tol to be not sufficiently effective destruction means,
since a laser beam can affect visual organs only when
the “victim” is looking in the direction of the enemy.
Fven slight fog or smoke may substantially diminish
the destructive action of such weapon.
For protecting the eyes of man against the action
1 3 -4 7 1 193
 of the laser light beam investigations and tests are
reported to be carried out in the United States with
photochromic solutions which, when exposed to light,
are capable of instantaneously changing the extent
to which they are coloured and become non-transpa­
rent. A photochromic solution consists of a solvent,
a photochromic dye, and an enzyme (ferment) that
controls the speed of the reaction, i.e. of colouring.
Such solutions are a thousand times more responsive
to intensive visible and ultra-violet radiation than the
human eye. The colouring of a photochromic solution
to a high optical density takes 10 ps. After the inten­
sity of the flash has dropped down to the tolerable
level, the solution in a few milliseconds becomes trans­
parent again.
For protecting the eyes against a light flash, such a
solution is used to fill the space between the two trans­
parent component parts of a motor-car windscreen, of
a protective mask facepiece or eyepieces.

LASERS IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY

Remarkable properties of lasers attracted the atten­
tion of surgeons. A laser beam proved to be fit for
performing such operations as are usually done with
a scalpel. In this case a laser beam from a generator
is transmitted along a flexible light guide made as a
bunch of glass or plastic fibres. The light guide ter­
minates in a lens and is provided with a handle for
the surgeon to manipulate it. The lens focuses the
light beam into a small spot with a diameter of se­
veral angstroms. With such a scalpel, it is possible
not only to incise tissues being sure of complete ste­
rility, but also to dissect individual cells.
The laser beam will be employed as a cauterizing
instrument for treating skin neoplasms and injuries.
194
Iii this case a laser is advantageous over conventional
cauterizing means, since it is an absolutely sterile
instrument and will not introduce any secondary in-
IimI,ion.
Ilut, probably, lasers will be most valuable instru­
ments in eye surgery. The fact is that a laser beam of
a definite intensity can pass through the transparent
Iissues of the eye without injuring them, so that ope­
rations on the eyeground can be performed without
musing the patient to suffer poignant pain. The flash
lasting but for a short period of time, overheating of
Ilie eye or its injury in case of an involuntary contrac­
tion of the eye muscles are precluded.
Numerous successful operations on the eye have al­
ready been performed with the help of lasers. We shall
rite only two examples. Using a laser as a surgical
instrument, it was possible to remove a tumour from
Iho ophthalmic artery; with a laser functioning as a
pliotocoagulator, detached retina was successfully
"welded” to the eyeground.
This method of medical treatment has received most
serious attention in the Soviet Union, and special
lasers for medical purposes have been created here.
Most of the operations performed at the V. P. Filatov
Institute of Ophthalmology in Odessa with the use
of lasers were successful, so that quite a number of
patients could see again. The new method is the sub­
ject of comprehensive research at other Soviet clinical
Institutes as well.
Figure 83 is a photograph of one of laser ophthalmo­
coagulators developed in the Soviet Union and desig­
ned for carrying out complicated operations on the
oyo. The radiation source in this apparatus is a ruby
rod, (5.5 mm in diameter and 65 mm in length. The
laser gives 4 flashes a minute, each lasting for 1 or
5 ms. The pulse radiation energy ranges from hun-
i'i« 195
 Fig. 83. Soviet laser ophthalmocoagulator Model OK-1

dredth fractions of a joule to 1 J. The minimum dia­

meter of the light spot is about 100 p. The apparatus
is powered from commercial mains (220 V). Its power
consumption is 300 W.
This is, certainly, not the complete list of possible
medical uses of lasers. Lasers will find application
in cancer research and treatment. Some specialists
consider that lasers will usher in a new era in cancer
surgery. The first experiments in the laser treatment
of malignant tumours carried out on animals and man
gave, though not yet conclusive, but encouraging re-

196
mu IIs. One of such experiments was conducted with
a ruby laser (X=6943 A) and with a gas laser (X=
-6328 A).
The experiment was run on nine animals (Syrian
golden hamsters) to which amelanotic melanoma was
inculcated from man. The animals were subjected
In laser irradiation, and after such treatment the tu­
mours disappeared in all the nine of them. One month
Inter no traces of tumour could be detected even by
microscopic investigations.
The radiation energy of a ruby laser in this experi­
ment was within a range of 60 to 380 J, and the pulse
power was 100 MW.
Tumours of other type, e. g. transplanted fibrosar­
coma, are less sensitive to laser radiation, and in some
ruses they could not be destroyed.
Similar experiments were carried out with human
patients. One such patient suffered from a malignant
lumour (melanoma) with metastases developed into
Ilie skin and subcutaneous tissues; the metastases rea­
died 1 cm in diameter. All these tumours were irra­
diated with a series of pulses, their total energy co­
ming to 360 J. Twenty days after the irradiation the
tumours disappeared. The effect was more pronounced
when the tumour was exposed to focused radiation,
with a sufficient density of the energy incident on the
lumour surface area. Thus, in the experiment under
discussion the energy was focused into a 2 mm-dia-
meter spot and the energy density was 1500 J/cm2.
In certain cases the effect of the treatment can be
enhanced by staining the tumour surface and thus in­
creasing the energy absorption coefficient.
The problems of laser applications for treating ma­
lignant tumours are studied by the National Institute
of Cancer in the United States as well. One of the mo­
il ids of a medical laser developed by this Institute has
197
an output energy of 800 J, with the pulse repetition
rate of 4 p.p.s. and the pulse duration varying from
2 to 4 ms. In appearance, this laser resembles a den­
tis t’s drill. It is accommodated in a shuttle suspended
from the ceiling. A set of lenses, prisms and mirrors
housed in a connection sleeve serve for transmitting
the energy to a small instrument that the surgeon
has to manipulate directly above the area to be ope­
rated. With the aid of the lenses the surgeon can vary
the radiation energy within 100 to 800 J. Energy los­
ses during its transmission along the sleeve do not
exceed 8 per cent.
The laser consists of four heads, each of them being
a Pyrex cylinder with a rod from neodymium-activated
glass. The rod length is 91 cm and its diameter is
1.9 cm. The cylinder is filled with water for cooling.
The laser rods are pumped by a 5 kW flash tube.
Certain success was reported in laser therapy of
superficial malignant tumours. It was also reported
that such a laser could be used as an auxiliary means
in cancer surgery when removing neoplasms in such
organs as liver and lungs, where the application of
a conventional scalpel involves a considerable risk,
as well as for destroying the tissues surrounding the
main tumour, since it is not always possible to remove
all the peripheral neoplasms without running the risk
that the patient’s life might be lost.
Experiments with animals showed that implanted
tumours could be rapidly destroyed without affecting
the neighbouring sound tissues, provided the laser-
radiation is appropriately focused. Some researchers
consider that the laser radiation effects on normal and
malignant tissues are different, especially when the
malignant tissue is pigmented.
Extensive investigations are made into the biolo­
gical effect of lasers on living organisms, particularly
198
on individual cells and on the central nervous system.
In experiments with mice, scientists were able to
cause severe lesions of different parts of the brain by
means of focused laser radiation Depending on the
accuracy with which the radiation was focused, differ­
ent parts of the brain could be destroyed, starting
with the cortex and down to the deep-lying strata—
the white substance of the spinal bulb and its other
parts. A remarkable fact in this operation was that
the cranial bones and the pachymeninx (dura mater)
remained intact. During the experiment the animals
were irradiated by a ruby laser beam, with the pulse
energy not exceeding 40 J. The distance from the end
face of the laser to the animal’s head was 2 m. Most
of the animals perished during the experiment. The lesi­
on was caused, evidently, by a sharp temperature in­
crease in the point of the beam focusing.
Research in this direction is continued.
 CHAPTER 5

Lasers
and Science

TESTING EINSTEIN'S THEORY OF RELATIVITY

One of the postulates on which the special theory of

relativity developed by Albert Einstein in 1905 is
based reads that the velocity of light in vacuum is a
constant value, the same in all inertial reference sys­
tems and equal to
c=299 792.5 km/s
In other words, the velocity of light is dependent
neither on the movement of the source, nor on the
movement of the observer (receiver).
This postulate was inferred from the negative result
of the celebrated experiment carried out in 1887 by
A. Michelson and E. W. Morley with a view to demon­
strating the existence of an “aether drift”. They wish­
ed to find out whether the velocity of light varies,
and if it does, then how, in case the observer moves
towards the source of light or away from it.
It is not at all easy to detect a difference in the
light propagation velocity, taking into account how
tremendous this velocity is and how small the stations
required for the experiment are. A particular accuracy
is needed in this case. Nevertheless, A. Michelson and
200
 E. W. Morley managed to overcome all the difficul­
ties by basing their experiment on the wave properties
of light.
The apparatus used in the experiment was an inter­
ferometer with a multiple reflection of the light beam.
In this experiment the time difference in the beam
travel in different directions was to be equal to
0.4-10"15 s (this being provided by turning the inter­
ferometer frame freely floating on the surface of mer­
cury poured into a special vessel through 180°). Since
the period of light oscillations for visible rays is 10~1Bs,
the time difference will be 0.4 of the period. Proceed­
ing from the interference of the oscillations of the
first and second rays, the phase difference in these
oscillations could be determined with an accuracy of
up to 0.01 of the period.
Thus the error in observing the interference pattern
in the Michelson—Morley experiment was only 2.5 per
cent. And still, in spite of a comparatively high accur­
acy, the results of the experiment were negative. No
time difference in the propagation of the rays could
be detected with the interferometer in either of its
two positions. In other words, no “aether drift” was
shown to exist. The velocity of light remained con­
stant, irrespective of whether it travelled in a direc­
tion towards the moving object, or away from it.
This negative result of the Michelson—Morley expe­
riment created a difficult situation for physicists as
it was in contradiction with the theory of the aether
at rest.
As the way out of this situation, Lorentz and Fitz­
gerald put forward a hypothesis, according to which
moving bodies contract in the direction of their mo­
tion. This effect, known as the Lorentz—Fitzgerald
contraction, was also used by A. Einstein in the crea­
tion of his special theory of relativity.
201
 Gas lasers allowed the Michelson—Morley experiment
to be repeated with an accuracy about one thousand
times exceeding that attainable before. The idea was
as follows. The working frequency of a gas laser must
be determined by the direction of propagation of light
in the resonant cavity relative to the aether drift.
A change in the light propagation velocity in the re­
sonant cavity (or a change in the length of the latter)
would be detected as a variation of the laser frequency.
One possible scheme of this experiment with the
use of lasers is shown in Fig. 84. In position a laser A
radiates in the direction of the supposed aether drift,
and another laser B radiates in a direction perpendi­
cular to this drift. The signals of these two lasers are
mixed by a photodetector, and a certain frequency dif­
ference signal is obtained at its output. In position
b one of the lasers (in this case laser A) radiates in a
direction opposite to the supposed aether drift. The
other laser (laser 5), as in position a, radiates in the
direction perpendicular to the aether drift. At the out­
put of the photodetector we shall again have a certain
signal equal to the frequency difference of the radia­
tions of lasers A and B. Should an aether influencing
the light propagation velocity exist, this would cause
a shift of the frequencies of one of the lasers, A, and
this shift would be different from the frequency dif­
ference signal at the detector output in position a.
But no difference was observed in the experiment.
It was established that with a difference in the orien­
tation of the laser with respect to the Earth and to the
supposed aether drift its working frequency remains
unchanged. This experiment demonstrated the absence
of variations in the velocity of light with an accuracy
of up to 0.03 mm/s.
Thus the validity of Einstein’s theory of relativity
was tested once again by means of lasers.
202
iagram of an experimental system for testing the theory
of relativity
MEASURING TIIE DRIFT OF CONTINENTS BY MEANS
OF LASERS

There exists a hypothesis which maintains that the

position of the continents on the globe is not always
the same, but varies with time. This phenomenon is
termed drift of continents. According to the latest
assumptions, the continents drift at an average speed
of 2 to 5 cm a year. But how can this unusual hypothe­
sis be verified? Do the continents remain immovable
or really travel along the sphere of the Earth? And
if they do, then how fast?
Yet, there is a possibility of subjecting this hypothe­
sis to an experimental test with the use of lasers. A
helium-neon CW laser will, probably, be most fit
for conducting such an experiment, since the stability
and coherence of a gas laser radiation are quite ade­
quate for meeting the experimental requirements. It
will be recalled here that the length of one of the laser
radiation waves is 1.135 \i. The frequency of the elec­
tromagnetic field oscillations is approximately
3-1014 Hz.
Figure 85 shows the scheme of an experiment during
which the Doppler effect manifestation may be ex­
pected.
Let the laser be found at point 1, and its beam be di­
rected onto a mirror reflector located at point 2 , tra­
velling with a velocity v in relation to the laser (po­
int 1). If the reflected light is mixed on a photomul­
tiplier with a portion of the light initially produced
by the laser, components arising from the Doppler
shift must appear at the photomultiplier output. The
frequency shift A/ is given by the equation

A/ = Ar- r
204
Fig. 85. Scheme of experiment for determining drift of conti­
nents

where N is the number of the beam passages between

points 1 and 2\ v is the velocity in angstroms
per second; and X is the wavelength in ang­
stroms.
The average speed of 5 cm/year corresponds to ap­
proximately 20 A/s, i.c. the displacement per second is
approximately equal to 20 atomic diameters (one angs­
trom corresponding to the diameter of a hydrogen atom).
The horizontal continental drift is considered to be
conditioned by convection water currents in the Earth,
entraining the continents. Those structural disconti­
nuities into which the convection currents vanish or
from which they come close to the Earth's surface may
be the cause and locality of the continental drifts.
There are such places where large masses of land bor­
der these discontinuities from both sides and the dist­
ance between them is not very great (about 30 kilo­
metres). The Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb and Gibraltar
can be mentioned as examples.
205
 These regions are, perhaps, most suitable for car­
rying out the above-described experiment and veri­
fying the continental migration hypothesis. In such
a case points 7 and 2 should be located on the opposite
sides of the discontinuity. The Doppler shift per pas­
sage in both ways corresponds to 1/250 Hz, and this
value cannot be detected against the background of
casual short-time shifts of the laser frequency. The
Doppler shift can be extended by a multiple reflection
of the laser beam in reflectors located on the opposite
sides of the discontinuity. Assuming that no losses
take place, the distance of 15 km the light can tra­
verse 500 times in both directions, till the coherence
disappears. This will give a 500-fold increase of the
Doppler shift, i.e. 500-1/250=2 Hz.
With a continuous lasing power of 50 MW, the re­
flection coefficient on the mirrors of 0.9 and losses
in the medium of 3.0 db, a photodetector having
a conventional sensitivity will be able to detect a 20-
fold passage of the beam in both ways. The Doppler
shift then will be 0.1 Hz.
If more powerful lasers are used, the Doppler shift
may be increased, since a greater number of beam pas­
sages between the reflectors will become possible be­
fore the signal level has become minimum detectable.
Besides, an increase in the coherence of the source can
still further improve the frequency stability. With
the continuous lasing power of the order of 10 W, the
Doppler shift could be slightly increased (to 0.11 Hz
altogether), and the short-time stability of the laser
frequency could be diminished to 0.1 Hz. The Dopp­
ler shift magnitude being determined, the continental
drift velocity can be found as
v = A f X/ N

206
 The realisation of such an experiment is naturally
associated with certain difficulties. These are as follows.
If the continental drift velocity is actually 5 cm
a year on an average, then the movement is, most
likely, non-uniform. However, an intermittent mo­
vement is easier to measure, for the speed at the mo­
ment of shocks will greatly exceed that of a uniform
motion. The velocity and magnitude of drift are pos­
sibly dependent on temperature, pressure and tides
which vary with seasons and during the day.
The Earth is subject to shocks and jerks, it has a
kind of pulse of its own. All these factors will tell on
the experiment, if run as suggested above.
Different variations in the phase characteristic of
the signal will be caused by casual fluctuations in
the refractive index of air. Therefore the distance I
cannot be very great. The determination of the magni­
tude of this effect requires experiments on the propa­
gation of laser light over great distances.
And finally, when conducting such an experiment,
definite requirements must be met as to the stability
of the foundations on which the instruments will be
located at points 1 and 2, so as to preclude local vi­
brations of the ground.
All these difficulties can probably be surmounted.
Experiments based on the principle of the multiple
reflection of the beam have already been carried out
(such as the Michelson—Morley experiment discussed
above). Under the conditions of continuous oscilla­
tions, correlation methods can be used for data pro­
cessing.
The above-described experiment on measuring the
continental migration velocity may prove to be a va­
luable tool for geodetic explorations of the Earth’s
surface. The same idea can be used for measuring the
rate of glacier movement.
207
LASERS FOR GEODETIC STUDIES AND ATMOSPHERIC
SOUNDING
Lasers will find application in diverse geodetic in­
struments. The use of lasers on seismographs is worthy
of attention. A seismograph whose block diagram is
shown in Fig. 86 consists of two gas lasers 4. One of
the mirrors of the resonant cavity 3 of each laser is
connected with an oscillatory mass 2 suspended from
spring 1. The other two mirrors 5 are stationary. With
the pendulum swinging, the length of one resonant
cavity increases and that of the other diminishes.
The result is a corresponding alteration in the work­
ing frequencies of the lasers (/3, / 2). With the aid of
optical mixer 6 the frequency difference (f1—/2) is pro­
duced, whose variation corresponds to the amplitude

Fig. 8G. Diagram of a laser seismograph

/ — s p rin g ; 2 — o s c illa to ry m a s s ; 3 — m o v a b le m ir ro r s ; 4 — g a s
la s e rs ; 5 — s ta tio n a r y m ir ro r s ; 6 — m ix e r

208
of the pendulum oscillations. The sensitivity of such
a seismograph is at least by one order of magnitude
better than that of other types of seismographs.
The laser can be employed for atmospheric sounding
to determine the height and density of the metastable
states of the upper atmospheric layers, caused by such
phenomena as aurora, airglow, solar eruptions, meteor
trails.
The whole system employing a laser for the above
purposes may be called an optical radar. It consists
of an emitter of an intensive coherent light pulse and a
receiver which measures the amplitude and delay time of
the reflected optical signal. A pulsed gas laser is most fit
as a transmitter, and a photomultiplier is preferable as a
receiver. Since each atmospheric component is best
sounded by pulses of a definite wavelength, a laser is
evidently needed whose radiation frequency can be
retuned, otherwise, the system should include several
lasers, each of them tuned to a definite component of
the upper atmospheric layers.
For determining the concentrations of metastable
nitrogen, for instance during the aurora period, as
well as for ascertaining its spatial distribution in the
atmosphere, a high-power pulsed working nitrogen la­
ser could be employed.
By adding molecules of sodium into the active me­
dium of a pulsed working gas laser, a sodium laser
can be created which will emit waves belonging to the
yellow region of the optical spectrum. Such sodium
laser would allow examination of sodium density dis­
tribution in the atmosphere in a vertical plane during
the whole night. The laser makes possible the detec­
tion of turbulent air flows in the atmosphere.
Calculations show that the development of such a
system is possible and that it will be an extremely
valuable tool for atmospheric sounding.
14— 471 209
 MEASURING OF SPEEDS
By using a laser, speeds can be measured with a
high accuracy. The relative speed of an object in such
a case is found from the formula

where v is the speed to be measured; c is the velocity

of light; / is the laser frequency; and A/ is the
frequency shift due to the Doppler effect.
Gas lasers, ensuring a high degree of coherence and
monochromaticity, are preferable for this purpose. The
frequency of lasers operating within the visible or
near infra-red regions of the spectrum is known. Let
it be 1014 Hz. If the speed of an object is several cen­
timetres per second, the frequency shift will be about
10 kHz. Thus, both very small and high speeds can
be measured with a high accuracy.

LASER SPACE COMMUNICATIONS

In spite of certain difficulties, even to-day the use
of lasers for space communications can be said to be
extremely promising.
Let us consider some of the problems associated with
the possibility of using lasers for space communica­
tions. The works of B. Bowers are devoted to these
problems.
Some recapitulation concerning the structure of
light will, perhaps, be appropriate here. Any light
source radiates light not continually, but as discrete
“clusters” of energy, called light quanta, photons. The
energy of a photon depends on the radiation wave­
length and is the greater, the shorter the wavelength.
Therefore it can be said that a photon corresponding
to the ultra-violet region of the spectrum possesses
210
a higher energy than a photon in the infra-red region.
Ultra-violet rays are characterised by the shortest
wavelength of the optical spectrum, while infra-red
rays, on the contrary, are characterised by the longest
wavelength.
The quantity of photons emitted by a system per
minute is a very important magnitude for characteris­
ing the quality of communication. In space communi­
cation system literally every photon must be taken
into account. The quantity of photons eventually de­
termines the information transmission rate.
In order to ensure maximum range of optical com­
munication, it is obviously necessary to bring the
energy density in the light beam to the highest pos­
sible degree. An increase in the density of energy in
the beam requires an increase in the dimensions of
the transmitting aerial. From the Fraunhofer diffrac­
tion theory it is known that the angular width of a
light beam must be proportional to X/d where X is
the radiation wavelength and d is the diameter of
the transmitting aerial. For this reason even micro-
wave aerials are bulky. When we are to deal with a
communication system designed to operate in the op­
tical range in the outer space where such factors as
weight and dimensions of the equipment are of pri­
mary importance, the advantages of lasers over con­
ventional radioengineering means are indisputable.
In any communication system so-called background
noises are present. Usually these noises are from both
external and internal sources (electron valves, resis­
tors, power supply sources). The quality of the received
signal depends on the level of these noises and is cha­
racterised by the signal-to-noise ratio. The main po­
tential source of internal noises is the transmitter which
must have a very low level of intrinsic noises. One of
the most important characteristics of the laser is just
14* 211
a low level of its intrinsic noises, as compared to ex­
ternal sources. The external source of noises is the
solar and lunar chromosphere. As is known, radiators
are characterised by the temperature related to that
of a black body. For the Sun this temperature is esti­
mated at approximately 7000°K. The influence of
the Moon is less significant, but also should be taken
into account. The effective temperature related to
that of a black body for the Moon within its areas
illuminated by the Sun is estimated at 407°K. The
average value of the background received on the Earth
is only 273°K.
If the receiver is screened against sunlight, the back­
ground noise caused by other sources is insignificant.
Therefore optical communication is better during the
night than in the daytime. This is true for the infra­
red region as well.
The intrinsic radiation spectrum of the Moon is
shifted towards longer waves. The minimum spectral
omittance of the Moon (minimum energy density per
unit wavelength of radiation) corresponds to the waves
having a length of about lOp.
When choosing the frequency for laser communica­
tions, certain limitations should be taken into consi­
deration. For instance, the quantity of photons emit­
ted by the source at a pre-set power level is the greater,
the greater the wavelength. Besides, one should try
to exclude background radiation, and this is not at
all easy to do in the optical range. Another limitation
is associated with the absorption of radiation by the
terrestrial atmosphere, so that “optical windows”,
that is, such wavelength regions for which the atmo­
sphere is almost transparent, should be sought for.
All these requirements taken together make the wa­
velength region of about 10 p most fit for optical
communication systems.
212
 As we know, powerful CW lasers operating in this
very range have already been developed.
Perhaps, the most difficult problem in the use of
optical communication systems in the outer space is
the creation of superstable laser platforms. On the
one hand, the width of the beam radiated by the emit­
ter must be rather small and, on the other hand, ma­
ximum stability of the platform mounting the radia­
tion source is required, so that angular fluctuations
of the laser beam about the line connecting the trans­
mitter with the receiving station on the Earth should
be comparable with the angular width of the beam.
The same contradictory requirements are to be met
by the radiation receiver. On the one hand, the re­
ceiver must be able to receive maximum power that
reaches it when the receiver fully covers the entire
cross-section of the radiated beam; on the other hand,
the dimensions of the receiver aerial must be as small
as possible, so as to minimise the reception of back­
ground radiation. Consequently, the platform of the
transmitter must be stabilised in the best possible
way.
The width of laser beams is on the order of 10'4
radian (which corresponds to approximately 200").
As to the stability of presently operating laser systems,
it lies so far within several tenths of a degree and may
reach even 5°, depending on the magnitude of the
forces acting on the platform (solar radiation pres­
sure, cosmic magnetic fields, inertial forces, etc.).
Because of this, the region covered by the radiation
of lasers in the outer space in the present-day state
of engineering turns out to be at least 1000 times greater
than the cross-sectional area of their beam on the
Earth’s surface on account of instability of laser plat­
forms (it should be remembered that it is the axial
angle which is meant here, but not the solid one).
213
A compromise, though a poor one, would be to em­
ploy several lasers simultaneously transmitting the
same information.
Due to the fact that the axial rotation velocity of
the Moon is less than that of the Earth and that there
is no atmosphere on the Moon, the transmission of
information from the Moon to Mars appears to be more
advantageous than such a transmission from the Earth,
though attenuation of radiation in the Martian at­
mosphere should be taken into account.
Using such a stable platform as the Moon in relation
to the Earth, it will be most simple to effect a one-
way Moon-to-Earth communication, and therefore the
first experiment of a laser interplanetary communica­
tion will, probably, be conducted between the Moon
and the Earth.
It is most likely that a research station will be erec­
ted on the Moon. It is very probable that a laser trans­
mitter will be mounted on this station, with its power­
ful beam directed towards the Earth. The bright laser
beam can then be seen with a naked eye even against
the sunlit side of the Moon. When the Moon faces
our Earth with its dark side, the laser beam will flash
up against its background as a dark-red star (its co­
lour, naturally, depending on the selected frequency
of the laser), surrounded by a golden crescent at new
moons.
Very simple messages, of interest to the compatriots
of the astronauts and to the entire population of the
Earth, could be transmitted by periodically inter­
rupting the laser beam by means of a screen (modu­
lating it). For transmitting more complicated messages
and larger volumes of information, the laser beam
must be modulated with the use of a different, more
perfect method. Let us determine the optimal width
of a laser beam, which would ensure both the required
214
density of the beam energy and reliable capturing
of an object to which information is to be transmitted.
As is known, a light beam is scattered on account
of the inhomogeneity of the atmosphere. Besides, dif­
fraction phenomena add to the light beam scattering
and bring the scattering angle to about 5 angular
seconds. All this will result in an appreciable deterio­
ration of laser characteristics.
What is the relationship between the width of a
laser beam and the power of a laser?
This relationship is expressed by a complicated for­
mula; we shall not consider it here, but merely state
that the power at the point of reception is determined
by the relation of the area of the receiving aerial to
the area a laser beam would cover in a plane perpen­
dicular to the direction of its propagation and passing
through this point. Evidently, this area will increase
in proportion to the square of the radius of this plane
(assuming it to be a circumference). The width of the
beam (its angle) is defined as the relation of this ra­
dius to the distance between the laser and the receiver.
This, naturally, is only a rough approximation. Many
other factors such as the signal-to-noise ratio, signal
bandwidth, spectral density of noises, conditions of
the atmosphere or medium traversed by the beam,
etc. also enter into the formula.
In order to practically estimate the possibility of
establishing communication between the Earth and
the Moon it is necessary to know the signal-to-noise
ratio. Calculations show that for a laser working at
the wave of 10 p, with a laser beam width of 20",
the surface area of the receiving aerial of the reflector
of 20 m2 and the laser output power of 0.1 W, the num­
ber of photons received by the aerial will be 2.25 -10u
photon/s. The number of photons constituting the noi­
se background, according to calculations, is 8-1010
215
photon/s. Consequently, for the adopted values the
signal-to-noise ratio will be
S __ 2.25 •1011 q
N ~~ 8 •1010 ^6
Insofar as we have taken into account not all the
interfering factors, the actual value of this ratio will
probably be smaller. However, the output power of
the now existing lasers, especially of ruby lasers, is
considerably greater than 0.1 W adopted in our cal­
culations, and therefore the signal-to-noise ratio may
practically be better. Yet, it should be taken into
consideration that an increase in the laser power will
entail broadening of the laser output spectrum.
An appropriate choice of the type of a detector is
very important for the construction of optical space
communication systems. Photomultipliers, laser re­
ceivers and quantum counters may be used for this
purpose.
Photomultipliers have a very broad radiation pass-
band, so that in detectors employed in space commu-
nicaton systems narrow band-pass optical filters must
be used which would pass only one narrow and definite
frequency band. This band must fit the atmospheric
transmission windows (of the terrestrial atmosphere
for the case of a Moon-to-Earth communication system)
and the laser transmitter frequency.
At the same time photomultipliers have a merit of
possessing a large capture angle (so that the direction
of radiation may mismatch the photomultiplier axis
to a considerable degree). Proper cooling of the pho­
tomultiplier improves its performance characteristics
and brings down its noise level. But the level of ex­
ternal noises (background and others) still remains
high. The elimination of external noises is the main
216
problem with photomultipliers, and its solution may
be found in modulating the light beam.
A laser receiver (i.e. a laser functioning as an am­
plifier) will be difficult to employ because of small
capture angles. If we recall the laser design, it will
be easy to understand that only those photons which
have entered the laser in a direction strictly parallel
to the axis of its rod will cause generation and be am­
plified; photons which fall at an angle to the rod axis
do not cause generation, leave the rod at an angle
and are scattered. Collecting optical systems which
focus the bunch of received photons onto the ruby
improve the operation of a laser receiver. However,
this type of a detector suffers from an essential disad­
vantage on account of considerable fluctuations in
the number of the signal photons received by the de­
tector per second. Besides, a laser amplifier has a re­
latively broad photon capture band, i.e. is triggered
by photons having different energy and frequency.
A quantum counter is most effective for detecting
the signal frequency within a broad band of frequen­
cies. The operation of this counter is based on the use
of strictly definite energy levels. For revealing a
transition between these levels, the frequencies of the
absorbed and radiated light must be the same. This
principle is realised in the laser. The difference be­
tween a quantum counter and a laser resides in that
the former responds to strictly definite frequencies.
Another possible method of detecting signals is the
so-called method of photon statistics. If the power of
a coherent radiation is commensurable with that of
a fluctuation interference, then the detector during
a certain small period of time will be unable to dis­
criminate between the signal and interference. The
detector will record a signal only after a change has
taken place from the random fluctuation towards a
217
 definite value. With this method, the information
transmission rate will evidently be rather low.
Let us calculate, how many photons a detector will
require for discriminating signal photons against the
background of noises. Let us assume the signal recog­
nition criterion to be the level at which the signal is
at least equal to background fluctuations. Then in
case of a purely random arrival of photons to the de­
tector surface the number of photons is 8-1010 pho-
ton/s. Assuming that the filter passes radiation only
within the laser emission band (optimal case), the
number of photons reaching the detector will be 3-105
photon/s. By multiplying this value by the energy of
a single photon with a wavelength of 10 |i, we shall
obtain the power of a minimum signal at the detector
to be on the order of 6 •10~15W. According to experimen­
tal data this minimum power is approximately 10"12W.
In order to realise these communication system pro­
jects much progress is to be made in the field of op­
tics. Nevertheless, the potentialities of optical com­
munication systems are extremely high, and this is
confirmed by the reception on the Earth of the laser
beam sent to the Moon and reflected from its surface.
Another important aspect of laser space communica­
tions is the provision of communication between space
ships and some planet or the Moon. For the solution
of this problem, the stabilization of the laser platform
(space ship) must be improved by at least hundreds
of times. At present it is very difficult to solve this
problem since the forces acting upon an artificial
satellite, such as pressure of sunlight, force of gravity,
collision with various particles, etc., are not easily
determined. Progress in this field will depend on the
solution of the main problem of aiming at and tracking
of space objects.
Calculations of theoretical possibilities of a commu-
218
nicaton system in the outer space with the help of
lasers allow one to come to the conclusion that such
systems will be created.
The realisation of one of the possible projects of
space communication between the Earth and Mars
with a relay station on the Moon contemplates taking
advantage of the absence of lunar atmosphere and a
higher stability of such a “platform” as is the Moon
in relation to the Earth. This scheme may also be
used for establishing communication with spacecraft
in flight.
In those cases when a planet has no suitable natural
satellite on which a relay station could be mounted,
it is reasonable to mount relay stations on artificial
satellites especially for communications with space­
craft. A scheme of such a communication system is
219
 Q
O*
0
OS
T0S
aS

G
aS

0<D £^
tXQ }
o
g2
G 0)
g£
jumps uj uonc
-vdodoad qvud'is 13 a
_o cti

SA « 1 ri, J k - ^ T c>
p, a
O G
S-&3
Pss*s-
.fc
%o
tQ 1 HJ
•vj 9l
s ls ■£ &
^ 13
a°
G
O

G
G
a
ao
U
oo
00

tOD
£
shown in Fig. 87. The artificial satellite will be in
orbit outside the atmosphere. If the atmosphere of
the planet is sufficiently dense, the transmission within
the planet-satellite region may be better carried out
using UHF or SHF bands.
For a reliable communication between Earth sta­
tions and spacecraft, it is also expedient to employ
stationary satellites serving within a global communi­
cation system which will evidently be created in the
nearest future. With this system, one of the satellites
will always be within the zone of assured communica­
tion with one of the spacecraft. Two other satellites
will ensure the relaying of the messages from the space­
craft to any point of the globe.
When realising the space communication projects,
such a factor as energy requirements for the transmis­
sion of information are to be taken into account.
Calculations show a laser system to be most economic­
ally expedient in this respect, since it requires only
10"16 W/s for the transmission of one binary digit of
information, whereas a system operating in the radio
frequency band requires 10“7 W/s for the transmission
of the same amount of information. A laser system
thus requires one thousand million times less energy
than a radio frequency one.
Figure 88 shows a version of a communication system
in which the transmitter is a laser functioning as a
generator and the receiver is an optical quantum am­
plifier. Light radiation is modulated by audio fre­
quency signals produced by a low-frequency ampli­
fier. The transmitter is provided with an optical sys­
tem that shapes a beam and directs it towards the re­
ceiver. The optical system of the receiver is in align­
ment with that of the transmitter. The light signal
comes to the optical quantum amplifier. On arrival
of the light beam the optical quantum amplifier am-
221
 fl
o

a
p
a
a
o

g
>
CO

bJD
CO

05
00

bJD
Fig. 90. Mock-up of a laser space communication system

plifies the signal due to induced radiation, and the

amplified signal comes to a photodetector and a de­
modulator. From the demodulator the signal is sent
to the low-frequency amplifier. A specific feature of
this system is that it is almost insensitive to inter­
ferences, since only those signals are amplified which
come to the input of the optical quantum amplifier
strictly parallel to its optic axis.
Figure 89 shows a version of a communication sys­
tem also based on the use of lasers, but differing from
the preceding one in that for mixing the bunches of
223
light from the transmitting laser and from the local
oscillator laser it envisages the use of a photocell
functioning as a demodulator. When mixing the light
bunches, this demodulator separates the radio-fre­
quency signal which carries the transmitted informa­
tion. The operation of other units of this system is
clear from the Figure.
Figure 90 shows a mock-up of a system which demon­
strates the possibility of effecting space communica­
tions with the use of laser radiation and employing
solar energy. A semiconductor laser placed into a
cryostat (to the right) is powered from solar batteries.
Two lamps at the top simulate the Sun. Seen to the left
is a mock-up of a space vehicle bearing a laser radia­
tion indicator. The laser emits 400 pulses per second
of 1 jis each. The indicator converts light signals
into sound signals.
The possible versions of various space communica­
tion systems with the use of lasers are certainly not
limited to these examples.
 CHAPTER G

The Prospects
of Lasers

PIPELINE OUT OF A LASER BEAM

There is still another interesting application that

lasers may find in the future: to convey gaseous sub­
stances, say, oxygen or hydrogen, over interplanetary
distances, with the laser beam put to use as a pipe­
line. Such a perspective is discussed by G. Pokrovsky
in his book “Superpowerful Light” (Znaniye Publi­
shers, 1964).
If we take a laser shaped as a hollow cylinder, its
outgoing beam will be tubular. The light flux in this
tubular beam is so distributed that the density of
the energy in the mid-portion is lower than in the
peripheral layer (Fig. 91).

Fig. 91. Diagram of a pipeline out of a laser beam

225
 Now, if we introduce a certain amount of gas into
the mid-portion of the light flux, this gas will be en­
trained by the light flux inside the light tube in the
direction of propagation of the light. The molecules
or atoms of the gas will be unable to escape through
the peripheral zone since it has a higher concentration
of the energy. Thus, a kind of a gas pipeline is created
by the light rays which retain the gas and make it
travel with the light wind. Unlike a conventional
pipe, this light pipe will offer no hindrance to the
passage of gas particles, there being no friction against
its walls. On the contrary, the walls of the light pipe
will add to the effect of the light wind.
However, on account of imperfect finishing of the
optical surfaces of the radiating system and because
of the presence of diffraction phenomena, the light
pipe is effective only over a certain distance.
Suppose it is necessary to convey a gaseous substance
along a light pipeline from the Earth to the Moon.
What will be the diameter of the transmitting device?
According to calculations, with the standards so far
reached in the manufacture of optical devices, the dia­
meter must be 89 metres. At present such an emitter
can hardly be constructed; but with further advances
in the technology of optics this figure may be reduced
to 25 metres.
For intercepting the substance transferred along a
light pipeline, a corresponding receiver will be nee­
ded with a diameter twice that of the emitter, that
is, 198 metres with our present-day techniques or
50 metres with more advanced ones.
The axis of the light flux must naturally be strictly
oriented towards the receiver. For effecting the trans­
fer of a gaseous substance along a light pipeline “rout­
ed” between the Earth and the Moon, the axis of the
light flux must follow the motion of the Moon, and
226
this can be achieved through the use of a special turn­
ing servo-mechanism operating with a very high ac­
curacy due to the provision of a feedback. The feed­
back will give information about the location of the
light spot on the Moon in relation to the receiver and
allow the transmission of appropriate correction sig­
nals to the Earth. The arrangements of such kind are
quite feasible at present.
When realising the projects of transmitting substan­
ces along light pipelines, it should be taken into ac­
count that hydrogen, oxygen and other gases rather
poorly absorb and scatter light under normal pres­
sure and temperature; therefore they are poorly en­
trained by the light flux. To improve the situation
and raise the gas transfer velocity, we may first heat
and ionise the gas, bringing it to the plasma state.
If the temperature is raised to 5 or 6 thousand degrees,
the gas will intensively glow and absorb light. In
such a state it will be easily made to move under the
effect of the light flux pressure. Though very power­
ful radiators would be required for delivering gaseous
substances over tremendous distances, the procedure
itself appears rather realistic.
In his book G. Pokrovsky points out that power
requirements for satisfying the needs in oxygen of
one man on the Moon will be at least several dozen
thousands of kilowatts. This means that radiating
devices controlled with an extremely high accuracy
must be as big as dozens of metres.
All this may seem phantastic. But man is steadily
pursuing the task of conquering the nearest planets,
and in so doing, it will take him, perhaps, only a few
decades to make the projects of transferring gases
along light pipelines a reality.

i.r>* 227
 LASERS AND COMMUNICATIONS
WITH EXTRATERRESTRIAL CIVILIZATIONS

Are we alone in the Universe? Is man the sole in­

telligent being to enjoy the privilege of contemplat­
ing the splendour of the Nature, or other intelligent
beings similar to us, men, exist somewhere in the
immense Universe? And if they do exist, how can we
get in contact with them and reach mutual under­
standing?
Ages ago man regarded himself to be in the very
centre of the Universe and acting alone on its bound­
less scene.
But then came the discovery that a great many other
worlds surround both our Earth and Solar System.
This, naturally, suggested that life could possibly
exist somewhere else as well.
Why not on the Moon, our nearest celestial neigh­
bour? This idea, however, was to be abandoned, since
the Moon turned out to be deprived of the atmosphere,
and man directed his attention to Mars and Venus.
The thought that these planets might have intelligent
inhabitants gave birth to a wealth of legends told and
fiction stories written. Yet, recent explorations of
these planets leave us less and less hope that intelli­
gent beings may live on either of them. Scientists at­
tribute seasonal changes in the colour of the Mars’
surface to the presence of certain forms of vegetable
life there; but the final say will be, before very long,
when man has made his first steps on the mysterious
planet.
The Universe has no boundaries and the Solar Sys­
tem is just a speck in it. Indeed, in our Galaxy, a
family of about 100 000 million stars, some stars
have their planets, as our Sun does. We cannot see
these planets even through most powerful telescopes,
228
but investigations into the behaviour of these stars
confirm the existence of their own planets.
Suppose now that out of a thousand of planetary sys­
tems only one planet has environments suitable for
the process of biological evolution. Then many mil­
lions of planets on which life is possible should exist
within the confines of our Galaxy.
Astronomers tell us that our Galaxy is merely one
of millions upon millions of other galaxies.
From what we know about the Universe it can be
asserted that living things must have a feature com­
mon to all of them, namely, that any living being is
a tremendously complicated aggregate of chemical
compounds of hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen,
phosphorus and many other elements which are the
same for the whole universe.
Another thing should also be admitted; in case life
exists on other planets, it may have quite unexpected
forms, absolutely uncomparable with those on our
Earth.
Still another point not to be ignored is that the
level of civilization of even those intelligent beings
on other planets who in their development stand clo­
sest to man will drastically differ from our own.
The existence of man on the Earth is only an in­
stant if measured on the infinite scale of cosmic time.
Therefore on some planets intelligent life may be well
ahead of the level we have reached.
Possibly, some technically advanced civilizations
are already sending signals into outer space to inform
other worlds about their existence and establish com­
munication with them. It is not improbable that there
exist such civilizations for which communications with
other planets have long become a sort of conventional
“cultural exchange”.
Still, it would be a mistake to consider that to con-
229
tact inhabitants of other worlds is an easy task. On the
contrary, this task is quite difficult, since the theory
of relativity imposes a limitation on the speed with
which information can be transmitted. Even such a
tremendous speed as that of light, i.e. 300 000 km/s,
is not a very large value on the cosmic scale.
Attempts have already been made to receive sig­
nals from intelligent beings, inhabitants of the Uni­
verse. To this end, a “search” of the Universe was
tried out on the frequency of 1420 MHz corresponding
to the 21-cm wavelength. The choice of this particu­
lar wavelength was dictated by the following
reasons.
The idea came from the American scientists G. Coc-
coni and Ph. Morrison who in the 1940s theoretically
predicted that neutral atoms of hydrogen found under
the conditions of interstellar space must emit the
21-cm spectral line. This wavelength is associated
with the passage of the hydrogen atom from one energy
state in which the magnetic moments of the hydrogen
nucleus and electron are parallel into another, in which
they are antiparallel.
Thus, the frequency standard was prompted, as it
were, by the Nature itself. Scientists suggested that
artificial signals in the Universe should be sought
for at the frequency corresponding to the 21-cm wa­
velength. There can be no doubt that any technologic­
ally advanced civilization must have discovered this
frequency in the spectrum of cosmic radio radiation
as well.
In May—July, 1960, a program for the search of
signals of extraterrestrial civilizations (Project Ozma)
was carried out for 150 hours, at the American Radio
Astronomy Observatory at Green Bank in West Vir­
ginia under the leadership of the radio astronomer
F. Drake. The search was conducted with specially
230
developed equipment focused on tlm nearest stars Tau
Ceti and Epsilon Eridani which am helievod to have
planetary systems and arc relatively not very remote
from the Sun, the distance boing about 11 light years.
Though the observations by a 27-molm radiotelescope
were very careful, no signals of an artificial character
were received. It should, certainly, he taken into
consideration that chances of success wore not great.
Yet it was decided to continue tho research.
A similar experiment was conducted in the Soviet
Union at Sternberg Astronomical Institute. At pre­
sent the search of signals of extraterrestrial civiliza­
tions is under way at Gorky State University Research
Institute of Radiophysics. No positive results have
been obtained so far. But one must have patience when
searching for “intelligent” signals in outer space and,
perhaps, it will take centuries from now.
But are we going the right way? Maybe we exaggerate
the importance of the 21-cm wave in space communi­
cations and are led astray by the theoretical predicti­
ons that precisely this wave is a “space bridge” to
extraterrestrial civilizations?
Soviet scientists checked the initial premises and
came to the opposite conclusions. The wave emitted
by neutral atoms of hydrogen is least likely to carry
signals of extraterrestrial civilizations! This is just
the frequency band where maximum cosmic noises
should be expected: all the interstellar hydrogen is
humming on this wave! A signal sent by any intelli­
gent civilization will be inevitably absorbed by this
noise. One should seek for such a band where the noises
would be minimum, while the conditions for the trans­
mission and reception of signals would be most fa­
vourable. This problem is discussed by the Soviet
astronomer N. Kardashev in his paper devoted to
communication with extraterrestrial civilizations and
231
published in Astronomical Journal (41, Issue 2, 1964).
If N. Kardashev is right in his conclusions, an at­
tempt at communicating with extraterrestrial civili­
zations on the 21-cm wave will probably bring a very
disappointing result.
But radio communication is not the only means of
contacting the inhabitants of other worlds.
Many scientists are of opinion that it will be most
reasonable and promising to use lasers for establish­
ing communication with extraterrestrial civilizations.
Such an application of lasers may open an era of in­
terstellar communication.
The American scientists Townes and Schwarz were
the first to suggest the use of lasers for space commu­
nications in an article on this subject published in
1961. In this article they discuss the possibility of
detecting signals sent by means of a laser beam from
a planet of a star which is at a distance of tens of light
years from us. It is assumed that messages are trans­
mitted by a society which has reached approximately
the same level of development as we have. Such sig­
nals sent to us can well be detected by our present-
day telescopes and spectrographs.
In their discussion of the problem, the authors con­
sider two systems of lasers, system a and system b,
as the main equipment. The characteristics of system a
are as follows. Its power is 10 kW, it works CW with
the wavelength of about 5000 A, the frequency band
width is of the order of 1 MHz, and the diameter of
the reflector is 500 cm (the diameter of the biggest
now available reflecting telescopes). The beam width
(the ratio of the wavelength to the reflector diameter)
is 10"7 radian.
System b consists of 25 lasers with the characterist­
ics of system a. The effective aperture is 10 cm, the
beam width is 5-10"6 radian. All the lasers of this
232
system are oriented strictly in one direction with an
accuracy of up to the beam width.
System a must be mounted beyond the E arth’s at­
mosphere, say, on the Moon or on an artificial satel­
lite, since otherwise the effective width of the beam
will be considerably reduced by the atmospheric tur­
bulence.
As to system b, it must be capable of effectively ope­
rating when mounted on the surface of a planet having
an atmosphere similar to that of our Earth.
The beam sent to us from a neighbouring star can
be detected if its intensity is sufficient and this beam
differs from the background, that is from the light
radiated by the star.
The laser beam emitted by system a may be seen
with a naked eye from the distance of 0.1 light year,
and through binoculars, from the distance of 0.4 light
year. From the distance of 10 light years the radia­
tion emitted by system a may be detected visually
with a 500-cm telescope, or photographed by using
a conventional method with an exposure time of 1 mi­
nute.
For system b the exposure time is considerably lon­
ger. Over the distances specified for system a, it will
be difficult to detect the signal with a naked eye or
a telescope. Some scientists are of opinion that, con­
trary to the assertions of Townes and Schwarz, this
system b is altogether unfit for interstellar communica­
tions.
Is there a possibility of discriminating between the
emission of a laser and that of a star? One of the dis­
tinctive features of a laser emission may be its monoch­
romaticity. For example, if the distribution of emis­
sion of a star is the same as that of our Sun, then ac­
cording to calculations, in the vicinity of the laser
operation wavelength of 5000 A the spectral density
1G— 471 233
 of the laser emission for the band of 2 MHz would
be 25 times that of the star. Should the laser operate
in the ultra-violet or infra-red region of the spectrum,
the laser emission intensity would still further exceed
that of the star • since the emission of the latter (as1
suming it to be similar to the solar one) is particu­
larly pronounced within 5000 A.
The possibility of detecting a laser beam against
the background of the star emission will be increased
by hundreds and thousands of times if the laser is
located beyond the atmosphere. In such a case obser­
vations should evidently be conducted by using nar­
row-band filtefs;
Another method for making the laser beam detect­
able against the star emission background is to mo­
dulate this beam, and this will evidently take place
during the transmission of messages. A modulated
laser beam can be detected, by using correlation meth­
ods, even against background noises whose level ii
commensurable in magnitude with the laser emission.
In view of all this lasers can be regarded as quite
suitable means for establishing interstellar communica­
tion. The idea of communicating with extraterrestrial
civilizations appears still more realistic when one takes
into account that before long much more powerful
lasers will be devised.
The achievements made in many branches of science
and technology (such as astronomy, biology, cyberne­
tics, information theory, radiophysics and radioen­
gineering, development of space) are so fundamental
that now the problem of communications with ex­
traterrestrial civilizations is the subject of top-level
scientific discussions.
In 1970 the USSR Academy of Sciences and the Na­
tional Academy of Sciences of the USA reached an
agreement that a joint Conference should be held on
234
this problem. The Conference took piece in Septem­
ber 1971 at Burakan (the Armenian Soviet Socialist
Republic), and its participants were scientists not
only from the Soviet Union ami Hie United Stales,
but from other countries as well. 'This was the second
meeting of scientists in the Soviet Union, devoted
to the discussion of this important problem. The first
All-Union Conference was called as early as 1904 ex­
pressly to consider the problem of extraterrestrial ci­
vilizations and possibility of establishing contacts with
them. This Conference was held also at the Burakan
Astrophysical Observatory of the Academy of Sciences
of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic.
Astronomers, physicists, biologists, antropologists,
historians, sociologists, philosophers, linguists, ex­
perts in information and communication theory—such
is the list of those who took part in the work of the
International Conference on the Problem of Communi­
cation with Extraterrestrial Civilizations in 1971.
Among its participants there were such prominent
Soviet scientists as Academicians V. Ambartsumian
and V. Ginzburg, Corresponding Members of the USSR
Academy of Sciences V. Siforov, V. Troitsky and
I. Shklovsky. American science was represented, in
particular, by the well-known physicists Nobel Lau­
reate Professor Charles Townes, Doctor Freeman Dy­
son, astronomer Francis Drake, expert in cybernetics
Professor Martin Minsky, biologist and astrophysicist
Doctor Carl Sagan. Great Britain was represented by
Nobel Laureate Professor Francis Crick. The aim of the
Conference was to estimate the actual state of the pro­
blem and delineate the ways of further activities.
Opening the Conference, Academician V. Ambartsu­
mian said: “Certainly, an opinion may be voiced that
the discussion about extraterrestrial civilizations and
communication with them is premature, since so far
ic* 235
there is no direct concrete evidence of the existence of
extraterrestrial civilizations. But the initiators of the
Conference consider that an active search for such
evidence is necessary, as well as a comprehensive theo­
retical investigation of the problem, based on all the
data of modern astronomy, planetology, biology and
sociology”.
The participants of this xound-table Conference dis­
cussed many interesting questions, both of problemati­
cal and cognitive character: modern views on the ori­
gin of planets and methods of their detection at the
nearest stars; the possibility of the existence of life
on cool planets, on planets without stars, and even
in the interstellar medium (complex organic com­
pounds having been discovered by radioastronomic
methods in the interstellar medium); the possibility
of life transport from one planet to another, the in­
fluence of submarine volcanoes on the origin of life
on the Earth; the role of chance in the process of the
origin of life. An interesting discussion was run aro­
und the problem of the origin of reason. It was pointed
out that complicated social life is a prerequisite foi
the origin of reason. However, a combination of nu­
merous factors is required for the development of a
thinking being. Ideas were expressed on the existence of
artificial reason within the confines of the Universe.
G. Marks (Hungary) made a report on interstellar
flights. He considered the motion of an interstellar
spaceship under the effect of light pressure of a lasei
beam emitted from a home-planet. The main diffi­
culty with such a method of communication is that
the spaceship can be sent back only by other civiliza­
tion. “Insofar as we are not yet in possession of such
machinery”, concluded the speaker in half a joke caus­
ing general animation of the audience, nobody has
flown to us”.
236
 In the discussion of the problem of searching for
information signals F. Drake emphasized that electro­
magnetic waves are the only rapid, effective and eco­
nomically expedient means to establish communica­
tion with extraterrestrial civilizations. In spite of
considerable difficulties, a sustained systematic search
for signals from other worlds, carried out with an ex­
tensive use of modern computers for the analysis of
the incoming radiation, in his opinion, can be suc­
cessful.
N. S. Kardashev posed the question of seeking for
such methods of transmitting signals, which would
require minimum consumption of energy per pulse.
He said that in one case, when we are in search for
a sender whose location in space is absolutely unknown,
the frequency range of 109 to 1011 Hz may prove op­
timal, while in another case infra-red and submilli­
metre regions may be best.
Ch. Townes presented arguments in favour of the
use of lasers. In his opinion, lasers may well compete
with radioengineering communication means over dis­
tances less than 5000 light years and are especially
promising in the search for signals from those nearest
stars which are at a distance of a few light years or
several tens of light years from the Earth. However,
he was against uncompromising preference to any
one method for establishing contacts with extrater­
restrial civilizations and said that various technolo­
gical possibilities should be exploited and, particu­
larly, different frequencies should be tried.
Ph. Morrison pointed out that the quality of the in­
formation received and not its amount would be of
primary importance to us. The first call signal would
be the most important step.
B. Oliver (USA) emphasized that the problem of
contacting extraterrestrial civilizations was a matter
237
of great concern; in this connection he informed the
Conference about a program for the search of signals
of extraterrestrial civilizations, being developed in
the United States and named “Cyclops Project”. The
Cyclops Project is based on the use of a multielement
aerial system having up to 10 000 mirrors of 20 to
30 metres in diameter with a complicated communica­
tion system. B. Oliver stressed that such a multiele­
ment system was much easier to realise than one large
aerial of an equivalent surface area. Besides, the po­
tential of such system can be built up gradually, this
factor being of particular importance. For frequency
search of signals the project envisages the use of re­
ceivers with up to one million of frequency channels.
Yet, to establish communication with intelligent
inhabitants of a planet is only half of the business,
since for getting in touch with them, for talking with
them, a language must be elaborated. Probably, draw­
ings would be most expressive in information exchan­
ge, so that initial messages might be graphical. Cer­
tain notions derived from common physical laws could
be communicated. For instance, it would be possible
to transmit prime numbers which remain primes in
any scale of notation. Another example of what is
common among inhabitants of different worlds is the
structure of atoms.
An example of what a message received from the
depth of the Universe might be is given by B. M. Oli­
ver in his article “Interstellar Communication” (“In­
terstellar Communication”. A Collection of Reprints
and Original Contributions. A.G.W. Cameron, Editor.
W. A. Benjamin, Inc. New York, Amsterdam, 1963,
pp. 302-305). He writes: “Let us assume that after
years of futile listening we receive a peculiar series
of pulses and spaces from e Eridani. The message
is repeated every 22 hours and 53 minutes, apparently
238
o o o o © o © —- o © o o o o o —o o
0 - 0 0 - o —o —o —o o ——o o o o
—o o o o o o o c o o o o o o c
o o —
o o o o o —o o —o —o o o o o o —o
0 0 - 0 0 ——o — o o o o c
o o —o c
o o o o o o o o o o o c —
o — o o o o
o o o o © o o o —o —o —o o ——o —
0 0 —0 0 o —o o o —o o —o o o o o
o o o o o o o o o o o o —o o o —o o
o o o o c o o o o o o o o o o o o o o -
c o —o o 3 —o o o o o —o o
o o o o c o c o o —o o —o —o o o o —
o o o o - o o —o o —o —c o o o o o o
o o o o c o —o o o o o oo —o o o o o
O O «- o c o o o o o o o o o ——o o o ­
o o o o o o o o o o —o o o o o o o o — ©
—0 0 —0 o —o o o o —o o —o —- - o o
—o o o o c o o o o — o o ———o o o o CL,
—o o o o c o o —o o o o o o o —© o o cn
o o o o o o —o o o o ————o —o o o
o o —o c c c c o o o o —c ———o o o Pi
o o c o o o o o o o c o —o —o ————
©
c o o o o o ——o o o o —o o o ———— p
—o o o o o o — o 9 o o —_ o o o —o o c
o o —o o o o' o —o o o o o ——o o o ­
c o o O o o —o o o o o o o —o o o o ­ £c
OOOCo o o o o o c o o o o o o o o o
o O O O o o o o o o o o o o —o o 0 —0 cm
o O c o o o ——o o o o o o ——o —o o
© o o - o o o —o o o o o o o o o o o ­ ©e
b
OO Oo o o o c o o o — —
o o o o o o ­ C
tn3
o o o c Oo o o o o o o o o— — o ooo
o o Oo O o o o o o o o o o o o — —
■ o o
cn
©
3 ©
o o o o o o —
o o ---
o o o o o o o g
o o o o Oo o — -
o o o o o o o o o o o
o OOOo o o — —— ——
o o o o o o o o c
—
0 0 —0 0 o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
o o Oo Oo o o o o o o — o o o o o o o
O- Oo o o — ——
o o o o —
o o o ooo cd
OOOo O oo — - — ---
o o o o o o o o
o o Oo O o o — — ——
o o —
o o o o o ­ £
O3 OOOo o — —
o o o o c o —
o oo©
o— OOOo o o o■— — —
o o o o o ooo
OOOOo o — — o o —
o o o o o o 0 —0 cq
o o o— — —
c o o o o o c o o o o ooo o
ooo — -
o o o o o —
o o o —
o o o o o
ooo — — —
o o o o —
o c o o c o c o o .be
C 3 Oo o o o— — — —
o o o o o c c 0 0
i£
C 3 OOOo o o o o — —
o o o o o o o o
0 3 —0 3 o — —
o o o —
o o o o o o o ­
- -
o c o o o —
o o o —
o o o o o o o —
O— o
<3 C O o
o o o o o — —
o o o o 0 0
©00 0 3 o— G
o o o o o o o o —o o
,
O OOOG o o o o G 3- 3 o o o ooo
o o o —o —o o ' o o o o o o o o o o o o
O —O O O ———O O O G O C O —o o o o
OO—OOO—OOOO —o o o o o —o —
O O O O O O O O O O —o o o o —o o —o
o o o —o o ° ——o o —o o o o o o o ©
O O O O O O O C o O O O — —O —O O O O
O O O O O O O — — —O O O O O O O O O O
O O —O O - —o — O O — O — O —O O O O
Ooo —oo ——t- og ——o o o o —o —
—o o o o o o o ——o —o —oo —o o o
 •••••• • ••
• •• •
•
• •
I ••<
• • • • •• • •
• •
• •••• •••••
•• • • • • •
• ••• ••• • • •
• s • •
•
• •• • I • # • 9 •
•
| 9 9
••••• • •• •
•••• • •• ••• •• ••
••
•• •• •• ••
• • •• •• •• ••
• •• •• 91

Fig. 93. Same message rearranged

the length of their day. The pulses occur at separations

which are integral multiples of a minimum separation.
Writing ones for the pulses and filling in the blanks
with the appropriate numbers of zeros we get the bin­
ary series shown in Figure 3 (our Figure 92). It con­
sists of 1271 ones and zeros. 1271 is the product of
two primes 31 and 41. This strongly suggests that we
arrange the message in a 31x41 array. When we do
so, leaving blanks for the zeros and putting down a dot
for each pulse we get the non-random pattern of Fi­
gure 4 (our Figure 93).
Apparently we are in touch with a race of erect bi­
peds who reproduce sexually. There is even a sugges­
tion that they might be mammals. The crude circle
and a column of dots at the left suggests their sun and
planetary system. The figure is pointing to the fourth
planet, evidently their home. The planets are numb­
ered down the left-hand edge in a binary code which
240
increases in place value from left to right and starts
with a decimal (or rather a binary) point to mark
the beginning. The wavy line commencing at the third
planet indicates that it is covered with water and the
fish-like form shows there is marine life there. The
bipeds know this, so they must have space travel.
The diagrams at the top will be recognized as hydro­
gen, carbon, and oxygen atoms, so their life is based
on a carbohydrate chemistry. The binary number
six above the raised arm of the right figure suggests
six fingers and implies a base twelve-number system”.
If we succeed in getting in touch with some extra­
terrestrial civilization, we shall be able to receive much
valuable information from it. Suppose this civiliza­
tion is 10 000 years ahead of us in its development.
Then the technical level it has reached must be very
high indeed. Just imagine, what a powerful source
of technical progress for us such information might
be! After the establishing of communication personal
contacts will probably be needed.
The next stage in communication with extraterres­
trial civilizations will be space flights.

SPACESHIP OF THE FUTURE

Our age is called the Space Age. Now that man has
mastered near-terrestrial space, his will incessantly
urges him further, towards the planets of the Solar
System, towards other distant worlds.
Space journeys throughout the Solar System and
beyond it can be achieved only through the develop­
ment of spaceships moving at a speed close to that of
light.
At present there exists a large variety of projects
of future spaceships, as well as of atomic, photon,
plasma, quantum and ion engines for them. The use
24 J
of rocket engines utilizing the emission of alpha parti­
cles has also been suggested. A very interesting pro­
ject of a solar sail rocket engine is based on the pheno­
menon of solar pressure which was predicted by Max­
well and later proved to exist by Lebedev. In this case
the role of “cosmic wind” to “fill the sails” of the
spaceship will be played by solar rays.
Obviously we have a long way to go before all these
projects can be realised. The very idea on which many
of them are based is somewhere between the real and
the fantastic, between the possible and the impos­
sible. Yet, there are no limits to what man can achieve,
so that the boundary between the reality and fancy
is merely provisional. The reality of to-day boldly
trespasses the frontiers of yesterday’s fancy. The im­
possible becomes the possible.
The appearance of lasers capable of providing a
high-power directed beam suggested the idea of a
spaceship propelled by a laser engine. Indeed, if the
idea of using solar pressure for imparting acceleration
to an object free in space is right, then a laser which
is a powerful source of radiation can procure reactive
force for imparting the necessary acceleration to our
spaceship. In any case, such an engine is not less rea­
listic than the engines contemplated in all those pro­
jects of which we spoke before.
In principle, a laser engine does not differ from
any other reactive engine. Its reactive thrust is created
by photons, i.e. by light quanta which, as we know,
possess a mass.
If we take into account that the engine of the space­
ship will be accelerated steadily and for a long period
of time, its speed can be ultimately brought close to
that of light.

242
 L
OOK
IN
GA1
11;A
I>
Oar description of laser npplirnlinns in various
branches of science and engineering is drawing to an
end. But, naturally, wo could nol make llm picture
complete. A lot of interesting, perhaps unexpected
and still more valuable applications are in store for
these devices. In view of the headlong advance of
technology nowadays, it would ho quite difficult to
predict possible future uses of lasers. We shall mention
only some of them, which even to-day seem interest­
ing and sound promising.
Scientists are carrying extensive research, trying to
harness the thermonuclear reaction. The day the scien­
tists learn to control this reaction the mankind will
be in possession of inexhaustible power resources. The
thermonuclear reaction requires a very high temperatu­
re amounting to tens of millions of degrees. So far
such a temperature can be attained through an ex­
plosion of a hydrogen bomb, this being the only way
of ensuring it artificially. With lasers coming of age,
an idea was put forward that in the focus of a laser
beam a plasma bunch could be heated to temperatu­
res sufficient for the thermonuclear synthesis. By fo­
cusing a giant pulse of a laser on a solid target, it is
possible to obtain plasma having an extremely high
temperature.
Not long ago a series of unique experiments were
completed at the Lebedev Physics Institute of the
USSR Academy of Sciences. The team of researchers
headed by A. Prokhorov in one of the experiments
conducted with a ruby laser succeeded in obtaining
dense plasma having a temperature of about 500 000°K.
Another experiment demonstrated that incase of laser
pulses of 30 MW more than 1011 ions had energy from
1.0 to 10 keV. The results of measurements showed
243
 the temperature of plasma in the focus of a 30 MW
laser beam to be about 1 000 000°K.
These experiments give grounds to expect that the
laser will be the very match we need for kindling the
controlled thermonuclear reaction.
An interesting suggestion was made to use laser
beams for correcting the trajectories of artificial satel­
lites. The pressure of light has been known to exist
since the outstanding Russian scientist Lebedev pro­
ved it experimentally in 1900. This effect is resorted
to when a high-output laser beam is directed from the
Earth to the satellite for correcting its trajectory.
The light pressure exerted by the beam on the satel­
lite will urge the latter upwards and compensate for
those inevitable losses in the altitude of the satellite
after each its revolution, winch are caused by the
resistance of cosmic particles, however small this re­
sistance may be. So the satellite’s lifetime in orbit can
be substantially prolonged. The same effect can be em­
ployed when creating manned orbiting space stations.
Superpowerful light beams might safeguard the
spaceship during its interstellar flight against col­
lision with individual meteors. Though these meteors
are quite minute solid particles, they move at tremen­
dous speeds and the impact force they can develop
comes to scores of tons—a thing not to be trifled with!
A powerful laser beam could make the meteor particle
to swerve from the path of the spaceship and prevent
the collision dangerous for the astronauts.
If the spaceship happens to encounter a meteor stre­
am, the consequences will be disastrous: the ship
will perish. A laser beam serving as a radar can ti­
mely detect such dangerous areas of meteor streams
and help in choosing most safe route for the flight.
A spaceship laser radar will help to determine the
distance to celestial bodies, as well as to improve
244
the trajectory and route of the flight. Small dimen­
sions and a relatively low input power required by the
laser will contribute to its applicability as space­
craft equipment. As far back as the thirteenth cen­
tury Roger Bacon put forward an idea that energy could
be transmitted with the help of a light beam. He
suggested a system of mirrors which “would be worth
a whole army against the Tartars and Saracens”. Now
this idea of transmitting energy by means of a light
beam can be realised with the aid of lasers. It will
probably be used for transmitting energy to those
places which are difficult of access and where energy
cannot be transmitted by conventional methods.
Recently a project of an electron accelerator em­
ploying a laser was suggested. The idea is as follows.
A cylindrical pipe made from a material used in lasers
as their active medium is exGitjed by pumping radia­
tion through an interference filter placed on its ex­
ternal surface. Oscillations are generated inside the
pipe. According to calculations, optical energy rea­
ches a maximum of 10 kW/cm2. Electrons are accele­
rated by a powerful electric field (about 1()9 V/m).
Evidently, lasers will be widely employed in rock-
work and mineral mining. These devices will also
come to the aid of ice-breakers: a laser beam will
crush the ice and clear the way for the ship.
In the nearest future lasers may find extensive appli­
cation in building engineering. With their help sepa­
rate blocks or bricks can be fused together into a
strong monolithic wall. Many materials which are
now considered infusible will be welded together by
a laser beam. With lasers, buildings will be erected
much faster and their quality will be far better.
Soon a laser beam will become an artist’s tool: it
will be used for engraving patterns on decorative cera­
mics and even for making sculptures.
245
 If we give reign to our imagination, we shall see
new vistas opened by lasers for three-dimensional co­
lour cinematography and television. The stereoscopic
effect which can be achieved with lasers will bring
abotft radical changes in cinema and television tech­
nique. Dynamic three-dimensional colour images de­
monstrated on the screens of motion-picture or tele­
vision theatres will be not inferior to natural vision.
Laser communication lines which will be similar to
the now available radio relay or coaxial transmission
lines, will interlink all the towns on the continents.
Tremendous potentialities of such information trans­
mission channels, capable* of coping equally well with
any kind of information, will allow outside television
broadcasts of theatre shows, sporting events; festivals
or meetings with astronauts to any point of the globe,
and the scenes, will lose nothing as regards their na­
tural plasticity, colour or dimensions. Casting our
mind’s eye on the towns of the future, we see breath­
taking pictures which their inhabitants will be able
to enjoy in the evenings: the sky above the town,
when covered with clouds, haze, or, perhaps, with
eome artificially created semitransparent medium,
will be converted into a colossal screen, on which
magnificent three-dimensional “lasero vision55 shows
will be presented, visible to any town-dweller wherever
he may be. This wTill be like a mirage, only much more
grand than anything we can see in nature, since man
will be its creator. The scenes above the towns will
carry the audience to sea shores, tropics or high lati­
tudes, or even to other worlds in deep space.
In conclusion we should like to mention one more
idea about the prospective use of lasers, which was put
forward by I. Shklovsky in his book “The Universe,
Life and Reason55 (2nd Edition, “Nauka55 Publishers,
Moscow, 1965). In their stellar work astronomers often
1246
observe outbursts of stars which are called “superno­
vae”. These outbursts resemble giant explosions of
cosmic bodies. Assuming the existence of highly de­
veloped extraterrestrial civilizations in far-out space,
these giant explosions may be supposed to be of artifi­
cial character: highly developed intelligent beings
may explode neighbouring stars to replenish the stock
of heavy elements they need. But how can this be
brought about? How can one explode such a colossal
heavenly body as a star? It turns out that a star can
be exploded with the help of... a laser! Suppose that
intelligent beings are in possession of superpowerful
lasers operating in the range of gamma-radiation with
a wavelength of, say, 10"10 cm. If the laser aperture
is 10 m, then the beam divergence angle will be only
two hundred millionths of an angular second. If the
star to be exploded by such a unique procedure is at
a distance of 10 light years, the diameter of the “spot”
from the “gamma-laser” beam as it reaches the sur­
face of this star will not exceed 10 km.
The flux of gamma-radiation required to fall on the
surface of the star for initiating its nuclear explosion
should be about 1010 erg/(cm2-s). Such a radiation
flux can be produced by a laser system with an output
power of about 1012kW. This figure is 1000 times higher
than the total amount of power which can be produced
by all the sources of energy available to our modern
civilization. Yet, taking into account the headlong
advances we are making, it would not be unreason­
able to consider such energies to be quite available to
highly developed extraterrestrial civilizations.
This example once again demonstrates unlimited
potentialities of lasers. With the discovery of lasers
mankind has made a big step forward in its technical
development. It will make still greater strides by using
these devices in various ways.
247
TO THE READER
Mir Publishers welcome your comments
on the content, translation,
and design of the book.
We would also be pleased
to receive any suggestions you care
to make about our future publications.
Our address is:
USSR, 129820,
Moscow. 1-110, GSP,
Pervy Rizhsky Pereulok, 2
Mir Publishers

Printed in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Mir Publishers of Moscow publish Soviet scientific and
technical literature in five languages—English, French,
Spanish, German and Arabic. Titles include textbooks
for universities, technical schools and vocational train­
ing, literature on the natural sciences and medicine,
including textbooks for medical schools and schools for
nurses, popular science, and science fiction.
The contributors to Mir Publishers' list are leading
Soviet scientists and engineers in all fields of science
and technology and include more than 40 Members
and Corresponding Members of the USSR Academy
of Sciences. Skilled translators provide a high standard
of translation from the original Russian.
Many of the titles already issued by Mir Publishers
have been accepted as textbooks and manuals at edu­
cational establishments in India and other countries.
Mir Publishers’ books in foreign languages are expor­
ted by V/O Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga and can be
purchased or ordered through booksellers in your
country dealing with V/O Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga,
USSR.