6

1.

Basic Physics of Lasers

emission is small in comparison with the intensity of stimulated emission. In fact, just the opposite is the caseat room temperatures (T 300 K) stimulated emission is negligibly small. Indeed, one has to remember (eqs. 1.31.5) that stimulated emission depends on Bmn as well as on the thermal radiation density ! , which is negligibly small at room temperatures. Figure 1.3 shows the spectral characteristics of the thermal radiation density distribution ! for several temperatures. At temperature T 300 K the thermal radiation density, ! , in the visible range of ! 36:64 1014 rad s 1 (514 nm) is very small, leading to the following ratio between spontaneous emission intensity and stimulated emission calculated from (1.14) and (1.16) h! Amn exp Bmn ! kT 1 1:96 1040 : 1:18

One can calculate from eq. (1.18) that only at temperatures as high as 40 000 K does the intensity of stimulated emission become comparable with the intensity of spontaneous emission.

2.25 2.00 1.75 T = 3680 K Visible range

[1022 J s1 cm3]

1.50 1.25 1.00 0.75 0.50 T = 2000 K 0.25 0.00

T = 1000 K

T = 3000 K Tungsten bulb (3680 K)

T = 300 K 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

0.25

[1015 rad s1]

Coal stove (1000 K) (IR)

Fig. 1.3

Spectral distribution of thermal radiation density

at several temperatures.

1.2.

Laser Operation Basics

1.2. LASER OPERATION BASICS It has been more than four decades since Maiman constructed the first ruby laser in 1960. Soon after the first laser was invented, a new type of laser technology began to emerge and its robust development still continues. The last decade brought dramatic advances in the control of coherent light, pulse energy increase, pulse length reduction, repetition rate increase, the generation of femtosecond X-ray tubes with laser produced plasma, developments in the field of detection, microscopy and imaging, and expansion of the optical spectrum into the IR and UV-XUV ranges. Lasers have developed into one of the most important tools in fundamental investigations and practical applications. People who have been dealing with the laser technologies created their own specialized language to describe phenomena occurring in lasers, which has not necessarily made it easier for understanding by chemists, biologists or medical doctors who use lasers as tools for research and applications. Because lasers are ideal sources of light in photochemistry and molecular spectroscopy as well as information technology, communication, health, sciences, biotechnology, metrology, micro- and macro-production, an understanding of laser principles is an essential prerequisite for understanding how laser beams interact with physical and chemical matter as well as biological tissues. First, one would like to know how they act as well as to understand what the brand-specific technological parameters provided by the laser companies for the commercially available systems mean in order to have the ability to compare and evaluate the offers of different companies. The description of the laser principles proposed in this and the following chapters should facilitate this. We will replace a precise lecture with a popular way of presentation in the hope that it will help the reader to understand lasers better. To understand the idea of laser operation one should consider two basic phenomena: stimulated emission and the optical resonance. The phenomenon of stimulated emission was described above. To understand optical resonance we will concentrate on laser construction. The main part of the laser is an active medium in which the laser action occurs. The active medium is a collection of atoms or molecules that can absorb and emit light. Stimulated absorption and stimulated emission always occur side by side. The laser is a device that emits light, so the number of absorption transitions in the active medium must be smaller than the number of emission transitions. However, according to the Boltzmann distribution (eq. 1.8) there are always fewer molecules at the higher energy level Em than at the lower level En (Fig. 1.4a), which means that the total number of elementary absorption events is larger than that of emission events. The net result is that the incident radiation is absorbed. In order to force the active medium to emit we must create an inverted population a temporary situation such that there are more molecules in the upper energy level than in the lower energy level (Fig. 1.4b). The creation of a population inversion is a prerequisite condition for laser operation. To produce the population inversion an external source of energy is required to populate a specific upper energy level. We call this energy the pump energy. Once a population inversion is established in a medium it can be used to amplify light. Indeed, this process can be compared to a chain reaction in an inverted

8
(a) Thermal equilibrium Em En nn > nm Em En (b)

1.

Basic Physics of Lasers

Population inversion nn < nm

Population of levels nn and nm

Population of levels nn and nm

Fig. 1.4 Scheme illustrating the thermal equilibrium described by the Boltzmann distribution (a) and inversion population (b).

medium each incoming photon stimulates the emission of an additional photon (Fig. 1.2) that can be used for further stimulation. Thus, the applied signal gains energy as it interacts with molecules and hence is amplified. Unfortunately, the emitted photons are reabsorbed, some of the excited states are deactivated via spontaneous decay and they are lost for the effectiveness of stimulated emission channel. Spontaneous emission always tends to return the energy level populations to their thermal equilibrium with a depletion of the inverted level. Moreover, it triggers emission in many possible directions that are randomly distributed when the emission takes place from an isotropic medium. So, it is not so easy to maintain the amplification in an active medium, keeping the net gain of stimulated emission and overcoming all the effects that lead to the losses. Fortunately, a simple device can help much to solve this problem. The effectiveness of the light amplification increases significantly when we put an active medium into a cavity between two mirrors, Z1 and Z2, characterized by a high degree of reflectivity (Fig. 1.5). This cavity is called the optical resonator. Confining light in the one dimensional box surrounding an active medium, with suitably chosen size and shape, creates efficient positive feedback allowing the device to work as an oscillator. Let us consider now the idea of the optical resonance presented in Fig. 1.5. If we place a source of radiation emitting at a wavelength between the mirrors Z1 and Z2, separated by a distance L, the standing wave can be created as a result of reflection from the mirrors surfaces. The standing wave can be generated only when the following condition is fulfilled Ln : 2 1:19

Z1

Z2

Fig. 1.5

Scheme illustrating the optical resonance.

1.2.

Laser Operation Basics

The condition (1.19) indicates that the standing wave can be generated only when the integer multiple of the wavelength halves between mirrors Z1 and Z2 is comprised. For wavelengths that do not fulfill the condition (1.19), destructive interference will occur, causing the intensity of the standing wave to decrease to zero. Optical resonance was known much earlier than the discovery of the laser and it was used in FabryPerot interferometers. Thus, to construct the simplest laser one should place an active medium between the Z1 and Z2 mirrors. An active medium is a substance in which the processes of stimulated absorption, stimulated emission and spontaneous emission occur under the external pumping energy (Fig. 1.6). As the active medium, also called the gain medium, a gas, liquid or solid may be employed. The area between the mirrors is named the optical cavity or the laser cavity, and the energy delivery process is called pumping. The mirror Z1 is almost entirely non-transparent for the radiation inside the cavity (the reflectivity R 100%) and is called the high reflector. The mirror Z2 has a larger transparency (e.g., R 9099%), which allows the generated radiation to be emitted out of the laser cavity. This mirror is called the output coupler. The entire device consisting of the mirrors and the active medium is called the optical resonator. Let us consider how the optical resonator operates. First, we must deliver the pumping energy to the active medium. Assume that the delivered energy does not affect the system equilibrium considerably, that is the energy levels population does not differ very much from the Boltzmann distribution. Pumping of the active medium causes a certain number of molecules to jump to a higher energy level and produces spontaneous and stimulated emission. The radiation of the emission could lead to light amplification and start a laser action. Unfortunately, the radiation is absorbed again by the medium, since the number of molecules nn in the lower energy state n is still larger than the number of the molecules nm in the higher energy state m. This indicates (eq. (1.12)) that the number of stimulated absorption transitions Bnm ! nn is larger than the number of stimulated emission transitions Bmn ! nm per time unit. Therefore, in thermal equilibrium it is impossible to invert this situation that simply results from eq. (1.8). Even at extreme conditions of temperature T going to infinity one can achieve only nn n m : 1:20

The optical resonator can start emitting only when we find a way to introduce the population inversion nn < nm (Fig. 1.4b), since only then will the emission be larger
Pumping energy

Z1

Z2 Radiation emitted by laser

Active medium

Fig. 1.6

Optical resonator.