Vous êtes sur la page 1sur 14

Lecture notes CVR College of Engineering Dr V Seetha Rama Raju Ph.D.

UNIT VIII LASERS

Laser is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation


The most important features of laser over conventional light source are
1. Monochromaticity 2. High degree of coherence 3. Directionality and 4. High intensity
Monochromaticity: Monochromatic means that it consists of single wavelength (color). In laser
radiation, all the photons emitted between discrete energy levels will have same wavelength. As
a result, the radiation is monochromatic in nature.

= E2 E1 and =
i.e. h

If the higher energy levels has closely spaced energy levels then the transition from each level to
lower energy level emits photons of different frequencies and wavelengths. Let the spread in
frequency and wavelength be + and + . The frequency spread is related to its
wavelength spread as

= -

For laser = 0.001nm. It is clear that the light is extremely pure and consists of a very narrow
spectral range. Therefore a laser light is highly monochromatic.
Coherence: Coherence is a property of a wave being in phase with itself and also with another
wave over a period of time and space (or) distance. Coherence is the predictability of the
amplitude and phase at any point on the wave knowing the amplitude and phase at any other
point on the same wave or on a neighboring wave.
Coherence is of two types temporal coherence and spatial coherence.
Temporal coherence: If it is possible to predict the amplitude and phase at a point on the wave
with respect to another point on the same wave, then the wave is temporal coherence. For laser
radiation, as all the emitted photons are in phase, the resultant radiation has temporal coherence.
Spatial coherence: if it is possible to predict the amplitude and phase at a point on a wave with
respect to another point on a second wave then the waves are said to be spatially coherence. The
emitted photons in the laser radiation satisfy spatial coherence.
Directionality: Directional means that the beam is well collimated (very parallel) and travels
over long distances with very little spread. The conventional light source emits light in all
directions due to spontaneous emission. Laser on the other hand; emit light only in one direction
due to stimulated emission. The directionality of laser beam is also expressed in terms of

divergence. =

Where & are the radii of laser beam spots at distances & respectively from the laser
source. For getting high directionality, there should be low divergence.
Intensity: let there be n number of coherent photons of amplitude a in the emitted laser
radiation. These photons reinforce with each other and the amplitude of the resulting wave
becomes na and hence the intensity is proportional to n2 a2. Thus due to coherent addition of
amplitude and negligible divergence the intensity or brightness increases enormously.

1
Lasers
Lecture notes CVR College of Engineering Dr V Seetha Rama Raju Ph.D.

ABSORPTION, SPONTANEOUS EMISSION AND STIMULATED EMISSION:


When the incident radiation (photon) interacts with the atoms in the energy levels then three
distinct processes can take place. 1) Absorption, 2) Spontaneous emission and 3) Stimulated
emission.

1) Absorption: Consider two energy levels of energies E1 and E2 such that E2 > E1 for an atom.
Let N1 and N2 be number of atoms per unit volume
in energy level E1 and E2 as shown in figure. Let us
assume that the atom is initially situated in the
ground state i.e. energy level E1.
When the photon of energy h = E2 E1
incident on the atom, the incident photon stimulates
the atom in the lower level E1 to absorb its energy. After absorbing energy, the atom transits to
energy level E2 (excited state) .This process of exciting the atom to higher energy level by
absorbing the incident photon is known as Absorption.

2) Spontaneous emission: Consider two energy


levels of energies E1 and E2 such that E2 > E1 for an
atom. Let N1 and N2 be number of atoms per unit
volume in energy level E1 and E2 as shown in figure.
Let us assume the atom is initially situated in energy
level E2.
We know that life time of the atom in excited state is 10-8 second. After the life time of
the excited atom, the atom transits to the lower energy level E1 by emitting a photon of energy
h = E2 E1. This process of energy emission by atom making a transition from higher energy
level E2 to lower energy level E1 on its own is known as spontaneous emission of radiation.

3) Stimulated emission: Consider two energy levels of energies E1 and E2 such that E2 > E1 for
an atom. Let N1 and N2 be number of atoms per unit
volume in energy level E1 and E2 as shown in
figure. Let us assume that the atom is initially
situated in energy level E2.
When the photon of energy equal to the
energy difference between E1 and E2, incident on
the atom, the incident photon stimulates the atom in
the higher energy level E2 in a time less than life time (10-8 sec). Then the atom from E2 transits
to the lower energy level E1 by emitting a photon of energy h = E2 E1 as well as incident
photon. The two emitted photons will have same energy, same frequency and same phase.
This process where the excited atom after getting stimulated by the incident photon
transits to lower energy level by emitting photons is known as stimulated emission of radiation.

2
Lasers
Lecture notes CVR College of Engineering Dr V Seetha Rama Raju Ph.D.

Differences between spontaneous emission and stimulated emission:

Spontaneous emission Stimulated emission

1. Stimulated emission takes place when


1. Spontaneous emission takes place when the atom in higher energy state gets
an atom in higher energy state transits stimulated by the incident photon and
to lower energy state by itself. transits to lower energy state.
2. Spontaneous emission is independent 2. Stimulated emission depends upon the
of incident radiation. incident radiation
3. Spontaneous emission takes place after 3. Stimulated emission takes place within
10-8 seconds. a time of 10-8 seconds.
4. Spontaneous emission is a slow process 4. Stimulated emission is a fast process
when compared to stimulated emission. when compared to spontaneous
emission.

Einstein coefficients:

1) The probability of the occurrence of Absorption process from state 1 to state 2 depends
on the properties of states 1 & 2 and is proportional to energy density u ().
Thus P12 u ()
P12 = B12 u ()
Where B12 is proportionality constant, known as the Einstein coefficient of absorption and
is the frequency of the incident photon.

2) The probability of spontaneous emission from state 2 to state 1 depends only on the
properties of states 1 & 2. This is independent of energy density u () of incident
radiation.
(P21)spontaneous = A21
Where A21 is known as Einstein coefficient of spontaneous emission of radiation.
3) The probability of stimulated emission from state 2 to state 1 depends on state 1 & 2 and
is proportional to energy density u ().
(P21)stimulated = B21 u ()
Where B21 is known as Einstein coefficient of stimulated emission of radiation.

Relation between Einstein Co-efficients:


Consider an assembly of atoms in thermal equilibrium at temperature T. Let N1 and N2 be the
number of atoms in energy states 1 and 2 respectively. Let u () be the energy density of the
radiation of frequency . The number of atoms in state 1 that absorb a photon and raise to state 2
per unit time is given by
N1 P12 = N1 B12 u () -------------- (1)
The number of atoms in state 2 that can cause emission process [spontaneous + stimulated] per
unit time is given by

3
Lasers
Lecture notes CVR College of Engineering Dr V Seetha Rama Raju Ph.D.

N2 P21 = N2 A21 + N2 B21 u () -------------- (2)


At equilibrium, the absorption and emission must occur equally, hence
N1 P12 = N2 P21
N1 B12 u () = N2 A21 + N2 B21 u ()
N1 B12 u () - N2 B21 u () = N2 A21
u () [N1 B12 - N2 B21 ] = N2 A21

u () = -------------- (3)
[ ]
Divide the RHS of equation (3) with N2

u () =
[ ]


u () = ---------------- (4)


According to Boltzmanns distribution law, the number of atoms N1 and N2 in energy states 1
and 2 in thermal equilibrium is given by

N1 = N0

N2 = N0

and Nn = N0

Where N0 = Total number of atoms present and K = Boltzmanns constant.



()

= = =




= ---------------- (5)


Substituting the value of from equation (5) in equation (4)


u () = ---------------- (6)


According to Plancks radiation law



u () = ---------------- (7)

Comparing equations (6) and (7)



= and = 1 (or) B12 = B21

There fore

i) 3 i.e. the ratio of spontaneous emission and stimulated emission is proportional to 3

ii) B12 = B21 i.e. the probability of stimulated emission is same as absorption.
4
Lasers
Lecture notes CVR College of Engineering Dr V Seetha Rama Raju Ph.D.

Population inversion:
Consider two energy levels of energies E andE . Let N , N be the number of atoms per unit
volume in E and E levels.

The number of atoms per unit volume in an energy


level is known as population of that energy level. i.e.
N & N are the populations of E and E . According to
Boltzmann distribution

N = N e (1)

Where N is population of ground state


K is Boltzmann constant and T is absolute Temperature

N = N e & N = N e
( )


=e

( )
N = N e

Since > so >


To get stimulated, > i.e population of higher energy
level must be greater than population of lower energy
level . But we know that in general, the populations of lower energy level will be greater than
that of the higher energy level.
The stage of making the population of higher energy level to be greater than the
populations of lower energy level is known as population inversion.
The process of sending atoms from lower to higher energy levels to achieve population
inversion is known as pumping.

Metastablestate:
In general, the lifetime of an atom in excited state is 10-8 sec, i.e. the excited state has very less
life time. An excited state, which has a long lifetime of an atom, is called metastable state. The
metastable state provides necessary population inversion for the laser emission

Population inversion in different level schemes


Two-level laser scheme:

According to Boltzmann distribution, =
Where N0 is number of atoms in the ground state
K is Boltzmann constant = 1.38 10 J/K
T is Absolute temperature

5
Lasers
Lecture notes CVR College of Engineering Dr V Seetha Rama Raju Ph.D.


Let Ni be the number of atoms in the excited state Ei, =
The right hand side of above equation has an exponential function of a negative power. Thus this
exponential function can have a maximum value of 1. This happens only when KT >> Ei.
Even at this extreme case Ni can be equal to N0, but it will never exceed N0. Hence higher
energy level cannot be more populated than a lower energy level, i.e. by direct pumping,
population inversion is not possible.
The restriction imposed on a two-level laser system can be overcome in three and four-
level systems.
Three-level laser system:

Consider three energy levels E1, E2,


E3 as shown in figure. Let E2 be the
metastable state that has a longer
lifetime. A large number of atoms
from E1 level can be pumped to E3
level through absorption process. We
know that atoms in the excited state
are very unstable. Thus atoms in E3
level decay to E2 level through fast
decay. Since E2 is a metastable state, the atoms can spend more time in that level. Hence E2 level
can be more populated than E1 level i.e. population inversion is established in between E1 and E2.
To get the lazing action in three-level system, more than 1.5 times the ground state atoms must
be pumped to excited state to achieve population inversion.

The three-level pumping system requires high pumping powers. If pumping is done
continuously, stimulated emission rate exceeds absorption rate. This immediately depopulates
the laser level and populates the lower level. Hence it is impossible to maintain population
inversion continuously. Ex: - Ruby-laser

Four-level laser system:

Consider four energy levels E1, E2,


E3, E4 as shown in figure. The
atoms of E1 state are pumped to E4
energy level. From E4 level the
atoms decay to E3 level (metastable
state) through fast decay. Since E3
level is metastable state the atoms
can spend more time in that level.
Hence E3 level can be more
populated than E2 level. i.e.

6
Lasers
Lecture notes CVR College of Engineering Dr V Seetha Rama Raju Ph.D.

population inversion is established between E3 and E2. It is easy to maintain the population
inversion between E3 and E2. The atoms from E2 level decay through fast decay to E1 level.

If E2 to E1 transition is relatively slow the four level laser systems will give pulsed laser
beam. Example: nitrogen laser.

If E2 to E1 transition is relatively fast the four level laser systems will give continuous
laser beam. Example: Helium-Neon laser.

Pumping (or) excitation mechanisms:

First requirement in the generation of laser is the creation of population inversion. Input energy
in various forms have to be supplied to the gain media for excitation and transition of ground
level atoms, molecules, ions or electrons as the case may be, to higher levels to create population
inversion and consequent generation of laser. Commonly used excitation techniques are

1. Optical pumping (solid state lasers),


2. Electrical discharge / radio frequency excitation (gas lasers),
3. Inelastic collision of atoms (gas lasers)
4. Chemical reaction (chemical lasers) etc.

Optical pumping: In solid-state lasers (SSLs), the laser media are in the form of optically
transparent solid materials with active ions having strong absorption bands in the visible or near
infrared region. A pump source, giving maximum emission at wavelengths to excite atoms in the
laser material, is most suited for SSLs. Noble gas filled flash lamps, metal vapor discharge
lamps, tungsten-halogen filament lamps etc. are all used in this connection. Xenon flash lamps
for pulsed operation of lasers are the most commonly employed optical pumps.

Electrical discharge: In gas lasers (helium-neon, argon ion and carbon dioxide lasers), electrical
discharge is employed to excite neon atoms, argon ions and CO2 molecules respectively to
higher levels to create population inversion. The most common type of excitation is either a
direct current electrical discharge or a radio frequency discharge. For high power CO2 lasers,
instead of having the discharge along the length of the laser tube, a transverse excitation, with a
series of electrodes spaced along the gas tube, is employed.

Inelastic collision: Here, the electric discharge is employed to cause collision and excitation of
the atom. In this method, a combination of two types of gases is used. Say A and B, both having
the same excited state A* and B* that coincide or nearly coincide. In the first step, during
electric discharge, A gets excited to A* (metastable) due to collision with electrons.

A + e A* + e1

A* + B A + B*

7
Lasers
Lecture notes CVR College of Engineering Dr V Seetha Rama Raju Ph.D.

The excited A* atoms now collide with B atoms so that the latter atom gets excited to higher
energy B*. This type of pumping is used in gas lasers. Example: Helium-Neon laser.

Chemical reaction: in this method, the molecules undergo chemical reactions in which one of
the products of the reaction excites a molecule or an atom to excited state under appropriated
conditions. Under such conditions population inversion can occur. An example of this type of
lasers is the hydrogen fluoride chemical laser, in which hydrogen fluoride molecules can be
excited to a higher energy state with the help of heat energy released due to the following
chemical reaction.

H2 + F2 2HF + heat

Working principle of a laser:

Based on phenomenon of stimulated emission and spontaneous emission


Active medium should have one metastable state besides excited state and ground state.
The lifetime of atoms in excited state is 10-8 sec but it is longer in metastable state.
When atoms are excited with light of suitable wavelength, they jump from lower energy
state to excited state by absorbing photons.
But atoms can remain in excited state only for a small amount of time and they drop back
by spontaneous emission.
Many of them are trapped in the metastable state where its lifetime is greater and
population inversion is obtained.
After getting population inversion, a photon got from spontaneous emission is made to
strike an atom of the metastable state.
The excited atom of metastable state is stimulated to emit a photon of the same energy as
that of the stimulating photon.
The stimulating and stimulated photons yield a large number of coherent photons by
repeated stimulated emissions as they pass through the atom.
Hence light amplification occurs due to multiplication of photons all of which have same
frequency, direction and phase

8
Lasers
Lecture notes CVR College of Engineering Dr V Seetha Rama Raju Ph.D.

Types of Lasers:

Ruby Laser:

Construction:

Ruby laser is a three level solid


state Laser. In Ruby laser the
active element is ruby crystal
made up of pure aluminum oxide
( Al2O3) with 0.05% of aluminum
atoms are replaced by chromium
atoms and it is shaped into a cylinder rod. Generally length is 4 cm and diameter is 0.5 cm rod
will be used. The ends of rod is highly polished and then silvered in such a way that one end face
becomes partially reflecting face and the other end face becomes fully reflecting face. The ruby
rod is enclosed in a glass tube and surrounded by a helical Xenon flash lamp. To absorb emitted
heat cooling system will be used.

Working:

a) Due to xenon flash lamp 5600


radiation incident on the system by
absorbing this energy chromium atoms
are excited to upper energy level E3 .The
transition 1 is optical pumping.
b) The Cr+3 can be returned to the
metastable state E2 since energy level E3
has less lifetime. The transition 2 is
radiation less transition.
c) We know that metastable state has
longer life time. Hence population inversion establishes between E2 and E1 levels.
d) From E2 to E1 due to stimulated emission a laser beam of wavelength 6943 will be
emitted.
e) The photons travelling parallel to the axis of the ruby rod are useful to get stimulated
emission. The photons travelling in other directions will pass out from ruby rod. In the
mean time, the photons undergo multiple reflections from the mirrors placed at the ends
of the ruby rod and the intensity of the laser radiation grows to a higher value and some
of its bursts are coming out through the partial reflector and it serves as output laser
beam.
f) This process repeats and gets output in the form of pulses.

9
Lasers
Lecture notes CVR College of Engineering Dr V Seetha Rama Raju Ph.D.

Helium-Neon (He-Ne) laser:

The Helium-Neon laser system consists of a


gas discharge tube which is the active
medium. The tube is made up of quartz and
is filled with the mixture of neon under a
pressure of 0.1mm and of mercury and
helium under a pressure of 1mm of mercury.
The ratio of the Helium-Neon mixture is 10:1
i.e., the number of Helium atoms is greater
than the number of Neon atoms. Electrodes
from discharge tube are connected to Oscillator circuit for pumping.

Working principle

Helium has three energy states. These are He1, He2 and He3 where He2 and He3 are metastable
states. When an electrical discharge passes through the gas mixture, the helium atoms are excited
by the impacts of accelerated electrons in the
discharge tube due to its lower mass. As a result,
some of the helium atoms are raised to its
metastable states He2 and He3 from its ground
state. The energy of the two excited states Ne4
and Ne6 of Ne are slightly less than the energy of
the two metastable states of He atoms. Thus,
after the collision of the excited helium atoms
with neon atoms, the neon atoms in the ground
state are raised to its Ne4 and Ne6 excited states
and helium returns to its ground state by
exchanging energy.

The gas discharge process leads population


inversion after sometime in metastable states Ne6
and Ne4 relative to its lower states Ne5 and Ne3
respectively. After achieving population
inversion, photons released due to spontaneous emission can trigger stimulated emission and
produce three types of lasing actions (Ne6 Ne5, Ne6 Ne3, Ne4 Ne3). After that, the Ne
atoms return to the lower laser levels Ne5 and Ne3 and to the level Ne2 by spontaneous emission.
From this level, Ne returns to ground state by collision with the walls of the tube. The cycle of
events occur continuously as the discharge in the tube is maintained continuously. Thus it is
known as continuous laser.

10
Lasers
Lecture notes CVR College of Engineering Dr V Seetha Rama Raju Ph.D.

Uses of He-Ne Laser

1. in interferometry 2. in laser printing 3. in bar code reading 4. in holography


5. for larger distance measurement, i.e. in laser modulation telemetry 6. in the target aiming
device used in guns

The advantages of Gas laser over Solid state laser

The light from He-Ne gas laser has high degree of monochromaticity and directionality
than that from solid state ruby laser. This happens due to imperfection in the crystal,
thermal distortion and scattering.
The solid state laser need cooling in time of operation while the gas lasers can operate
continuously without any cooling.

Semiconductors Laser:

Homojunction Laser: Semiconductors lasers are


prepared by using direct bandgap materials. The active
medium is a p-n junction diode made from crystalline
Gallium Arsenide (GaAs). The p and n region are
obtained by heavily doping with suitable dopants. At the
junction the sides through which emit the light are well
polished.

When the current is passed through a p-n


junction p region is positively biased. Hence holes are
injected from p-region to n-region and n- region is
negatively biased. Hence electrons are injected from n-
region to p-region as shown in the figure.
ie.., Diode will be forward biased. The
Injected electrons and holes recombine and
emission of light takes place near the
junction. In the case of GaAs
homojunction Laser of energy gap 1.44eV
gives the laser beam of wavelength 8600.
When small current flows through the
junction only spontaneous emission takes
place and the device acts as light emitting
diode (LED).

When large current flows through junction ie.., increasing the Pumping rate (or) Injection
rate, the minority charge carriers injection takes place continuously and Population Inversion of

11
Lasers
Lecture notes CVR College of Engineering Dr V Seetha Rama Raju Ph.D.

minority carriers are established in both n and p regions. The excess minority charge carriers
away from the junction recombine with majority charge carriers. Resulting in the release of
photons. These emitted photons increase the recombination of majority carriers. Thus stimulated
emission takes place more effectively.

Drawbacks of Homojunction laser:

1. Threshold current density is very large


2. Only pulsed mode output is obtained
3. Laser beam has large divergence
4. Poor coherence and poor stability

Heterojunction laser:

Homojunction means that the p-n junction is formed by a single


crystalline material such that the basic material is same on both regions.
Hetero junction means the material on one side of the junction differs
from the other side of the junction. In modern GaAs diode lasers, the
hereto junction is formed by sandwiching GaAs between GaAlAs. The
principle of working of hetero junction laser is similar to homojunction
laser.

Advantages:

1. Threshold current density is very low


2. Continuous output mode is obtained
3. Narrow Laser beam with high coherence and monochromaticity with low divergence
4. Heterojunction lasers are highly stable with longer life.

Applications of laser:
Due to their high directionality, high coherence, high monochromacity and high intensity lasers
are used in various fields.
A) Lasers in medicines:
1. Lasers are used in destroying kidney stones, for this laser pulses are sent through optical
fibers to strike and destroy the stones into pieces.
2. Lasers are used for the removal of the cataract (cloud of the natural lens of the eye)
3. Lasers are used for the treatment of detached retina.
4. They are used in lamer diagnosis and therapy.
5. Laser fluorescence bronchoscope is used to detect lung tumor in the early stage.
6. Argon and CO2 lasers are used in the treatment of liver and lungs.
The advantages of laser surgery are as follows:
i. Laser is usually called as non-material knife.

12
Lasers
Lecture notes CVR College of Engineering Dr V Seetha Rama Raju Ph.D.

ii. It can perform non-contact surgery.


iii. Prompt healing with less post operative pains, swelling etc.
iv. Highly sterile, highly localized.
v. Surgical time is less.
B) Lasers in industry:
1. They are used to blast holes in diamonds and hard steel.
2. Without any damage to electrical wire, insulation can be removed by using low power
CO2 laser.
3. Lasers are used to cut teeth in jaws, drill eyes in surgical needles and test the quality of a
fabric.
4. Laser welding has certain advantage over gas welding, such as
i. Purity of the material is not altered.
ii. Localized heating by small spot size can be accurately controlled by programming
with computer to produce exact characteristics.
C) Lasers in scientific Research:
1. Lasers are best suited for optical communication because of
2. Lasers are used in scientific research:
3. Lasers are used to study the internal structure of micro-organisms and cells.
4. Lasers are used for isotope separation.
5. Lasers are used to produce certain chemical reactions.
6. Lasers have several applications in the field of computers.
i. To transmit memory banks from one computer to another.
ii. Large amount of data can be stored in CD-ROM.
iii. Reading the data from CD-ROM.
iv. Lasers are used in printing also.

*************

13
Lasers
Lecture notes CVR College of Engineering Dr V Seetha Rama Raju Ph.D.

Additional topics not included in the syllabus

CO2 Laser:

In He-Ne laser, the transitions are taking place among the various excited electronic states of an atom. In CO2 laser,
the laser transitions are occurring between different vibrational states of the CO2 molecule.

Modes of vibration and vibrational energy levels of CO2

The CO2 molecule is a tri-atomic molecule consisting of 2 oxygen atoms


covalently bonded to a central carbon atom. The molecule has 2 stretching
vibrational modes, labeled v1 and v3 and a bending mode, v2. v1 is the number
associated with the symmetrical stretching of the molecule. v2 is that
associated with bending and v3 with asymmetrical stretching. It also represents
the amount of energy associated with each mode. The set (100), for example
represents a molecule vibrating in pure symmetric mode with one quanta of
vibrational energy. The set (010) represents a molecule in its bending mode,
while (001) represents an asymmetric mode.

Molecules vibrate due to their lacking fixed orientations within the


molecule (as seen above). They are able to rotate and spin because they are in a gaseous state. These states, as in
electronic states, are quantized. Transitions between vibrational energy states results in photon emission in the
infrared, while transitions between rotational states emit photons in the microwave region.

Construction and working: The discharge tube has 2.5cm in


diameter and 5m in length and discharge is produced by DC
excitation. The tube contains CO2, N2 gasses. N2 helps to increase
the population of upper level of CO2. The energy level diagram
shows various energy levels taking part in laser transition. The level E5 refers to (001) level, E4 refers to (100), E3
refers to (020), E2 refers to (010) and E1 refers to ground state. When a discharge is passed through the tube, the N2
molecules are excited and raised to higher excited state. The excited energy of N2 molecules is transferred to CO2
molecules through collision and CO2 molecules are raised to their excited vibrational energy level E5 from their
ground state E1. The energy level E5 is a metastablestate. Hence there is a population inversion. Laser transition
takes place from E5 to E4 giving laser wavelength of 10.6 m and from E5 to E3 giving laser wavelength of 9.6 m.
The CO2 molecules from E4 and E3 are returned to their ground state through fast decay.

When there is a longitudinal flow of gasses, the maximum power obtained is about 50-60W/m. If the gas
flow is perpendicular to the discharge the output power can be raised to about 10kW/m. This type of CO2 laser is
known as Transversely Excited Atmospheric Pressure laser or TEA laser.

14
Lasers

Vous aimerez peut-être aussi