Lasers Construction Here we briefly describe how to construct a laser. I.

. Laser Cavity A schematic diagram of a typical laser cavity is shown in Fig. 6.

R 1 ~ .!" R#~$ !"

Gain medium (aser output %1

Fig. 1

%# or &'

%1) %# * mirrors) intensity reflectivity of %1 ~ .!" or higher. %# is also called output coupler +&',) intensity reflectivity typically $" -". Characteristics: +1, %1) %# very flat ~.#- + / laser wavelength,. +#, %1) %# are aligned such that they are 0very1 parallel. +see e2ercise,. Remarks: +1, %1) %# / multi/layer dielectric coating mirrors. +#, %irror in your bedroom) reflectivity3 +4, 5ometimes concave mirrors are used. +6hy3,

II. Gain (Amplified)

7op. 8nv.

p1
(aser output

%1

Fig. 2

&'

Represents an atom with an e2cited electron in level A. (ight inside the cavity has gain +i.e. number of photons increases in time, if there is population inversion and the reflectivity of &' is high enough. 5everal round trips after photon p1 is emitted) this process results in a lot of photons +see e2ercise,. Remark: 5timulated emissions shown in Fig. $ will be lost through the walls of cavity.

%1

&'

Fig. !

III. C aracteristics of Laser Lig t 0Single1 fre9uency +or wavelength,) also :nown as monochromatic. 'oherent; photons are 0vibrating1 in phase. <eam profile; Gaussian) i.e.
=
Fig. #

Fig. "

light intensity as a function of > is

8 (z)

Z Z

M1

?+=,
Fig. $

M2=OC

) where I- is a constant) and is the width of the profile.

Another way to visuali>e this property is depicted in Fig. 11 showing the electric field of light wave as a function of z.

I + z, = I o e

z # . # #

Remark: (aser beam intensity could have other distributions) an e2ample is depicted in Fig. 1#. Again the electric field of the light wave +at a certain instant, is shown as a function of z.

?+=,

M1

?+=,

M2
Fig. )

%mall &eam divergence @ypical value of is ~ -.! 1-4 rad.

Example; %ean earth/moon distance A 4.$ 1-! :m <eam radius on moon A -.! 1-4 4.$ 1-! :m A 1. 1-# :m #-- :m +9uite smallB,

I'.

Gain (Active) (edium Gain means that signal got amplified +the 0A1 in laser,. 5ubstance) inside the laser cavity) that achieves population inversion and thus leads to laser action. 8t could be; gas li9uid solid.

'. Classification of Lasers (asers can be classified according the following different schemes. +A, By active media Gas laser) e.g. He/Ce laser) ArD laser) '&# laser) C# laser) H'C laser. Eye laser / active medium; dye molecules in li9uid solvent +sometimes in solids also,. 5olid state laser / crystal) or glass) doped with impurities) e.g. ruby laser) @i;sapphire laser) semiconductor laser. (B By mode of operation '6 pulsed +see e2ercise,

(C By pumping and laser levels 4/level laser F/level laser

fast pump laser transition gr. state state Ground 4/level

Fig. 3

F fast pump laser transition gr. statestate Ground F/level 4 #

transition

'I. *+amples 8n this 5ection) we give e2amples of specific lasers and briefly describe their characteristics. !"#$ %e&'e laser
glass tu&e ,e-.e

Laser output

(1 ,ig voltage 0 1111'

/C
Fig. 4

He pressure ~ 1 @orr +1 @orr is a pressure of 1 mm Hg,. Ce pressure ~ -.1 @orrG wavelength 64#.$ nm +red, is the most common output. &utput power -.! 1-4 6 to #! 1-4 6. Remark: Recently) orange) yellow) and green outputs of wavelengths 61#.-) ! F.-) and !F4.! nm) respectively) are also available) typical output power ~ -.# 1-4 6. !"#( )ulsed C*( laser +,ransverse Excited Atmospheric (,EA C*( laser-

/C

0212'

(1

spar2 plugs

Fig. 11

(aser cavity filled with '&# gas at atmosp eric pressure. %par2 plugs create charges to facilitate discharge between the two flat electrodes. @he electrodes have to be very smoot / avoid local discharge. 7ulse width ~1 ns A 1- sec.
F

 6avelength 1-.6 m) that is far in the infrared. Remark; similarly) a pulsed C# laser +9uite common, can be constructed. A C# laser lases at 44H.1 nm +in the utra/violet spectrum,. Exercise: %o. long does it take for an electron to travel a distance of /$ cm under (01000 !2 !"#3 4ye laser

Eye cell laser output

<lue/green laser

@unning plate +wedge, Eye out

Fig. 11

7ump sources / usually blue) green) violet) ultraviolet lasers. 5ic roic mirror / allow ~ -" of pumping laser light to pass through. <ut its reflectivity for the lasing wavelength +mostly yellow or read, is ~ .!". Eye continuously flowing / avoid heating up. 6una&le * insert) into the cavity) a plate +or wedge, that is transparent) changes cavity property slightly) and thus changes the laser wavelength. Eisadvantage; dye degradation upon prolonged irradiation by the intense pumping light) has to be changed ~ every # wee:s) which is very laborious. 5hort pulse generation) ~1-1F sec. pulse width can be achieved +see e2ercise,. Remark: For the generation of this type of short pulses) the dye cell has to be replaced by a dye 5et.
no>>le focused pumping light dye Iet. ~ 1--m thic: Eetails of no>>le

Jet surface should be very smoothB Fig. 12

@he reason for using a dye Iet is as follows; A short pulse becomes boarder after passing a piece of thic: +~ cm, material +say glass) water) etc,. !"#6 ,i:sapphire laser @i;sapphire means sapphire crystal doped with @iD impurities. A @i;sapphire laser is a dye laser with the dye cell replaced by a piece of @i;sapphire.

Focused pump beam

focused pumping light

@i;sapphire crystal +red in color,

Fig. 1! @i; sapphire crystal +red in color,

@he reason for choosing sapphire is that its thermal conductivity is good compared to other non/ metallic solids. Advantage / active medium suffers no degradation. 'an be pumped 0harder1) and hence higher output. <y 0harder1 we mean that the crystal is pumped by a higher blue/green laser power. @uning range ~H-- 1--- nm. !"#7 Ru8y laser (Earliest solid&state laser

,ig reflection coating

flas lamp

7u&y rod partially silvered (/C)

,ig voltage (capacitor &an2)

@he first laser invented +in 1 6-,. containing many capacitors in parallel. @he resultant 7ump source; flash lamp. capacitance could be as large as a Farad. Classic 3&level laser. Kery low repetition rate ~1 pulse.min. 5ince its repetition rate is so slow) nobody wants to use this type of laser these days. (aser wavelength 6 F.4 nm) pulse width ~ 1-/$ sec.
Fig. 1" 5chematic of a ruby laser. 'apacitor ban: is a cabinet

!"#9 Semiconductor laser

contact layer

laser intensity profile

pD /GaAs p /Ga1/yAlyAs Active layer GaAs n / Ga1/2Al2As

d ~ -.#m &utput

Fig. 1#

?lectrons Holes
6

 :ound in C4 players. Recent years #- 6 output at ~$-- nm wavelength are available. <lue/green semiconductor lasers appear in recent years. @he reason that people are interested in blue/green semiconductor lasers is clear. 8n a 'E operated by blue/green would store about F/times information as that +of the same si>e, operated by a red laser. ;uestion: where are the cavity mirrors3 !"#< Excimer laser

*nergy A8; Lase A-8 7 A-8;

8ound e+ited molecules *lectronic e+citation 7A8

A8 between the two atomic nuclei.<L represents an atom in an e2cited state. Fig. 1$ RA< // distance

99 distance &et:een t e t:o atomic nuclei.

1. 8n their ground states) atoms A) < repel one another. #. A) <L can form compound) but de/e2cite and dissociate 9uic:ly) and thus achieves a population inversion. Examples 5pecies Ar# Mr# (aser 6avelength +nm, 1#6 1F6 5pecies Ar'l ArF (aser 6avelength +nm, 1H! 1 4 5pecies MrF Ne<r (aser 6avelength +nm, #F$ #$#

Excitation methods: ?lectron beam Eischarge / similar to that of a @?A '&# laser )oints to consider for successful operation: F) 'l) etc.) are extremely corrosive) cavity should be corrosion resisting. ,eflon +a polymer, is commonly utili>ed for structural construction. 6indows / transparent to OK. Active medium should be extremely pure. &therwise) if the laser cavity is contaminated by a small amount of impurities) the laser cannot laser anymore.
H

Applications of Excimer lasers: ?tching %edical) e.g. corneal sculpting (aser deposition of thin films !"#= >&ray laser 8n recent year) there is intense interest in 2/ray lasers. However) it is not easy of ma:e a 2/ray laser. &ne of the :ey problems is that there is no mirror that can reflect 2/ray efficiently. .ote< 8re:ster=s Angle (>indo:)

%edium 1

n n

1 #

8nterface

%edium #

Fig. 1) n1 and n# are refractive indices of media 1 and #) respectively. Eouble/headed arrows indicate direction of the electric field +?, of the optical radiation. indicates that ? is pointing into the paper.

active medium
polari?ed /C output
Fig. 13

(1

Reasons for using <rewster windows in a laser cavity are; (ow loss in each trip through the window. &utput laser light is polari>ed) which is convenient for many optical applications.

A&out t e aut or< @ey:ords< Gain or Amplified) population inversion) stimulated emissions) e2citation) polari>ation. 7elated 6opics in t e %ylla&us< N/rays) ?nergy levels) emission and absorption) 6ave) polari>ation
$

*+tensions (from t e sylla&us)< <ring out ideas; @he <rewsterPs Angle @he angle of incidence at which the refracted light and reflected light are at right angles to each other is called the <rewsterPs Angle. >arm9up discussion 6hat type of Ruby (aser and He/Ce laser belong to3 +5olid laser and gaseous laser resp., How population inversion is obtained in Ruby (aser and He/Ce laser3 6hat is the application of laser3 +welding) surgery) holography) printing) optical communication) reading of digital reading) compact disc etc., Aoints for furt er discussion< 1. 5uppose that in every trip) stimulated emissions occur F times as indicated by the diagram for e2plaining gain in the lecture notes. @he intensity reflectivities of %1 and &' are 1-- " and $H.! ") respectively. 6hat will be the number of photons at the end of the !th trip3 Assuming that we start with one photon traveling along a direction perpendicular to the mirrors. Repeat this e2ercise with the intensity reflectivity of the &' changed to 6.#! " while other parameters unchanged. #. A laser is operated in a pulsed mode. ?ach pulse has an energy of -.# J and a pulse width of 1-/$ sec. 'alculate the instantaneous power of each laser pulse. Qou can assume that the pulse is rectangular in shape. 5uppose the repetition rate is 1- pulses.sec) what is the average output power3 4. A laser is producing utra/short laser pulses of 1-/1F sec pulse width. Assume that the laser wavelength is H - nm. How many cycles does the optical field oscillate within the duration of the pulses. +Remark: when the laser pulse is so short) the laser output will no longer monochromatic but have a distribution of wavelengths. For simplicity) we have assumed that it is monochromatic., F. 'onsider a light beam of # mm diameter travelling between two flat mirrors whose reflecting surfaces are not e2actly parallel so that after ! round trips) the position of the light beam deviates from its original position as shown Fig. 1F +solid line starting position) dashed line position after ! round trips,. @he distance between the two reflecting surfaces of the mirrors is 1.meter. Find the angle between the two mirrors. Assume that the angle between the two mirrors is much smaller than one degree and during the first single trip) the light ray is perpendicular to one of the mirrors.

1 mm Fig. 1"

!. +a, 'onsider a laser for measuring the distant between Hong Mong and the a spot on the moon where a set of corner cubes are located. @he laser is operated in pulsed mode at a wavelength of !4# nm. @he pulse width of the output pulses is 1- / sec. 6hat is the resolution of the distance measurement3 +Resolution is Iust speed of light times pulse width,. 5uppose that the pea: power of the laser pulses is 1-H 6 and the beam divergence is -.!21-/4 radian. 6hat would be the power density +per unit area, of the laser pulse on the surface of the moon. Assume that the laser light does not suffer attenuation after passing through the atmosphere.

+b, 5uppose that the surface area of each corner cube is F cm # +and there are 1-- corner cubes,) and assume that the intensity reflectivity of the corner cube is -") find the power density of the portion the light that get bac: to the earth for +i, neglect diffraction of light wave and +ii, consider also diffraction effect. +c, A light bulb is consuming 1-- 6 of electrical power. 5uppose that #-" of the power that it consumes is converted to light power. @he light bulb is at a distance of 1- :m from you. 'ompare the power density that you observe due to the light bulb and the power density of part +b,. Again you may assume that the light passing through the air does not attenuate. Given; @he distance between the moon and the earth is 4.$-21-! :m. 6. A Cd;QAG laser is operated in a pulsed mode. @he pea: power of the laser radiation of 1.-6F m wavelength is 421-$ 6. @he laser beam diameter is # mm. @hat is) you can assume the laser energy is uniformly distributed inside a beam of diameter # mm. Furthermore) you can assume that the laser pulse is rectangular in shape and has a width of -.!21- /$ sec. 'ompute the electric field of the ?% wave at pea: power. Repeat the calculation if the beam diameter is -.#! mm. 'ompare these values with a typical lab situation; the electric field between the plates of a parallel plate capacitor with plate separation of 1 mm and an applied voltage of 1!-- K is li:ely to cause electrical brea:down. Qou will find the following information useful; @he energy density of ?% wave is +1.#,o?#. o A $.$!21-/1# '#.+C.m#,. Qou need not use the wavelength in this calculation. Osually) an electric field that e2ceeds 1-H K.m can readily create plasma. Activities< 8n medical uses) N/ray photography is made with the human body between N ray source and a film as close to his body as possible. @ry to find the information about General 7rinciples of using N ray in medical purpose. 8t can be used to observe bone structure and soft organs li:e stomach) liver) brain) blood clearly. 8s there any instruction and preparation3 @hree acronyms) 'A@) %R8) and 7?@) are now commonly heard in hospital. @ry to discuss about it. 7elated :e& sites<
o

%t. Aaul=s Lasi2 Centre @his site contains information about (A58M service. http;..www.stpaullasi:.com.h:.inde2#Rba:.htm Laser 7efractive Centre (C inese version only) @his site provides a brief introduction on (A58M. http;..www.lasi:.com.h:.lasi:.htm 5emonstrationB 6 e Laser @his site introduces the laser principle with simple animation. http;..www.lightlin:.com.sergey.Iava.Iava.laser.inde2.html @his site contains many hyperlin:s of animations which demonstrate some principles of physics. +Although the topics in the site are in 'hinese) the contents of the hyperlin:s are in ?nglish., http;..www.cmi.h:u.h:.lin:.7hy.nsf.All6eb<yOnit3&penKiewS5tartA!.# (olecular *+pressions *lectricity and (agnetism Interactive Cava 6utorials ,o: a Compact 5isc >or2s
1-

@his site introduces how laser is applied in reading 'ompact Eisc +'E,. http;..micro.magnet.fsu.edu.electromag.Iava.cd. (C inese version only) @his site provides many information on the latest developments of laser in 'hina. http;..www.china/laser.org. A ysics >orld999> at is laserD <rief introduction in the principle) mechanism and properties of (A5?R. http;..www.h:/phy.org.articles.laser.laserRe.html A ysics 2111999Lasers (C inese version only) @his site contains some interesting programs on introducing the principles and creating of lasers. http;..www.colorado.edu.physics.#---.lasers.inde2.html Cature///(asers reveal why the coo:ie crumbles <iscuits brea: because of how they cool) <ritish scientists have discovered http;..www.nature.com.nsu.-4- # .-4- # /!.html

Furt er readings< 7eferences< 1. F. A. Jen:ins and H. ?. 6hite) 0 Fundamentals of &ptics1) Fth ed. %cGraw/Hill) 1 $1. #. A. Qariv) 0Tuantum ?lectronics1) 4rd ed. 6iley 1 $ .

11