1

Intro
ducti
on
Welcome to the magic world of lasers. In spite of the fact that
almost 40 years have passed since the first laser emission occurred a
ruby laser built in 1960 by !heodore "aiman the word #laser$ still
signifies an e%pression of modern technology of high technology of
#high tech$.
Why
laser
is a
symb
ol of
hi-
tech?
1. !he laser device delivers light a special light. !he most
sensitive human sensor is the eye. &o the lasers 'at least the visible
lasers( are directly addressing to the human most sensitive sensor
and the human bens were and are impressed by. !his argument acted
mainly in the childhood of laser.
). !he laser field is a continuously developing domain. *very
year new laser devices new applications new laser wavelengths are
put into evidence.
+. !he lasers have a broad range of applications. ,et me
mention some of them-
. /omestically- 0/ drivers bar code scanners laser pointers
. Industrial- cutting welding drilling hardening testing high
precision alignments etc
. "ilitary- laser guided missile airborne laser ranging trac1ing etc
. "edicine- microsurgery brain surgery dermatology
rheumatology dentistry etc
1
. 0ommunications- the laser diodes and the optical fibers cover now
the domain of telecommunications now optical fiber networ1s cover the
entire world.
. &cientific- spectroscopy 'contributing to its own development(
chemistry biological and medical research high.speed photography
laser induced controlled fusion 'there are now under development huge
programs to obtain controlled fusion energy2 it might be the solution of
the energy problem for all the world in the ne%t century2 the first fusion
plant is supposed to be in operation in )030(.
. &pecial new applications- the smallest tool for special micro
processing the highest power density the shortest pulses 'femtoseconds
pulses 10
.13
( etc.
4ll these sustain the fact that the laser is a symbol of high.tech
and that a lot of ma5or applications include laser as a main tool.
Is it
the
laser
a
quan
tum
devic
e?
6es it is. 7ut don8t panic. In practice no one is thin1ing at the
9uantum aspect of the laser intrinsic mechanism.
It is the 5ob of the theorist to find new possible active media2 it
is the 5ob of the spectroscopist to determine the characteristics of
different materials which might be used as active media.
We are interested in the construction of lasers and in the use of
laser beams in different applications. 4nd it is not at all easy:
&o actually in spite of the fact that the laser is a 9uantum
device we do not need 9uantum mechanics. ;or us the laser active
medium will be characterised by some energy levels and the energy
levels by some lifetimes.
<f course for every type of laser we8ll tal1 about its spectral
characteristics specific features etc. "ore we treat the atoms the
)
molecules or the electrons as particles which can ta1e different energy
levels depending on the intrinsic mechanism of every laser 'e%cited
ionised etc(.
=sing these assumption which are not very clear stated in most
boo1 on lasers every author trying to prove his own 1nowledge 'which
are of course impressive( we may go further. We have to 1now how
we have to properly pump the laser levels and how we can optimise the
laser.
,et us loo1 at these tennis balls which are placed on different
floors on a shelf. Initially most of them are on the ground level. If they
represent a 9uantum system they were distributed by temperature
according to 7olt>mann law and they could occupy as you 1now only
certain levels of energy. =nfortunately we have not enough tennis balls
to represent a real system 'and to play tennis for the rest of our life(.
;igure 1.1 ?umping
We have to pump the system hit the tennis balls till the
particles reach a higher energy level. !hese levels are not stable so the
particles will fall down losing energy by collisions or emitting 'what we
are e%pecting( electromagnetic radiation.
1 2 3
1
2
3
+
7ut we have to pump to hit tennis balls very properly ')(. If we hit
too strong the tennis ball will go out the court '+( if we hit too fine the
tennis ball will end in the net '1(.
,et8s ta1e another e%ample. !his is an integrated circuit an audio
amplifier. !here are different ways to approach to this circuit-
- !heoretical- a lot of people which invented and
establish the mechanism of semiconductor
devices2
- !echnological- to built such a device2
- 0ircuitry- to put some components around it to
supply the circuit to optimise the operation2
- "usic- finally you have to choose the proper
music to be listen2
&o a musician 'a laser user( does not need to 1now anything about this
circuit. If he would li1e to hear some lovely music he 5ust tune the
buttons.
4nother important observation- we8ll be interested to measure the laser
parameters and to use its radiation. ;rom the moment when the laser
radiation leaves the laser cavity it is another 5ob to be done. @ow it
doesn8t matter if a gas laser or a laser diode or a solid.state laser
produced the beam. !he beam has to be fully characterised and we8ll use
it e%ploiting its features.
!he evolution of this field is very fast. 4s an e%ample 9uite the same
red laser light which was commonly delivered by a gas Aelium @eon
laser 'figure 1.1( is now obtainable from a miniature diode laser 'figure
1.)(. !he si>es were reduced hundreds of times you do not need high
voltage power supply but small batteries and the life time was increased
from )0000 hours to 100000 hours. !he ne%t pictures e%press the
innovation into the laser field.
4
<utpu
t
power
Wavel
ength
*lectrical
input
/imensions ,ifetime
Aelium
.@eon
laser
'gas
laser(
+ mW
6+)B
nm
1B00 C
6 m4
,aser tube
+0 mm diameter
+00 mm length
10000
hours
/iode
laser
+ mW 6+0..6
D0 nm ).) C
30 m4
/iode laser
9 mm diameter
10 mm length
100000
hours
3
;igure 1.) &tandard Aelium.@eon laser
tube
<utput power- +mW
Wavelength- 6+).B nm
*lectrical re9uirements- 1+00 C E 3 m4
/imensions- )00 mm % )3 mm diameter
4pplications- alignment bar code non.
contact testing etc.
;igure 1.+ ,aser diode
<utput power- 3 mW
Wavelength- 630 nm
*lectrical re9uirements- ).) C E 30
m4
/imensions- 10 mm % 9 mm
!able 1.1
)
Lase
r
basic
s
Electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic spectrum, optics, electricity,
high voltage technique, vacuum equipments
Wha
t
laser
is?
6
!he name # laser$ is an acronym of the syntagm #Light
Amplification by Stimulated Emission of adiation$. !his name e%ists
also as a verb 'to lase( and other members of this family- lasing lasant
etc.
;orty years ago the laser was a solution searching a problem. @ow a lot
of problems search for the most convenient laser as a solution.
!he laser is a device a 9uantum device which transforms energy from
different forms into electromagnetic radiation. !he energy put into the
laser can be electrical energy electromagnetic energy chemical energy
etc.
7asically a laser scheme is given in figure ).1-
;ig.).1 ,aser principle
!he active medium is a collection of particles characteri>ed by a set of
levels of energy between which an inversion of population might occur.
!he particles could be molecules 'in the case of molecular lasers( atoms
'atomic lasers( or electrons 'semiconductor lasers for e%ample( etc.
!he pumping source is a source of e%ternal energy which is properly
delivered to the active medium. !he resonant cavity is usually a two
mirrors system '100F reflectivity one and less than 100F reflectivity
the other one( which is designed to reflect the best at the wavelength we
e%pect the laser beam to appear. !his resonant cavity represents the
positive feedbac1 of this system in terms of an electronic oscillator.
!o understand the laser system we need some basic 1nowledge. ;or
sure most of you 1now the concepts we8ll review. /on8t worry #
repetitium mater studiorum$ in ,atin. Gepeating is the mother of
learning.
D
evi
e! of
neces
sary
"no
!led
#e
Elect
roma
#neti
c
radia
tion$
!ave
s
*lectromagnetic radiation is a transverse wave advancing in
vacuum at a constant speed which is called velocity of light. 4ll
electromagnetic waves have the same velocity in vacuum and its value
is appro%imately c H +10
B
mEsec.
*lectromagnetic radiation e%hibits both waveli1e and particle li1e
characteristics and both of them are relevant to understand the lasers.
!he wavelength is the distance between two ad5acent points on the
wave which have the same phase. 4s an e%ample 'see figure ).) below(
the distance between two ad5acent pea1s of the wave.
;re9uency$ $ is defined by the number of times that the wave oscillates
per second. 7etween these two parameters the relation is-
c H ').1(
Wave %escri&tion
!wo standard forms might describe a wave-
1. /isplacement as a function of space when time is
held constant.
B
). /isplacement as a function of time at a specific
place in space.
1. /isplacement as a function of space when time is Ifro>enI 'held
constant( as described in figure ).). In this description the minimum
distance between two ad5acent points with the same phase is the
wavelength . @ote that the hori>ontal a%is is space coordinate.
;ig. ).)- /isplacement as a function of space 'at a fi%ed point in space(

). /isplacement as a function of time in a specific place in space as
described in figure ).+. In this description the minimum distance
between two ad5acent points with the same phase is period. @ote that the
hori>ontal a%is is time coordinate.
;ig. ).+- /isplacement as a function of time coordinate 'at fi%ed time(
9
'he electroma#netic s&ectrum
!able ).1 describes the electromagnetic spectrum. *ach part of
the spectrum has a common name and its range of wavelengths
fre9uencies and energies. !he borders between the ranges are not sharp
and clear but are defined according to the applications of radiation in
that portion of the spectrum.
!he most important features are-
1. *lectromagnetic waves span over many orders of magnitude in
wavelength 'or fre9uency(.
). !he fre9uency of the electromagnetic radiation is inversely
proportional to the wavelength.
+. !he visible spectrum is a very small part of the electromagnetic
spectrum.
4. ?hoton energy increases as the wavelength decreases. !he shorter the
wavelength the more energetic its photons are.
Wavelength

m
;re9uency
A>

?hoton energy *
eC

c h
E


hH6.6)610
.+4
Js
&pectral
region
10
.+
10
1D
10
+
. rays
K rays
=ltraviolet
10
.)
10
16
10
)
10
.1
10
13
10
0.4)
D.1410
14
D.3D Ciolet
10
0.4B
0.3+
0.39
0.6)
0.63
6.)310
14
3.6610
14
3.0B10
14
4.B410
14
4.6110
14
6.6+
6.00
3.+B
31+
4BB
7lue
Lreen
6ellow
<range
Ged
1
10
14
1
@ear
infrared
10
10
1+
10
.1
Infrared
"icrowaves
Gadiowaves
10
)
10
1)
10
.)
10
+
10
11
10
.+
10
4
10
10
10
.4
!able ).1- !he electromagnetic spectrum
;ew e%amples for electromagnetic waves are-
1. Lamma rays which are so energetic that they cause ioni>ation are
electromagnetic radiation given off by nuclei and in nuclear reactions.
). K.rays are electromagnetic radiation with wavelength smaller than 10
nm. !he radiation is given off by electrons in atoms that have been
bombarded. !he K.rays are used in medicine for e%ample for ta1ing
pictures of the bone structure inside the body.
+. "icrowaves which have wavelength of the order of centimeters are
short.wavelength radio waves. !he shortest wavelength microwaves '10
.
+
m( represents the lower limit of wavelengths that can be generated
electronically at present. 4s an e%ample- in a microwave oven these
wavelengths can not be transmitted through the protecting metal grid in
the door while the visible spectrum which have much shorter
wavelength allow us to see what is coo1ing inside the microwave oven
through the protecting grid.
11
4. Gadio waves which have wavelength of the order of meters so they
need big antennas 'the dimensions of an antenna are of the same order of
magnitude as the wavelength(.
!he theoretical analysis of electromagnetic waves was the wor1 of
James 0ler1 "a%well '1B+1.1BD9( and it is summari>ed in 4 e9uations
bearing his name. !he discrete aspects of electromagnetic radiation are
the result of *insteinMs wor1 at the beginning of the )0.th century.
(istory of the invention of the laser
!he invention of laser can be dated to 193B with the publication
of the scientific paper- #Infrared and <ptical masers$ by 4rthur
,.&chawlow '7ell ,aboratory Gesearch( and 0harles A.!ownes
'consultant at 7ell ,aboratory( published in ?hysical Geview !he
Journal of 4merican ?hysical &ociety. !his launched a new scientific
field and opens the doors of multibillion.dollar industry.
!ownes ?h./. from 0alifornia Institute of !echnology wor1ed on
microwave generation vacuum tubes and magnetic in 19+9. /uring the
war he wor1ed on a radar system to be installed on war airplanes. Ae
wor1ed on radio astronomy microwave spectroscopy. !he radar
navigation bombing system was wor1ing on used wavelength of 10
centimeters and then + centimeters but the military wanted to go to 1 cm
to get better directivity and to use smaller antenna on their planes. 7ut
!ownes 1new that gas molecules could absorb waveforms at certain
smaller wavelength and the radar operated up to only several miles.
4fter the World War II !ownes focused his wor1 on molecular
spectroscopy and in 194B he moved to 0olumbia =niversity. In 1949 he
met &chwalow wor1ing on microwave spectroscopy. Ae was trying to
build a device to generate shorter microwave radiation ma1ing a more
powerful spectroscopic tool. 7ut the &econd ,aw of !hermodynamics
told that molecules couldn8t generate more than a certain amount of
energy. &uddenly in a par1 !ownes said he thought that the second law
of thermodynamics assumes thermal e9uilibrium W* /<@8! A4C*
!< A4C* !A4!:
Ae wor1ed on ammonia molecule and in 193+ he Lordon and Neiger
demonstrated the wor1ing device of maser. In 1933 !ownes and
1)
&chawlow 'his brother in law now( began wor1ing out the principles of
a device that could provide shorter wavelength.
In 193B the two men wrote a paper on their wor1. In spite of the fact
that they were not able to achieve laser light they have published in
?hysical Geview and two years later they have received a patent for the
invention of the laser.
7ut it was !heodore "aiman from Aughes 4ircraft 0ompany who built
the first laser in 19602 a flash lamp pumped ruby laser.
In 1964 !ownes shared the @obel ?ri>e in ?hysics with 4.".?ro1horov
and @.L.7asov from the ,ebedev Institute in "oscow for #
;undamental wor1 in the field of 9uantum electronics which led to the
construction of oscillators and amplifiers base on maser.laser principle$.
In 19B1 it was the turn of &chawlow to receive the @obel ?ri>e for #
contributions to the field of laser spectroscopy$.
!he @obel ?ri>es in the laser field are-
1964 0harles !ownes '=&4( 4.".?ro1horov '=&&G( @.L.7asov
'=&&G( for
# ;undamental wor1 in the field of 9uantum electronics which led to the
construction of oscillators and amplifiers based on maser.laser
principle$.
1966 4lfred Oastler ';rance( for # <ptical methods of studying atomic
energy levels$.
19D1 /enis Labor '=&4( for #/eveloping holography$.
19B1 @.7loembergen '=&4( 4.,.&chawlow '=&4( for # /eveloping
laser spectroscopy$.
)onversion e*$ cm
-1
$ +,
=sing common relations and constant we compute now the
relationships between eC cm
.1
and J as different e%pressions of the
level energy.
Where-
c light velocity in vacuum c H +P10
B
mEs2
h ?lanc1 constant h H 6.6)6 10
.+4
JPs
1+

c
h
T
h h E
1
').)(
,et us consider H 1 micrometer-
a( ;rom ').)(-
b( 0onsidering-
It results-
c( 4nd ta1ing into account that-
&o the energy of the same photon of H 1 m might be e%pressed as-
!he last two forms are the most used in the laser field. &o we usually
e%press the energies of different levels or of corresponding 9uanta in
terms of cm
.1
or eC.
14
J
m
s m s J
E
)0
6
)6
6
1 B +4
10 BD . 19
10
10 BD . 19
10
10 + 10 6)6 . 6

1 c h
1 4
4
10
10
1

cm
cm
E
V C V e eV 1 10 6 . 1 1 1 1
19


[ ]
[ ]
eV
J Energy
eV Energy )4 . 1
10 6 . 1
10 BD . 19
10 6 . 1
19
)0
19

eV or cm or J )4 . 1 .. .... 10 .. ....... 10 BD . 19
1 4 )0

'he s&eed of an electroma#netic !ave &ro&a#atin# in a dielectric

medium
4s it is well 1nown the speed of an electromagnetic radiation in
medium that is characteri>ed by a dielectric permeability Q and a
magnetic permeability R is done by-
Where the subscripts r denote the relative and 0 the absolute.
!he inde% of refraction n is defined as-
Geplacing v from ').+( we get
7ecause
r
H 1 for most dielectrics-
r
n
Lases including air are considered to have an inde% of refraction e9ual
to vacuum- n
0
H 1.
!he values of the inde% of refraction of most transparent materials in the
visible spectrum is between 1.4 and 1.B while those of material
transparent in the infrared spectrum are higher from ) to 4.
Some o&tics
13
r r r r
c
v

0 0
1 1
v
c
n
r r
r r
n



0 0
0 0
1
1
').+(
').4(
').3(
').6(
eflection of li#ht beams

;ig.).4 Geflection of a
light beam on a specular
surface
;ig.).3 /iffuse reflection
!he angle of incidence
inc
is e9ual to the angle of reflection

refl
. !he reflected ray lies in the same plane as the incident ray plane
of incidence. !he type of refelction shown in fig.).4 where the
reflecting surface is perfectly smooth is called specular reflection.
&pecular reflection occurs at a mirror.li1e surface. Gougher surface give
rise to diffuse reflection shown in fig.).3.
4 specular surface is a surface which is characteri>ed by variations in
height and separation between heights and valleys surface roughness
much less than the wavelength of the light.
&o a surface which is not a good specular surface in the visible could
be 9uite specular at longer wavelengths. "ost surfaces cause to the
reflected beam to contain a portion of specular and diffusely reflected
'scattered( light. !he scattered light is the result of random reflections in
all directions due to the roughness of the surface.
If the distribution of the heights of the surface irregularities is gaussian
the ratio between the light specularly reflected 'G
s
( by the sample to the
total light reflected 'G
0
( by the sample is-
16
( D . ) '
)
4
0

,
_

e
R
R
s
where S e%presses the roughness and T the wavelength of the ray. ;rom
this formula it is easy to compute that for a TES ratio larger than 10 the
scattered light becomes significant with respect to the total reflected
light. 4s a conse9uence the mirrors to be used at shorter laser
wavelengths have to be much smoother than the mirrors for infrared
range.
efraction of li#ht - Snell-s la!
!he changes in the direction of a ray as it passes from one
material to another is called refraction. 0onsidering U
inc
the angle of
incidence the angle U
refr
is called angle of refraction. !he relation ').B( is
1nown as the &nell law.
( )B ' sin sin
) 1 refr inc
n n
( 9 . ) '
1 ) inc refr
n n If < >
;ig.). 6 Gefraction of light
1D
It is obvious that for beams passing from a lower refraction inde%
medium to a higher refraction inde% medium the outgoing beam 'the
emergent beam( is approaching to the normal at the surface as well as
the reverse situation 'from a higher to a lower inde% of refraction( leads
to a refraction angle higher than the incident angle. !his property is
used for e%ample by propagation through optical fibers. !he inner
'core( part of the optical fiber has a higher inde% of refraction than the
inde% of refraction of the surrounding 'cladding( region. 4nother
e%ample is the curvature of a laser beam light which is directed to a
domestic water 5et. !he beam suffered internal reflection at the interface
between the water 5et 'with higher inde% of refraction( and the air and
one can see how the light is curved following the parabola of the water
5et. 4 simple laser pointer could be used to perform this e%periment.
'otal internal reflection
!otal internal reflection occurs when light travels from a
medium of higher refractive inde% into one of a lower refractive inde%
1B
1 ) 1 )
> < n n
;ig.).D 0urving the light
,aser beam
input
Water 5et
for a given critical value of the incidence angle. It signifies that the light
propagates along the interface between the two media.

4t a critical value
c
of the incoming beam angle of incidence
)
becomes 90
0
.
;rom ').B(-
4nd-
( 1) . ) ' arcsin
( 11 . ) ' sin
1
)
1
)
n
n
n
n
c
c

!he total internal reflection allow propagations of light through optical

fibers for long distances with small losses.
!his is not a reversible phenomenon.
.re!ster-s la!$ .re!ster-s an#le
7rewster8s angle law states that when the reflected and
refracted rays are at right angles to each other the reflected light is
linearly polari>ed perpendicular to the plane of incidence. !he incidence
angle is called 7rewster8s angle
7
. What the polari>ation means will be
e%plained later on.
19
( 10 . ) ' sin 90
) 1
0
)
n n
c

;ig.).B !otal internal reflection
We start again by using ').B( and we put the condition of
perpendicularity between the angle of the reflected beam and the angle
of the refracted beam.

I
refr
I
inc

1
/0
0

1
n
1
n
2
I
refl
In order to minimi>e the losses by parasitic reflections one ends the
laser tubes by 7rewster angle windows as it is shown in the figure ). 10.
In this case the mirrors which form the resonant cavity are placed
outside of the laser tube 'e%ternal mirrors(.
)0
( 13 . ) '
( 14 . ) ' 2
( 1+ . ) ' cos sin
90
1
)
1
)
1
1 )
0
) 1
n
n
arctg
n
n
tg
B
B
B

;ig.).9 7rewster8s angle
;ig.).10 ,aser 7rewster window
1olari2ed li#ht
We saw previously that light is an electromagnetic radiation.
!he electric field is sinusoidal and perpendicular to the direction of
propagation. If the wave is traveling along the % a%is the electric field
vibrates up and down at a given point in space as the wave passes by. If
the electric field vibrates in only one plane such a wave is called a
plane.polari>ed wave. 7ut most light consists of many waves oscillating
in different planes. !hese waves give rise to many individual electric
field vectors that are randomly oriented. ?olari>ation states are linear
circular or elliptical according to paths traced by electric field vectors
in a passing wave train. =npolari>ed 'such as incandescent( light is a
combination of all linear circular and elliptical states. =npolari>ed light
can be plane.polari>ed using a polari>ing sheet. Gandomly polari>ed
light when referring to laser output is composed of two orthogonally
linearly polari>ed collinear beams whose power randomly varies over
time. 4lthough random this radiation is always linearly polari>ed.
When a beam of ordinary light is incident at the polari>ing angle on a
transmissive dielectric such as glass the emerging refracted ray is
partially linearly polari>ed. ;or a single surface 'with nH1.30( at
7rewster angle 100F of the light whose electric field oscillates parallel
to the plane of incidence is transmitted. <nly B3F of the perpendicular
light is transmitted 'the other 13F is reflected(.
?olari>ed light carries valuable information about various physical
parameters which have been acting upon it. "agnetic fields chemical
)1
V
7
Laser tube
Laser beam
interactions molecular structures and mechanical stress all affect
optical polari>ation.
.irefrin#ence
4 birefringent crystal divides an entering beam of
monochromatic light into two beams having opposite polari>ation. !he
beams usually propagate in different directions and will have different
speeds. 7irefringence is applicable to crystals which have a specific
direction and inde% of refraction. 0alcite is a rhombohedral crystalline
form of calcium carbonate a mineral found in various form such as
limestone and marble. 0alcite is a natural birefringent material which is
largely used as a birefringent material. It must be cut ground and
polished at e%act angles to its optical a%is. !his material can be used for
a large spectrum range 'from +30 to )+00 nm(.
%ichroic sheet &olari2ers
/ichroism is selective absorption of one polari>ation plane over
the other during transmission through a material. &heet.type polari>ers
are manufactured from organic materials imbedded into a plastic sheet.
!he sheet is stretched aligning molecules and causing them to be
birefringent and then dyed.
/ichroic sheet polari>ers are used to sub5ect one of the two orthogonal
polari>ations 'either ordinary or e%traordinary( to strong absorption.
!hey are made of a plastic dichroic sheet sandwich between selected
strain.free glass plates. !he transmitted beam is linearly polari>ed.
3irrors$ lens$ beam s&litters
!he mirrors the lens and the beam splitters are basic laser
optical components. We briefly remind some concepts.
0onventionally the light is assumed to be traveling left to right. 4ll
ob5ect or images distances measured to the left of a reflecting surface are
positive2 otherwise they are negative. Gadii of curvature are positive if
measured in the direction of the reflected or refracted light2 otherwise
they are negative. ,enses or mirrors that converge parallel rays have
))
positive focal lengths and negative focal lengths if they diverge parallel
rays. 4n ob5ect height measured above the a%is is positive2 below the
a%is is negative.
?arallel rays are reflected through a point called the focal point ; for the
concave mirror. ?oint 0 locates the center of curvature and ; lies
midway between 0 and the verte% of the mirror. Aence f the focal
length or distance from ; to verte% e9uals rE) where r is the radius of
curvature of the mirror. ;or the conve% mirror rays parallel to the a%is
are reflected such they appear to be coming from the focal point ;. ;or
the concave mirror rays parallel to the a%is are reflected through the
focal point. In both cases the rays are reversible. 4ll these facts ca be
used to construct images graphically for a given ob5ect.
4nalytically ob5ect distance o image distance i and f are related by-
where all distances are measured from the mirror verte%. 4lso it is easy
to see that the magnification m is given by-
!hese e9uations apply e9ually well to spherical mirrors and thin lenses
if the sign is strictly followed. 4ctually not all.parallel rays are focused
at a common point and aberrations occur. !he most important is the
spherical aberration which occurs because rays parallel to the a%is are
focused closer to the mirror verte% the farther they are from the a%is.
4lso parallel rays not parallel to the a%is suffer an aberration called
astigmatism. &trictly spea1ing a spherical mirror is good only for
para%ial rays that is rays parallel and close to the a%is. ?arabolic
mirrors do not suffer from spherical aberration2 all rays parallel to the
a%is are focused at a common point but astigmatism is more severe.
)+
( 16 . ) '
1 1 1
f i o
+
( 1D . ) '
o
i
Y
Y
m
o
i

;
!he lenses can be treated similarly top mirrors e%cept that the analytical
results are derived from &nell8s law instead of the law of reflection. !he
thic1ness of the lens is neglected and two focal points are re9uired. !he
primary focal point ;p is defined such that light rays coming from it or
headed toward it are refracted parallel to the a%is. !he secondary focal
point ;s is defined such that rays traveling parallel to the a%is are
refracted so that they pass through ;s or appear to be coming from it.
!he refraction is assumed to ta1e place at a single plane referred to as a
principal plane. !he focal lengths are also measured from this plane.
)4
;
o
i
;
s
;
p
;
s
;
p
;ig.).11 ;ocusing beams
;ig.).1) Image construction
If the refractive inde% of the lens is n8 and the refractive indices of the
surrounding media are n n!! " then-
!he spherical aberration in a plano.conve% lens is e%emplified in
fig.).1+. In the first part of the figure an aberration free lens focuses
incoming collimated light. 4ll the rays pass through the focal point ;
88
.
In the second part of the figure is shown the situation normally
encountered in single lenses. !he farther from the optical a%is the ray
enters the lens the nearer it focuses. !he distance along the optical a%is
between the intercept of the rays which are nearly on the optical a%is
'para%ial rays( and rays which went through the edge of the lens
'marginal rays( is called longitudinal spherical aberration ',&4(. !he
difference in the height at which these rays intercept the para%ial focal
plane is called transverse spherical aberration '!&4(. 4s can be seen
these 9uantities are related by-
( 19 . ) '
M M
tgu #$% T$%
)3
( 1B . ) ' (
1 1
(' 1 M '
1 1 1
) 1
r r
n
f i o
+
;ig.).1+ ,enses
;ig.).14 &pherical aberration of a plano.conve% lens
4&tical coatin#s
<ptical coatings are used on lenses windows laser rods and
other optical elements to eliminate unwanted reflections and on
dielectric mirrors to enhance reflection. 4ll such coatings function on
the basis of thin.film interference.
4ntireflection '4G( coatings are 9uarter.wavelength coatings with a
refractive inde% intermediate to the substrate and air. In this case the
phase shift for reflected light at each interface is identical and can be
ignored. ;or normal incidence the path.length difference is half.
wavelength2 this produces a 1B0
0
shift as shown in figure ).13.
)6


;ig.).13 4nti.refle% coating ;ig.).16 *nhance reflection coating
0onse9uently the light reflected from the first surface interferes
destructively with the light reflected from the second surface. !his is not
sufficient to eliminate reflection entirely. !he reflectance from each
surface must be also e9ual. *9uating the two reflectance values leads to-
( )0 . ) '
s c
n n
/uring vacuum coating the refractive inde% can be ad5usted to achieve
the result to a high degree of accuracy. !o ma1e the coating more
rugged the thic1ness can be made an odd number of 9uarter.
wavelengths. Aowever coating absorption increases which is a serious
problem in high.power laser applications. *nhance reflection coatings in
their simplest form are composed of many 9uarter.wavelength layers of
alternating refractive inde% such that the phase change between
successive layers is always 1B0
0
so the net phase shift for reflected light
between successive surfaces is +60
0
. !he result is that constructive
interference occurs for light reflected from all surfaces. ;igure ).16
illustrates this process.
Some laser beam o&tical &ro&erties
I<rdinary lightI 'from the sun or lamps( is composed of many different
wavelengths radiating in all directions and there is no phase relation
between the different waves out of the source. ,aser radiation is
)D
characteri>ed by certain properties which are not present in other
electromagnetic radiation-
3onochromaticity
"onochromaticity means literally Ione colorI. !o understand
this term e%amine white light which is the color interpreted in the mind
when we see all colors together. When white light is transmitted through
a prism it is divided into the different colors which are in it as seen in
fig.).13. 4 prism usually made of glass is fre9uently used to separate
light into its various colors. 4 beam of light is bent twice in a prism
once when it enters and once when it leaves. We call the total angle
through which the ray is bent the angle of deviation. !he higher the
inde% of refraction of the glass the larger the deviation of the beam. 7ut
for most materials the inde% of refraction for violet light is larger than
for the red light. Aence violet light is bent more by a glass prism than
the red light. 0onse9uently if a beam of white light enters a prism the
light is dispersed into its colors. ;or high dispersion the inde% of
refraction must change mar1edly with wavelength.
In figure ).1D a narrow slit allows only a small spectral range of
the incoming light to be detected by a photomultiplier. "oving the slit
and the photomultiplier along the rainbow delivered by the prism a
whole spectral characteri>ation of the input beam can be determined.
!he smaller the slit the better the resolution of the system. In fact this is
the basic principle of a monochromator a device largely used in optical
laboratories.
In the strictly sense of the word one color which is called spectral line
means one wavelength
0
. 4 graph of light intensity versus wavelength
for ideal one color is shown on the left side of figure ).1B.
)B
1hotomulti&lier
rr
4scillosco&e
e
ed
4ran#e
5ello!
6reen
.lue
*iolet
White li#ht
In reality every spectral line has a finite spectral width around its
central wavelength
0
as can be seen in the right side of figure ).16.
!he spectral width might be considered corresponding to full width at
the half of the ma%imum ';WA"(.
%irectionality
Gadiation comes out of the laser in a certain direction and
spreads at a defined divergence angle 'see figure ).1D(. !his angular
spreading of a laser beam is very small compared to other sources of
electromagnetic radiation and described by a small divergence angle 'of
the order of milli.radians(. In figure ).1D a comparison is made between
the radiation out of a laser and the radiation out of a standard lamp.
)9
;igure ).1B 7andwidth of the laser radiation
7 7
0
7
0
7
87
%iver#ence An#le
/ivergence angle is the full angle of opening of the beam.
&ome boo1s use half of this angle as divergence angle. !he relation
between radians and degrees is given by-
+60
0
H ) radians2 1 radian H 3D.+
0
=sing the relation between minutes and degrees- 1
0
H 608 we get-
1 mrad H 0.03DP608 +.38
&ince laser radiation divergence is of the order of milli.radians the beam
is almost parallel and laser radiation can be send over long distances.
0onsider G the radius of the illuminated spot at a distance , from the
laser 'see figure ).)0(.
+0
;igure ).19 0omparison between the light out of a laser and the
light out of an incandescent lamp
;ig.).)0 /ivergence of a beam
If the spot si>e measurement is done near the laser 'where the spot is
small( then the si>e of
the beam at the output of the laser needs to be ta1en into account-

7ecause the laser radiation has a very small divergence the small angle
appro%imation can be used. !hus we have set the tangent of the angle
e9ual to the angle. <n a screen the laser produces a spot. !he diameter
of this spot ')G( determines the spot si>e. When the measurement is
done very far from the laser the spot si>e ')G( is big compared to the
beam si>e at the laser output ')r( and it is accurate enough to measure
the spot diameter and divide it by the distance to find the beam
divergence.
4 laser with beam divergence of 1 milli.radian creates a spot of about 10
mm at a distance of 10 m.
!he laser power measured over a defined unit surface area is called
power density.
,oo1ing at figure ).13 it is clear that from a laser it is possible to
achieve higher power density than from conventional sources.
!his is the reason why the light out of a 100 W incandescent lamp is not
considered dangerous but the light of a 3.mW laser radiation directed to
the eye produces irreversible damage to the retina.
)oherence
&ince the electromagnetic radiation is a wave every
electromagnetic wave can be described as a sum of sine waves.
Where- amplitude2
. angular fre9uency2
. initial phase of the wave2
+1
[ ]
( )1 . ) '
) )
ra&ians
#
r R
tg

,
_

( cos' + t % y
').))(
*ssentially two waves are coherent if there is some fi%ed relationship
between them. !wo pure sinusoidal waves of the same fre9uency would
have perfect coherence. 7ut physical phenomena can at best only be
appro%imated by pure sinusoids. In reality there are two manifestation
of coherence spatial and temporal.
S&atial coherence
It refers to correlation in phase at the same time but at different
points in space. ,asers emit radiation with nearly perfect spatial
coherence across the entire beam.
'em&oral coherence
It refers to correlation in phase at the same point in space at
different times. 4s a wave passes through a given point in space its
phase will undergo random changes. !he origin of these changes is at
the source. !he average time between changes in phase for an isolated
atom is the lifetime of the atom in its e%cited state which averages 10
.B
s.
!he average emission time for gases li9uids and solids is much shorter
due to line. broadening mechanisms.
Gemembering the uncertainty principle-
!he coherence time is simply the appro%imate time that it ta1es a
photon to pass a given point in space.
!hus the coherence length #
coh
is related to the coherence time by-
+)
( )+ . ) ' 1 f
( )4 . ) '
coh coh
c #
!he "ichelson."orley e%periment e%emplifies the significance of
temporal coherence.

detector
"irror 1
"irror )
!he beam is split into two e9ual parts by the beam splitter. ;or
interference to be observed over a long period of time such as re9uired
by the eye photographic emulsion photo detector waves 1 and ) must
overlap. <therwise these will be no fi%ed.phase relationship between
the waves.
!hus
and interference fringes will be observed.
++
( )3 . ) ' ( ' )
) 1 coh
# # # <
;ig.).)1 "ichelson."orley interferometer
Some electricity
)ontinuous #as dischar#es
!he voltage.current characteristics 'C.I( of a gas discharge are
given in figure ).)).
;ig.).)) Coltage. current gas discharge characteristics
!he main regions are-
- dar1 '!ownsend discharge( I till 10
.6
42
- glow discharge- I H 10
.+
... 1 42 typical for continuous laser
discharges2
- arc discharge- I W 1 42
!he continuous wave gas laser operates in the glow discharge
region.!he basic electrical circuit of a gas continuous laser is given in
fig.).)+.
+4
X=
L@/
,aser tube
G
ballast
=
tube
anode
cathode
?lasma channel
;ig.).)+ *lectrical e%citation of a continuous wave laser
Where =
G
is the voltage drop on the ballast resistor G and =
laser
is the
voltage drop on the laser tube.
!he circuit e9uation is-
4s it might be seen on the graph from fig.).)+ in the glow discharge
region the voltage drop on the laser tube is almost constant. In order to
limit the current which might be increased due to the negative resistance
behavior of the laser tube the ballast resistor G has to be added in series
with the discharge.
1ulsed #as laser e9citation
"ainly the pulsed gas lasers are electrically pumped by the
discharge of a capacitor through the gas mi%ture.
+3
( )6 . ) '
tu'e
( i R ( +
;ig.).)4 ?ulsed gas laser e%citation
!he capacitor 0 is charged through the resistor G and in a very short
time when the high voltage is switched on all the energy is delivered to
the active medium 'or to the flash lamp(.
!his scheme is valuable for operation a single pulse regime or at low
repetition rate. !here are two main disadvantages- when you charge a
capacitor through a resistor half of energy is lost on the resistor as
ohmic losses and G limits the repetition rate. ;or higher repetition rates
special resonant charging circuits are used.
!he high voltage switch is a spar1 gap or a thyratron. !he spar1 gap is a
three.electrode high voltage device which consists of two rounded
edges spherical and a trigger electrode 'see fig.).)3(. When a high
voltage trigger pulse is applied on the trigger electrode the space
between the main electrodes is ioni>ed and the main discharge is
enhanced.
Laser
electrodes
)har#in# resistor
(i#h volta#e s!itch
6:%
Stora#e ca&acitor$ )
+6

!he spar1 gaps can operate till hundreds of Aert> if the case is filled
with a high.pressure gas '%enon nitrogen or even atmospheric air(. !he
voltage range depends on the distance between the electrodes and the
pressure inside the spar1.gap case. !his range is usually between 10Y
60 1C. !hey can switch very high currents '14( in very short time
'hundreds of nanoseconds(.
;or a more reliable operation and for higher repetition rate operation
thyratrons are used. &pecial types of hydrogen filled thyratrons might
operate till tenths of 1A> repetition rate to switch high voltages of tenths
of 1C currents of hundreds of 4 with rise time of few nanoseconds and
a very low 5itter. Jitter is the measure of the time uncertainty of the
control of the discharge with respect to the trigger pulse.
Electrical efficiency
!he laser electrical efficiency is appro%imately-
- )0 +0 F for laser diodes in visible '6+3 630 6D0( or
infrared 'DB0 nm B0B nm B+0 nm( etc2
- 3.)0F for 0<
)
lasers ' H 10.6 m(2
- 0.1. 1 F for Ae@e laser '6+).B nm( e%cimer laser
'ultraviolet( nitrogen laser '++D nm( argon laser '314 and
4BB nm( etc2
&o the power supply has to provide the total power input corresponding
to every specific laser.
+D
;igure ).)3 Aigh voltage spar1.gap
;or e%ample for a visible diode laser which emits 3 mW red beam a
simple battery that delivers a current of about 30 m4 rated at + C is
enough. !hat8s why the laser pointers are so simple to be operated.
;or a 1 1W 0<
)
laser which has an efficiency of about 10F you need a
10 1W power supply which is a huge device.
(i#h *olta#e 'echnique
!he high voltage direct current 'AC/0( is used in laser technology for
e%citing of gas laser 'voltages in the range of 1.13 1C for continuous
discharge lasers and )0Y60 1C for pulsed lasers( or for e%citing flash
lamps to be used for optical pumping of high power solid.state lasers
'few 1C(. In special cases as electron beam generation for laser pumping
or main discharge controlling the high voltage might be much higher
'hundreds of 1C(.
!he value of a direct voltage is defined by its arithmetic mean value that
may be derived from-
( )D . ) ' ( '
1
0

T
mean
&t t V
T
V
where ! e9uals a certain period of time if the voltage C 't( is not
constant but periodically oscillating with a fre9uency of f H 1 E!. 4
ripple 'fluctuations around the mean value( is present. !he amplitude of
this ripple ZC is defined as half difference between the ma%imum and
minimum values or-
( )B . ) ' ( ' 3 . 0
min ma%
V V V
!he high voltages are generally obtained by means of rectifying circuits
applied to alternative currents. &o a treatment of the generation
principles according to this is appropriate.
!he newest high voltage silicon.type rectifier diodes are largely used.
!hey may operate in the range of tenths of 1ilo.volts with forward
currents of few hundreds of milli.amperes. If necessary rectifying diode
units up to hundreds of a OC can be made by series connections.
+B
!he single.phase half.wave rectifier with voltage smoothing is of basic
interest 'figure ).)6(.

HV transformer
R (load)
Capacitor
DIODE



i
,
't(
C
i't(
;igure ).)6 &ingle.phase.rectifier
C
[
't(
!he storage capacitor 0 is charged to the ma%imum voltage X C
ma%
of
the a.c. voltage of the high voltage transformer if the diode conducts.
!his is the case as long as the voltage on the capacitor is less than the
alternative voltage for the polarity of the diode assumed. If the current I
H 0 the d.c. voltage across 0 remains almost constant 'X C
ma%
( whereas
C
[
't( oscillates between \ C
ma%
. !he diode / must be dimensioned
therefore to withstand a pea1 reverse of ) P C
ma%
.
!he output voltage C does not remain any more constant if the circuit is
loaded. /uring one period ! H 1Ef of the alternative current voltage a
charge ] is transferred to the load G which is represented as-
( )9 . ) ' ( '
1
( '


T
#
T
#
f
I
T I &t t V
R
&t t i )
I is therefore the mean value of the direct current 'd.c.( output i
,
't( and
C't( the d.c. voltage which includes a ripple as shown in figure ).)D.
+9
Lenerally high voltage transformers are large devices. &pecial
precautions have to be ta1en in order to avoid corona effect occurring.
,arge air gap are enough in the range of few 1C. !he transformers are
fully immersed in special transformer oil in the case of higher voltages.
"ultiplier circuits are also used to increase the output high voltage. !he
high voltage delivered by the transformer is 1ept at a reasonable value
and diodes and capacitors are used to multiply this voltage. !he recent
development of small si>e semiconductor high voltage rectifier diodes
and small si>e high voltage high value capacitors enhance this
techni9ue.
40
)ascade circuit
In figure ).)B an e%ample of a cascade circuit is given.

/
n.1
/
8

n.1
/
n
8
/
n
/
+
8
/
)
8
/
4
/
+
/8
1
/
)
/
1
0
C't(
0
8
n
0
8
n.1

n
8
'n.1(8
+
8
)
8
0
8
1
1
0
8
)

18
0
n.1
0
n
0
+
1
0
)
0
1
A.C.output
n
'n.1(
+
)
[
i
;igure ).)B 0ascade circuit
41
!he portion 0 n
8
C't( is a half.wave rectifier circuit in
which 0
n
8
charges up to a voltage of X C
ma%
if C't( has reached the
lowest potential .C
ma%
. If 0
n
is still uncharged the rectifier /
n
conducts
as soon as C't( increases. 4s the potential of point n
8
swings up to
X)C
ma%
during the period ! point n attains further on a steady potential
of X)C
ma%
if C't( has reached the highest potential of XC
ma%
. !he part
n
8
n 0 is therefore a half.wave rectifier in which the voltage across
/
8
n
can be assumed to be the a.c. voltage source. !he current through /
n
that charged the capacitor 0
n
was not provided by /
8
n
but from C't( and
0
8
n
. We assumed therefore that 0
8
n
was not charged which is not
correct. 4s we will ta1e into consideration for the loaded circuit we can
also assumed that the voltage across 0
n
is not reduced if the potential n
8
oscillates between >ero and X)C
ma%
. If the potential of n
8
however is
>ero the capacitor 0
8
n.1
is also charged to the potential of n i.e. to a
voltage of X)C
ma%
. !he ne%t voltage oscillation of v't( from C
ma%
to X
C
ma%
will force the diode /
n.1
to conduct so that also 0
n.1
will be charged
to a voltage of X)C
ma%
. 4nd the process continues till the high voltage
output will reach a ma%imum voltage of )nC
ma%
. &ome more
observations on this scheme might be done-
- the potentials at the nodes 1
8
)
8
..n
8
are oscillating due to
the voltage oscillation of C't(2
- the potentials at the nodes 1 ) + Yn remain constant with
reference to ground potential2
- the voltages across all capacitors are of d.c. type the
magnitude of which is )C
ma%
across each capacitor stage
e%cept the capacitor 0
8
n
which is stressed with C
ma%
only2
)able multi&lier
4nother method to generate fast high voltage pulses is by means of high
voltage cable delay lines. !he basic scheme for a doubling circuit is
given in figure ).)4. !he capacitors 0
1
and 0
)
are charged to the high
voltage = by means of the charging resistor G
1
the high voltage cable
and for 0
)
the resistor G
)
. !he capacitors 0
1
and 0
)
are charged in
4)
parallel at the same voltage C. 4fter charging at a specific moment a
fast spar1.gap switches the input of the cable to the ground. 4t the
output a short high voltage rise.up occurs and the brea1.down voltage of
the gas discharge tube is e%ceeded. 4s a conse9uence a series
connection of the capacitors 0
1
and 0
)
happens and they discharge
themselves through the gas. !he ma%imum voltage which appears onto
the gas discharge is appro%imately )= two times more than the initial
high voltage value =.
;igure ).)9 "ultiplying high voltage by means of cables
esonant char#in#
4 simple scheme can be used when the power dissipated on the
charging resistor is too large at high repetition rate operation of pulsed
lasers.
/ischarge tube
L@/
G
1
0
0
4+
G
)
(i#h volta#e cable
(

6:%
(*
(i#h
volta#e
s!itch
)
%
L
;igure ).+0 Gesonant charging
3ar9 #enerator
4 relatively simple method to generate high voltage pulses is
the use of a "ar% generator. It consists of a number of capacitors n
which are series connected by means of 'n.1( spar1.gaps. !he
capacitors are charged in parallel at a high voltage =. *very stage of the
"ar% generator is composed by a capacitor and a spar1.gap. 4fter the
charging of the capacitors a high voltage trigger pulse is applied in
order to switch on the first spar1.gap. !his leads to an increase of the
voltage applied on the second stage and the second spar1.gap is
automatically switched.on. !he same process occurs in avalanche for all
the other spar1.gaps and finally a high voltage 'appro%imately @PC(
high energy is obtained. !he energy of the pulse is appro%imately the
energy stored in all the capacitors. !he time behaviour of the pulse
depends on the impedance of the e%ternal circuit as well as the total
impedance of this circuit 'inductance of the capacitors and of the
connections(. =sually special designed 'low inductance( capacitors are
used. In figure ).+1 a "ar% generator is schematically shown.
44
;igure ).+1 "ar% generator
*acuum equi&ment
!he gas lasers need a clean vacuum chamber. Inside this
chamber the gas mi%ture is introduced. 4 preliminary vacuum rotary
pump which is able to evacuate till 10
.+
!orr and an oil diffusion pump
which evacuates till 10
.6
!orr compose a high vacuum system.
<rdinarily laboratory e%periments on gas laser need only a preliminary
vacuum system. !he high vacuum system is used when we intend to seal
the tube preserving the gas mi%ture inside the laser chamber as long as
possible. ;or e%ample a well.manufactured helium.neon laser can
operate more than )0000 hours it means that the laser could wor1 for
more than 10 years.
0leaning the laser chamber in order to eliminate any impurity is
important. &ome compounds with low vapor pressure could damage the
proper operation of the laser. !o eliminate these impurities li9uid
nitrogen traps are also used.
43
+
L
a
s
e
r

&
h
y
s
i
c
s

b
a
s
i
s
Bohr mo&el of the atom, Energy $tates *#evels+, ,hotons an& the energy
&iagrams, %'sorption of Electromagnetic Ra&iation, $pontaneous
emission of electromagnetic Ra&iation, -ecay Rate, Thermo&ynamic
*Thermal+ Equili'rium, ,opulation Inversion, $timulate& Emission,
,ossi'le ,rocesses 'etween ,hotons an& %toms, %'sorption Rate
Equations, -iagram of energy #evel ,opulation, %'sorption or
%mplification, Three #evel #aser, .our #evel #aser, The #aser $ystem
.ohr model of the atom
,asing action is a process that occurs in matter. &ince matter is
composed of atoms we need to understand 'a little( about the structure
of the atom and its energy states. We shall start with the semi.classical
model as suggested in 191+ by @iels 7ohr and called the 7ohr model
of the atom. 4ccording to this model every atom is composed of a very
46
massive nucleus with a positive electric charge 'NPe( around it electrons
are moving in specific paths.
N is the number of protons in the nucleus
e is the elementary charge of the electrons-
e H 1.6P10
.19
0oulomb
;igure +.1 illustrates a simple picture of the atom the 7ohr model-
*very Iallowed orbitI of the electron around the nucleus is
connected to a specific energy level. !he energy level is higher as the
distance of the IorbitI from the nucleus increases. &ince for each atom
there are only certain Iallowed orbitsI only certain discrete energy
levels e%ist and are named- *
1
*
)
*
+
etc.
Ener#y States ;Levels<
*very atom or molecule in nature has a specific structure for its
energy levels. !he lowest energy level is called the ground state which
is the naturally preferred energy state. 4s long as no energy is added to
the atom the electron will remain in the ground state. When the atom
receives energy 'electrical energy optical energy or any form of
energy( this energy is transferred to the electron and raises it to a
higher energy level 'in our model further away from the nucleus(. !he
atom is then considered to be in an e%cited state.
!he electron can stay only at the specific energy states 'levels( which are
uni9ue for each specific atom. !he electron can not be in between these
Iallowed energy statesI but it can I5umpI from one energy level to
another while receiving or emitting specific amounts of energy. !hese
specific amounts of energy are e9ual to the difference between energy
4D
levels within the atom. *ach amount of energy is called a I9uantumI of
energy.
4B
E
n
e
r
#
y

t
r
a
n
s
f
e
r

t
o

a
n
d

f
r
o
m

t
h
e

a
t
o
m

49
*nergy transfer to and from the atom can be performed in two
different ways-
1.0ollisions with other atoms and the transfer of
1inetic energy as a result of the collision. !his 1inetic
energy is transferred into internal energy of the atom.
).4bsorption and emission of electromagnetic
radiation.
&ince we are now interested in the lasing process we shall
concentrate on the second mechanism of energy transfer to and from the
atom 'the first e%citation mechanism is used in certain lasers li1e
Aelium.@eon as a way to put energy into the laser.
1hotons and the ener#y dia#rams
*lectromagnetic radiation has in addition to its wave nature
some aspects of Iparticle li1e behaviorI. In certain cases the
electromagnetic radiation behaves as an ensemble of discrete units of
energy that have momentum. !hese discrete units '9uanta( of
electromagnetic radiation are called IphotonsI.
!he relation between the amount of energy '*( carried by the
photon and its fre9uency '( is determined by the formula 'first given
by *instein(-
( 1 . + ' h E
!he proportionality constant in this formula is ?lanc1Ms constant 'h(- h H
6.6)6P10
.+4
Joule.sec.
&ometimes angular fre9uency '( is used instead of fre9uency '( so a
corrected constant h is used-
( ) . + ' sec . 10 034 . 1
)
+4
Joule
h
h

/

!he energy is given by-

30
( + . + ' / h h E
!his formula shows that the fre9uency of the radiation '( uni9uely
determines the energy of each photon in this radiation. !his formula can
be e%pressed in different form by using the relation between the
fre9uency '( and the wavelength- c H P to get-
( 4 . + '

c
h E
!his formula shows that the energy of each photon is inversely
proportional to its wavelength. !his means that each photon of shorter
wavelength 'such as violet light( carries more energy than a photon of
longer wavelength 'such as red light(. &ince h and c are universal
constants so either wavelength or fre9uency is enough to fully describe
the photon.
Absor&tion of Electroma#netic adiation
We saw that the process of photon absorption by the atom is a
process of raising the atom 'electron( from a lower energy level into a
higher energy level 'e%cited state( by an amount of energy which is
e9uivalent to the energy of the absorbed photon. <ur discussion
involved a microscopic system in which one photon interacts with one
atom.
In a macroscopic system when electromagnetic radiation
passes through matter part of it is transmitted and the atoms absorb
part.
!he intensity 'I( of the transmitted radiation through a
thic1ness '%( of homogeneous material is described by the e%perimental
e9uation of e%ponential absorption ',ambert ,aw(-
( 3 . + '
0
/
e I I



I
0
H Intensity of incoming radiation.
31
H 4bsorption coefficient of the material.
!he thic1er the material 'bigger %( the lower the intensity after
the material 'the transmitted beam(. !he relation between the transmitted
intensity 'I( to the incident intensity 'I
0
( describes the transmission '!(
of this material-
( 6 . + '
0
I
I
T
;rom the last two e9uations we get the transmission-
( D . + '
/
e T

It is common to use units of centimeter to measure the width of
the material '%( so the units of the absorption coefficient '( are cm
.1
.
*very material is transparent differently to different
wavelengths so the absorption coefficient '( is a function of the
wavelength- ^ '(. !his fact is very important 'as we shall see( to
understand the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with matter in
the variety of applications of the laser.
;or a certain width '%( of the material absorption depends only on
the absorption coefficient '( which is characteristic of each material.

S&ontaneous emission of electroma#netic radiation
<ne of the basic physical principles 'which is the basis of a
sub5ect in thermodynamics( is that-
*very system in nature IprefersI to be in the lowest energy
state.
!his state is called the ground state. 4s an e%ample we
mentioned this principle in the 7ohr model of the atom. When energy is
applied to a system the atoms in the material are e%cited and raised to a
higher energy level. 'the terms Ie%cited atomsI e%cited states and
e%cited electrons are used here with no distinction(
!hese electrons will remain in the e%cited state for a certain
period of time and then will return to lower energy states while emitting
energy in the e%act amount of the difference between the energy levels
3)
'*(. If this pac1age of energy is transmitted as electromagnetic energy
it is called photon.
!he emission of the individual photon is random being done
individually by each e%cited atom with no relation to photons emitted
by other atoms. When photons are randomly emitted from different
atoms at different times the process is called spontaneous emission.
&ince this emission is independent of e%ternal influence there is no
preferred direction for different photons and there is no phase relation
between photons emitted by different atoms.
%ecay ate
*nergy loss by an e%cited atom can be performed in two basic
ways-
@on.radiative decay . by transferring the energy to mechanical
vibrations of neighbouring atoms. !he rate for this type of decay is
nr
.
!he macroscopic effect of these vibrations is what we call heat 'or rise
in temperature(.
Gadiative decay . by spontaneous emission at a rate
rad
.
&ome e%amples of radiative decay-
In a phosphorescent material the atoms are e%cited by radiation at
one wavelength and after the e%citation stops we can still see 'under
proper illumination( a glow which is the photons emitted by e%cited
atoms when they return to their ground state.
&pontaneous emission in @eon signs . @eon gas atoms inside a
tube are e%cited by an electrical discharge through the gas. When these
atoms return to their ground state they emit photons in the visible
spectrum. @eon gas is transparent to radiation in the visible spectrum
but the spectrum emitted out of a neon sign is in the orange.red
spectrum. !he natural absorption spectrum of @eon atoms is in the ultra.
violet '=C( spectrum but in a neon sign gas tube the neon gas is
ionised because of the electrical discharge. !he ionised neon atoms emit
the visible radiation.
!he total decay rate of a certain level is the sum of the decay
rates of the two processes-
3+
( B . + '
ra& nonra&
+
<rders of magnitude for decay lifetime for atoms-
@on radiative decay- picoseconds . microseconds '10
.1)
. 10
.6
sec( .
very fast.
Gadiative decay- microseconds . milliseconds '10
.6
. 10
.+
sec(
'hermodynamic ;'hermal< Equilibrium
;rom thermodynamics we 1now that a collection of atoms at a
temperature ! _
0
O` in thermodynamic e9uilibrium with its surrounding
is distributed so that at each energy level there is on the average a certain
number of atoms. !he number of atoms '@
i
( at specific energy level '*
i
(
is called population number.
!he 7olt>mann e9uation determines the relation between the
population number of a specific energy level and the temperature-
( 9 . + '
0T
E
i
i
e const 1



@
i
H ?opulation @umber number of atoms per unit volume at
certain energy level *
i
.
1 H 7olt>mann constant- 1 H 1.+BP10
)+
Joule E
0
O.
*
i
H *nergy of level i. We assume that *
i
W *
i.1
.
const H proportionality constant. It is not important when we
consider population of one level compared to the population of
another level as we shall see shortly.
! H !emperature in degrees Oelvin
0
O 'absolute temperature(.
!he 7olt>mann e9uation shows the dependence of the
population number '@
i
( on the energy level '*
i
( at a temperature !.
;rom this e9uation we see that-
1. !he higher the temperature the higher the
population number.
34
). !he higher the energy level the lower the
population number.
!he relative population of two energy levels *
)
compared to *
1
is-
( 10 . + '
1 )
1
)
1
)
T 0
E E
T 0
E
T 0
E
e
e const
e const
1
1

0onclusions-
1.!he relation between two population numbers '@
)
E
@
1
( does not depend on the values of the energy levels
*
1
and *
)
but only on the difference between them- *
)
. *
1
.
).;or certain energy difference the higher the
temperature the bigger the relative population.
+.!he relative population can be between 0 and 1.
33
1
o
&
u
l
a
t
i
o
n

a
t

'
h
e
r
m
o
d
y
n
a
m
i
c

E
q
u
i
l
i
b
r
i
36
u
m

;igure +.) shows the population of each energy level at
thermodynamic e9uilibrium.


;igure +.) plots the energy values of the energy levels on y.
a%is and the corresponding population numbers on the %.a%is. If we
interchange the a%es we get a histogram in which the height of each
column shows the population number of each level. !he width of the
energy levels in this figure is arbitrary and does not correspond to the
real width of each level.
In the e9uation the second term inside the parenthesis is always less
than 1. &o the parenthesis are always less than 1. !hus the very
important conclusions-
1.In a thermodynamic e9uilibrium the population number of higher
energy level is always less than the population number of a lower
energy level.
).!he lower the energy difference between the energy levels the less
is the difference between the population numbers of these two levels.
3D
;igure +.)- ?opulation numbers at #normal population$
?hysically the electrons inside the atom prefer to be at the
lowest energy level possible. *ven when they are e%cited to a higher
level they return bac1 to the lowest energy level after a short time.
1o&ulation Inversion
We saw that in a thermodynamic e9uilibrium 7ol>man
e9uation shows us that-
@
1
W @
)
W @
+
!hus the population numbers of higher energy levels are
smaller than the population numbers of lower ones. !his situation is
called Inormal populationI . In a situation of normal population a photon
impinging on the material will be absorbed and raise an atom to a
higher level. 7y putting energy into a system of atoms we can achieve a
situation of Ipopulation inversionI. In population inversion at least one
of the higher energy levels has more atoms than a lower energy level.
4n e%ample is described in ;igure +.+b. In this situation there
are more atoms '@
+
( in a higher energy level '*
+
( than the number of
atoms '@
)
( in a lower energy level '*
)
(.
3B
;igure +.+- Inormal populationI compared to Ipopulation
inversionI


4s we shall see later this is one of the necessary conditions for
lasing. !he process of raising the number of e%cited atoms is called
I?umpingI. If this process is done by optical e%citation
'electromagnetic beam( it is called I<ptical ?umpingI.
Stimulated emission
4toms stay in an e%cited level only for a short time 'about 10
.B
sec( and then they return to a lower energy level by spontaneous
emission. *very energy level has a characteristic average lifetime which
is the time after which only 1Ee 'about +DF( of the e%cited atoms still
remain in the e%cited state. !hus this is the time in which 6DF of the
e%cited atoms returned to a lower energy level.
4ccording to the 9uantum theory the transition from one
energy level to another is described by statistical probability. !he
probability of transition from higher energy level to a lower one is
inversely proportional to the lifetime of the higher energy level. In
reality the probability for different transitions is a characteristic of each
transition according to selection rules.
When the transition probability is low for a specific transition
the lifetime of this energy level is longer 'about 10
.+
sec( and this level
becomes a Imeta.stableI level. In this meta.stable level a large
population of atoms can assemble. 4s we shall see this level can be a
candidate for lasing process.
When the population number of a higher energy level is bigger
than the population number of a lower energy level a condition of
Ipopulation inversionI is established. If a population inversion e%ists
between two energy levels the probability is high that an incoming
photon will stimulate an e%cited atom to return to a lower state while
emitting another photon of light. !he probability for this process
depends on the match between the energy of the incoming photon and
the energy difference between these two levels.
39
1
r
o
&
e
r
t
i
e
s

o
f

L
a
s
e
r

a
d
i
a
t
i
o
n

!he photon which is emitted in the stimulated emission process
is identical to the incoming photon. !hey both have-
1.Identical wavelengths 'and thus fre9uencies(
monochromaticity.
). Identical directions in space . directionality.
+. Identical phase . coherence.
60
!hese are the properties of laser radiation.
!he incoming photon does not change at all as a result of the stimulated
emission process. 4s a result of the stimulated emission process we
have two identical photons created from one photon and one e%cited
state. !hus we have amplification in the sense that the number of
photons has increased.
61
1
o
s
s
i
b
l
e

1
r
o
c
e
s
s
e
s

b
e
t
!
e
e
n

1
h
o
t
o
n
s

a
n
6)
d

A
t
o
m
s

;igure +.4 summarises the three possible processes between
photons and atoms- absorption spontaneous emission and stimulated
emission.
1hoton Absor&tion- 4 photon with fre9uency
1)
hits an atom at rest
'left( and e%cites it to higher energy level '*
)
( while the photon is
absorbed.
S&ontaneous emission of a &hoton- 4n atom in an e%cited state 'left(
emits a photon with fre9uency
1)
and goes to a lower energy level '*
1
(.
Stimulated emission of a &hoton- 4 photon with fre9uency
1)
hit an e%cited atom 'left( and cause emission of two photons with
fre9uency n
1)
while the atom goes to a lower energy level *
1
.
6+
ate Equations for s&ontaneous emission
;or simplicity we shall assume-
1. !he material is composed of many identical atoms.
). *ach atom has only two energy levels- *
1
and *
)
.
+. !he only decay mechanism of energy level *
)
is
spontaneous emission.
4. 4t time t @
1
atoms are in energy level *
1
and @
)
atoms in energy level *
)
.
!he rate at which the e%cited atom population @
)
't( decays
from the higher energy level '*
)
( to the lower energy level '*
1
( by
spontaneous emission is given by the decay coefficient
)1
multiplied by
the instantaneous population number of this level @
)
't( as seen by the
first order differential e9uation-
( 11 . + '
( '
( '
( '
)
)
) )1
)
t
t 1
t 1
&t
t &1

!his e9uation defines the lifetime t
)
of energy level *
)
-
( 1) . + '
1
)1
)

t
!he solution to the rate 'differential( e9uation is-
( 1+ . + ' ( 0 ' ( 0 ' ( '
) )1
) ) )
t
t
t
e 1 e 1 t 1




Stimulated ;=orced< 'ransitions
!he strength of an optical signal 'the number of photons( is
described by intensity 'I( which means the ratio of measured power
over a specific surface area 'since power is a measure of the amount of
64
energy over time than Intensity is a measure of the amount of energy
over time over surface area(.
*nergy density n't( . the number of photons per unit volume the
energy of the electromagnetic radiation in units of h or . / h
4n optical signal is an oscillating electromagnetic field and an atom can
be described as an electric dipole.
When an optical signal of the right fre9uency 'h e9ual to the energy
difference between the energy levels *
)
. *
1
( is approaching an atom
both the atoms at the lower energy level '*
1
( and the atoms at upper
energy level '*
)
( will start to oscillate.
!hat is why there are two forced processes- absorption and stimulated
emission.
Absor&tion ate Equations
!he incoming optical signal 'photons( causes the atoms to
I5umpI from the lower energy level '*
1
( to the upper energy level '*
)
(.
!he absorption rate is proportional to the product of the density
n't( of the incoming photons 'the number of photons in a unit volume(
with the number of atoms @
1
't( in the lower energy level '*
1
(-
( 14 . + ' ( ' ( '
1
)
t 1 t n 2
&t
&1


*ach photon e%cites one atom to the higher energy level.
O the proportionality constant is a measure of the relative
strength of the response of the atom to the incoming radiation in this
specific transition.
Stimulated Emission ate Equations
63
!he incoming optical signal 'photons( causes the atoms in the
upper energy level '*
)
( to oscillate 'forced oscillations( and ma1e a
transition to the lower energy level '*
1
(.
In this process two photons are emitted together- !he incoming photon
and the photon from the energy transition h H *
)
. *
1
.
!he stimulated emission rate is proportional to the product of the energy
density n't( of the incoming photons 'the number of photons in a unit
volume( with the number of atoms '@
)
't(( in the upper energy level '*
)
(-
( 13 . + ' ( ' ( '
( '
)
)
t 1 t n 2
&t
t &1

'he 1ro&ortionality )onstant ;><
;rom 9uantum considerations we get that the proportionality
constant 'O( for stimulated emission and 'stimulated( absorption are
identical. !his constant depends on the fre9uency '( of the incoming
photon. !he value of O is ma%imum when the fre9uency of the
incoming photon is e9ual to the transition fre9uency
)1
.
!he farther apart from the transition fre9uency the less the
value of the proportionality constant up to >ero. *very transition has a
linewidth '( around the transition fre9uency. !his linewidth shows the
fre9uency range in which transitions can occur. If the fre9uency of the
incoming photon is not in the range
)1
X then the value of O is >ero.
%ia#ram of ener#y Level 1o&ulation
66
We shall summari>e all the transitions in the diagram of energy
level population 'figure +.3(.

!he rate e9uation for the population of level *
)
summarises the
spontaneous emission and the two stimulated emissions for the simple
case of a two level system-
[ ] ( 16 . + '
( '
( ' ( ' ( ' ( '
( ' ( ' ( ' ( '
1
) )1 ) 1
) ) ) )
tot
&t
t &1
t 1 t 1 t 1 t n 2
&t
t &1
&t
t &1
&t
t &1
&t
t &1
sp stim a'sor' tot

+ +

We should remember that the spontaneous emission and the

stimulated emission occur at the same time and are independent of each
other so their emission rates can be added.
!he process of stimulated emission is a result of resonance
response of the atom to the forcing signal so they oscillate at the same
fre9uency and are coherent in space and time 'with the same phase and
amplitude(. <n the other end the spontaneous emission is into all
directions in space and each photon is randomly emitted.
6D
;igure +.3- &chematic energy level diagram
Am&lification
We saw in the rate e9uation that two processes decrease the
population number of the e%cited level- spontaneous emission and
stimulated emission.
<ne process increases the population number of the e%cited
state . absorption.
&ince the same amount of energy 'h( is involved in every
transition up or down than the rate at which energy is absorbed in a unit
volume of atoms is given by the transition rate times the unit of energy-
[ ] ( 1D . + ' ( ' ( ' ( '
) 1
h t 1 t 1 t n 2
&t
&(
a
=
a
is the energy density in stimulated transitions.
!he same e9uation can be written for the photon density-
[ ] ( 1B . + ' ( ' ( ' ( '
( '
) 1
t n t 1 t 1 2
&t
t &n

!he incoming energy is-
( 19 . + ' ( ' ( ' h t n t (
signal
!he absorbed energy is ta1en out of the
incoming signal so the rate of loss of energy from the incoming signal
is-
[ ] [ ] ( )0 . + ' ( ' ( ' ( ' ( ' ( ' ( '
( '
) 1 ) 1
t ( t 1 t 1 2 h t 1 t 1 t n 2
&t
t &(
signal
signal


Absor&tion or Am&lification

;rom the e9uation of rate of loss of energy from the incoming
signal we see that the sign of the difference in the population number
6B
@ H @
1
't( . @
)
't( determines if the energy density of the incoming signal
will increase or decrease as a function of time.
0onsider two possible situations-
1.When a collection of atoms is in a normal population 'thermal
e9uilibrium( the population number of the lower energy level '*
1
( is
higher than the population number of the higher energy level '*
)
(- @
1
't(
W @
)
't(.
In this situation only absorption is possible and as a result the atoms
will receive energy from the incoming signal which will decrease in
magnitude.
).When a collection of atoms is in a population inversion !he sign in
front of the parenthesis is minus and the signal will increase it
means amplification. *nergy from the system of atoms will be
transferred to the incoming signal and amplify it at a rate which is
proportional to the difference in population numbers and to the intensity
of the incoming signal.
)onclusion?
If a material is in a thermal e9uilibrium only absorption can
occur and no amplification.
!o produce amplification the material must be in a population inversion
in which more atoms are pumped to an e%cited state as compared to a
lower state.
4fter understanding the amplification process at the
microscopic level of atoms we shall connect this process to the
macroscopic system as we did in the process of absorption of
electromagnetic radiation.
In the process of absorption in the laser medium the absorption
coefficient '( depends on the material and on the difference in
population numbers ' @ H @
1
't(.@
)
't(( between the energy levels *
1
and *
)
as-
H O'@
1
. @
)
(
!he proportionality constant 'O( depends on the material and
the wavelength of the laser radiation. 4s long as @
1
't(W@
)
't( is
69
positive and the process is absorption. In the Ipopulation inversionI
situation @
1
't( . @
)
't( a 0 so that @
)
't( W @
1
't( than a is negative.
4ccording to ,ambert law- I H I
0
e
.a%
the factor '.%( is positive
which means that the intensity at the output 'I( is bigger than the
intensity at the input 'I
0
( thus amplification 'gain of energy(.
In case of amplification is called #ain coefficient.
!he probability of the stimulated transition by the incoming
radiation is identical for the two processes 'absorption and stimulated
emission(. !he direction in which more processes will occur depends on
the population of the energy levels at that moment.
)onclusion?
4s the length of the active medium increases the amplification
increases.
!here is a limit to this conclusion. In the above discussion absorption in
the active medium was not ta1en into account.
'hree Level Laser
4 schematic energy level diagram of a laser with three energy
levels is shown in figure +.6. !he two energy levels between which
lasing occur are the lower laser energy level '*
1
( and the upper laser
energy level '*
)
(.
D0
!o simplify the e%planation we neglect spontaneous emission.
!o achieve lasing energy must be pumped into the system to create
population inversion. &o that more atoms will be in energy level *
)
than
in the ground level '*
1
(. 4toms are pumped from the ground state '*
1
( to
energy level *
+
. !hey stay there for an average time of 10
.B
sec and
decay 'usually with a non.radiative transition( to the meta.stable energy
level *
)
. &ince the lifetime of the meta.stable energy level '*
)
( is
relatively long 'of the order of 10
.+
sec many atoms remain in this level.
If the pumping is strong enough then after pumping more than 30F of
the atoms will be in energy level *
)
a population inversion e%ists and
lasing can occur.
=our Level Laser
!he schematic energy level diagram of a four level laser is
shown in figure +.D. 0ompared to the e9uivalent diagram of a three level
laser there is an e%tra energy level above the ground state. !his e%tra
energy level has a very short lifetime.

D1
!he pumping operation of a four level laser is similar to the
pumping of a three level laser. 4 rapid population of the upper laser
level '*
+
( through the higher energy level '*
4
( does this. !he advantage
of the four level laser is the low population of the lower laser energy
level '*
)
(. !o create population inversion there is no need to pump more
than 30F of the atoms to the upper laser level. !he population of the
lower laser level '@
)
't(( is decaying rapidly to the ground state so
practically it is empty. !hus a continuous operation of the four level
laser is possible even if 99F of the atoms remain in the ground state.
4dvantages of four level lasers compared to three level lasers-
!he lasing threshold of a four level laser is lower.
!he efficiency is higher.
Ge9uired pumping rate is lower.
0ontinuous operation is possible.
'he Laser System
!he laser is a system that is similar to an electronic oscillator.
4n oscillator is a system that produces oscillations without an e%ternal
driving mechanism. !o demonstrate an oscillator we can use the
familiar acoustic analogy-
D)
;igure +.D- *nergy level diagram in a four level laser

;igure +.B 4udio anology with a laser system
4 sound amplification system has a microphone amplifier and spea1er.
When the microphone is placed in front of the spea1er a closed circuit is
formed and a whistle is heard out of the spea1er. !he whistle is created
spontaneously without any e%ternal source.
*%planation- !he spea1erMs internal noise is detected by the microphone
amplified and the amplified signal is again collected by the microphone.
!his positive feedbac1 continues until a loud whistle is heard.
*very oscillator has 4 main parts 'as seen in figure +.B(-
1. 4mplifier.
). ?ositive resonance feedbac1.
+. <utput coupler.
4. ?ower source.

In analogy to the electronic amplifier the laser can be
described as composed of four structural units 'see figure +.10(-
1. 4ctive medium which serves as an optical
amplifier.
). *%citation mechanism.
+. <ptical feedbac1.
D+
;igure +.B- *lectronic <scillator
4. <utput coupler to allow electromagnetic radiation
out of the laser device.


'he laser active medium
!he active medium is a collection of atoms or molecules which can
be e%cited into a population inversion situation and can have
electromagnetic radiation e%tracted out of it by stimulated emission. !he
active medium can be in any state of matter- solid li9uid gas or plasma.
!he active medium determines the possible wavelengths that can be
emitted from the laser. !hese wavelengths are determined by the
specific transitions between the laser energy levels in this material. !he
list of materials that lase under certain laboratory conditions include
hundreds of substances and the number increases with time. !he basic
physics of the laser is similar for all types of lasers and we will use the
term Iactive mediumI and assume that it is composed of IatomsI. In
reality the active medium can be atoms molecules ions or
semiconductors according to the laser type.
'he e9citation mechanism
!he e%citation mechanism is the source of energy that raises the
atoms in the active medium into their e%cited state thus creating
D4
population inversion. In accordance to the law of conservation of
energy the electromagnetic radiation out of the laser is always less then
the input energy by the e%citation mechanism. !here are lasers with
efficiency of much less than 1F ':( while others with efficiencies
approaching a 100F.
!here are few types of e%citation mechanisms-
a( <ptical pumping . e%citation by photons-
In lasers with solid or li9uid active medium it is common to supply
the e%citation energy in a form of electromagnetic radiation 'photons(
which is absorbed in the active medium. !he electromagnetic radiation
source can be of different 1inds-
. flash lamps which are build from a 9uart> tube filled
with gas at low pressure. =sually Kenon gas is used but sometimes
when higher energy is re9uired other noble gasses with lower atomic
weights such as Orypton or Aelium are used.
. another laser or any other light source
b( *lectrical e%citation of a gas-
When the active medium is in the gas state the best e%citation is by
electrical discharge of the gas 'see figure +.11(.
!he gas in the tube is electrically neutral and as long as no e%ternal
energy is applied most of the molecules are in the ground state. When
D3
;igure +.11- *lectrical *%citation of a Las ,aser
the high electrical voltage is applied electrons are released from the
cathode and accelerated toward the anode. <n their way these electrons
collide with the gas molecules and transfer energy to them. !hus the gas
molecules are raised to e%cited state.
Aigher voltage is re9uired to start the electrical discharge in the tube
than to 1eep the discharge. !hus a preliminary high voltage pulse is
applied for initial discharge and then the voltage is lowered to its
operating value.
!he ballast resistor is used to limit the current in the tube after
discharge is achieved. &ince the right conditions for direct e%citation of
the lasing gas are difficult to find a variation of this method is used-
c( 0ollisions with atoms
!his is the standard e%citation mechanism in the commercial gas
lasers such as Aelium.@eon laser or 0arbon./io%ide laser. In this
method at least two gasses are inside the laser tube. <ne gas receives the
energy from the collision with the accelerated free electrons. !he second
gas receives energy from collisions with the e%cited molecules of the
first gas.
D6
*
%
a
m
pl
e-
A
el
iu
m
.
@
e
o
n
,
as
er
;igure +.1) show the energy level diagram of Aelium.@eon laser with
the possible transitions. !he mass of the Aelium atom is about one.fifth
of the mass of the @eon atom. !he amount of Aelium in the tube is
about 6 times the amount of @eon. !hus Aelium atoms have more
chance to receive energy from the accelerated electrons and transfer
into the e%cited energy levels *
+
and *
3
.

DD
@eon atom has two e%cited energy levels '*
+
and *
3
( which are very
close to the e%cited energy levels of the Aelium atom. !he e%cited
Aelium atoms transfer their e%citation energy to the @eon atoms by
collisions . resonance e%citation.
d( 0hemical *%citation
In this e%citation the energy is supplied by the chemical reaction
between two atoms or molecules.
e( *lectric current in diode lasers
=eedbac" 3echanism
!he feedbac1 mechanism returns part of the coherent laser
radiation which was created inside the active medium bac1. =sually the
feedbac1 is done by using mirrors at both ends of the active medium.
!hese mirrors are aligned so that the radiation is moving bac1 and forth
between them. In this way an optical cavity is created.
=sually one mirror is 100F reflecting so all the radiation
coming toward the mirror is reflected bac1 to the active medium. !he
other mirror is partially reflecting '10F . 99F( according to the laser
type. !he part of the radiation which is not reflected bac1 into the
optical cavity is transmitted out and it is the laser output. !he feedbac1
allows each photon to pass many times through the active medium so
enough amplification will result. 7ecause of the feedbac1 mechanism
only photons which move between the mirrors remain in the active
medium which give the directionality of the output beam.
4ut&ut )ou&ler
<utput coupler is a means to transmit electromagnetic radiation
out of the laser. !he standard output coupler uses a partially reflecting
mirror. !he part of the beam which is not reflected bac1 into the active
medium is transmitted out. In a continuous wave laser 'in which the
radiation is emitted continuously( most of the radiation is reflected bac1
into the cavity and only a few percent is transmitted out. In certain
pulsed lasers most of the radiation within the cavity at a specific moment
is transmitted out in a pulse.
DB
4
4&ti
cal
cavit
y$
laser
mod
es$
o&tic
al
com
&one
nts
$tan&ing waves, #ongitu&inal mo&es, 3ain curve, Transverse mo&es,
#aser optical cavities, $ta'ility criterion, .resnel num'er, #aser
mirrors
Standin# Waves
4s 1nown from the wave theory when two waves with similar
amplitudes and same fre9uency are moving in the same path at opposite
directions their interference creates an oscillating wave which appears
as if it is fi%ed in space . a standing wave. In figure 4.1 a pictorial
demonstration is given for the creation of a standing wave during one
complete cycle.
D9
In figure 4.1 the wave is described every 1E4 cycle. !he blac1 spot show
how the disturbance of the pea1 of the wave advances during a complete
period !. !he solid line describes a wave moving to the right. <n the
right side of figure 4.1 the superposition of the two waves is shown.
,i1e a standing wave in a string attached to fi%ed points at both sides
the fi%ed points of a standing wave are called nodes. !he distance
between ad5acent nodes is half the wavelength of each of the interfering
waves. !hus it is the same as half a wavelength of the standing wave
they create.
Standin# !aves in a laser
B0
;igure 4.1- 0reating standing wave from two waves moving in
opposite directions
In
a
la
se
r
a
n
o
pt
ic
al
c
a
vi
ty
is
cr
e
at
e
d
b
y
t
w
o
m
ir
ro
rs
at
b
ot
h
e
n
d
B1
s
of
th
e
la
se
r
'l
as
er
m
ir
ro
rs
(.
!
h
es
e
m
ir
ro
rs
se
rv
e
t
w
o
g
o
al
s-
1. !hey increase the length of the active medium by ma1ing
the beam pass through it many times.
). !hey determine the boundary conditions for the
electromagnetic fields inside the laser cavity.
B)
4 cavity with two mirrors is called ;abry?erot resonator.
!he a%is connecting the centers of these mirrors and
perpendicular to them is called optical a%is of the laser. !he laser beam
is e5ected out of the laser in the direction of the optical a%is.
4n electromagnetic wave which move inside the laser cavity
from right to left is reflected by the left mirror and move to the right
until it is reflected from the right mirror and so on. !hus two waves of
the same fre9uency and amplitude are moving in opposite directions
which is the condition for creating a standing wave. !he electromagnetic
waves inside the laser cavity are + dimensional and are moving along
the optical a%is of the laser.
)onditions for Standin# Waves
In order to create a standing wave the wave must start with the
same phase at the mirror. !hus the optical path from one mirror to the
other and bac1 must be an integer multiplication of the wavelength.
&ince the length between the mirrors is constant , the suitable
wavelengths which create standing waves must fulfill the condition-
( 1 . 4 '
)
m
#
m

, . length of the optical cavity.
m . number of the mode which is e9ual to the number of half
wavelengths inside the optical cavity. !he first mode contains
half a wavelength the second mode ) halves 'one( wavelength.

m
. wavelength of mode m inside the laser cavity.
!he wavelength of the laser mode
m
is measured inside the
active medium.
Wavelength in matter
m
is e9ual to-
( ) . 4 '
0
n
m



0
. wavelength of light in vacuum.
B+
n . inde% of refraction of the active medium.
c . velocity of light in vacuum.
We notice that the fre9uency of the light remains the same in
vacuum or in different media only the wavelength is changing.
!he wavelength
m
might be e%pressed also as-

( + . 4 '
1
m
m
n
c

where cEn is the velocity of light in a specific medium with inde% of
refraction n.
4nd from '4.+( the fre9uency of the longitudinal mode is-
( 4 . 4 '
m
m
n
c

Inserting
m
from '4.1( into the last e9uation-
( 3 . 4 '
) # n
c
m
m


!he first mode of oscillation available for this optical cavity is-

( 6 . 4 '
)
1
# n
c


!his mode is called basic longitudinal mode and it has the basic
fre9uency of the optical cavity.
!he fre9uency of each laser mode is e9ual to integer 'mode number m(
times the fre9uency of the basic longitudinal mode. !he difference
between fre9uencies of ad5acent modes 'mode spacing( is e9ual to the
basic fre9uency of the cavity-
B4
( D . 4 '
) )
( 1 ' ( '
1
# n
c
# n
c
m m
m m 4$

+
+

Standin# !aves in a strin#
In figure 4.) the first 3 standing waves are shown.


!hese are e9uivalent to the longitudinal laser modes which are
the modes along the optical a%is of the laser.
, . length of the optical cavity.
B3
;igure 4.)- ,ongitudinal modes in an optical cavity of length ,.
n . inde% of refraction.
m . number of the mode which is e9ual to the number of half
wavelengths inside the optical cavity.

m
. wavelength of the m mode inside the laser cavity.
!he necessary condition for these standing waves is a node at each end
'mirror(.
=ntil now it was assumed that the inde% of refraction 'n( is
constant along the optical cavity. !his assumption means that the length
of the active medium is e9ual to the length of the optical cavity. !here
are lasers in which the mirrors are not at the ends of the active medium
so ,
1
is not e9ual to the length of the cavity ',(. In such case each
section of the cavity is calculated separately with its own inde% of
refraction-
( B . 4 '
) )
( '
) ) 1 1
# n # n
c
4$
+

In the visible spectrum for cavities of tenths of centimeters long the
mode number m is very high of the order of millions. 4ctually it will
be e%plained that not all possible modes according to the formula will
appear in the laser beam because there are a lot of limiting conditions.
Allo!ed frequencies inside a laser cavity
In figure 4.+ a graphic representation is given for allowed
fre9uencies inside a laser cavity.
B6














# n
c
m
m


)

;igure 4.+- 4llowed longitudinal modes inside a laser
cavity of length ',( and inde% of refraction 'n(.
fre9uency
# n
c

)
1

mH1
mH)
&tanding wave amplitude
'relative units(

In practice the fre9uencies are not defined mathematically as
single fre9uencies but each have a width of fre9uencies around the
possible modes. @ot all these allowed fre9uencies would be emitted
from the laser since there is more limiting conditions.
,ongitudinal modes in lasers are standing waves along the optical a%is
of the laser. &tanding waves are formed when two waves with the same
fre9uency and amplitude are moving against each other. !wo mirrors at
both sides of the laser create optical cavity. !he standing waves inside a
laser are created when the electromagnetic radiation is forced to move
bac1 into the cavity from the mirrors.
!he allowed fre9uencies inside an optical cavity are determined by the
length of the cavity ',( and the inde% of refraction of the active medium.
<nly those fre9uencies which create nodes at both mirrors are allowed.
!hus the cavity length must be an integer multiplication of half their
wavelengths.
BD
!he allowed fre9uencies are spaced at constant interval which is e9ual
to the basic fre9uency of the cavity.
<nly specific fre9uencies are possible inside the optical cavity of a laser
according to standing wave condition. ;rom all these possible
fre9uencies only those that fulfill the following condition will be
emitted as laser lines-
<nly those fre9uencies 'modes( that have amplification above certain
minimum to overcome absorption 'as will be e%plained in chapter 3(
will be emitted out of the laser.
!his minimum amplification is defined as lasin# threshold.
!he condition of minimum amplification means that the amplification is
e9ual to losses so that in a round trip path inside the cavity L
,
H 1.
6ain )urve of the Active 3edium
In figure 4.4 the gain curve of the active medium as a function of
fre9uency is mar1ed with the lasing threshold and possible longitudinal
modes of the laser.
BB
;igure 4.4- Lain curve of a laser
!he height of each lasing line depends on the losses in a round
trip inside the cavity including the emitted radiation through the output
coupler. !he shape and properties of the gain curve is e%plained in
chapter 3. !he mar1ed region under the curve and above the lasing
threshold include the range where lasing can occur.
!he height of the gain curve depends on the length of the active
medium and its e%citation. !he possible longitudinal modes of the laser
are mar1ed as perpendicular lines at e9ual distances from each other. In
section 4.1 the condition of standing waves for longitudinal modes was
determined by the length of the cavity and its inde% of refraction. In
figure 4.4 only 3 fre9uencies from those allowed inside the cavity are
above the lasing threshold. !hus only these 3 fre9uencies can e%ist at the
output of this laser.
'he number of lon#itudinal o&tical modes
In figure 4.3 the spectral distribution of the lines emitted out of
the laser described in figure 4.4 is shown.
B9
;igure 4.3- &pectral distribution of laser lines.
In this laser 3 fre9uencies are allowed at the output and they are spaced
at e9ual distances which are e9ual to the mode spacing-
( 9 . 4 '
) # n
c
4$


'he fluorescence line !idth
LW
of a laser
!he gain curve is a plot of gain as a function of fre9uency and
it describes the width of the fluorescence line. !he fluorescence line
width
LW
of a laser is the width of the amplification curve at half the
ma%imum height. !his fluorescence line width determines the ma%imum
width of all the emitted laser lines 'coherent radiation at the output of
the laser at all possible longitudinal modes(. /etailed e%planation can be
found in chapter 3. !he appro%imate number of possible laser modes '@(
is given by the width of the fluorescence line divided by the distance
between ad5acent modes-
( 10 . 4 '
4$
#5
1

"& . mode spacing.

,W . line width.

,W
. fluorescence line width.

"&
. distance between ad5acent longitudinal modes.
)ontrollin# the number of lon#itudinal modes of the laser
!he way to control the number of longitudinal modes in a laser
is to control the length of the laser cavity. !his can be done in two ways-
1.0hanging the length of the cavity by physically moving the
mirrors to a new position. /oubling the length of the cavity reduces to
half the distance between ad5acent longitudinal modes thus doubling the
number of possible laser modes under the fluorescence curve. It is clear
that a single mode laser can be made by reducing the length of the
cavity such that only one longitudinal mode will remain under the
fluorescence curve with L
,
W1. In such single mode laser the e%act
90
distance between the mirrors is critical since if there will be no modes
to fulfill the condition no lasing will occur. !he disadvantage of this
method is that the short length of the cavity limits the power output of
the laser.
). 4dding an e%tra mirror inside the laser cavity.
4dding an e%tra mirror inside the laser cavity is described in figure
4.6.
!his method determines two cavity lengths at the same time- ,
1
and ,
)
.
!he length ,
1
is chosen such that only one longitudinal mode will be
under the fluorescence curve of the laser.
!he laser as a system needs to fulfill the conditions for both cavities.
!his arrangement re9uires strict stable positions for the mirrors and is
used wherever high power in a single mode is needed especially in
solid.state lasers.

;igure 4.6- <perating a laser in single mode by + mirrors.
%ifference bet!een Ad@acent Lon#itudinal 3odes.
4lthough most lasers operate in many longitudinal modes we
still see them as monochromatic sources. !he difference between two
ad5acent modes is very small. 0onsidering a Ae.@e laser which has
m
H
6+).B000 nm for the mode m the mode 'mX1( will have
mX1
H
6+).D996 nm
91
!he difference in wavelengths between ad5acent longitudinal
modes is 410
.1+
meters so we may consider such a laser as a
monochromatic source for most practical applications.
'he im&ortance of lon#itudinal o&tical modes at the out&ut of the
laser
!he importance of longitudinal modes of the laser is
determined by the specific application of the laser.
1. In most high power applications for material processing or
medical surgery the laser is used as a mean for transferring the energy
to the target. !hus there is no importance for the longitudinal laser
modes.
). In applications where interference of electromagnetic
radiation is important such as holography or interferometric
measurements the longitudinal modes are very important.
In these applications the coherence length of the radiation is the
important property and it is determined by the line width of the laser
radiation 'inversely proportional to it(. In these applications a single
mode laser is used and special techni9ues are used to reduce its line
width thus increasing its coherence length.
+. In spectroscopic and photochemical applications a very
defined wavelength is re9uired. !his wavelength is achieved by
operating the laser in single mode and than controlling the length of the
cavity such that this mode will operate at e%actly the re9uired
wavelength. !he structure of longitudinal laser modes is critical for
these applications.
4. When high power short pulses are needed mode loc1ing is
used. !his process causes constructive interference between all the
modes inside the laser cavity. !he structure of longitudinal laser modes
is important for these applications.
Laser modes
Inside a laser cavity the laser modes are characteri>ed by-
1. ;re9uency '( or wavelength '(.
9)
). !ransverse "ode . Intensity distribution measured over beam cross
section 'perpendicular to the optical a%is of the laser(.
+. ,ongitudinal "ode . Intensity distribution measured along the optical
a%is of the laser.
'ransverse modes of a laser
In previous sections the distribution of intensity was e%amined
along the optical a%is of the laser. ,ongitudinal modes were described as
standing waves between the laser mirrors. !his section e%amines the
transverse distribution of intensity in cross section of the beam
perpendicular to the optical a%is of the laser. !hese transverse modes are
created by the width of the cavity which enables a few #diagonal$
modes to develop inside the laser cavity. 4 little misalignment of the
laser mirrors causes different path length for different #rays$ inside the
cavity. !hus the distribution of intensity is not the perfect gaussian
distribution to be e%plained shortly.
Sha&e of transverse electroma#netic modes
In cross section the laser radiation has specific distribution into
regions with high intensity and regions with no radiation at all. ;igure
4.D show the energy distribution of the first few transverse
electromagnetic modes. !he dar1 areas mar1 places where laser
radiation hit.
9+
;igure 4.D- !ransverse *lectromagnetic ,aser "odes '!*"(
When the laser output power is of the order of several Watts
the distribution of energy in the beam cross section can be measured by
a short illumination of a stic1 of wood with the laser. ;or low power
lasers special screens which respond to the specific wavelength of the
laser can be used. !he screen change its properties in places e%posed to
the laser beam and a similar picture to figure 4.D is visible. !he shape of
energy distribution in the beam cross section is called- !ransverse
*lectro."agnetic '!*"( "odes.
!ransverse *lectro."agnetic '!*"( "odes describe the shape
of energy distribution in the beam cross section. ;igure 4.D show the
energy distribution of the first few transverse electromagnetic modes.
!he dar1 areas mar1 places where laser radiation hit. *ach transverse
mode '!*"( is mar1ed with two inde%es- !*"
mn
.
m n are integer numbers. 4ssuming the beam advance in > direction-
m . number of points of >ero illumination 'between illuminated regions(
along %.a%is.
n . number of points of >ero illumination 'between illuminated regions(
along y.a%is.
!here is one transverse mode which does not fit this classification and
it has a special name 'according to its shape( due to its importance-
#7agel$. It is composed of !*"
01
and !*"
10
oscillating together 'see
figure 4.D(.
Electric field distribution of 'E3 modes
Gadiation intensity of the laser beam is a measure of the s9uare of the
electric field of the electromagnetic radiation.
94
;igure 4.B- Intensity and
*lectric fields of few
transverse modes
!he dar1 regions in figure 4.D are areas with high electric field. In figure
4.B both intensity and electric field is shown for each of a few transverse
modes.
)ontrol of the transverse modes of the laser
When a laser operates in several transverse modes the total
intensity profile is a superposition of all e%isting transverse modes.
;igure 4.9 describes the intensity distribution of + lower modes and
their superposition. ;igure 4.9 shows that the lower transverse mode
!*"
00
have the smallest diameter compared to other modes. !his gives a
hint how to ma1e a laser operate in a single basic transverse mode-
putting a pinhole with the proper diameter inside the optical cavity. 7y
choosing the pinhole diameter e9ual to the diameter of the lower mode
only this mode can pass through the pinhole and all higher modes are
attenuated. &ince radiation inside the optical cavity is moving many
times only the basic mode will be amplified and appear in the output.
)haracteristics of the .asic 'ransverse 3ode ;'E3
00
< of the Laser
!he intensity distribution of the basic transverse mode has the
shape of a mathematical curve called #gaussian$. !he basic transverse
mode is the only mode in which all the radiation is in phase along the
cross section of the beam 'see figure 4.B(.
93
;igure 4.9- ,aser radiation with a few transverse modes.
!he mathematical description of the distribution of intensity as a
function of the distance from the center is-
( 11 . 4 ' ( '
)
0
)
)
r
r
e r I

I
0
. intensity at the center of the beam 'ma%imum intensity(.
r . radius of the gaussian beam. !his is the distance from the
center in which the intensity drops to 1Ee
)
of the ma%imum intensity.
!he total power in the gaussian beam is-
( 1) . 4 '
)
0 )
0
I
r ,
It can be shown that the divergence angle of a gaussian beam is-
( 1+ . 4 '
)
0
r

!he basic transverse mode has properties which ma1es it very practical
and laser manufacturers try very hard to build lasers which operate in
single basic gaussian mode.
1ro&erties of .asic 6aussian 'ransverse 3ode
,owest divergence angle than all other transverse modes.
0an be focused to the smallest spot than all other transverse
modes.
Aave the ma%imum spatial coherence compared to other
transverse modes.
!he spatial distribution of a gaussian beam remains gaussian
while the beam propagates through space.
96
!he imaging with a lens of a gaussian beam and other optical
elements which the beam pass through creates again a
gaussian beam.
4&tical )avity
In every laser cavity there are 'at least( two mirrors at the end
of the laser. !hese mirrors are facing each other and their centers are on
the optical a%is of the laser. !he distance between the mirrors determines
the length of the optical cavity of the laser ',(. !here are different
shapes of mirrors with different lengths between them. 4 specific
optical cavity is determined by the active medium used the optical
power in it and the specific application.
!he e%planation here will summari>e the design principles of an optical
cavity-
Important definitions.
,osses inside optical cavity.
0ommon optical cavities
&tability criterion of laser optical cavity
Im&ortant %efinitions for o&tical cavity?
<ptical 0avity . ,aser 0avity . !he region between the end
mirrors of the laser.
<ptical 4%is . !he imaginary line connecting the centers of the
end mirrors and perpendicular to them. !he optical a%is is in
the middle of the optical cavity.
4perture . !he beam diameter limiting factor inside the laser
cavity. =sually the aperture is determined by the diameter of the active
medium but in some lasers a pinhole is inserted into the laser cavity to
limit the diameter of the beam. 4n e%ample is the limiting aperture for
achieving single mode operation of the laser.
,osses inside <ptical 0avity . Include all the radiation missing
from the output of the laser 'emitted through the output coupler(. !he
gain of the active medium must overcome these losses.
9D
Losses inside an o&tical cavity
3isali#nment of the laser mirrors . When the cavity mirrors
are not e%actly aligned perpendicular to the laser a%is and parallel to
each other 'symmetric( the radiation inside the cavity will not be
confined during its path between the mirrors.
Absor&tion$ scatterin# and losses in o&tical elements . &ince
optical elements are not ideal each interaction with optical element
inside the cavity cause some losses.
%iffraction Losses . *very time a laser beam passes through a
limiting aperture it diffract. It is not always possible to increase the
aperture for reducing the diffraction. 4s an e%ample such increase will
allow lasing in higher transverse modes which are not desired.
S&ecific laser o&tical cavities
*ach optical cavity has two end mirrors with radii of curvature
G
1
and G
)
. Gegions inside the active medium which are not included
inside the volume of the active mode do not participate in lasing. !wo
parameters determine the structure of the optical cavity-
1. !he volume of the laser mode inside the active medium.
). !he stability of the optical cavity.
In the following pages each type of optical cavity is described. !he dar1
region in each of the optical cavities mar1s the volume of the active
mode in this specific cavity.
a, 1lane &arallel o&tical cavity,
;igure 4.10 describes the ?lane ?arallel <ptical 0avity.

9B
;igure 4.10
4t both ends there are two plan mirrors 'G
1
H G
)
H (
parallel to each other and perpendicular to the laser optical a%is.
4dvantages-
<ptimal use of all the volume of the active medium.
!hus used in pulsed lasers which need the ma%imum energy.
@o focusing of the laser radiation inside the optical
cavity. In high power lasers such focusing can cause electric
brea1down or damage to the optical elements.
/isadvantages-
Aigh diffraction losses.
Cery high sensitivity to misalignment. !hus very
difficult to operate.
b, )oncentric )ircular )avity.
;igure 4.11 describes the circular concentric optical cavity.
4t both ends there are two spherical mirrors with the same
radii. !he distance between the centers of the mirrors is e9ual to twice
the radius of curvature of each of them 'G
1
H G
)
H,E)(. !his arrangement
cause focusing of the beam at the center of the cavity. !he properties of
this cavity are the opposite of those of the plan parallel cavity-
4dvantages-
Cery low sensitivity to misalignment. !hus very easy
to align.
,ow diffraction losses.
/isadvantages-
,imited use of the volume of the active medium. =sed
in optical pumping of continuous /ye lasers 'see section 6.4(.
In these lasers the li9uid dye is flowing in the region of the
beam focusing '!he flow direction is perpendicular to the
99
;igure 4.11- 0ircular
0oncentric <ptical
0avity
optical a%is of the laser(. !hus very high power density is used
to pump the dye.
"a%imum focusing of the laser radiation inside the optical
cavity. &uch focusing can cause electric brea1down or damage
to the optical elements.
c, )onfocal cavity,
;igure 4.1) describes the confocal cavity.

!his cavity is a compromise between plan parallel and circular
optical cavities. 4t both ends there are two spherical mirrors with the
same radiuses. !he distance between the centers of the mirrors is e9ual
to the radius of curvature of each of them 'G
1
H G
)
H ,(. !his
arrangement cause much less focusing of the beam at the center of the
cavity.
4dvantages-
,ittle sensitivity to misalignment. !hus easy to align.
,ow diffraction losses.
@o high focusing inside the cavity.
"edium use of the volume of the active medium.
!he main difference between the confocal cavity and the
spherical cavity is that in the confocal cavity the focal point of each
mirror is at the center of the cavity while in spherical cavity the center
of curvature of the mirrors is in the center of the cavity.
d, )avity !ith radius of curvature of the mirrors lon#er than cavity
len#th.
100
;igure 4.1)- 0onfocal <ptical 0avity.
;igure 4.1+ describes the 0avity with Gadius of 0urvature of
the mirrors ,onger than 0avity length.

!his cavity is a better compromise than confocal cavity
between plan parallel and circular optical cavities. 4t both ends there are
two spherical mirrors with big radiuses of curvature 'does not need to be
the same(. !he distance between the centers of the mirrors is much less
then the radius of curvature of each of them 'G1 G) WW ,(. !his
arrangement cause much less focusing of the beam at the center of the
cavity.
4dvantages-
"edium sensitivity to misalignment.
"edium diffraction losses.
@o high focusing of the beam inside the cavity.
Lood use of the volume of the active medium
e, (emis&herical cavity,
;igure 4.14 describes the Aemispherical 0avity.
!he cavity is created by one plan mirror and one spherical mirror with
radius of curvature e9ual to the length of the cavity.

101
;igure 4.1+- 0avity with Gadius of
0urvature of the mirrors ,onger
than 0avity length
;igure 4.14- Aemispherical 0avity.
!his cavity is similar in properties to circular optical cavity with the
advantage of the low price of the plan mirror. "ost Aelium.@eon lasers
use this cavity which have low diffraction losses and is relatively easy
to align.
4dvantages-
,ow sensitivity to misalignment.
,ow diffraction losses.
f, (alf curve !ith lon#er than cavity radius of curvature.
;igure 4.13 describes this 0avity. !he cavity is created by one
plan mirror and one spherical mirror with radius of curvature much
larger than the length of the cavity.
!his cavity is similar in properties to confocal cavity with the advantage
of the low price of the plan mirror.
#, Anstable resonator.
;igure 4.16 describes an e%ample of =nstable 0avity. 4n
e%ample for such cavity is created by conve% concave arrangement of
spherical mirrors.

10)
;igure 4.13- Aalf 0urve with
longer than cavity radius of
curvature.
;igure 4.16- =nstable
0avity.
!he concave mirror is big and its radius of curvature is longer than the
length of the cavity. !he conve% mirror is small and its radius of
curvature is small. In such cavity no standing wave pattern is created
inside the cavity. !he radiation does not move in the same path between
the mirrors. !he radius of curvature of both mirrors meet at the same
point.
4dvantages-
Aigh volume of the modes inside the active medium
'!he entire volume(.
4ll the power inside the cavity is emitted out of the
laser not 5ust a small fraction of it.
!he laser radiation is emitted out of the laser around the edges
of the small mirror.
!his cavity is used in high power lasers which cannot use
standard output coupler.
/isadvantages-
!he beam shape has a hole in the middle.
Stability )riterion of the cavity
4 stable cavity is a cavity in which the radiation is captured
inside the cavity creating standing waves while the beam move between
the mirrors. !he geometry of the cavity determines if the cavity is stable
or not. It is possible to use unstable resonator only if the active medium
have high gain since the beam pass through the active medium less
times than in stable cavity. ;or determining stability of a cavity a
stability criterion needs to be defined. ;irst a geometric parameter is
defined for each of the mirrors-
( 4 1 . 4 ' 1 1
)
)
1
1
R
#
g
R
#
g
g
)
H 1 . ,EG
)
4 graphical representation of the geometric parameters is described in
figure 4.1D.
10+

4 cavity is stable if-
0 a g
1
P g
)
a 1 '4.13(
Stability %ia#ram
4 cavity is stable if the center of curvature of one of the
mirrors or the position of the mirror itself but not both is between the
second mirror and its center of curvature. In the stability diagram the
geometric parameters of the mirrors are the a%es % and y. ;igure 4.1B
show the stability diagram of all laser cavities. In the stability diagram
in figure 4.1B the dar1 region mar1s the area of stability. !he stability
region is surrounded by two hyperbolas defined by the stability criterion.
4 few common cavities are mar1ed on the stability diagram. ?ay special
attention for cavities on the edges of the stability region: ;or these
cavities the product g
1
Pg
)
is either I0I or I1I.

104
;igure 4.1D- 4 graphical
representation of the
geometric parameters

=resnel number
Whether a stable resonator operates in the lowest order mode or
higher order largely depends on the si>e of the effective aperture in
relation to the cavity length.
4 gas laser with a long narrow.bore tubular arrangement will
tend to operate low order because of the attenuation of the higher modes
by the inner walls of the tube.
103
;igure 4.1B- &tability
/iagram of all laser
cavities
!he higher.order modes are associated with higher diffraction
or divergence angles and so are more strongly attenuated by a limited
aperture.
4 measure of the tendency for a stable laser cavity to operate
low or higher order is the ;resnel number given by-
where a the effective aperture radius should be ta1en as the radius of
the smallest aperture in the system if it is not too far from one of the
mirrors.
In a system where the only limitation is due to the mirrors
assuming that they have e9ual radii 'let a
)
H a
1P
a
)
where a
1
and a
)
are
the radii of the two cavity mirrors( the ;resnel number represents the
number of ;resnel >ones intercepted by one of the mirrors if an uniform
plane wave illuminates the other mirror.
4 ;resnel number of 1 or less generally results in lowest.order
mode !*"
00
operation.
=ar field diver#ence
;or a gaussian beam the diameter of the beam at a distance > is given by
'Oogelni1 and ,i ,aser beams and Gesonators 4pplied <ptics 3
oct.1966(-
where w
6
is the spot radius at >H0 and >
G
H w
0
E Gayleigh range.
;or > WW 1
!he far field divergence is the ratio-
106
( 16 . 4 '
)
#
a
1

( 1D . 4 ' 1 1 ( '
)
1
)
0
)
1
)
)
0
0
1
1
]
1

,
_

+
1
1
]
1

,
_

+
R
7
7
w
w
7
w 7 w

( 1B . 4 ' ( ' 1
0
)
0
0
)
)
0
w
7
w
7
w 7 w
w
7

,
_

3
Lase
r
6ain
.luorescence line shape of the laser, .luorescence linewi&th, #aser gain
curve, Broa&ening the fluorescence line, #oop gain, Energy level
&iagram in a four level laser, $mall signal gain, 89ole Burning: in the
laser gain curve, -ifferent laser types an& their characteristics
=e! remar"s
10D
( 19 . 4 '
( '
0
w 7
7 w

!he output of the laser at a specific moment is determined

mainly by two conflicting factors- the active medium gain and the losses
in the laser. !he active medium gain depends on the population
inversion and on the fluorescence lineshape of the spontaneous
emission. !he losses in the laser include reflections from end mirrors
radiation losses inside the active medium due to absorption and
scattering diffraction losses due to the finite si>e of the laser
components.
4 re9uired condition for lasing is- in a round trip 'the path of
the radiation between the laser mirrors( the gain must e%ceed or at least
be e9ual to the losses.
=luorescence line sha&e of the laser
,aser action inside matter is possible only for those
wavelengths for which the specific material has fluorescent emission.
;luorescence line is described by plotting spontaneous emission
radiation intensity as a function of fre9uency 'or wavelength( for the
specific lasing transition. ;igure 3.1 describes the energy level diagram
for Aelium @eon laser.
!he main transition in the visible spectrum is at red wavelength
of 6++ nm.
=luorescence line-sha&e
;luorescence line is described by plotting spontaneous emission
radiation intensity as a function of fre9uency 'or wavelength( for the
specific lasing transition. In figure 3.1 for the Ae.@e laser it was for
transition between *
3
and *
)
. When the transition is between narrow
levels the fluorescence line is narrow. !he narrower the fluorescence
line the easier 'less energy re9uired( it is to achieve population
inversion. !he ideal fluorescence line.shape is a spi1e pulse with width
approaching >ero as described in figure 3.).
10B
;igure 3.1- *nergy ,evel /iagram for Aelium @eon laser.
109

*
m
*
n
&pontaneous emission
fre9uency
?ower
;igure 3.) ;luorescence line between
two narrow 'ideal( energy levels
0
0

In reality each energy level has a finite width as described in figure 3.+.
!hus many transitions can occur between different regions in the upper
lasing level to different regions in the lower laser level. 4ll these
transitions plotted as a function of fre9uency ma1e the fluorescence
line shape shown in figure 3.+.
110
=
l
u
o
r
e
s
c
e
n
c
e

L
i
n
e
!
i
d
t
h

4ll possible spontaneous transition lines plotted as a function
of fre9uency ma1e the continuous fluorescence line shape shown in
figure 3.4.
111
;igure 3.4- ;luorescence ,ine.
!he width of the fluorescence line is called ;luorescence line width and
is the measure of the width of the fluorescence line at half its ma%imum
height- ;WA" H =ull Width at (alf 3a%imum.
11)
3
a
t
h
e
m
a
t
i
c
a
l

E
9
&
r
e
s
s
i
o
n
s

o
f

=
l
u
o
r
e
s
c
e
11+
n
c
e

L
i
n
e
!
i
d
t
h

;luorescence linewidth is e%pressed by wavelengths or
fre9uencies of two points on the spontaneous emission graph at half the
ma%imum height.
( 1 . 3 '
) 1 ) 1
) 1
1 )
1 ) ) 1

c c c c c
!he linewidth '( is much smaller than each of the wavelengths ' aa

1

)
(. !hus the appro%imation-
1
P
)
HT
)
can be used.

0
H wavelength at the center of emission spectrum of the laser.
!he result is-
( ) . 3 '
)
0

c
In a similar way-
( + . 3 '
) 1 ) 1
) 1
1 )
1 )

c c c c c
!hese relations are useful to determine the coherence of the laser.
114
L
a
s
e
r

6
a
i
n

)
u
r
v
e

!here is a lot of similarity between the shape of the gain curve
and the fluorescence line. !he reason is that the active medium gain
curve is directly proportional to the width of
113
;igure 3.3 Lain curve and longitudinal cavity modes
the fluorescence line of the spontaneous emission. When discussing
linewidth it is important to distinguish between the line width of the
laser and the linewidth of specific longitudinal mode which can contain
many longitudinal modes. ;igure 3.3 describes both the gain curve of
the laser and the longitudinal modes of the cavity
*ach of the longitudinal modes has its own linewidth and emits certain
intensity.
116
.
r
o
a
d
e
n
i
n
#

t
h
e

=
l
u
o
r
e
s
c
e
n
c
e

l
i
n
e

0ertain mechanisms are responsible for broadening the linewidth of a
laser-
11D
1. @atural broadening.
). /oppler 7roadening.
+. ?ressure broadening.
;or many applications especially when temporal coherence is re9uired a
small linewidth of the emitted laser wavelength is re9uired.
1, :atural broadenin#,
!his broadening is always present and comes from the finite
transition time from the upper laser level to the lower laser level. @atural
linewidth is narrow- 10
4
Y 10
B
A> compared to the radiation fre9uency
of visible light- 10
14
A>. *ach energy level has a specific width '*(
and specific lifetime 't(.
@atural broadening results from the Aeisenberg uncertainty principle-
( 3 . 3 '
1

( 4 . 3 '
t
so
h E 'ut
h t E

>

>

@umerical e%amples-
t H 10
.B
s H H W H 10
B
A>
t H 10
.4
s H H W H 10
4
A>
!he longer the specific energy level transition lifetime the narrower is
its linewidth.
2, %o&&ler .roadenin#.
/oppler shift is a well.1nown phenomenon in wave motion. It
occurs when the source is in relative motion to the receiver. !he
fre9uency detected is shifted by an amount determined by the relative
velocity between the source and the receiver. &ince gas molecules are in
constant motion in random directions each molecule emit light while it
is moving relative to the laser a%is in a different direction. !hese
distributions of fre9uency shifts cause the broadening of the laser
11B
linewidth. /oppler broadening occurs especially in gas lasers as a result
of movement of gas molecules. Its influence is mostly in low.pressure
gas lasers.
3, 1ressure ;collisions< broadenin#.
?ressure 'collisions( broadening occurs especially in gas lasers.
It is caused by collisions between the molecules of the gas. ?ressure
broadening is the largest broadening mechanism in gas lasers with
pressure of more than 10 mm Ag. 4s the pressure increase the
broadening increases.
4t constant pressure '?( as the temperature '!( increases C increase
according with the law of perfect gases-
( 6 . 3 ' T R n V p
&ince the volume 'C( increases the number of collisions decreases.
!hus pressure 'collisions( broadening decrease.
@umerical e%amples-
1.4t room temperature the linewidth of 0<
)
laser with gas pressure of
10 !orr is 33 "A>.
).4t room temperature the linewidth of 0<
)
laser with gas pressure of
100 !orr is 300 "A>.
+.4bove 100 !orr the increase rate of broadening is about 6.3 "A>
for each increase in pressure of 1 !orr.
119
L
i
n
e
!
i
d
t
h

b
r
o
a
d
e
n
i
n
#

;igure 3.6 shows the result of broadening of the fluorescence
linewidth.
;igure 3.6- ;luorescence linewidth broadening
4 typical Aelium @eon laser has the followings characteristics-
0enter fre9uency of the emitted radiation- 4.D4P10
14
A>.
1)0
,inewidth of single longitudinal mode- 1 OA> H 10
+
A>.
<ptical cavity linewidth- 1 "A> H 10
6
A>.
@atural linewidth- 100 "A> H 10
B
A>.
/oppler linewidth- 1300 "A> H 1.3P10
9
A>.
=luorescence Lifetime 3easurements
1)1
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&hort pulse e%citation
laser

&ample
?hotodetector
<scilloscope
<ptical filter
;igure 3.D ;luorescence lifetime measurement
!he
meas
ured
inten
sity
of the
140
fluor
escen
t
emiss
ion
on
some
speci
fic
m b
n
transi
tion
will
be
prop
ortio
nal to
the
radiat
ive
deca
y rate
c
mn
on
that
transi
tion
and
to the
upper
.level
popul
ation
as a
funct
ion
141
of
time
i.e.
( ) ( D . 3 ' ( '

t 1 const t I
; mn ra& fl

Loo&
6ain
*ach time the laser radiation passes through the active medium
it is amplified. 0ontrary to amplifying the radiation there are many
losses-
1. &cattering and absorption losses at the end mirrors.
). <utput radiation through the output coupler.
+. &cattering and absorption losses in the active medium and at the
sidewalls of the laser.
4. /iffraction losses because of the finite si>e of the laser components.
!hese losses cause some of the radiation not to ta1e part in the
lasing process. 4 necessary condition for lasing is that the total gain will
be a little higher than all the losses.
,oop Lain is defined as the net gain 'amplification less losses(
that the radiation sees in a round trip transmission through the laser. It is
measured as the ratio between radiation intensity at a certain plane
'perpendicular to the laser a%is( and the radiation intensity at the same
plane after a round trip through the laser.
Loo& 6ain ;6
L
<
;igure 3.D show the round trip path of the radiation through the
laser cavity. !he path is divided to sections numbered by 1.3 while
point #3$ is the same point as #1$.
14)

;igure 3.D- Gound trip path of the radiation through the laser cavity
7y definition ,oop Lain is given by-
( D . 3 '
1
3
E
E
3
#

L
,
. ,oop gain.
*
1
. Intensity of radiation at the beginning of the loop.
*
3
. Intensity of radiation at the end of the loop.
)alculatin# Loo& 6ain ;6
L
< Without Losses
<n the way from point #1$ to point #)$ the radiation passes
through the active medium and it is amplified.
We define-
L
4
. active medium gain 'passing through a length ,
of the active medium(.
!hus-
( B . 3 '
1 )
E 3 E
%

;or simplicity we assume that the length of the active medium is e9ual
to the length of the cavity such that the active medium feeds the length
of the laser cavity. <n the way from point #)$ to point #+$ the radiation
is reflected from the mirror with the high reflectivity G
1
'close to 100F(.
4s a result-
( 9 . 3 '
1 1 +
E 3 R E
%

14+
<n the way from point #+$ to point #4$ the radiation passes again
through the active
medium and it is amplified. !hus-
( 10 . 3 '
1
)
1 4
E 3 R E
%

<n the way from point #4$ to point #3$ the radiation is reflected from
the output
coupler which have a reflectivity G
)
. !hus-
( 11 . 3 '
1
)
) 1 3
E 3 R R E
%

!his completes the loop.
144
)
a
l
c
u
l
a
t
i
n
#

L
o
o
&

6
a
i
n

;
6
L
<

W
i
t
h

L
o
s
s
e
143
s

We assume that the losses occur uniformly along the length of
the cavity ',(. In analogy to the ,ambert formula for losses we define
loss coefficient '( and using it we can define absorption factor "-
( 1) . 3 '
) #
e 4

" . loss factor describes the relative part of the radiation that remains in
the cavity after all the losses in a round trip loop inside the cavity. 4ll
the losses in a round trip loop inside the cavity are '1 "(.
. loss coefficient 'in units of 1 over length(.
), . path length which is twice the length of the cavity.
4dding the loss factor '"( to the e9uation '3.11( of *
3
-
( 1+ . 3 '
1
)
) 1 3
4 E 3 R R E
%

;rom this we can calculate the loop gain-
( 14 . 3 '
)
) 1
1
3
4 3 R R
E
E
3
% #

4s we assumed uniform distribution of the loss coefficient '( we now
define gain coefficient and assume the active medium gain L
4
as
distributed uniformly along the length of the cavity.
( 13 . 3 '
#
%
e 3

&ubstituting the last e9uation in the loop gain-

( 16 . 3 '
( ' )
) 1
#
#
e R R 3


146
)
a
l
c
u
l
a
t
i
n
#

6
a
i
n

'
h
r
e
s
h
o
l
d

;
6
L
<
t
h

?
14D
( 1D . 3 '
( ' )
) 1
#
#
e R R 3


When the loop gain L
,
W 1 the beam intensity will increase after one
return pass through the laser.
When the loop gain L
,
a 1 the beam intensity will decrease after one
return pass through the laser oscillation decay and no beam will be
emitted.
!here is a threshold condition for amplification in order to create
oscillation inside
the laser. !his threshold #ain is usually mar1ed with inde% #th$. ;or
continuous laser the threshold condition is-
( 1B . 3 ' 1 ( '
( ' )
) 1
)
) 1
#
% th #
e R R 4 3 R R 3


;rom '3.1B(-
( 19 . 3 '
1
( '
)
4 R R
3
q
th %

14B
E
n
e
r
#
y

l
e
v
e
l

d
i
a
#
r
a
m

i
n

a

f
o
u
r

l
e
v
e
l

149
l
a
s
e
r

In figure 3.D an energy level diagram of a four level laser is shown.
When the cavity mirrors are ta1en away from the laser since
there is no lasing the population inversion will remain almost constant.
<nly the spontaneous emission from energy level *
+
to *
)
continue.
!hus active medium gain 'L
4
( is almost constant. !his gain is called
#small signal gain$ 'when there is no lasing process( and it is the
ma%imum gain of the active medium.
Smal
l
si#na
l
#ain
=sually we call the active medium gain for a single pass along
the laser as small signal gain. We can measure it in a simple manner by
130
;igure 3.B- *nergy level diagram in a 4 level laser
passing through the active medium a laser beam at the same wavelength
or a tunable laser beam.
@e%t figure presents here how can you measure the small signal
gain of a pulsed 0<
)
gas laser. We consider a !*4 0<)

laser
'transversely e%cited at atmospheric pressure 0<
)
laser(.
;ig.3.9 &mall signal gain measurement scheme
;rom a continuous wave 0<
)
laser the beam is transmitted
through the discharge of a !*4 laser. !he population inversion is
occurred in the !*4 laser as in normal operation but the resonant cavity
was ta1en off. &o during the pulse e%citation of the active medium an
amplification might be measured without the influence of the positive
feedbac1 given by the mirrors. !he ratio between the signal which is
obtained during the pulse e%citation and the continuous level of the input
beam gives us the information we need about the small signal gain.
131
/etector
<scilloscope
7rewster
window
?
cont
?
in
?ulsed 0<
)
laser tube '!*4
laser(
without mirrors
?
out
?
in
0ontinuous wave
0<
)
laser
*lectrical discharge
?
out
?
pea1
B(ole .urnin#C in the Laser 6ain )urve
!he active medium gain depends on population inversion and
the fluorescence line shape. !he lasing process itself influences this
gain since lasing changes the population inversion conditions.
&timulated emission causes depletion of the upper laser level and
reduces the population inversion. !hus gain is reduced until pumping
increases the upper level population again.
When the cavity mirrors are bac1 inside the laser lasing occurs
and population inversion decreases thus reducing the gain. In this case
the gain is #saturation gain$ and is always less than the small signal
gain.
13)
t
t
;ig.3.10 &mall signal gain measurement
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#

In figure 3.10 both small signal gain and saturation gain are
plotted as a function of fre9uency.
134
;igure 3.11- 4ctive "edium Lain 0urve with lasing and without
Aole 7urning
&mall signal gain curve appears identical to the fluorescence
line shape 'figure 3.4( with one ma%imum at the fre9uency of the basic
mode '
0
(. !he value of the saturation gain drops for each lasing mode
from the small signal gain to threshold gain 'L
4
(
th
. !his process is called
#hole burning$ in the gain curve.
*ach moment most of the energy stored inside the active
medium is not used to create the radiation out of the laser.
)
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W
a
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r

In a continuous wave laser at steady state lasing the loop gain
'L
,
( is always #1$. 4t this state the gain value for each longitudinal
133
laser mode is dropping from the value of the small signal gain to the
threshold gain 'L4(
th
which is e9ual to the saturation gain. Increasing
pumping cause an increase in the output power of the laser. !he system
will stabili>e on higher power when the loop gain will be e9ual to the
threshold gain.
0onclusions for continuous wave laser-
1.!he saturation gain of the active medium is e9ual to the threshold
gain 'L
4
(
th
.
).!he loop gain in steady state operation is always e9ual to #1$.
1
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d

l
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?ulsed laser is pumped at high intensity for a short period of
time. 4s a result the active medium gain and the loop gain are much
higher than for continuous wave laser so the output power is higher. We
shall e%plain the principle of operation of a pulsed solid.state laser with
the e%ample of the ruby laser.
136
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13D
;igure 3.1) describes the shape of a single pulse out of a ruby
laser compared to the pumping pulse from the flash lamp.

!he output laser pulse is about 1 millisecond and it is composed of
hundreds or thousands of small pulses. *ach of the small pulses is called
a spi1e and last about a microsecond. !he spi1es appear randomly in
time and differ from each other in its length and pea1 power. =sually
only the entire pulse is measured without consideration of each spi1e.
!iming the entire pulse and measuring its energy we calculate the
average power per pulse.
In figure 3.1) it can be seen that the laser pulse starts after a
short time from the pumping pulse. !his is the time it ta1es the active
medium to arrive at the threshold value for lasing.
13B
;igure 3.1)- single pulse out of a Guby laser
compared to the pumping pulse from the flash lamp
139
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160
i
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!he linewidth of a laser beam from a solid.state laser is more
than +0 LA>. *ach line has hundreds of longitudinal modes in it. ;or
each of these modes the process described in figure 3.1) applies.
161
;igure 3.1+- Lain and output power
from a pulsed solid.state laser,
1.&tarting from t
1
the active medium gain and the loop gain increase
rapidly as a result of continuous strong pumping.
).4t time t
)
the active medium gain arrive to the threshold value and
the loop gain arrive to #1$ . lasing starts. !he active medium gain and
loop gain continue to rise since the output power has not reach the
saturation value that cause #hole burning$ in the gain curve.
+.=ntil time t
+
the high value of the loop gain causes intense pulse of
laser radiation.
!hus the active medium gain drops below the threshold value. When
the loop gain is below #1$ lasing stops and the whole process starts
again as long as the pumping continue.
*ach longitudinal laser mode starts at a different time with a different
photon. !here is a competition between the longitudinal modes on the
energy inside the active medium. !hus the random nature of the spi1es-
*ach spi1e has its own pea1 power and duration.
%ifferent Laser 'y&es and their )haracteristics
,asers can be divided into groups according to different
criteria-
1. !he state of matter of the active medium- solid li9uid gas
or plasma.
). !he spectral range of the laser wavelength- visible spectrum
infrared 'IG( spectrum etc.
+. !he e%citation 'pumping( method of the active medium-
<ptic pumping electric pumping etc.
4. !he characteristics of the radiation emitted from the laser.
3. !he number of energy levels which participate in the lasing
process.
16)
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!he material used as the active medium determines-
1. ,aser Wavelength.
). ?referred pumping method.
+. <rder of magnitude of the laser output.
4. !he efficiency of the laser system.
!wo basic re9uirements for laser action are-
1.?opulation Inversion between the upper and lower
laser energy levels.
).!he active medium must be transparent to the output
wavelength.
!he active medium determines most of the laser properties and
that is why the laser name is derived from the name of the active
medium.
6as Lasers
"ost elements can be made to lase when they are in the gas
state. 4lso many molecules 'composed of a few atoms each( have been
16+
demonstrated to lase. In a gas laser the laser active medium is a gas at a
low pressure 'a few milli.!orr(. !he main reasons for using low pressure
are-
!o enable an electric discharge in a long path while the electrodes
are at both ends of a long tube.
!o obtain narrow spectral width not e%panded by collisions between
atoms. '4 few types of special lasers use gas at high pressure(.
!. A. "aiman operated the first gas laser in 19612 one year after the first
laser 'ruby( was demonstrated. !he first gas laser was a Aelium.@eon
laser operating at a wavelength of 113).)D nm 'near infrared(.
164
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!wo main e%citation techni9ues are used for gas lasers-
*lectrical /ischarge
<ptical ?umping
163
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;or convenience gas lasers are divided into + groups-
a( 4tomic lasers . the laser active medium is
composed of neutral gas atoms such as Aelium.@eon
and 0opper Capors.
b( Ionic lasers . the laser active medium is composed of
ioni>ed gas such as 4rgon ion gas or Aelium.0admium
gas.
c( "olecular lasers . the laser active medium is
composed of gas molecules li1e 0arbon /io%ide '0<
)
(
@itrogen '@
)
( *%cimer laser 0hemical lasers 'A; /;(
far infrared ';IG( laser.
166
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e

4pplying high voltage to electrodes at both sides of the tube
containing the gas causes electrical brea1down through the gas.
*lectrons are e5ected from the cathode accelerated toward the anode
and collide with the gas molecules along the way. /uring the collision
the mechanical 1inetic energy of the electrons is transferred to the gas
molecules and e%cites them. 'this same method of energy transfer is
used in common fluorescent lights(.
16B
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m
&
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#

*%citing a laser medium by optical pumping re9uires that the
absorption spectrum of the medium will be similar to the emission
spectrum of the pumping source so that a big amount of the radiation
will be absorbed. 0onventional light sources used for optical pumping
have broad emission spectrum so only a small part of the light is used in
the e%citation process. 7ecause gas atoms absorb only a small portion of
the spectrum optical pumping is not generally an efficient method for
gas lasers.
!he absorption spectrum of solids is wider than the absorption spectra of
gases so the pumping efficiency of solid state lasers by conventional
light sources are higher than that for gas lasers. !hus gas lasers are
usually e%cited by an electric discharge 'see previous section(.
When we want to e%cite a gas laser by optical pumping we need to find
an optical source with very narrow bandwidth which fits the narrow
absorption spectral lines of the gas. 4 good source for optical pumping
of a gas laser is another laser.
!his method is used for pumping far.infra.red ';IG( gas lasers by a 0<
)
laser.
6
(elium-:eon ;(e-:e< laser and its A&&lications
9e<1e laser, Re& 5avelength out of 9e<1e #aser, The role of the
9elium gas in 9e<1e laser, %'sorption an& %mplification in 9e<1e
#aser, ,ower $upply of the 9e<1e #aser, Commercial 9e<1e #asers,
9elium 1eon #aser Base& %pplications
1D0
He-
Ne
laser
!he helium neon laser was the most common laser until the
spread of diode lasers in the last few years. 4li Javan first built it in
1961. !he active medium is a noble gas neon '@e( and it is a 4 level
laser. !he energy level diagram of a helium neon laser is described in
figure 6.1. !wo meta.stable energy levels act as upper laser levels. !he
Ae.@e laser has two lower laser levels so 9uite a few wavelengths can
come out of the transitions between these levels. !he important
wavelengths are-
1
H 6+).B nm
)
H 113) nm
+
H++91+ nm.
Gecently more lines are available from commercially Ae.@e laser. 7y
using very good and narrow windows laser beam was obtained in green
'34+.3.1 nm( yellow '394.1nm( orange '611.9 nm( and from the same
gas. !hese devices are nevertheless much more e%pansive than the
common red Ae.@e laser.
;igure 6.1 *nergy levels in the Ae.@e laser

1D1

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"ost of the applications of Ae.@e ,aser use the red
wavelength because it is the strongest line and it is in the visible region
1D)
of the spectrum. 4s shown in figure 6.1 this red light is emitted when
the neon atom goes from the energy level labeled =s to the energy level
labeled >p?
4 problem with creating this red light is that a neon atom in state =s may
also emit +.+91+ m radiation. !his emission decreases the population
of the =s level without producing visible radiation. !he solution to this
problem is to use a special coating on the laser mirrors which
selectively reflect only the red light. !his coating causes reflection bac1
into the optical cavity of only the desired 'red( wavelength while all
other wavelengths are transmitted out and not forced to move bac1 and
fore through the active medium. In a similar way other selective
reflecting coating can be used on the mirrors to select other transitions.
!his procedure allows commercial production of Ae.@e lasers at other
wavelengths in the visible spectrum. ;or e%ample orange yellow and
green Ae.@e lasers can be produced but the laser efficiency is much
lower than for the red.
1D+
1D4
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1D3
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!he role of the helium gas in Ae.@e laser is to increase the
efficiency of the lasing process. !wo effects ma1e helium particularly
valuable-
1.!he direct e%citation of neon gas is inefficient but the direct
e%citation of Ae gas atoms is very efficient.
). 4n e%cited state of the Ae atom has an energy level which is
very similar to the energy of an e%cited state of the neon atom.
!he e%citation process of the @eon atoms is a two.stage
process-
!he high voltage causes electrons to accelerate from the cathode
toward the anode. !hese electrons collide with the Ae atoms and transfer
1inetic energy to them. !he e%cited helium atoms collide with the neon
atoms and transfer to them the energy for e%citation.
!hus helium gas does not participate in the lasing process but increases
the e%citation efficiency so that the lasing efficiency with it increases by
a factor of about )00.
1D6
A
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4s light moves through the active medium two different
processes act on the radiation- absorption and amplification. In a
standard Ae.@e laser the amplification by the active medium is about
)F. /uring one pass through the active medium 'from one mirror to the
other( the amount of radiation inside increases by 1.0). !hus to get
amplification of light all the losses including collisions of the e%cited
atoms with the walls of the gas tube absorption by other molecules etc.
should be less than )F.
Ae.@e laser is a 4 level laser so the lifetime of the lower laser
energy level needs to be very short. In neon gas which is the active
lasing gas the transition 'decay( from the lower laser level is not fast
enough but it is accelerated by collisions with the tube walls. 7ecause
the number of collisions with the tube walls increases as the tube
becomes narrow the laser gain is inversely proportional to the tube
radius. &o the tube diameter of a Ae.@e laser must be as small as
possible.
!he low gain of the active medium in a Ae.@e laser limits the
output power to low power. In laboratory prototypes an output power of
the order of 100 mW was achieved but commercial lasers are available
only in the output range of 0.3 . 30 mW.
!he output coupler of Ae.@e laser is a mirror with coating that transmits
about 1F of the radiation to the output. !his means that the power inside
the optical cavity is a 100 times more than the emitted power.
)ommercial (e-:e Lasers-
&ome characteristics of comercialy available Ae.@e laser are
listed below-
Wavelength- 6+).B nm
1DB
<utput ?ower- 0.3.30 mW
7eam /iameter- 0.3.).0 mm
7eam /ivergence- 0.3.+ mrad
0oherence ,ength- 0.1.) m
?ower &tability- 3 FE hour
,ifetime- W)0000 hours
4 schematic picture of a Ae.@e laser is done in figure 6.) and
a photograph of a real laser tube is given in figure 6.+.
;igure 6.) Aelium neon laser structure

1D9
;igure 6.+ Aelium neon laser photograph
Plas
ma
tube
desig
n
We e%emplify by a "elles Lriot 'a leading 4merican company in
lasers optics and laser accessories( laser tube characteristics.
. hard seals and internal gas reservoir maintain performance
throughout tube lifetime2
. precision capillary bore design that ma%imi>es output
power controls transverse modes and minimi>e diffraction
losses 2
. high 9uality borosilicate glass is used for a rigid and stable
cavity2
. attachment of capillary bore to glass envelope for optimum
rotational stability2
1B0
. superior mirror alignment and mounting techni9ue to
maintain good pointing stability2
ed
;D32,
E
nm<
4ut&
ut
. high power laser heads up to 40 mW for Gaman
spectroscopy holography fast scanning test and
measurement applications 2
. class II a0.93 mW Ae.ne lasers for pointing alignment or
teaching applications re9uiring additional eye safety
precaution2
6ree
n
;FG3,
F
nm<
4ut&
ut
Lreen lasers have up to 3 times more visibility than red lasers with the
same output power and are ideal for aiming and pointing when
enhanced contrast is desired.
5ello
!
;F/G,
1
1B1
nm<
4ut&
ut
6ellow output at 394.1 nm is a practical alternative for sodium arc
lamps since the wavelengths is very near the sodium industru
spectral reference d and / line and offeres a 1nown and predictable
energy profile. 6ellow Ae.@e lasesrs offere a single output
wavelength that does not re9uire additional gratings to isolate a well
collimated beam ma1ing it easy to deliver and launch into apertures.
<ptional linear polari>ation optimi>es efficiency and signal
differentiation for many applications.
. a good choice for use in monochromators refractometers
and other instruments where an efficient reliable and
economical source is desired2
. the yellow output is near the pea1 absorption wavelength
for several reagent fluorescent dyes commonly found in
biotech and genetic research applications2
. yellow Ae.@e lasers asre a popular choice for alignment
due to their contrast against dar1 media such as blood in
0<
)
laser surgery2
. Ae.ne lasers are significantly smaller and more economical
than alternative sources such as tunable dye lasers and are
easier to integrate operate and maintain in final design
products2
4ran#e ;D11,/ nm< 4ut&ut
<range 611.9 nm offers appro%imately +3F more brightness
over red at the same power levels.
. orange is particularly useful in industrial and
manufacturing environments that use lasers as visual
alignment tools2
. the orange wavelength can be used as a reference with
increased separation between longer wavelength emissions
without sacrificing detector responsivity2
1B)
Infra
red
;1$F2
3
nm<
4ut&
ut
!he well collimated beam and linear polari>ation option ma1es
this laser ideal for fiber optic testing. !he wavelength closely matches
those used in the communications industry and ia a stable reference
with narrow bandwidth ma1ing it an ideal calibration source.
. the infrared wavelength is also suitable for material testing
and defect detection when visible sources are not practicable due to high
absorption or e%cessive interference from ambient light.
'he 1o!er Su&&ly of the (e-:e Laser-
Ae.@e lasers which give up to 1 mW 'the standard type used
at for student laboratory e%periments( usually use a dc high voltage
power supply of )000 Colts. !he laser needs a constant current so a
stable current supply is used.
!o initiali>e the lasing action the gas in the tube needs to be
ioni>ed. !his action is done with a pulse of the ma%imum voltage of the
power supply. !his voltage is called the ignition voltage of the laser. 4t
the moment of beginning brea1down the electrical resistance of the tube
suddenly falls to a low value. !his means that the voltage suddenly
drops while the current rises. !hus by <hmMs law it is a negative
electrical resistance 'decrease in voltage with increase in current(.
!o overcome this problem a ballast resistor is connected very
close to the anode in series with the power supply. !he role of the
ballast resistor is to limit the current through the tube when the tube
resistance falls.
1B+
;or a laser with operating current of 3 m4 the ballast resistor
is 60.90 1 and the voltage drop on it is +00 . 430 Colts. 4fter lasing
action begins the supply voltage is dropped to about 1100 Colts
needed for the continuous operation of the laser. <ne of the problems
with lasers is the heat which is developed in the laser and in the ballast
resistor.
;or a laser with an operating current of 3 m4 and voltage of 1100
Colts the electric power on the laser is- ? H CPI H 1100CP3m4 H 3.3 W
and on the ballast resistor- 1.3.).)3 W.
;ig.6.4 ?ower supply for a 1 mW Ae.@e laser
(eli
um
:eon
laser
.ase
d
A&&l
1B4
7allast
resistor
Gectifier
0urrent stabili>er
Aigh
voltage
multiplier
icati
ons
Aelium @eon lasers offer several desirable performance
characteristics in a reliable low cost device. !hese include large
coherence lengths high beam 9uality '!*"
00
( a range of visible
wavelengths from green through red several near infrared and infrared
wavelengths e%cellent pointing stability low output noise optional
beam polari>ation and relatively simple electrical re9uirements.
7ecause of these properties helium neon lasers are utili>ed in a wider
range of applications the laser is incorporated into an instrument or end.
user product by a lot of <*"8s '<riginal *9uipment "anufacturers(.
Aelium neon laser applications range from aligning industrial
machinery through sorting and counting blood cells to high end laser
printing. *ven though commercial helium neon lasers have been
available for nearly +0 years the list of these applications continues to
grow. !his is due partly to important recent developments such as high
power red Ae.@e laser 'up to 40 mW( and a wider range of
wavelengths.
Industrial Ali#nment and 3easurement
Industrial systems that use low.power lasers for alignment
controlling or inspection generally consist of four basic units. !hese
units are a laser light source an optical system to direct and structure
light an optical system to collect or image the light after it has interacted
with the ob5ect or medium being controlled and a detection system. !he
detection system may be a human observer or an optoelectronic device
interface with an electronic display unit or computer.
!he industrial alignment and measurement tas1s are based on
the simple fact that light travels in a straight line. !hese include
alignment to a pro5ected spot line or plane as well as trigonometric
measurements using mirrors and position sensing photodetectors.
<ne of the earliest and simplest applications for helium neon
laser is still very much in use in the lumber industry. Aere cylindrical
optics are used to pro5ect a line of light onto a log as it is being aligned
for cutting into plan1s. !he line on the log are imaged with a line or
1B3
video camera. In the simplest case the laser is used merely to align the
log. In more sophisticated setups a computer analy>es the shape of the
log to determine how to yield the ma%imum amount of usable timber.
In some alignment applications a rotating mirror is employed
to pro5ect a plane of light over +60
0
. !wo uses of this include
construction of drop ceilings in buildings and precision grading of
surfaces such as airport runway. In drop ceilings the laser pro5ector is
setup to produce an e%actly hori>ontal plane and the ceiling components
are aligned by eye. ;or precision grading an array of photodetectors is
mounted on the grading machine to automatically raise and lower the
blade or grinder via a signal feedbac1 loop.
4 significant application which utili>es trigonometric
alignement is the laser theodolite for large scale measuring and
surveying. !he laser beam is bounced off a mirror attached to the
surface or ob5ect being studied. 4 position sensing photodetector
measures displacement of the return beam relative to the laser.
&traightforward trigonometry enables the system to convert
displacement into the angle and distance of the measured surface.
!here are number of the other related industrial applications
such as machine vision. !hese combine laser light with photodetectors
andEor video cameras to monitor the position orientation or 9uality of
products to provide automated control in a production line environment.
"achine vision applications of the Ae.@e lasers range from determining
thread concentrations in te%tiles and tire cores to counting soda bottles.
"easuring of the diameter of cylinders by using a rotating
mirror and a photodetector is presented in figure 6.3.!he laser beam is
deflected by the rotating mirror and it is collimated by using an
appropriate lens into a parallel beam. !he ob5ect to be measured
interrupts the propagation of the laser beam to the photodetector for a
time interval which depends on the ob5ect si>e.
1B6
;igure 6.3 Gotating mirror system for si>e measurement
Interferometric metrolo#y and velocimetry
In industrial alignment another important group of applications utili>es
the coherence of the helium neon laser beam. !hese techni9ues are
based on interference and use of the wave periodicity of the laser beam
as a very fine ruler. !he position of an ob5ect in the path of the ebam is
computed from the phase of the reflected from it. Interference between
the ob5ect beam and a reference beam 'split.off from the same laser(
provides measurable intensity variations which yield phase information.
!his techni9ue allows both position and velocity of an ob5ect or surface
to be determined with e%traordinary accuracy.
<f course in any laser all the light e%its in phase. 7ut this
coherence is only maintained over a finite distance called the coherence
length. !his can be as short as a few millimeters for some types of laser.
Aowever a typical helium neon laser has a coherence length of at least
several meters and stabili>ed models are available with coherence
lengths measured in 1ilometers. ;or this reason helium neon lasers
dominate such applications. !hese include machine tool alignment
chec1ing for eccentricity on rotating shfts and turbines measuring fluid
flow velocities and closed loop micropositioning in semiconductor
fabrication. !he precise spectral properties 'linewidth and coherence( of
1BD
the laser often have to be e%actly tailored to the re9uirements of the
application.
;igure 6.6 Interferometric velocity measurement2 field brightness in
stationary interference pattern correlates directly with constant surface
velocity component in the direction of the interferometer
1BB
;igure 6.D /oppler shift velocity measurement2 the fre9uency shift of
the scattered radiation is measured by heterodyne methods
;igure 6.B tangential velocity component measurement for a moving
surface via laser bac1scatter and spec1le
1B9
:on-contact measurement and monitorin#
!he output of a Ae.@e laser is intense and monochromatic. 4s a
conse9uence minute reflections of this light can be detected by a
sensitive photodetector e9uipped with a narrow band spectral filter even
where high levels of ambient light might be present. !his is the basis for
a number of industrial and environmental tests using a Ae.@e laser as
the light source. !hese applications involve measuring andEor mapping
the scatter that occurs when the laser beam impacts particles or surfaces.
!he recorded intensity and angular distribution of this light is converted
into information about the si>e and number of the scattering centers.
Instruments relying on this principle range from particle counters used to
measure dust level in air to tangential velocity measurements and film
thic1ness measurements.
4n even more sophisticated set of wafer tests such as
polarimetry rely on the stable phase and polari>ation state of the Ae.@e
beam to ma1e important measurements on otherwise invisible sub.
surface defects. In addition polarimetry is used to detect microscopic
defects and crac1s in glass and other materials that simply could not be
observed by eye.
!here are several applications that rely on differential
absorption to measure the opacity of a medium. In fact there is growing
use of an environmental test to measure pollution levels from industrial
smo1e.stac1s simply from the opacity of the smo1e plume. !he low
amplitude noise of the helium neon laser is of great benefit.
Gefraction of the laser beam is also the basis for a number of
applications in which the refractive inde% of li9uid or solid medium is
measured. =nli1e the traditional sodium lamp the yellow helium neon
laser can be designed as a single fre9uency source that doesn8t drift with
time. &uch tests are used to determine the concentration and uniformity
of sugar and other materials in solution as well as to compute the
viscosity of edible and petroleum oil products.
190
;igure 6.9 &urfaceEfilm thic1ness measurement
(i#h s&eed &rintin#
Aelium neon lasers have long been used in grafic arts for both
printing and scanning. 4s with any laser scanner the principle is simple-
the focused laser spot is swept in one a%is while the image film or
printer drum moves in the other a%is to deliver a %.y raster scan. =se of a
small laser spot enables high spatial resolution.
@ow highr power '10 to 40 mW( red lasers are finding use in a
new medical application of this type namely to enable digiti>ation
storage and reprinting of %.ray images. !his application uses low noise
lasers '\0.3F pea1.to.pea1 amplitude( to ensure that all image subtleties
'gray scale detail( are accurately and linearly recorded. Aigh power is
necessary to minimi>e scan time. &tored images can be reprinted as
needed using a low power low amplitude noise helium neon laser.
3edical a&&lications
=sing helium neon lasers to align other lasers such as 0<
)
and
@d-64L is e%tremely useful for surgical procedures. !he visible beam
of the Ae.@e laser is coaligned through the beam delivery optics so that
the surgeon ca accurately direct the high power infrared beam before it
191
is switched on. In addition to pointing stability this application relies on
the visibilityEcontrast of the Ae.@e laser beam on human tissue. *arly
system used the red Ae.@e but a red spot is often difficult to see on
tissue particularly when the tissue is highly vasculari>ed or when free
blood is present. @ow this application has switched virtually e%clusively
to green and yellow helium neon lasers which offer much better contrast.
Lreen and red helium neon lasers are also utili>ed for patient
alignment with a varity of medical imaging techni9ues such as "GI %.
ray and 04! scanning where the laser is used to generate a line or a
cross pattern. 4lignment is important for two reasons. ;irst a machine
such as an "GI scanner has a sweep spot where the best 9uality images
are obtained. In addition "GI and 04! scans ta1e several minutes to
perform yet patient alignment must be precisely maintained.
.iotechnolo#y
7iotechnology is a ma5or growth area for many electro.optic
technologies. !he helium neon lasers are now used e%tensively in both
laboratory research as well as in analytical instruments for important
clinical tests. "ost of these applications involve laser induced
fluorescence ',I;( of dye tagged structures from whole cells down to
single /@4 basis. In these techni9ues the biological sample is treated
with a strongly fluorescent dye or chemical that has an affinity for a
specific chemical structure environment or site within a cell or
ensemble of cells. !he sample is then irradiated with laser light and the
dye tag fluoresces thus indicating its physical location.
"ultiple wavelengths and high output powers have been critical
to the growing use of Ae.@e lasers in this type of wor1. !he multiple
wavelengths allow systems with several fluorophores to be
simultaneously analy>ed as in automated gene se9uencing. !he higher
power enables small samples to be analy>ed and permits fast data
ac9uisition times.
0linically the most important of these techni9ues are the
various types of cytometry blood cell analysis. !he new generation of
automated blood cell analy>ers enables physicians to obtain accurate
data on absolute cell counts for virtually all the different blood cell
19)
types. In these types the reduced blood is treated with one or more
dyes. !he cells are then force flowed 'in single file( through
instrument8s detection region which incorporates one or more Ae.@e
lasers and one or more photodetectors each with a different spectral
filter. In the simplest test 'cell counting( a simple count of blood cells
per millimeter is made. In more comple% tests 'cell sorting( precise
ratios of different cell types are used to diagnose diseases and other
blood disorders.
;igure 6.10 0ell si>ing sorting
<ther interesting biotechnological applications of higher power
'up to 40 mW( red Ae.@e lasers include measuring cell si>es by
detecting 7rownian motion in which observed velocity is governed
directly by cell si>e. 4nother developing application uses high power
Ae.@e lasers as twee>ers for micromanipulation of single cells under a
microscope.
19+
;igure 6.11 ,aser scanning confocal microscopy
Len#th and =requency 1rimary 4&tical Etalon
4nother application of the helium neon laser is as length and
primary fre9uency etalon. 4 stabili>ed helium neon laser and an iodine
cell are used as well as a complete electronic controller.
!he output power versus laser fre9uency characteristics of a
Ae.@e laser with an iodine cell inside the resonant cavity is highly
influenced by the saturated absorption at the fre9uencies corresponding
of the hyperfine structure of the molecular iodine. /ue to its operating
parameters the iodine feature are 9uite free of /oppler broadening
effects which leads to very narrow spectral lines. !he iodine cell is 1ept
at a constant temperature by using ?eltier elements based temperature
controlled loop. 0onse9uently a very high fre9uency stability and
reproductibility may be obtained if its operating parameters are carefully
set. !he laser cavity is built on a three invar rod structure. &pecial
194
mechanical design dumps the mechanical perturbation. !his device is
used as a new definition of the meter as it was stated by the Leneral
0ommittee of Weights and "easures? !he helium neon laser output
power is 0.+ mW and the relative stability is- \+.63P10
.1)
. It is possible to
obtain the fre9uency stable operation on the hyperfine components of
the iodine molecule
1)D
I
)
. In figure 6.1) an e%ample of such a device is
given.
;ig.6.1) ,ength and fre9uency primary optical etalon 'Ae.@eE
1)D
I
)
(
3ore about Ali#nment and 1hotodetection
!he most obvious application of a low.power laser is
alignment. In this application the laser beam is used simply as a pointer
to align such things as dreinage tile ditches building foundations or
industrial e9uipments. In some applications it is important to align an
ob5ect so it has the proper position and angular alignment. 4n e%ample
is spindle alignment. 4ssume in a machining operation that a drill is
mounted on a spindle to drill a hole in a part on a transfer line. ,aser
alignment systems are fre9uently used to align at the proper position and
angle relative to a hole in a master part. "ost alignment systems consist
of a transmitter receiver and a display or computer system used to
communicate with the operator.
193




!ransmitter
'Ae @e ,aser(
Geceiver

/isplay
;ig.6.1+ 4lignment system
;ew different leveling applications of such systems are shown in figure
6.14.
;igure 6.14 ,evelling applications
196
'ransmitter
!he transmitter consists of a good optical beam 9uality Ae@e
laser. It means that the beam output has to be !*"
00
mode. If alignment
is re9uired over a long distance the laser beam is e%panded further to
reduce the beam divergence. *%panded beams e%hibit several useful
properties. 4mong the most useful properties of an e%panded beam is its
low divergence. !he ratio of the divergence of an e%panded output beam
to that of the input beam is inversely proportional to the e%pansion ratio.
!his property is also used to great advantage in laser communication and
distant target illumination applications. 7ecause an e%panded laser beam
can be focused to a much smaller spot than an une%panded one beam
e%panders are also used e%tensively in light focusing applications. !his
property is a direct conse9uence of diffraction effects.
Lalilean beam e%panders incorporate a negative input lens
followed by a a positive collimating element or lens group. !his design
has three advantages over the Oeplerian which will be presented
imediately. ;irst when designe properly the second lens group can
effectively cancel spherical aberrations induced by the first. &econdly
laser light is not allowed to come to a focus within the device. !hirdly
the Lalilean configuration leads to a more compact housing design and
is therefore an advantage in <*" applications where si>e and weight
constraints apply.
19D

;ig.6.13 Lalilean beam e%pander
Oeplerian beam e%panders or collimators employ two sets of
positive focusing lens elements. 7y design light is brought to a focus
within this type of e%pander. 7ecause spatial filtering can be performed
at this focal point these devices are especially useful in situations where
an e%ceptionally #clean$ beam is desirable 'for e%ample holography and
large beam interferometry(..

;ig.6.16 Oeplerian beam e%pander
19B
ece
iver
1hotodiode
!he main detectors for visible light are the photodiodes. !he
photodiodes have comple% electrical characteristics and can be
understood using the concept of the e9uivalent circuit. !his is a lumped.
sum e9uivalent circuit of individual components 'resistors capacitors
etc( whose behavior models that of the actual photodiode.
!he ideal photodiode can be considered as a current source in
parallel with a semiconductor diode. !he current source corresponds to
the current flow caused by the light generated drift current while the
diode represents the behavior of the 5unction in the absence of incident
light.
4n actual photodiode is represented by the circuit shown in
fig.6.1D. In addition to a current source in parallel with a semiconductor
diode a non.conductive layer devoid of carriers is sandwiched between
two conductive layers. !his is a classical parallel plate capacitor. !he
effective capacitance is termed the 5unction capacitance '0
5
( and is
represented in the e9uivalent circuit by a capacitor in parallel with the
other components. !he photodiode 5unction also has a finite shunt
resistance G
sh
. !his resistance acts between the diode 5unction and the
signal sensing circuit and is therefore termed the series resistance G
s
.
!he series resistence can usually be assumed to e9ual >ero for modelling
and computational purposes.
1hotodiode o&eration
!he simplest image of a photodiode wor1ing in a photovoltaic
regime is given in figure 6.1D.
199
;igure 6.1D ?hotovoltaic mode of operation
4 photodiode behaves as a photo.controlled current source in
parallel with a semiconductor diode and is governed by the standard
diode e9uation-
( ) . 6 ' ( 1 '
0
+
0T
eV
&0 photo
e I I I
where I
photo
is the photocurrent2
I
d1
is the dar1 current2
C
0
is the voltage across the diode 5unction2
e is the charge of an electron2
1 is 7olt>mann8s constant2
! is the temperature in degrees Oelvin2
!he photogenerated current I
photo
is additive to the diode current and the
dar1 current is merely the diode8s reverse lea1age current. !he detector
shunt resistance is the slope of the 0urent . Coltage curve 'dCEdI(
evaluated at C H 0.
)00

G
I
photo

G
sh
/
0
&ensing circuit
'resistive load or
amplifier(
;ig.6.1B ,umped.sum e9uivalent circuit model of a photodiode

;igure 6.19 0urrent.voltage 'I.C( relationship of a photodiode
es&
onsiv
ity
Gesponsivity R 9uantified the photo.electric gain of a
photodetector. ?hotodiode responsivity is the ratio of the photocurrent
'across an effective >ero resistance( generated for each watt of incident
light power e%pressed as ampsEwatt. !he ma%imum achievable
'theoretical( responsivity corresponds to detection of every incident
photon 'unit 9uantum efficiency(. !he energy carried by each photon
depends on its wavelength * H h where is the photon fre9uency
)01
'inversely proportional to its wavelength( and h is ?lanc18s constant.
!herefore e%pressing the responsivity in ampsEwatt 'as opposed to
ampsEphoton( gives this parameter an inherent wavelength dependency-
( + . 6 '
c h
e
R

i.e.
( 4 . 6 '
10 )4 . 1
6
5att
%mps
R

where c is the speed of light e is the charge of electron and is the
wavelength in meters of the photons being detected.
Gesponsivity has an additional wavelength dependence arising from the
variation of 9uantum efficiency with wavelength. 4t wavelengths where
silicon does not absorb strongly photons may penetrate deeper into the
device 'or pass through it( leading to minority carrier generation to
remote from the 5unction to be detected i.e. lower 9uantum efficiency
;ig.6.)0 !ypical responsivity of a silicon photodiode
In many alignment applications a visible laser beam from a
transmitter is incident on the ob5ect to be aligned. !he detector is the
human observer eye. !he operator observes and moves the ob5ect to be
)0)
nm
Wavelength nm
Gesponsitivity
'ampsEwatts(
400
1)00
B00
1000 600
0.)
0.4
0.6
0.B
aligned so that the spot of light on the ob5ect due to the laser beam is in
the proper location.
4n increase in accuracy is achieved by using a 9uadrant
detector. !he signal output from each 9uadrant is identical when the
laser beam is centered on the detector. If the laser beam or ob5ect moves
so that more power is incident on one or two diodes there will be less
power incident on other diodes. !he signal outputs from the 9uadrants
can be used to determine the position of the laser beam relative to the
9uadrant detector center. @ote that the diameter of the laser beam must
be large enough so that some light power is incident on all 9uadrants
during the alignment process but less than one.half the diameter of the
detector.
;igure 6.)1 &implified diagram of a laser alignment system based on a
9uadrant detector
4s it might be seen in figure 6.)1 the 9uadrant photodetector
has four sections. !wo output signals are ta1en- one as a difference
between the signals given by 4 and 4 'vertical error( and the second
one as a difference between 7 and 7 'hori>ontal error(. !hese results
are displayed on two different displays one for each a%is.

Asual am&lifier schemes for li#ht detection
)0+
4
)
7
1
4
1
7
1 7
)
,aser spot
;irstly we present common amplifier schemes which
utili>e operational amplifiers. !hey contain a lot of transistors inside
them and they have a complicated electrical scheme. "ainly two inputs
'.( and '.( and one output C
out
have to be ta1en into consideration. !he
input signal C
in
is amplified by a factor which is apro%imately e9ual to
the ratio between the feedbac1 resistor G
f
and the input resistor G
1
.


;ig.6.)) Inverting amplifier ;ig.6.)+ @on.inverting amplifier
When the input signal is applied on to the negative amplifier
input the output signal is voltage amplified and inverted. Inverted
means that an increase in the input level corresponds to a decrease of the
output level. When the input signal is applied on the positive input the
output signal 1eeps the same slope as the input signal.
!he amplifications corresponding these two cases are given in
formulas '6.3( and '6.6( respectively.
( 3 . 6 '
1
R
R
%
f

( 6 . 6 ' 1
1 1 1
1
R
R
R
R
R
R R
%
f f f
+
+

4 familiar amplifier is the 4D41. !his amplifier is

characterised by an input impedance of 1..) " and an output
impedance of D3 . !he dc open loop voltage gain is ).10
3
. !his is the
gain without any feedbac1 resistor.
)04
We may remind that the feedbac1 resistor allways is connected
to the negative input to obtain an amplifier with a given amplification.
We may compare again the laser device with an electronic
amplifier with the feedbac1 put on the positive input. In such a manner
oscillations due to the thermal noise are developing as the laser is
operating considering instead of the thermal noise the spontaneous
emission.
4nother useful and very simple scheme consists of a
phototransistor amplifier scheme.
4nd a transistor amplifier circuit for a photodiode-
;ig.6.)4 ?hototransistor amplifier
)03
;ig.6.)3 !ransistor amplifier circuit for a photodiode
( D . 6 '
i
E
C
out
v
R
R
V
where v
i
is the voltage generated by the photodiode.
;ig.6.)6 <perational amplifier circuit for linear photodiode
operation
!he output of the circuit given in fig.6.)+ is a very linear one.
Its dependence on the incoming photons is-
)06
V
out
i
p
R
"
very linear
!he linearity is assured by the polari>ation of the photodiode
using the additional power supply *.
;ig.6.)D Integrated circuit for energy measurements
In fig.6.)D a simple integrated circuit for energy measurements
is presented. !he output signal is an integration of the input signal due to
the G0 group. !he output is-
( B . 6 '
1
0
0
&t v
RC
v
t
i

4n e%ample of a photodetector device to be used in leveling
applications is given in figure 6.)D.
)0D
;igure 6.)B ?hotodetector device for leveling
.ar code scanner
)0B
;igure 6.)9 7ar code scanner
Laser scanner ins&ection system
)09
;igure 6.+0 ,aser scanner inspection system
H
)arbon %io9ide ;)4
2
< Laser
#asing transitions in C@
>
#aser, Types of C@
>
#aser, %pplications
0. ?atel first demonstrated lasing action in a 0<
)
molecule in
1964. Ae transmitted an electric discharge pulse through pure 0<
)
gas in
a laser tube and got a small laser output. 0<
)
is the gas in which the
lasing process occurs but other gas additives to the laser tube improve
the total efficiency of the laser.
)10
!he standard 0<
)
laser includes in the active medium a mi%ture
of 0<
)
with @
)
and Ae. !he optimal proportion of these + gases in the
mi%ture depends on the laser system and the e%citation mechanism. In
general for a continuous wave laser the proportions are-
0<
)
- @
)
- Ae 1 - 1 - B
0<
)
is a linear molecule and the three atoms are situated on a
straight line with the carbon atom in the middle. In figure D.1 the three
vibrational modes of 0<
)
molecule are illustrated-
;igure D.1 <scillation modes of the 0<
)
molecule
1.&ymmetric stretch mode '
1
(.
).7ending mode '
)
(.
+.4symmetric stretch mode '
+
(.
Lasin# transitions in )4
2
laser
,asing transitions in 0<
)
laser occur when the molecule is
going from higher energy level of the asymmetric mode into one of the
other two as can be seen in figure D.).
)11
1.!he transition to the symmetric stretching mode corresponds
to the wavelength of 10.6 m.
).!he transition to the bending mode corresponds to the
wavelength of 9.6 m.
*ach of the vibrational energy level is subdivided into many
rotational levels. !ransitions can occur between vibrational energy
levels with different rotational levels so there are many lasing lines
around the main vibrational transitions.

10
0
0 'laser lower level(
00
0
1 'laser upper level(
*nergy cm
.1
1000
)000
/
i
r
e
c
t

e
l
e
c
t
r
o
n

i
m
p
a
c
t

:
2
)4
2
energy transfer
*H1B cm
.1
laser beam
H 106 m
01
1
0
decay and
transfer to helium
fast decay
Lround level

;igure D.)- *nergy level diagram of the 0<
)
laser
)4
2
laser o&eration
4n electric discharge is created in the laser tube. !he energy of
the accelerated electrons is transferred by collisions to the @itrogen
)1)
molecules and to the 0<
)
molecules. @itrogen molecules help in the
process of the e%citation of the 0<
)
molecules. !he first vibrational
energy level of the @itrogen molecule is very similar to the asymmetric
stretching mode of the 0<
)
molecule so energy can be easily transferred
from the e%cited @itrogen molecules to the 0<
)
molecules. Aelium
molecules are added to the gas mi%ture in order to-
1.*mpty the lower laser energy level so that population
inversion is maintained.
).&tabili>e the electrical discharge by ta1ing heat away from
the lasing area.
!he specific heat 'which determines the thermal conductivity(
of Ae '1.)4 calEg .
0
O( is five times that of @itrogen
Las pressure inside the 0<
)
laser tube is 3.+0 !orr of which
10F 0<
)
gas 10F @
)
and the rest is Ae.
'y&es of )42 Lasers?
!here are many types of 0<
)
lasers all based on the same
physical principles. !he difference between them is in their structure
e%citation mechanism and the output radiation. We may classify them
according to some criteria-
1. "ode of operation
- 0ontinuous2
- ?ulsed2
- Gadio fre9uency 'G;( e%citation2
). Leometrical configuration of the discharge
- ,ongitudinal discharge2
- !ransversal discharge2
+. Las mi%ture supply
- &low flow2
- ;ast flow2
- &ealed2
We may have combinations of any of these possibilities. We
briefly describe some of them.
)1+
L
o
n
#
i
t
u
d
i
n
a
l

f
l
o
!

)
4
2

#
a
s

l
a
s
e
r
s

In these lasers a fresh gas mi%ture is flowing continuously through
the laser tube while lasing lasts. ;lowing gas is used when the ma%imum
power is needed out of the 0<
)
laser. !he gas flows along the tube and
)14
is released out into the atmosphere 'since it is non.poisonous(. !hese
lasers are very simple and the re9uirements from the gas purity are
small. Aundreds of watts can be achieved at the output of these lasers.
7asically the conventional continuous wave 'cw( 0<) laser is nothing
more than a water.cooled tube with mirrors at both ends through which
the laser mi%ture is flowed and e%cited electrically. =nder optimised
conditions one may count on obtaining powers of about B0WEm for short
'a+m( tubes. ?ower of about B.B.1W was obtained from a 10.m length
laser at the early stage of this type of laser. @owadays fast transverse
flow lasers replaced the longer devices.
!he scheme of a two sections continuous wave a%ial flow
longitudinal discharge 0<
)
laser is given in figure D.+. 4 central cathode
and two anodes at the ends of the laser tubes are used.
;ig.D.+ !wo sections longitudinal cw 0<
)
laser
Wave-#uide )4
2
laser
<peration of a laser in an e%tremely small.bore 1.mm( tube greatly
enhances the radiation loss due to diffraction. Aowever when the tube is
constructed in the form of a dielectric waveguide diffraction losses are
minimised and advantage may be ta1en of the pro%imity of the walls of
the discharge tube to reduce the gas temperature and to facilitate de.
e%citation of molecular species through collisions with the walls. !hese
)13
factors result in the possibility of operating at high pressures with an
attendant increase in gain power output per unit volume linewidth and
saturation intensity. 4 schematic diagram of such a system is
shown in figure D.4.

;ig.D.4 Wave guide laser schematics
=sing ceramic tubes very small 0<
)
lasers can be made. !hese
small 0<
)
lasers can produce up to 30 watts of continuous wave
radiation. !hese systems have the advantage of stable output power and
mode pattern and are mechanically rugged. !he combination of high
gain and high.pressure operation provides the opportunity of single
fre9uency operation over a wide tuning range. 4 tuning range of several
hundred megahert> has been demonstrated
)16
Las out
"irror
GHBcm
S
e
a
l
e
d
-
o
f
f

)
4
2

l
a
s
e
r

!he gas laser tube is filled with the appropriate mi%ture of gasses and
sealed 'as we saw in Ae.@e laser(. Aigh electric voltage is applied to
electrodes at both ends of the gas tube. !he accelerated electrons e%cite
the gas molecules.
!he problem with sealed.off lasers is the dissociation of the 0<
)
molecules into 0< and <%ygen with time. !o reduce this effect a
catalysing agent is added to the gas mi%ture. !his catalysing agent
reverses the dissociation reaction and restores the 0<
)
molecule which
is re9uired for lasing.
&ealed off 0<
)
lasers are usually limited to output power of less than
)00 watts. ;or higher output power it is necessary to ta1e away the heat
generated inside the laser and a flowing gas is needed.
&ometimes a gas reservoir is added to the sealed off tube to allow
some refreshment of the lasing gasses from the reservoir to the tube.
)1D
!he new class of sealed 0<
)
lasers is made from metal with no glass
tube. !hese lasers are manufactured by e%ample by a company in the
=& named I&ynradI and are cheap reliable and efficient. !hese lasers
are not e%cited by direct high voltage that creates the electric discharge
but by a radio fre9uency 'G;( voltage. !heir operation will be described
later on.
)1B
'
r
a
n
s
v
e
r
s
e

=
l
o
!

)
4
2

#
a
s

l
a
s
e
r
s

When the gas flow inside the laser is perpendicular to the laser a%is
it is possible to have a much larger flow since the distance is very short.
&ince cooling by gas flow is very efficient it is possible to get very high
power output out of these lasers.
)19
7oth the gas flow and the electric discharge in these lasers are along
the width of the laser. !hus the distance between the electrodes is short
so electric discharge can be achieved even for gas at very high pressure
'up to a few atmospheres(. !ransverse flow is used for very high power
0<
)
lasers.
)4
2
'EA laser
!he pulsed 0<
)
atmospheric pressure transversely e%cited
lasers '0<
)
!*4( deliver the highest output pulsed power from the 0<
)
laser family. /ifferent techni9ues have been developed in order to
sustain a uniform discharge between two flat electrodes at higher
pressures.
!he main purpose is to achieve a large volume of the e%cited
gas at a higher pressure almost at atmospheric pressure. 4t high.
pressure any non.uniformity in the electric applied field leads to an arc
occurring. !he arc ta1es the whole pumping energy and no lasing
occurs. !o prevent arc occurring different pre.ionised methods have
been used. We present the double discharge laser the =C preionised
laser and the electron beam controlled discharge laser.
%ou
ble
disch
ar#e
laser
))0
<ne of the most common techni9ues consists of using an
au%iliary discharge between wires and the main electrode. ;or e%ample
from 4.3 % +.3 cm
)
cross.section area and a length of B0 cm one may
obtain about )3 5ouleEpulse at one atmosphere operating pressure.
!unable operation was also possible using a diffraction grating
;ig.D.3 0ross section through a double discharge 0<
)
laser
In order to increase the uniformity of the discharge additives
with low potential of ionisation were used.
A*
&re-
ionis
ation
laser
4nother techni9ue is to use a preioni>ation by =C radiation
produced by pin.pin au%iliary discharges. !he main discharge is
produced between 0hang profiled electrodes. It is sustained by a main
capacitor '100 n; E401C usually(. !he =C radiation is produced by two
rows of pin.pin spar1s each of each is supplied by a 1 n; capacitor. !he
output energy density per pulse is in the range of +0 40 JE litre with an
efficiency of about 10F.
))1
tungsten
wire
0
au%
=C
G
0
Aigh voltage spar1.gap
Aigh voltage
L@/
Elect
ron
bea
m
contr
olled
disch
ar#e
laser
!he most powerful method of obtaining large volume
discharges at atmospheric pressure is by using large cross section
electron beams. !his device has two parts- the laser chamber and the gun
chamber. !he gun chamber has to be evacuated till at least 3.10
.3
!orr.
4pplying on the cold cathode of a 300 1C high voltage pulse produces a
large area '10 cm % 100 cm( electron beam. !he beam passes through a
thin '30 microns( titanium foil which separates the gun chamber from
the laser chamber. !he laser chamber is filled with the gas mi%ture at
atmospheric or above atmospheric pressure. !he ionisation of the gas
mi%ture is due to the secondary electron emission produced by the fast
electrons which enter the laser cavity. *nergy output density in the
range of 100 J Elitre and conse9uently 1 1J E 1 microsecond pulse were
obtained from this device.
!hese lasers were among the laser candidates for laser induced
controlled fusion e%periments. !hat8s why they were largely developed
to be used as final amplifiers in huge multi.beam laser systems.
7ecause the wavelength of the 0<
)
laser is too high for a proper
coupling with the target this laser is no more competing in this race.
7ut the techni9ues which were developed constructing this laser were
utilised by the ne%t laser generations *%cimer lasers for e%ample
benefit a lot by the 0<
)
!*4 laser development.
)))
;ig.D.6 *lectron beam controlled discharge device
If no main discharge is produced the number of secondary
electrons decreases by recombination and attachment. 4ssuming that the
recombination process prevails over the attachment one the e9uation
governing the electron density @
e
can be written-
Where & 't( is the source term and is the recombination
coefficient. !he shape of the & 't( is similar to the total high voltage
pulser 'so called "ar% generator(. ?ea1 value of & 't( is about 3 %10
19
cm
.
+
s
.1
. !he recombination coefficient has a value of about )%10
.6
.
))+

insulator
insulator
"ain discharge
0<
)
-@
)
-Ae
1 -1 -4
pH 1 atm
.300 1CE 1s
3.10
.3
!orr
!itanium foil
"ain discharge
anode
Lun
cathode
)
( '
e
e
1 t $
&t
&1

(i#h &o!er industrial lasers
Gecent years industrial 0<
)
lasers became common industrial tools. We
present few industrial types from G<;I@.&I@4G company- slab series
'G; e%citation( &" series A; series and &G series
Slab-series
!he diffusion.cooled 0<).&lab.,aser from G<;I@.&I@4G
mar1s the advent of a new era in industrial laser technology whether for
cutting welding or surface treatment. !he revolutionary design of the
))4
&lab.,asers offers such decisive advantages as e%tremely compact
design and the elimination of an e%ternal gas supply. Las consumption is
negligible the gas cylinder integrated into the laser head lasts for
appro%imately 1) months continuous use. ;urther features include an
e%tremely high beam 9uality and a significant reduction in service
re9uirements.
Technical data:

ROFIN
DC
010
ROFIN
DC
015
ROFIN
DC
020
ROFIN
DC
025
ROFIN
DC
030
ROFIN
DC
035
Excitation RF RF RF RF RF RF
Output
power
1000
W
1500
W
2000
W
2500
W
000
W
500
W
ower ran!e
100!
1000
W
150!
1500
W
200!
2000
W
250!
2500
W
00!
000
W
50!
500
W
"ea#
$ualit%
&actor
" #
0$%
" #
0$%
" #
0&%
" #
0&%
" #
0$%
" #
0$%
ul'e
&re$uenc%
%!
5000
H'(
c)
%!
5000
H'(
c)
%!
5000
H'(
c)
%!
5000
H'(
c)
%!
5000
H'(
c)
%!
5000
H'(
c)
))3
Slab-series &rinci&le?

1. ,aser beam; 2. Beam shaping unit; 3. Output mirror;
4. Cooling water; 5. RF excitation; 6. Cooling water;
7. Rear mirror; . RF excite! !ischarge; ". #a$e
gui!ing electro!es
!he optical resonator is formed by the front and rear mirrors and
two parallel G;.electrodes. *%citation of the laser gas ta1es place
in the G; field between the water.cooled electrodes. !he heat
generated in the gas is dissipated by the water.cooled electrodes
'diffusion cooled(. !hus the conventional gas circulation
systems involving roots blowers or turbines are not re9uired. 4
beam.shaping module is integrated into the laser head and
produces a high 9uality round symmetrical beam. !he resonator
design produces a 43d linearly polari>ed beam.
()*'erie'

!he G<;I@.&I@4G 0<).,aser in the &".range has been
established in a wide variety of industrial applications for many
))6
years. !he &".lasers are a universal tool used mostly in cutting
systems as well as a wide range of welding applications.
!he &".range has set the standards for durability outstanding
beam 9uality and performance stability.
Technical data:

R( +00
()
R( 1200
()
R( 1350
() ,
R( 1+00
()
R( 2000
()
Excitation DC DC DC DC DC
Output
power
*00 W 1200 W 150 W 1*00 W 2000 W
ower ran!e
*0!%00
W
100!
1+00 W
100!
1500 W
1*0!
1,00 W
200!
2200 W
)ode -E.10e -E.10e -E.10e -E.10e -E.10e
ul'e
&re$uenc%
%!1000
H'( CW
%!1000
H'( CW
%!1000
H'( CW
%!1000
H'( CW
%!1000
H'( CW
1ro&erties of the )4
2
Laser
Aigh output power- commercial 0<
)
,asers produce more than
10000 Watts continuously. <utput spectrum is in the InfraGed 'IG(
spectrum- 9.11 m.
Cery high efficiency 'up to +0F(.
0an operate both continuously or pulsed.
4verage output power is about B0 WEm for slow flow of gas
and up to few hundreds _WEm` for fast gas flow. Cery simple to operate
and the gases are non.to%ic.
))D
Summary of )4
2
lasers accordin# to #rou&s?
Las laser.
*mit in the InfraGed 'IG( spectrum ' H 9.11 m(.
*lectrical e%citation.
0ontinuous wave although pulse operation is possible.
;our level laser.
)ommercially available )4
2
sealed laser tubes
3edical a&&lications of )4
2
lasers
!he ,u%ar @ova?ulse )0 Watt 0<
)
laser is ideal for small clinics and
offices. 7ased on a fle%ible fiber delivery system it combines the
advantages of laser precision and hemostasis with a familiar scalpel.li1e
feel. @ova?ulse delivers short duration high amplitude pulses followed
by short pauses during which tissue is allowed to cool thus minimi>ing
charring and thermal necrosis. 4 wide selection of handpieces and
changeable tips ma%imi>e efficacy in a full range of *@! dermatology
oral ma%illofacial and podiatry and general surgical procedures. 4
speciali>ed scanner offers char.free uniform layer.by.layer
vapori>ation of areas up to 10 mm.
)
4

L
a
s
e
r

))B
!his laser is very similar to the 0<
)
laser e%cept for the active gas . 0<.
!he spectrum output of these lasers is 3 . 6 m. <ne of the problems
with this laser is the gas 0< that is poisonous.
E
4
t
h
e
r
6
a
s
L
a
se
rs
4etal vapor laser, %rgon ion laser, 1itrogen laser, E/cimer lasers,
Chemical lasers
3eta
l
*a&o
r
Lase
r
!he active medium in this laser is a vapor consisting of metal
atoms. !here is a distinction between two types-
a. @eutral metal vapor lasers which include-
1.0opper vapor laser '0C,(.
).Lold Capor ,aser 'LC,(.
))9
b. Ioni>ed metal vapour laser which includes-
Aelium.0admium 'Ae.0d( ,aser.
4ll metal vapor lasers emit visible electromagnetic radiation in a form of
rapid pulses and with high efficiency.
)o&&er va&or laser ;)*L<
,asing action in copper vapor was first demonstrated in 1966.
!he first commercial copper vapor lasers appeared around 19B0. !his
laser was attractive because of its relative high efficiency 'up to 1F( for
lasers in the visible spectrum range and the high pulse power achieved.
0opper vapor laser is a gas laser build as a tube with windows
at both ends. !he tube is filled with an inert gas and a small 9uantity of
pure copper. In order to have copper vapor the metal needs to be at very
high temperatures so the tube is build from alumina or >ir1onia which
are high temperature resistant materials. !he tube diameter is 10.B0 mm
and it contains neon gas at a pressure of )3.30 !orr.
!he wavelengths emitted by 0opper vapour lasers are-
1
H 310.6 nm
'green( and
)
H 3DB.) nm 'yellow(.
=nfortunately both of these laser transitions end at lower laser
energy levels which are meta.stable 'with long lifetimes of hundreds of
microseconds(. &ince the population of these energy levels increases
rapidly the condition of population inversion is destroyed and laser
action stops. 4fter the lasing stops the lower energy levels decay to the
ground state by collisions of the e%cited molecules with the tube walls.
!hen another laser pulse can form. !he time of each laser pulse is less
than 100 ns. &o this laser could operate only in a pulsed regime.
!he copper vapor laser is a three level laser-
1. Lround state of the copper atom.
). =pper laser energy level.
+. ,ower laser energy level.
!he copper chloride '0u0l( and copper bromide '0u7r( lasers are
variations of the copper vapor laser. 7y starting with a halide of copper
rather than pure metal these lasers can operate at lower temperatures
than re9uired to produce copper in vapor form. Aowever the copper
must be dissociated from its halogen atoms to lase. ;or this reason
power re9uirements are somewhat unusual in that a pair of high voltage
)+0
pulses in rapid succession is needed to operate the laser- !he first
separates the 0u and 0l or 7r atoms and the second pumps the 0u atoms
to the re9uired upper energy state for lasing to ta1e place.
)
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v
a
&
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a
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i
o
n

!he melting temperature of 0opper is 10B+
0
0. 4t temperatures
higher than the melting point 0opper vapors are created at high enough
concentration so they can serve as an active medium of the laser. 4 solid
)+1
bul1 of pure 0opper metal is inserted in the middle of the tube before the
neon gas fills it. *lectric brea1down is created by high voltage to the
electrodes at the ends of the tube. 4s a result the temperature rises
inside the tube cavity until the 0opper evaporates and the vapor
pressure of the 0opper is about 0.1 !orr.
!he measured temperature on the outside of the tube can reach 1400.
1300
0
0. /uring the laser operation only a small fraction of the copper
atoms are ioni>ed and they are moving 'electrical attraction( toward the
ends of the tube. !here the vapor cool downs and transform to solid
metal. 4s a result the amount of copper vapor in the tube is reduced.
4fter a few hundred hours of operation new copper must be inserted
into the tube.
!he high voltage pulses applied to the electrodes at the ends of the tube
cause the accelerated electrons to collide with the copper vapor
molecules e%citing them into one of the two available high laser energy
levels as seen in the ne%t figure.

)+)
;igure B.1- *nergy ,evel /iagram of the copper vapor laser
A&&lications of co&&er va&or lasers?
1. ?ump &ources for the /ye lasers for short pulses.
). Illuminating ob5ects in high.speed photography.
0opper vapor laser output is in a form of visible laser radiation in
very short pulses at a very high pulse fre9uency. &o this radiation can
be used as an illuminating source for high.speed flash photography. 4n
e%ample is photographs of rifle bullets at speeds of +00.13000 mEs.
+. In ;orensic-
Identifying fingerprints and traces of special elements in the scene of
a crime. !he laser radiation is used to illuminate the sample and the
fluorescence at higher wavelengths is e%amined. 7ecause of the laser
high pea1 power residual traces can be identified which can not be
identified using conventional narrow spectral light.
4. ?hoto./ynamic.!herapy '?/!(
!he selective destruction of cancer cells by laser radiation at specific
wavelength after a special drug is in5ected into the patient.
3. *nrichment of =ranium '=
)+3
(
7y selective photo.ioni>ation of =
)+3
in a steam of natural =ranium.
!he amount of =
)+3
in natural =ranium is very small and it is very
difficult to isolate it. =sing copper vapor lasers it is possible to pump
dye lasers and selectively ioni>e only =
)+3
and collect the ioni>ed
material on electrically charged plates.
!he main research in uranium distillation is done in ,awrence
,ivermore ,aboratories in the =&. !hey use copper vapor lasers to
pump tunable dye lasers at very high power. It is possible to tune the dye
laser for ioni>ation of ?lutonium '?u
)+9
( which is used for nuclear
weapons.
!he ma%imum published average power out of these copper vapor
lasers is 6000 W compared to the 100 W ma%imum out of commercially
available lasers.
)++
6
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s

!he gold vapor laser is very similar to the copper vapor laser
both in structure and principles of operation. &ometimes the same
system 'laser tube and power supply( is used for both lasers. !he only
change is to replace the solid copper by a wire of pure gold. !he
wavelength of gold lasers is red- 6)B nm.
!he main applications of the gold vapor laser are in the e%perimental
cancer treatment of photo dynamic therapy '?/!(.
(elium-)admium Laser
Aelium.0admium lasers can be categori>ed among either-
"etal vapor laser . cadmium is a metal the lasing action in
helium cadmium laser occurs between energy levels of cadmium ions
so the lasing medium is ioni>ed metal vapor.
Ion gas lasers . the properties of helium.cadmium laser are
similar to those of helium.neon laser which is a neutral atom gas laser.
)+4
!he Ae.0d laser is a gas laser and the metal cadmium can be transform
into the gas phase by heat.
!he e%citation to the upper laser level of the cadmium atoms in
the gas is similar to the e%citation process of the neon gas in a helium.
neon laser- Aelium atoms are e%cited by collisions with accelerated
electrons and than they pass their energies to cadmium atoms by
collisions. !he transitions in helium.cadmium laser are between energy
levels of singly ioni>ed cadmium atoms and about twelve lines are
available. !hese wavelengths are in the shorter wavelength region violet
and =ltra.Ciolet '=C(. !hus the main application of the Ae.0d laser is
in the optics laboratory for fabricating holographic gratings.
!he practical problem in helium.cadmium laser is to maintain
homogeneous distribution of the metal vapor inside the electrical
discharge tube. !he ions are attracted to the cold windows at the ends of
the cavity. In order to prevent coating of the windows with cadmium
cold traps are put before the laser windows.
Lasin# action in a helium-cadmium Laser-
!he cadmium metal is heated to a temperature of )30
0
0 to
create the appropriate vapor pressure. !he cadmium vapor pressure of a
few millitorr is added to helium gas at a pressure of + . D millitorr. &ince
Aelium is a noble gas its e%citation energy is very high ')4.46 eC(
compared to the cadmium which is a metal with low e%citation energy
'B.96 eC(. !hus in Ae.@e laser the helium remains electrically neutral
and fills the cavity of the tube while the positive cadmium atoms are
moving toward the negative cathode. In the design of the tube of the
helium.cadmium laser most of the effort is to reduce to a minimum the
amount of cadmium ions on the cathode. !he best Ae.0d lasers loose
about 1 g cadmium metal for 1000 hours of operation of the laser.
;or compari>on the gain and power output of the main two lines of Ae.
0d laser are higher than for the Ae.@e laser but less than for the 4r
X
laser.
0haracteristics of Ae.0d lasers-
<utput wavelengths- blue light 441.6 nm and ultra.violet '=C( light
+)3 nm.
)+3
"a%imum output power- 130 mW in the blue line and 30 mW at
=C.
"a%imum total efficiency- in the blue line 0.0)F and in the =C
0.01F.
&pectral width- 0.00+ nm 'about 3 LA>( and coherence length- about
10 cm.
/istance between two longitudinal modes- about )00 "A>.
I
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a
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!he most common ioni>ed gas lasers are from the noble gases
4rgon '4r
X
( and Orypton 'Or
X
(. We shall concentrate on the argon ion
laser since it is more common.
Ar#on Ion ;Ar
I
< 6as Laser
William 7ridges at Aughes invented the 4rgon laser in 1964.
4rgon ion laser contains a tube filled with 4rgon gas which transforms
into plasma in an e%cited state. ?lasma is a state of matter in which the
electrons are separated from the atoms and molecules which means that
)+6
it contains free electrons and ions. 4 schematic diagram of the energy
levels of the 4rgon laser is shown in figure B.).
!he two main laser transitions are at visible wavelengths- blue 4BB nm
and green 314.3 nm
but the 4rgon ion laser emits also in the =C spectrum- +31.1 nm and
+6+.B nm.

)+D
;igure B.)- *nergy ,evel /iagram of Ion 4rgon
,aser.
1
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When considering the power output of the 4rgon laser it is
important to state if the power output is at all the laser lines together or
at a specific wavelength. &ome applications re9uire specific wavelength
which can be chosen by a grating or prism at the end of the optical
cavity. !he ionised gas lasers are the only visible lasers that produce
many colours with comparatively high power 'up to a few Watts(.
)+B
;igure B.+
!he figure B.+ shows all the wavelengths of light emitted by the argon
laser operating in multi.mode. *very wavelength is a monochromatic
light source of itself and each wavelength has a very narrow bandwidth.
!he two dominant wavelengths of 314nm green and 4BBnm blue ma1e
up about 6DF of the total beam output power. &ingle line operation is
also possible by inserting prisms diffraction gratings and other optical
devices to Ifilter outI the unwanted wavelengths. <f course when single
line operation is re9uired the total output power decreases as well.
Ar#on ;Ar
I
< laser efficiency
We see from the diagram in figure 6.4 that the lasing energy
levels belong to the 4rgon ion so the atoms of the gas inside the tube
need to be ioni>ed first.
4s seen in the diagram the ground state of the laser is at about 16 eC
above the ground state of the neutral 4rgon atom. !his is a large amount
of energy that must be supplied to the laser but is not used for creating
laser radiation. !his IwastedI energy is one of the reasons for the very
low efficiency of the 4rgon laser '0.1F(.
)+9
4
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!he gain of the active medium in 4rgon ion lasers is very high
so high power can be achieved from 4rgon ion lasers 'tens of Watts(
although as we saw with low efficiency. !he output power increases as
a nonlinear function of the current density in the tube. !hus it is
common to use narrow tubes 'small cross section( and very high
)40
currents '100.300 4Ecm
)
(. 4rgon ion laser usually re9uires a separate
three phase electrical power lines. !he ignition of the 4rgon Ion laser is
done by a pulse of high voltage 'about 10 1ilovolts /0( ioni>es the
argon gas. 4fter ioni>ation a few hundreds volts /0 are maintained
across the laser tube. 4 high /0 current 'more than 30 4mperes(
maintains lasing.
&uch high current densities create large amounts of heat which must be
ta1en away from the laser. 4rgon ion laser re9uires water.cooling.
In order to withstand the high temperatures the laser tube is made from
special high melting materials such as beryllium o%ide. !his material has
very high thermal conductivity and is not destroyed by the electrical
discharge. !he radiation of argon ion laser is ha>ardous to view 'class +b
and higher( and wor1ing with it re9uires special protecting goggles for
everyone in the room . 4 schematic picture of an argon ion laser is given
in figure B.4.
;igure B.4 7asic argon ion laser
!he laser resonator is made up of two mirrors. <ne is highly
reflective and other is a partially reflective mirror 'output coupler(. ;rom
this output coupler the beam emerges as laser light. !he 7rewsterMs angle
optic mounted at both ends of the tube minimi>es reflection loses while
creating a polari>ed beam. When the laser is first turned on a delay
allows for temperature stabili>ation. !hen a pulse of high voltage 'B
1ilovolts /0( ioni>es the argon gas. =pon ioni>ation high /0 current
'43 4mps( and about 600 volts /0 across the tube maintains a sufficient
discharge to 1eep the gas ioni>ed. !he typical argon laser tube has a
tungsten bore which has a high melting point and allows the laser to
operate at higher power levels with longer tube life.
)41
4rgon lasers with average powers of over three watts re9uire
tap water cooling and separate three phase ))0 40 volt E 30 4mps per
phase electrical line feeds.
4rgon laser emissions are ha>ardous to view. 7oth diffuse and direct
e%posures beyond the applicable "?* '"a%imum ?ermissible
*%posure( limit can cause permanent damage to the retina.

>ry&ton Laser
!he
1rypt
on
laser
is
very
simil
ar to
the
argon
laser
but
its
effici
ency
is
lower
.
!his
laser
has
many
lines
in the
visibl
e
spect
rum
)4)
espec
ially
in the
yello
w to
red
part
of the
spect
rum.
!he
ma%i
mum
outpu
t
powe
r in
each
line
is
about
100
mW.
!he
main
appli
catio
ns of
this
laser
are in
the
art
and
entert
ainm
ent
)4+
busin
ess
to
creat
e
fanta
stic
visua
l
effect
s.
:itro
#en
Lase
r
!he nitrogen laser was first developed in 196+ and has been sold as a
commercial product since 19D). !he active medium in nitrogen lasers is
nitrogen gas at pressures of )0 torr up to 1 4t. In some nitrogen lasers
the gas flows in the tube while others have a sealed tube. ,i1e most gas
lasers the nitrogen laser is based on transitions between vibration
energy levels and is electrically e%cited. !he energy level diagram of
the nitrogen laser is shown in figure B.3.
)44
;igure B.3- *nergy level diagram of the nitrogen laser
1
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)43
4 short pulse 'about 10 nsec( of high voltage ')0.40 1Colts(
performs nitrogen gas e%citation. !his high voltage pulse creates electric
discharge in the gas which causes momentary population inversion. 4
short 'nsec( laser pulse is emitted and the gas returns to the ground
state. @itrogen laser is a pulsed laser. It is impossible to operate a
nitrogen laser such that it emits radiation continuously because the
lifetime of the upper laser energy level is about 40 nsec while the
lifetime of the lower laser level is longer- 10 msec.
!he gain of the active medium in nitrogen laser is very high.
4n 1.meter length of the active medium is enough to create laser
radiation even without mirrors. In practice a total '100F( reflecting
mirror is used on one side of the laser and the laser radiation is emitted
through the other window.
1ro&erties of :itro#en laser?
@itrogen lasers emit radiation in the ultra.violet '=C( region of the
electromagnetic spectrum at a wavelength of ++D.1 nm.
Cery simple and cheap laser.
?ulse with very high pea1 power . up to few mega.Watts.
?ulse fre9uency . up to 1000 A> . limited by heating effects.
?ulse length is of the order of 10 nsec.
*nergy per pulse . a few milli.Joule.
4verage energy . up to a few hundred milli.Watts.
!otal efficiency . about 0.1 F.
3ain a&&lications of :itro#en laser-
<ptical pumping of /ye laser.
&pectroscopy in the ultra.violet '=C( spectrum.
@on.destructive testing performed by heating the sample with a pulse
from a nitrogen laser.
;luorescence measurements of materials.
"easurements of very fast processes 'illuminating with short pulses
for photography(.
E9cimer Laser
!here are lasers in which the re9uired conditions for lasing are
achieved in e%otic ways. 4s an e%ample we shall e%amine a family of
)46
lasers in which the radiation is emitted from a molecule which only
e%ists for a very short time. !his molecule is composed of an atom of
noble gas- argon 1rypton or %enon and an atom of halogen- fluorine
chlorine bromide or iodine.
4n e%cimer is a molecule which has a bound state 'e%istence(
only in an e%cited state.
In the ground state this molecule does not e%ist and the atoms are
separated. !he e%cited state e%ists for a very short time less than 10
nanoseconds.
!he name e%cimer comes from the combination of the two
words- e%ited dimer which means that the molecule is composed of two
atoms and e%ists only in an e%cited state.
!he *%cimer laser was invented in 19D1 in the =&&G by a
group of scientists- 7asov /anilychev and ?opov. !hey showed
stimulated emission at a wavelength of 1D) nm from Ke
)
gas at low
temperature pumped by a beam of electrons.
&earl and Aart reported the first laser action in a noble gas with halogen
'Ke7r( in 19D3.
!he common *%cimer lasers are listed in the table B.1 each with its
characteristic wavelengths-
*%cimer
laser
4r0l 4r; Or; Ke; Or0l Ke0l Ke7r
Wavelength
nm
1D3 19+ )4B
)D3
+31
+3+
460
)))
)40
+0B
+31
)B)
+00
!able B.1 *%cimer laser wavelengths
)4D
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4 compound of a noble gas is a contradiction since noble gases
are inert 'as their name implies(. !he atoms create a bound state only
after a high.energy input raises them to an ionised e%cited state. !his
)4B
bound state is the high laser level from it the molecule returns to the un.
e%cited ground state. !he condition of population inversion is achieved
at the moment that there is an e%cited state since the population of the
lower laser level is always >ero.
;igure B.6 shows a diagram of the energy levels of *%cimer laser as a
function of the distance between the atoms in the molecule. G represents
the noble gas atom and A represents the halogen.
!he valley 'potential well( in the diagram of the e%cited state shows the
e%istence of a momentary stable state. !he fact that there is no potential
well in the ground state shows that there is no bound state to the
molecule when it is not e%cited.
<nly within the mar1ed area inside the potential well of the e%cited state
can a bound state e%ist and it occurs for a specific distance between the
atoms.
)49
;igure B.6-*nergy levels
in the e%cimer laser
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!he composition of the gas mi%ture inside the tube of the
e%cimer laser is very little halogen '0.1.0.)F(and little noble gas 'argon
1rypton or %enon( and about 90F neon or helium.
)30
!he halogen atoms can come from halogen molecules such as-
;
)
0l
)
7r
)
or from other molecules which contain halogens such as-
A0l @;
+
.
!he advantage of using a compound and not a pure halogen is
the strong chemical activity of the halogen molecule 'especially
fluorine(.
)31
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?assing strong electric pulses through the gas mi%ture does
e%citation of the e%cimer laser. !he e%citation must be for a very short
time and with a very high power starting at about 100 1WEcm
+
and
)3)
going to few megawatts per cm
+
. !he electrons in the gas are accelerated
as a result of the high voltage and transfer their 1inetic energy to the gas
molecules by collision. !he halogen and noble gas molecules are bro1en
and form the e%cited bound comple%. It is possible to improve the
efficiency of pumping by ionising the gas mi%ture using %.ray radiation.
!he pumping rate is on the order of 1 LW of power per litre of
gas.
!he lifetime of the e%cited state is on the order of 10 nsec. !hus
the laser pulse is limited to tens of nano.seconds.
7ecause of the high gain of the active medium of the e%cimer
laser the laser can operate with no mirrors. ?ractically the rear mirror is
100F reflecting and in the front a transparent window is used. !he very
few percent of ;resnel reflection bac1 from the window is enough to
maintain lasing. 7ecause of the re9uirement for fast and strong pumping
it is common to use transverse discharge 'at right angle to the laser a%is(.
In transverse discharge the distance between the electrodes is short and
there is a lot of space for the electrodes along the laser a%is.
0are must be ta1en to choose the right materials inside the cavity
because of the high reactivity of the gases. &ince the gases inside the
e%cimer laser are very to%ic the laser must be sealed off after gas refill.
!he laser is used for a few million pulses and then a gas refill is
necessary.
1ro&erties of e9cimer lasers-
*%cimer lasers emit in the ultra.violet '=C( spectrum.
!he radiation is emitted only in short pulses. !he length of each pulse
is between pico.seconds to microseconds '10
.1)
.10
.6
sec(.
!he gas pressure inside the laser tube is high- 1.3 4tm.
!he efficiency of commercial e%cimer lasers is up to a few percent.
A&&lications of the e9cimer laser?
0ommercial e%cimer lasers can emit ultra.violet '=C( radiation
up to an average power of 100 Watts. &ince the emitted wavelengths are
very short each individual photon carries a large amount of energy
which is enough to brea1 the bond between molecules in the material
)3+
that absorbed the radiation. *very pulse of e%cimer laser radiation
contains a large number of photons since it has a very high pea1 power.
!hus the e%cimer laser is the perfect cutting tool for almost every
material.
S&ecial a&&lications-
?hotolithography . "aterial processing at a very high degree of
accuracy 'up to parts of microns:(.
0utting biological tissue without affecting the surrounding.
0orrecting vision disorders . 0utting very delicate layers from the
outer surface of the cornea thus reshaping it to avoid the necessity for
glasses.
"ar1ing on products . &ince every material absorbs the short
wavelength radiation from the e%cimer laser it is possible with a single
laser to mar1 on all 1inds of materials such as plastics glass metal etc.
!he price of an e%cimer laser is relatively high 'tens of thousands of
dollars( but it is used a lot because of its uni9ue properties.
)hemical Laser
!he chemical laser is an e%ample of a laser where the pump
energy comes from a chemical reaction between two atoms. !he
chemical laser is a member of the family of gas dynamic lasers.
Las dynamic lasers are based on rapid e%pansion of hot high.
pressure gas through no>>les into a near vacuum. !his rapid e%pansion
reduces the gas temperature.
4s a result since the transfer of the molecules to the ground state
ta1es more than the time of rapid e%pansion we get at low temperature
many molecules at e%cited levels. !hus Ipopulation inversionI.
!he gas usually flow through the no>>les in a transverse flow
'perpendicular to the optical a%is of the laser( so many no>>les can
operate at the same time yielding high power from the laser.
J. C. C. Oasper and L. 0.?imental developed the first chemical
laser which was operated in the pulsed mode in 1963. !he lasing action
of the chemical laser is usually based on vibration transitions of
diatomic molecule.
)34
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"ost chemical lasers are based on hydrogen halides.
)33
!he most well 1nown member of this family is hydrogen
fluoride 'A;(. !he emitted radiation is in the infrared 'IG( with a few
lines in the spectrum range- ).6 . +.0 m.
When hydrogen is replaced by its heavier isotope . deuterium
another member of the family- deuterium fluoride '/;( is created and
emits in the spectrum range- +.3 . 4.) m. <ther halides such as
hydrogen chloride 'A0l( and hydrogen bromide 'A7r( have
demonstrated lasing in the lab but are not common.
7ecause fluorine and hydrogen are very reactive gasses
hydrocarbons are used as a hydrogen source and fluorine compounds
such as &;
6
or @;
+
are used as a source for fluorine.
;luorine e%traction is done by electrical discharge which separates the
&;
6
molecule into fluorine and sulfur. In commercial chemical lasers
o%ygen is added to the reaction chamber to react with the sulfur to
create &<
)
molecules. Aelium gas is added as a dilution gas and
sometimes other gasses as well. !he total pressure inside a chemical
laser is low 'a few !orr(.
)36
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!he reaction between hydrogen and fluorine can be ignited by
an electric spar1 or by chemical means. In the reaction between
hydrogen molecules and fluorine atoms the highly active fluorine reacts
with the hydrogen molecule 'A
)
( to create free hydrogen plus a molecule
of A;e. !hen the free hydrogen reacts with the fluorine molecule-
A
)
X ; A;e X A 'B.1(
A X ;
)
A;e X ;
'B.)(
!hese reactions will continue as long as there are molecules of
fluorine and hydrogen. !hus gas flow into the laser cavity creates
continuous laser emission. A; and /; molecules have a series of
vibration energy levels.
)3D
4s we saw in the 7ohr model of the atom the energy
difference between successive energy levels decreases at higher levels.
!his means that when the transition is between two high energy levels
'such as *
D
. *
6
( the emitted photon will have lower energy 'longer
wavelength( than the photon emitted from the transition between lower
energy levels 'such as *
)
. *
1
(. &ince every vibration level has a few
rotational sub.levels we have the e%planation for the range of
wavelengths emitted by these chemical lasers.
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)3B
&chematic drawing of the structure of a chemical laser is shown
in figure B.D.

;igure B.D- !he basic structure of the chemical laser
!he gases are in5ected into the laser through pipes with
pinholes at their ends. !he design of the pinholes is critical to avoid
thermodynamic e9uilibrium of the gas. !he gas flows rapidly out of the
pinholes and creates a turbulent flow. !his results in e%cited hydrogen.
halide molecule. !he e%cited gas enters the laser optical cavity at right
angle to the laser optical a%is.
Advanta#es of )hemical Lasers?
!he source of energy is conveniently stored 'gas balloons(.
Cery high output power.
!he atmosphere is more transparent to the emitted spectrum out
of /; lasers than for A; lasers so the /; laser is more developed
although its efficiency is lower and the price of the deuterium isotope is
higher.
%isadvanta#es of )hemical Lasers?
;luorine is a very reactive gas.
Aydrogen gas can e%plode easily.
)39
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In a commercial chemical laser high voltage of about B000
Colts is applied to the electrodes of the laser tube. &ome lasers use ultra.
violet '=C( radiation before the electric discharge to pre.ionise the gas
and increase the efficiency of the chemical reaction.
!he chemical reaction between free fluorine and hydrogen
releases a large amount of heat while creating the molecule A;e which
is in an e%cited state. If we chec1 the efficiency of the electrical input
versus the laser output we can get more than 100F because of the
chemical energy released by the reaction between the free fluorine and
hydrogen. In commercial chemical lasers the electrical efficiency is less
than 1F while the chemical efficiency is about )0F.
)60
)hemical Laser A&&lications-
"ost of the applications of chemical laser are military
applications so the number of published articles in the open literature is
limited.
"id infra.red advanced chemical laser '"IG40,( is the most
1nown chemical laser in the 4merican Aigh *nergy ,aser &ystem !est
;acility 'A*,&!;( located at White &ands "issile Gange 'W&"G( in
south.central @ew "e%ico. It is designed to destroy enemy missiles in
the air. It was the first megawatt.class2 continuous wave chemical laser
built in the free world and was operated first in 19B0. !his laser can
emit a continuous power of up to ) "egawatts for a short time 'up to a
ma%imum of D0 seconds(. !he clear aperture of the special telescope
used to direct this laser is 1.3 meters with computer automatic trac1ing
of the target. !he beam 9uality is good. !he laser demonstrated reliable
operation in more than 130 lasing tests with over +000 seconds of
lasing time during the last decade.
3IA)L laser o&eration
"IG40, laser operation is similar to a roc1et engine in which
a fuel 'ethylene 0
)
A
4
( is burned with an o%idiser '@itrogen !rifluoride
@;
+
(. ;ree e%cited fluorine atoms are one of the combustion products.
<nly downstream from the combustor deuterium and helium are
in5ected into the e%haust.
/euterium combines with the e%cited fluorine to give e%cited
deuterium fluoride '/;e( molecules while the helium stabili>es the
reaction and controls the temperature. !he optical cavity is actively
cooled and can be run until the fuel supply is e%hausted. !he laserMs
output power can be varied over a wide range by altering the fuel flow
rates and mi%ture. !he laser beam in the resonator is appro%imately )1.
cm high and + cm wide.
7eam shaping optics is used to produce a 14.cm s9uare beam shape
which is propagated through the rest of the beam train.
/iagnostics for evaluating the beam shape absolute power and
intensity profile are used on each firing of the laser.
)61
In June 1996 successful operation of the active trac1ing of a missile
at a range of )+ 1ilometers up to 30 1ilometers was performed by
illuminating with a chemical laser. !he missile was flying at a speed of
1000 meters per second.
)hemical o9y#en iodine laser ;)4IL<
4nother chemical laser is based on the complicated reaction
between iodine and o%ygen. !his laser was invented in the =& 4ir.
;orce Weapons ,aboratory in 19DD. It is tested at ?hillips ,aboratory of
the 4ir ;orce as a potential weapon grade system. Its main use is for
destroying missiles in the air. 0<I, has been selected as the laser to be
installed on the second.generation airborne laser '47,( aircraft
designed to intercept ballistic missiles in their boost stage. !his laser
emits radiation at a wavelength of about 1.+ m. !his is the shortest
wavelength achieved from chemical lasers. !his wavelength is desirable
for weapon applications because of the high transmission of the
atmosphere at this wavelength and the availability of e%cellent grade
large si>e optics re9uired for high power laser system.
=ar infra-red ;=I< Lasers
;ar infra.red ';IG( lasers emit radiation in the far.infra.red
spectrum 'wavelength range 1).1000 m. !he wavelength range greater
than 100 m is sometimes called sub.millimetre wave. ;ar infrared
';IG( lasers are gas lasers and their lasing action occurs between
rotational levels of the gas molecules of the active medium. =sually
these transitions are within the same vibration level. !he active medium
in ;IG lasers is usually a gas of simple organic molecule such as- 0
)
A
4

0;
4
@A
+
.
7ecause of the very narrow width of each energy level of these
materials it is inefficient to optically pump them with ordinary light
sources. !he best way to achieve population inversion in these lasers is
to pump them with another laser at shorter wavelength. =sually 0<
)
laser is used for pumping.
)6)
1ro&erties of =I lasers
4 schematic drawing of ;IG laser is shown in figure B.B.
;igure B.B- &chematic drawing of the ;IG laser
In the laboratory thousands of lines of ;IG lasers have been
measured. Aowever very few commercial ;IG lasers are available and
they are mostly used for research purposes. !he power out of ;IG lasers
is of the order of few milli.Watts up to hundreds of milli.Watts. !he
main research use of ;IG lasers is for spectroscopic measurements. It is
possible to use the same ;IG laser system for different laser gasses and
each gas has usually some lasing lines.
)6+
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!he lasing gas is confined within a tube 'similar to 0<
)
or Ae.
@e lasers(. !he gas can either flow through the tube or the tube can be
sealed off. !he gas pressure within the tube is +0.+00 torr.
<ptical pumping is usually done along the optical a%is of the
laser. !he mirror through which the pumping is done is coated so that
the pumping wavelength pass through and the laser wavelength is
bloc1ed. !hus the laser radiation is trapped inside the tube passing
many times through the active medium and being amplified.
&ince a laser does the optical pumping the pumping
wavelength is determined precisely2 so specific energy levels can be
e%cited. !he main problem in using ;IG lasers is to find optical
components which are transparent at these long wavelengths since
most optical materials are not transparent at wavelength more than 40
mm.
;or lasers in the visible spectrum the gain curve of the active
medium can contain a few longitudinal modes. In the ;IG lasers the
gain curve is narrower than the distance between two ad5acent modes.
!hus the cavity length need to be ad5usted so that one longitudinal mode
will fall under the gain curve. !his change of the laser cavity length can
be by done by manually or electrically moving the end mirror of the
laser.
/
Solid State Lasers
@ptically pumpe& soli&<state lasers, -,$$#, ru'y laser, 1& laser,
ale/an&rite laser, color center laser, titanium sapphire laser
!he atoms in a solid are close to each other and the interaction
between neighbours is strong. !hus the absorption and emission
spectrum ranges in solids are much wider than those of gasses. It is
convenient to e%cite a laser whose active medium is solid with optical
pumping. Wide absorption spectrum allows pumping of the active
)63
medium with a conventional light source which has a wide emission
spectrum.
In optical pumping the active medium is e%cited by illuminating it with
e%ternal electromagnetic source. !he photons from the e%ternal source
are absorbed by the material of the active medium thus transferring
energy to its molecules. !wo types of electromagnetic sources are used
in optical pumping-
;lash lamps incandescent lamps arc lamps etc. which are
source of wide band electromagnetic spectrum
4nother laser which source of narrow band electromagnetic
spectrum .
)66
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!he active medium in solid state lasers is a medium of one
solid material in which impurity ions of another material are scattered.
!hese impurity ions are replacing atoms of the solid bac1ground and the
energy levels which participate in the lasing process are those of the ions
of impurity. !he solid bac1ground influence on the energy level
structure is minor. !hus the same impurity ion embedded in different
host material will emit at very close wavelengths. !he optical properties
of the laser are dictated mostly by the impurity ion. <n the other end the
physical properties of the active medium such as thermal conductivity
thermal e%pansion are determined by the solid host. !hus the solid host
determines the ma%imum power levels which can be emitted from the
laser.
)69
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)D0
!he active medium in these lasers is a crystal or glass. !he
shape of the active medium is usually a rod with circular or s9uare cross
section. !he pumped beam usually enters the active medium via its
surface area along the rod while the laser radiation is emitted through
the ends of the rod. !he ends of the rod are usually at right angles to the
rod a%is and are optically polished. &olid state lasers emit radiation in
either pulsed mode or in continuous mode.
!he pump lamps for pulsed lasers are usually %enon 'or
1rypton( flash lamps in which a low.pressure gas is contained within
9uart> tube.
!he pump lamps for pulsed lasers are usually %enon 'or
1rypton( flash lamps in which a low.pressure gas is contained within
9uart> tube.
!he pump lamps for continuous lasers are usually halogen lamps or
high pressure mercury discharges lamps .
)D1
)D)
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!here are many ways to transfer as much pump light as
possible from the lamp to the active medium. !he most common method
is to use an elliptic optical cavity 'a cavity created by an ellipsoid of
revolution(. !he lamp is at one focus of the ellipsoid and the rod of the
active medium at another as described in ;igure 9.1
;igure 9.1- "ethods of optical pumping of solid state lasers
!he inner surface of the cavity are coated with a reflective coating
'usually gold( such that all the radiation emitted from the lamps ended
at the active medium.
)D4
%iode &um&ed solid state lasers ;%1SSL<
/uring the last few years with the new developments of diode
lasers at high powers a new pumping method is being developed for
solid state lasers. Instead of broad spectrum pumping source /iode
,asers are used as pumping sources. !he wavelength in these diode
lasers can be ad5usted to fit the absorption spectrum of the active
medium. !hese diode lasers are very efficient sources and almost all
their light is absorbed by the active medium. !hus very little energy is
lost 'converted into unwanted heat(. !hese solid state lasers which are
pumped by diode lasers are called- /iode ?umped &olid &tate ,asers
'/?&&,(.
ub
y
Lase
r
Guby laser was the first man made laser which was build by
!heodore "aiman in 1960. Guby is a synthetic crystal of 4luminium
<%ide '4l
)
<
+
( and is more familiar in daily life as a precious stone for
5ewel. !he chemical structure of Guby is of 4l
)
<
+
'which is called
&apphire( with impurity of about 0.03F 'by weight( of 0hromium Ions
'0r
X+
(.
!he active ion is 0r
X+
which replace 4l atom in the crystal.
!his ion causes the red colour of the crystal. !he impurity ion of 0r
X+
is
responsible for the energy levels which participate in the process of
lasing.
)D3
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!he energy level diagram of a Guby laser is described in figure
9.).
)D6
;igure 9.)- *nergy ,evel /iagram of a Guby ,aser
!his system is a three level laser with lasing transitions between *
)
and *
1
. !he e%citation of the chromium ions is done by light pulses from
flash lamps 'usually %enon(. !he chromium ions absorb light at
wavelengths around 343 nm '300.600 nm(. 4s a result the ions are
transferred to the e%cited energy level *
+
.
;rom this level the ions are going down to the metastable energy level
*
)
in a non.radiative transition. !he energy released in this non.radiative
transition is transferred to the crystal vibrations and changed into heat
that must be removed away from the system. !he lifetime of the
metastable level '*
)
( is about 3 msec.
Guby laser has another absorption band which can be used for pumping
in the spectrum range- +30.430 nm.
It is difficult to achieve continuous operation of a ruby laser since it is a
three level laser. Aowever in 196) by using very intensive pump using
arc lamp with high pressure mercury vapor a continuous wave ruby
laser was build.
)DD
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!he flash lamp is getting its energy from a discharge of
capacitor. !he duration of the discharge is measured in microseconds so
the duration of e%citation light pulse out of the flash lamp is of the same
order of magnitude. !hus the duration of a pulse of radiation out of a
ruby laser is of the order of magnitude of microseconds.
&ome of the photons are emitted by spontaneous emission in the
transition between energy levels *
)
to *
1
. 7ecause of the population
)DB
inversion between these two energy levels these spontaneous emitted
photons cause other photons to be emitted in stimulated emission.
!he control of the direction of emission of radiation is determined by
the properties of the optical cavity and the output coupler. <nly photons
which are emitted along the laser a%is will continue to move bac1 and
force between the mirrors of the optical cavity. !hus they will stimulate
more and more photons to be emitted along the a%is.
!he amount of energy emitted in each pulse is determined by the active
medium and the e%citation system.
)D9

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!he ruby laser is a laser which operate in a very narrow range
of parameters. !he ruby laser is a three level laser and it is a surprise
that it was the first man made lasers in history. 4s a matter of fact right
after the first published article of !ownes and &chawlow on the
feasibility of lasing in the visible spectrum many research laboratories
started an effort to create the first laser.
)B0
!he common assumption was that optical pumping is
inefficient because they were thin1ing of gases and as e%plained before
the width of spectral absorption in gasses is very narrow. !hey thought
that pumping with a broad band source such as flash lamp would be
very inefficient since most of the e%citation energy would not be
absorbed and population inversion would not be achieved.
&mall ruby rods are with diameter of about 6 mm and length of
about D cm. !he biggest rods can be up to )0 mm in diameter and )0 cm
in length. In figure 9.+ a schematic description of the first ruby laser
developed by !heodore "aiman.

&ince the ruby crystal is a 5ewel the story is that "aiman8s wife was
wearing it on her nec1 when they came to conferences.
4ccording to the classification into groups the ruby laser is-
. 4 solid state laser.
. *mit radiation in the red range of the visible spectrum.
. <ptically pumped.
. !he radiation is emitted as pulses.
. 4 three level laser.
:d
Lase
r
In @d laser @d
X+
ions 'as impurities of up to a few percent by
weight( are replacing the atoms of the solid host in the active medium.
)B1
;igure 9.+- &chematic description of the first ruby laser
!hree 1nown solid hosts are used for @d.64L laser where @dX+ ions
are added as impurities-
Llass.
64L '6ttrium 4luminium Larnet( 0rystal.
6,; ',i6;
4
( 0rystal.
!he choice between the three possible hosts is according to the
intended use of the laser.
Llass is used as the host material when a pulsed laser is needed
with each pulse at high power and the pulse repetition rate is slow. !he
active medium of @d.Llass ,aser can be manufactured in a shape of
dis1 or rod with diameters of up to 0.3 meter and length of up to
several meters. &uch dimensions are possible because glass is isotropic
material cheap and can be easily wor1ed to the right shape. Aigh
percentage 'up to about 6F( of @d ions can be added to glass as
impurity. !he problem with glass as a host is its poor thermal
conductivity. !hus cooling the laser when it operates continuously or at
high repetition rate is difficult.
64L crystal is used for high repetition rate pulses 'more than
one pulse per second(. In this case a large amount of heat need to be
transferred away from the laser and the thermal conductivity of the
64L crystal is much higher than that of glass. 64L crystal with the
high 9uality needed for lasers can be made with diameters of ).13 mm
and at lengths of ).+0 cm. !he price of a 64L laser rod is high since
growing crystals is a slow and complicated process. !he percentage of
@d ions in the 64L host is 1.4F by weight.
Ener
#y
Leve
l
%ia#
ram
of
:d-
5A6
laser
)B)
!he energy level diagram of a @d.64L laser can be seen in
figure 9.4.


4s can be seen from the energy level diagram @d lasers are four level
lasers. @d ions have two absorption bands and e%citation is done by
optical pumping either by flash lamps for pulsed lasers or by arc lamps
for continuous wave lasers. ;rom these e%cited energy levels the @d
ions are transferring into the upper laser level by a non.radiative
transition. !he stimulated emission is from the upper laser level to the
lower laser level and the wavelengths of the emitted photons are around
1.06 m. ;rom the lower laser level a non.radiative transition to the
ground level.
)B+
;igure 9.4- *nergy level diagram of a @d.64L laser
1
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s
e
d

:
d

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s

@d glass lasers can emit a large amount of energy in a single
pulse their possible application for laser fusion will be described.
=sually in pulsed @d lasers the energy per pulse is in the range 0.01.100
J and the pulse repetition rate is up to +00 A>. !he average energy of a
pulsed @d laser can be high.
4s an e%ample- pulses of 0.3 msec with energy of 10 J means an
average energy of ).10
4
Watt.
!he total efficiency of @d lasers is low and is in the range- 0.1.
)F.

4ccording to groups the @d laser is--
. &olid state laser.
. *mit in the near.infra.red '@IG( spectrum range.
. <ptically pumped.
. <perate in both pulsed and continuous mode.
. ;our level laser.
Ale9andrite Laser ;)r
I3
?.eAl
2
4
G
<
)B4
4le%andrite laser is a solid state laser in which 0hromium ions
'0r
X+
( at the amount of 0.01.0.4 F are embedded in 7e4l
)
<
4
crystal. It
has energy level structure similar to the energy level structure of Guby
laser. 4le%andrite laser was operated for the first time as a three level
laser in 19D+ at a wavelength of 6B0 nm. 4 few years later it was found
that at longer wavelengths the 4le%andrite laser can be operated as a
four level laser which can be tune over a range of wavelengths- D)0.B00
nm. It was the first tunable solid state laser to reach the mar1et. 4 model
of energy level diagram which e%plains the tunability can be seen in
figure 9.3.

Cibronic ,asers
Ions of 0hromium replace atoms in the crystal 7e4l
)
<
4
such
that an asymmetric distribution of the atoms in the crystal occur. !his
asymmetry causes vibrations in the crystal which can be seen in the
energy diagram as vibrational energy levels. !hus ale%andrite lasers 'and
a similar family of !itanium &apphire lasers( are called Cibronic ,asers.
&ince the laser transitions are into these closed pac1ed energy levels the
laser wavelengths are tunable over almost a continuum of wavelengths.
!he 4le%andrite laser operates at a single wavelength that can be tuned.
0hoosing the specific laser wavelength is done by another element
)B3
;igure 9.3- *nergy ,evel /iagram of the 4le%andrite ,aser
within the optical cavity . !his element needs to be a tunable filter with
very narrow bandwidth. !he filter causes losses at all other wavelengths
e%cept the re9uired wavelength.
'
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)B6
4n e%ample of such tuning element can be seen in figure 9.6 which
show a prism inside the optical cavity.

;igure 9.6- 0hoosing a single wavelength in a tunable laser with a prism
!he dispersion of the prism cause each wavelength to bend at different
angle and only one wavelength will continue to move bac1 and forth
within the optical cavity. "oving the prism enable selecting the desired
wavelength.
4le%andrite laser properties-
. 4verage output power of ale%andrite laser can reach )0 watts.
. ?ulses of 100 msec each with power of 1.+ J can be obtained.
. <verall electrical efficiency of flash lamp pumped ale%andrite laser
is about 1F.
. &lope efficiency 'increase in output power with increase in
electrical input( can be 3F.
)olo
r
)ent
re
Lase
r
When crystals of 4l1ali Aalides are e%posed to high.energy
radiation such as %.rays or electrons point defects are created within the
crystal. !hese point defects add more energy levels to the atoms in the
crystal 'similar to impurity energy levels in semiconductors(. !hese
e%tra energy levels can cause optical absorption at specific wavelengths
thus adding colour to the transparent 4l1ali Aalides. !hese colors gave
)BD
the name color centre lasers to these lasers. !here are few 1inds of
defects in crystals but for our purpose we shall e%plain the simple defect
called ;.centre 'from the Lerman word I;arbeI for color(.
Without giving specific details about energy levels in crystals it is
enough to describe the defect in the crystal as causing local region with
e%tra positive charge. !his region can be regarded as a InucleusI around
which electrons can assembled similar to hydrogen atom 'see 7ohr
model of the atom(. !he electron is bound to a positive Aalogen
vacancy. !he e%cited electron energy states in the lattice are strongly
coupled to lattice vibrations. !hus all electronic states are broadband
resulting in broad absorption and emission bands.
!he differences between the energy levels of colour centre and the
Aydrogen atom are-
!he energy levels of the colour centre are wide and occupy bands
because of the interaction between neighbouring atoms . crystal
vibrations.
4bsorption band is not the same as emission bands as can be seen in
figure 9.D.

!unable color centre lasers in al1ali halide crystals can in principle
cover the spectrum range from 0.6 . 4 m. Aowever there are problems
with shelf life of these lasers and with their stability during operation.
0olor centre lasers operate at li9uid @itrogen temperature 'DD
0
O(. !he
main advantage of color centre laser is its single fre9uency purity. In
single mode continuous wave operation linewidth below 4 OA> have
been achieved.
)BB
;igure 9.D- 4bsorption and *mission &pectrum 7ands of ;
0entre in O0l
&ummary of color centre laser according to groups-
. &olid state laser.
. <ptically pumped usually by another laser 'which emit in the
absorption spectrum of the color centre(. &ince the energy levels are not
discrete but bands it is a tunable laser and the emitted wavelength can
be controlled.

A&&lications of )olour )entre Lasers
7asic research- &pectroscopy of atoms and molecules 'because of the
narrow bandwidth of the emitted wavelength and the broad range of
tunability(.
,aser chemistry . to initiate chemical reaction by selective e%citation
of specific levels of atoms and molecules.
'ita
nium
Sa&&
hire
Lase
r
!itanium ion '!i
X+
( embedded in a matri% of &apphire '4l
)
<
+
(
gives- !i-4l
)
<
+
. !his material is the active medium of the laser called
!itanium doped &apphire laser. !he amount of !itanium ions inside the
host material is about 0.1F and they replace 4luminium atoms in the
crystal. !i-&aphire lasers belong to a family of lasers called Cibronic
,asers in which trivalent 0hromium or !itanium are embedded in solid
host . !i- &apphire laser was first demonstrated in 19B) by ?eter
"oulton "I! ,incoln ,aboratory. 0ommercial continuous wave
systems entered the mar1et in 19BB. !hey replace the /ye lasers in the
@ear.Infra.Ged '@IG( because they are much more reliable and easier
to use.
!itanium is a transition metal thus !itanium &apphire lasers
belong to transition metal lasers. !itanium doped &apphire laser is an
efficient reliable !unable laser in the visible spectrum and @ear.Infra.
Ged '@IG( spectrum.
)B9
?roperties of !itanium &apphire lasers- usually optically pumped by
another laser2 can operate continuously or pulsed2 continuous power of a
few watts can be achieved by pumping with 4rgon Ion laser2 it has the
broadest tuning range of all lasers 1nown today with possible lasing
wavelengths- 6D0 . 1100 nm2 operates at room temperature2very
efficient 'up to B0F 9uantum efficiency at room temperature(2 the
e%cited state lifetime of !itanium doped &apphire is only +.)
microseconds too short for pumping with flash lamp thus the pumping
source is another laser2 absorption spectrum pea1s near 300 nm so
4rgon ion lasers or copper vapor lasers can be used as pumping sources.
A&&l
icati
ons
of
'ita
nium
Sa&&
hire
Lase
rs
!he main applications of !itanium doped &apphire laser are in
research laboratories particular in spectroscopy and in medicine. !he
large tuning range ma1es these lasers 'with the appropriate non.linear
crystal for multiplying fre9uencies( attractive for generating a tunable
sub.picosecond pulses at short wavelengths.
4s an e%ample !itanium &apphire laser is used in @4&4
pro5ect ,4&* ',idar 4tmospheric &ensing *%periment( for measuring
water vapors and aerosols and their effects on atmospheric processes.
!itanium &apphire amplifiers can produce-
!erra.watt '10
1)
W( power levels in femto.seconds '10
.13
sec( pulses
10 A> repetition rate at wavelengths D60.B40 nm.
)90
10
%iode Lasers and 4&tical =ibers
Ener
gy
#evel
s,
#ase
r
actio
n,
#ase
r
&io&
e
const
ructi
on,
@pti
cal
fi'er
s
)91
4ll diode lasers are built from semiconductor materials and all
show electric properties which are characteristics of electrical diodes.
;or this reason the diode lasers have other names such as-
semiconductor lasers 'according to the composed materials( 5unction
lasers 'since they are composed of p.n 5unction( or in5ection lasers
'since the electrons are in5ected into the 5unction by the applied voltage(.
7oth research and commercial use of diode lasers has change
dramatically during the last )0 years. !oday the number of diode lasers
sold in a year is measured in millions while all other 1inds of lasers
together are sold in tens of thousands. In fact the family of diode lasers
is used in a wide variety of consumer products including- compact discs
laser printers and bar code scanners and optical communication.
!he diode laser was invented independently in 196) at three different
research laboratories in the =&. !he researchers succeeded in getting a
coherent electromagnetic radiation from a forward biased diode 'p.n
5unction( made from the semiconductor La4s.
E
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s

*very atom or molecule in a gas is at a very big distance from
its neighbors so it can be treated 'from energy level point of view( as
isolated from its surroundings. In a similar way to the isolated gas
atoms we can treat few atoms of one material 'which act as impurity
)9)
atoms( which are added to a homogeneous solid environment of another
substance.
In contrast to the separated energy levels in a gas or of small number of
impurity atoms in a homogeneous solid the electrons in a
semiconductor are in wide energy bands which are composed of a large
number of energy levels grouped together by 9uantum effects. !hese
energy bands belong to the entire material and are not to be associated
with a single atom. !he width of the band increases as the distance
between the atoms decreases and the interaction between neighbors
increases.
!he energy bands in semiconductor are divided into two types-
a( Calence band . electrons in the valence band are tied to the atoms of
the semiconductor.
b( 0onduction band . electrons in the conduction band are free to move
around in the semiconductor.
!he separation between the valence band and the conduction band is
called the energy gap and no energy levels of the electrons can be found
inside this region. If an electron from the valence band gets enough
energy it can I5umpI over the energy gap into the conduction band.
;illed energy bands are those energy levels of the inner electrons which
are tied to the atom and do not participate in the bonds between the
atoms in the solid. In order that the solid will conduct electricity
electrons need to move in the solid.
I
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In an insulator the valence band is filled with electrons. In order
to produce conduction of electricity the electrons from the valence band
)9+
must go into the conduction band. !hus energy of more than the energy
gap must be supplied to the electrons in the valence band in order to
transfer them into the conduction band.
7ecause the energy gap in insulator is large it prevents this change in
energy by the electrons. !hus insulators are poor conductors. !he
structure of the energy levels of an insulator can be seen in figure 10.1.

)onductor
In a conductor 'metal( the valence and conduction bands
overlap so practically the energy gap is >ero. !hus electrons need very
little energy to stay in the conduction band and conduct electricity. !he
structure of the energy levels of a conductor can be seen in figure 10.).

)94
;igure 10.1- *nergy levels of an insulator
S
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In a semiconductor the energy gap is very small and very little
energy is needed to transfer electrons from the valence band into the
conduction band. *ven the thermal energy at room temperature is
enough. 7y raising the temperature more and more electrons will be
transferred to the conduction band. !his process results in an increase in
conductivity with increase in temperature. !he structure of the energy
levels of a semiconductor can be seen in figure 10.+.
4fter an electron is transferred from the valence band into the
conduction band a IholeI remains in the valence band. !hese IholesI
are similar in behavior to positive charges moving in the valence band as
a result of applied voltage. In the process of electrical conduction both
the electrons in the conduction band and the Ipositive holes I that
remain in the valence band after the electrons I5umpedI to the
conduction band participate. !o control the type and the density of
charge carriers in a semiconductor impurities which have e%tra charge
carriers are added to the semiconductor. !hese impurity atoms are
electrically neutral.
)93
;igure 10.)- *nergy levels of a conductor.
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In a IpureI semiconductor material the structure of the energy
the material determines bands and energy gap. 7y adding a material with
different number of charge carriers additional energy levels appear
inside the band gap 'as can be seen in figure 10.4(.
)96
;igure 10.+- *nergy levels of a semiconductor.
If the impurity contains more electrons than the pure semiconductor
these e%tra charge carriers are negative 'electrons( and the material is
called Itype n semiconductorI. In such material e%tra energy levels very
close to the conduction band are added. 4 very small amount of energy
is enough to e%cite electrons from these levels to the conduction band2
so free charge carriers are available to conduct electricity.
If the impurity contains fewer electrons than the pure semiconductor
e%tra energy levels are added very close to the valence band. *lectrons
from the valence band can move to these levels leaving behind Ipositive
holesI. !his material is called I!ype p semiconductorI.
)9D
;igure 10.4- *nergy levels in a semiconductor with impurities.
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a

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)9B
r

When type IpI semiconductor is attached to type InI
semiconductor we get a p.n 5unction. !his 5unction conducts electricity
in a preferred direction 'forward biased(. !his directional increased
conductivity is the common mechanism for all the diodes and transistors
in electronics.
;igure 10.3 displays the energy bands of an ideal p.n 5unction without
any e%ternal voltage applied to it. !his arrangement of the energy bands
in the 5unction is the basis for the diode laser action.
!he ma%imum energy level occupied by electrons is called ;ermi level.
When the positive contact of the voltage is connected to the p side of the
p.n 5unction and the negative voltage is connected to the n side current
is flowing through the p.n 5unction. !his connection is called forward
biased voltage. When the reverse polarity is connected it is called
bac1ward biased voltage and it causes an increase of the potential
barrier between the p side and the n side. !hus preventing the current
flow through the p.n 5unction.
)99
;igure 10.3- *nergy levels in a p.n 5unction which is
not attached to a voltage
A
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+00
When voltage is applied across the p.n 5unction the population
of the energy bands changes. Coltage can be applied to the 5unction in
two possible configurations-
1. ;orward biased voltage . means that the negative pole of the voltage
is connected to the InI side of the 5unction and the positive side is
connected to the IpI type semiconductor as shown in figure 10.6-
;orward biased voltage creates e%tra charge carriers in the 5unction
lowers the potential barrier and causes in5ection of charge carriers
through the 5unction to the other side.
When an electron from the conduction band in the InI side is in5ected
through the 5unction to an empty IholeI in the valence band on the IpI
side a process of recombination of electron X hole ta1es place. 4s a
result of this recombination process energy is released.
;or diode lasers we are interested in the specific cases when this energy
is released in the form of laser radiation. 4 sharp increase in
conductivity occurs when the forward bias voltage is appro%imately
e9ual to the semiconductor energy gap.
). Geverse 'bac1ward( voltage . which causes an increase in the
potential barrier of the 5unction and lowers the possibility for an
electron to cross the 5unction to the other side. Increasing the reversed
bias voltage to high values 'tens of volts( can cause a voltage brea1down
'avalanche( of the 5unction.
+01
;igure 10.6- *nergy band of a p.n 5unction which is
attached to a forward bias voltage
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!he basic structure of the layers of the simplest laser diode is shown in
figure 10.D.
+0)
;igure 10.D- 7asic structure of a diode laser
!hese layers of semiconductor materials are arranged such that at the p.
n 5unction an active region is created in which the recombination
process creates photons. <n the top and bottom layers a layer of metal
allows connecting e%ternal voltage to the laser. !he voltage is applied to
metal contacts above and below the semiconductor layers. !he side of
the crystalline semiconductor is cut to serve as mirrors at the end of the
optical cavity.
+0+
4
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+04
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;igure 10.B describes the shape of the electromagnetic laser
radiation for a simple laser diode built of layers.

!he radiation comes out of a rectangular shape of a very thin
active layer and spreads at different angles in ) directions. ,ater we
shall describe the special structures which serve to confine the active
layer to a small region and control the shape of the laser radiation
profile.
+03
;igure 10.B- Gadiation profile out of a simple laser
diode.
*
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+06
r

If the condition of Ipopulation inversionI 'which is re9uired for
the laser action( does not e%ist the photons will be emitted by
spontaneous emission. !hese photons will be emitted randomly in all
directions that is the basis of operation of a light emitting diode ',*/(.
!he condition for population inversion depends on the pumping. 7y
increasing the current in5ected through the p.n 5unction we arrive at
threshold current which fulfils this condition.
4n e%ample of the power output from a laser diode as a function of the
in5ected current is shown in figure 10.9.
It is easily seen that the slope of this graph in a stimulated emission
'laser( is far greater than the slope at spontaneous emission ',*/(. !his
e%periment can be easily done in the laboratory. !he threshold current
for lasing is determined by the intercept of the tangent to the graph at
stimulated emission with the current a%is 'this point is very close to the
point of change in the slope(. When the current threshold is low less
+0D
;igure 10.9- <utput power from a diode laser as
a function of input current
energy will be wasted in the form of heat and more energy will be
transmitted as laser radiation 'the laser efficiency increases(. ?ractically
the important parameter is current density which is measured in units of
4mperes per centimeter s9uared _4Ecm
)
` of the cross section of the
5unction.
+0B
%
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+09
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<ne of the problems of diode lasers is the increase in threshold
current for lasing with the increase in temperature. <perating laser
diodes at low temperatures re9uire lower currents. 4s current flows
through the diode heat is created. If the heat dissipation is not ade9uate
the diode temperature increases and the re9uired threshold current
increase as well. 0hanges in temperature cause changes in the
wavelength emitted from the diode laser. !he change in wavelength with
temperature is illustrated in figure 10.10. It is composed of ) parts-
1. 4 gradual increase in wavelength with increased temperature until-
). 4 5ump to another longitudinal mode occurs2 this 5ump is called
Imode hopI
+10
7ecause of temperature variations special structures need to be designed
for the diode lasers to achieve high power of continuous laser radiation.
Li#ht confinement inside the active re#ion
4n important factor in constructing diode lasers is confining
the light into the active region. !he confinement is accomplished by
placing different materials close to the active layer. !hus the first
division of diode lasers into groups is according to the structure of layers
close to the active layer 'see figure 10.11(. !he type of materials near
the active layer gives the name of each family of diode lasers-
Aomo5unction laser . !he entire laser is made from one substance
usually La4s. In this simple structure the emitted photons are not
confined in the directions perpendicular to the laser a%is. !hus the laser
is not efficient.
&ingle Aeterostructure . <n one side of the active layer is a material
with a different energy gap. /ifferent energy gaps of the two layers
cause a difference in the inde% of refraction of the materials so we can
build wave.guide structures that confine the photons to a specific area.
=sually the second layer is made of a material which is similar to the
first layer but has a lower inde% of refraction. *%ample- La4s and
La4l4s are typical materials used for ad5acent layers in a diode laser.
/ouble Aeterostructure . <n both sides of the active layer is another
material which is different from the active layer and has a lower inde%
of refraction 'higher energy gap(. *%ample- active layer of La4s
confined between two layers of La4l4s.
In this structure light is confined into the active layer. !hus these
types of structures increase the laser efficiency and ma1e possible the
operation of diode lasers at room temperatures.
+11
;igure 10- change in the diode laser wavelength with
temperature.
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+1)
4 common construction now is a narrow stripe of the active layer 'stripe
geometry(
confined on all sides 'the sides as well as on top and bottom( with
another material. !his family of diode lasers is called inde% guided
lasers. *%amples of different laser structures for confining the laser light
to a specific region are shown in figure 10.11.
;igure 10.11- *%amples of different laser structures for confining the
laser light to a specific region
+1+
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7y shaping the metal electrodes on the upper and lower sides of the
laser the region where current passes is limited. !he spatial shape of
current flow causes selective pumping. 4s a result population inversion
occurs only at the specific region where current passes. !he current
limits the area in the active region where amplification can occur. <nly
in this region light will be amplified.
4dvantages of gain guided diode lasers-
1. &imple production.
). It is simple to get high power since by increasing the
current the region where amplification occurs e%pands.
/isadvantages of gain guided diode lasers-
+14
1. <utput beam 9uality is less than with inde% guided lasers.
). It is more difficult to achieve stable single fre9uency out of
these lasers.
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!he miniature si>es of diode lasers re9uire special pac1aging to enable
people to use them with comfort. !here are many 1inds of pac1aging
but the standard is similar to a transistor pac1age and includes in the
pac1age the basic collimating optics to create a useable beam 'see figure
10.1)(.
+13

!o get high power from diode lasers special arrays of diode lasers were
developed. !hese diode arrays emit synchroni>ed radiation together and
output power of tens of watts is available. 4lthough the radiation is
emitted from many diode lasers they are optically coupled such as it is
possible to get coherent laser output out of these special lasers.
+16
;igure 10.1)- ?ac1aging of a commercial diode laser

;igure 10.1+- 0ross section of pac1aging of a commercial
diode laser
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!he simplest optical cavity of a diode laser is made by cleaving
the semiconductor crystal from which the laser is made at both ends of
the laser. 0leavage creates a plane perpendicular to the plane of the
active medium so it is perpendicular to the laser a%is.
7ecause of the high refractive inde% 'n W +.6( of the semiconductor
materials used for the fabrication of the diode lasers the reflection from
the cleaved edge of the crystal is about +0F. It is possible to change this
reflection by using reflection coating on the surface. <ne type of coating
is 100F reflection on one side of the diode laser.
In some diode lasers the radiation emitted through the rear surface is
used to monitor the laser output. 4 detector can be fabricated from the
same semiconductor material as the laser using the same fabrication
process. !hus the monitoring is direct and in real time and can be used
as feedbac1 to control the laser output.
4 different and more complicated cavity can be fabricated by using a
grating near the active layer of the laser. !wo main structures use
gratings instead of a mirror at the end of the optical cavity 'see figure
10.14(-
1. /;7 distributed feedbac1 laser . in which the grating is distributed
along the entire active medium. !he wavelength of the grating
determines the wavelength emitted from the laser. !his laser emits
radiation in a very narrow line spectrum.
). /7G distributed 7ragg reflector . in which the grating is outside the
region of the active medium in a place where no current flows 'the
passive part of the cavity(.
+1B
;igure 10.14- &pecial optical cavities used to produce narrow emission
lines in a diode laser
1um&in# of the diode lasers
?umping of a commercially diode laser is 9uite simple. 4
specific current in the range of +0m4 to few 4mperes has to flow
through the 5unction for direct electrical e%citation of a specific diode
laser. !he voltage drop on the 5unction is of ).) C. &o the power which
is needed to e%cite a laser diode is very small with respect to the power
which is re9uired by a helium neon laser with similar output power for
e%ample. &pecial caution have to be considered in order to avoid
electrical shoc1s at the switch on of the power supply.
!he ordinary laser pointers have the following electrical scheme-
+19
Advanta#es of diode lasers?
Cery high efficiency 'more than )0F of the input energy is emitted as
laser radiation(.
Aigh reliability.
Cery long lifetime 'estimated more than 100 years of continuous
operation(.
Cery cheap price . /iode lasers are fabricated using mass production
techni9ues used in the electronic industry.
?ossibility to perform direct modulation of the emitted radiation by
controlling the electric current through the p.n 5unction. !he emitted
radiation is a linear function of the current and can reach a
modulation rate of tens of LA>.
4n e%perimental system using single mode optical fibers transmits
information at a rate of 4 LA> which is e9uivalent to a simultaneous
transmission of about 30000 phone calls in one fiber 'each call
occupies a fre9uency band of 64 O7Es(.
&mall volume and small weight.
Cery low threshold current.
,ow energy consumption.
@arrow spectrum band which can be a few 1A> in special diode lasers.
4&tical fibers
<ptical fibers have been used for 9uite some time to relay
images over short distances. 7ut these optical guides were not
considered for long distance communication until O.0.Oao discovered
in 196B that the loss of pure silica is below )0.d7E 1m in the near
infrared domain. &hortly afterward wor1ers at 0orning Llass 7ell ,abs
and in Japan managed to fabricate optical fibers with loses of )0 ) and
0.3 d7E1m. 7ecause of the very low losses achieved and because of
drastic reductions in pulse broadening obtained by profiling the
refractive inde% distribution optical fibers now successfully gains the
mar1et of communications. 0ompared with twisted pairs of wire or
coa%ial cables optical fibers present numerous practical advantages- low
si>e lac1 of electromagnetic interference and low cost.
+)0
!he simplest cylindrical wave.guides are commonly 1nown as the step.
inde% fiber. !he basic structure shown in figure 9.14 consists of a
circular core of refractive inde% n
1
and a cladding region of inde% n
)

with n
)
less than n
1.
;or strength and protection the cladding is usually
covered by a third absorbing medium a plastic 5ac1et.

n'r(

core

cladding
n
1
;ig.10.16 !he path of a meridional ray in a step.inde% fiber
!hen if a meridional ray stri1es the interface at an angle
i
which is
greater than the critical angle
ic
it is totally internally reflected and
propagates along the fiber in a >ig.>ig path. If such a ray is incident on
the end face of the fiber at an angle then using geometrical optics it is
easy to show that propagation ta1es place for-

( )
) E 1
)
)
)
1
sin n n
'10.1(
!he condition '10.1( represents the ma%imum acceptance angle 'say
0
(
of the fiber. In practice sin
0
1nown as the numerical aperture of the
fiber is the parameter used for describing the ma%imum acceptance
angle.
+)1
Core and
cladding
Plastic jacket

;igure 10.1D 4n optical fiber cross.section end
!he limit between the core and the cladding regions cannot be seen on to
this picture. In this case the core has B microns in diameter and the
cladding has 1+0 microns. 4 plastic 5ac1et protects the inner parts.
/igital communications systems based on the simplest modulation
method of switching the source on and off currently represent the
largest application area for optical fibers.
In addition to such systems other significant areas for fibers are the
analog transmission of analog signals instrumentation and fiber sensors
as well as high power laser beam transmission.
<ptical fiber sensor represent a fast growing family of optical devices
which can be used for measurements of physical parameters such as
temperature and pressure.
!he most commonly used techni9ue is to probe the parameter of interest
with a coherently illuminated fiber and to compare the output with that
of a reference fiber. !he e%ternal influence can change the phase of the
light in the probe by changing the fiber length the fiber core diameter
or the refractive inde%.
1hoto-detectors
!he ?I@ '& and intrinsic and n regions( diodes and the
avalanche photodiodes '4?/( are the most significant detectors for
ptical fiber communications because they are small and hence
compatible to fibers and they satisfy other needs related to speed
+))
responsivity noise and bias voltage. &uch diodes are useful for fiber
system operating at the lower transmission #window$ around B30 nm
and even at 1.06 microns. !he ?I@ diodes have usually good rise times
'1 nanosecond(.
With respect to the 4?/ the speed of response is partly determined by
the diode and partly by the circuit. !he limitations imposed by the diode
are due to the transit time of the carriers as well as the capacitance of
the depletition region. !he transit time can be minimi>ed by ensuring
that electrons and holes attain their terminal velocities and by selecting
as narrow a depletion region as possible. =nfortunately the latter
implies an increase in the depletion region characteristics and a
reduction in 9uantum efficiency.
11
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!he number of applications of lasers is very large. <nly some
of them are mentioned here.
Industrial A&&lications
Industry accepted the laser as a tool soon after the laser was
invented. 4t first the laser was used for alignment and measurements
but with time applications using high power laser beams became
common.
Accurate measurements ;distance$ velocity<,
&ince laser radiation is electromagnetic radiation traveling at
the speed of light very accurate measurements can be performed with
lasers.
Interferometric measurements of distance gives the highest resolution
1nown today. Gange.finder for military applications is described later
on. 7ased on the same principles for measuring distances industrial
measuring devices have been developed.
!he low divergence of laser beams allows us to send laser beam over
very long distances. <ne of the 1nown precise measurements with a
laser was measuring the distance from *arth to the moon. !he astronauts
who landed on the surface of the "oon left there a corner cube. 4
pulsed laser beam was sent from *arth to the moon and was reflected
+)4
from this corner cube bac1 to *arth. !he travel time of the pulse was
recorded. ;rom the 1nown speed of light 'c( the distance was calculated
with accuracy of tens of centimeters.
4 corner cube 'a system of three perpendicular mirrors as a cube cut(
reflects light in the same direction where it came from.
+)3
incident
beam
reflected beam
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Strai#ht line or &lan of reference mar"in#
"any daily applications re9uire a precise reference line for
alignment. *%amples are- laying pipes of gas water electricity etc.
digging tunnels under.ground alignment of mechanical systems.
"ar1ing spots for pointing invisible radiation from another laser
'such as @d.64L or 0<
)
lasers(. !he visible laser radiation is aligned
parallel to the invisible radiation such that it mar1 the place where the
invisible beam is pointing.
"ar1ing a reference plane for construction-
+)6
7y using a vibrating 'or rotating( mirror to reflect a visible laser light a
perfect plane is defined in space. !he mirror is vibrating around one
a%is so the light is reflected into consecutive angles continuously thus
defining a perfect plane. &ince the vibration of the mirror is at a
fre9uency greater than the persistence of vision in the brain the viewer
see a plane of light. !his plane helps aligning walls sealing etc. in
industrial construction.
3aterial !or"in#
!he main advantages of lasers for material processing are-
Cery high accuracy in the final processed products that can be obtained
without the need for polishing.
@o wearing of mechanical tools. "echanical tools change their
dimensions during the
wor1ing process and re9uire constant measurements and feedbac1 to
adapt their position to original plan in computeri>ed instrumentation.
"aterial processing include many 1inds of processes. 4 partial list
include-
a. 0utting . the laser can be a very precise cutting tool. Aigh power
lasers of 1 to 10 1W are used for cutting steel aluminum or other metals.
,asers which deliver power of few tenths of watts are used to cut
fabrics rubber plastic wood or other materials.
b. Welding . combining 'fusing( two materials together. 7y heating the
materials near the connecting region the materials melt locally and fuse
together.
c. Aardening . by heating specific areas of the material most metals can
be hardened most of the metals. *ven local hardening of specific part of
a tool can be done by local irradiation.
d. "elting . absorption of laser beams caused a rise in temperature.
&ince very high power can be transferred to materials in a very short
time melting can be easily done.
e. *vaporating . used to ablate material 'transfer it into the gas phase(.
f. ?hotolithography . specially in the semiconductor industry. Cery
delicate shapes can be created in materials which are used for mas1s in
photolithography. &pecial materials respond to light at specific
+)D
wavelength by changing their properties. !hus it is possible to remove
parts of the material with very high precision 'in micrometer range(.
g. +./ ,aser measurements . with the help of a scanning laser it is
possible to obtain the information about a shape of a three.dimensional
ob5ect and put it in the computer.
h. +./ &tereo lithography . similar to photolithography but the laser is
used to create three dimensional sculpture of the information stored
within a computer.
4 combination of the last two applications enable creating +./
models. *ven statue of people were build with high accuracy using these
techni9ues.
+)B
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!he mechanism of interaction between the laser beam and the
processed material.
!hermal *ffects . most of the applications of lasers in material
processing were based on the absorption of the laser radiation inside the
material and the effects were thermal in nature. !he absorption
process transfers energy to the material. 4s a result there is a rise in
the temperature in that region to high temperatures.
?hotochemical *ffects . brea1ing the bonds between the molecules in
the material. !he e%cimer laser emits in the ultra.violet part of the
electromagnetic spectrum and its photons are very energetic. It can be
used to cut very delicate and accurate structures without causing thermal
damage to surrounding areas.
!he mostly used lasers for material processing are-
1. 0<
)
laser . which has high power and is highly absorbed in most
materials.
). @d.64L laser . which has high power and can be transmitted
through optical fibers.
++0
S&ectral analysis,
!he lasing process is based on absorption and emission of
photons at certain specific wavelengths. !he wavelength emitted from
the laser is monochromatic and its linewidth is very narrow. !hus the
laser can be used for controlled e%citation of molecules. *specially
useful for this are the tunable lasers whose wavelength can be precisely
tune to e%cite specific molecule.
++1
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;rom the variety of applications of lasers in chemistry we shall
mention-
a. *%citation of molecules to specific levels and e%amination of the
emitted radiation.
"easurements of the rela%ation time of specific e%cited levels of
molecules.
b. /isruption of chemical bonds in molecules at specific region . When
a laser beam is focused a very high electric field is created at the
focal point 'up to 10
9
CEcm(. &uch electric fields are larger than the force
which hold the valence electrons in an atom. 4nother possibility is to
use wavelengths which are very short 'which means that the photons are
very energetic( to brea1 the chemical bonds. !his is usually done with
the e%cimer laser.
c. Gaman spectroscopy- Gaman scattering is a process of inelastic
scattering of the photon by the molecule. !he photon is absorbed by the
molecule and another photon with a different fre9uency is emitted.
!he change in fre9uency of the photon is connected to the energy
transitions in the molecule which absorb the photon.
!he most important Gaman scattering is connected to vibrational
transitions of the molecule. 7y measuring the change in fre9uency it
is possible to identify the specific molecule.
!here are two 1ind of Gaman scattering processes-
&to1es scattering . when the photon lose energy and the molecule
absorb this energy and go into e%cited state. !he fre9uency of the
emitted photon is less than the fre9uency of the incident photon.
4nti.&to1es scattering . when the photon receive energy from the
molecule.
!he fre9uency of the emitted photon is higher than the fre9uency of the
incident photon.
3edical A&&lications
!here are many medical applications of lasers and there are
different ways to classify them into groups-
+++
4ccording to the organ to be treated by the laser such as- eye blood
vessels cardiac. 4ccording to the type of laser used for treatment such
as- 0<
)
64L and 4rgon.
4ccording to the type of treatment such as diagnostic surgery
connecting blood vessels.
!he classification used here is basically according to the type of
treatment with comments on suitable lasers used for each application-
,asers in medical surgery.
,asers in diagnostic medicine and in combination with drugs.
,asers for specific applications- &oft lasers.
When using lasers for medical treatments a good understanding of the
interaction between specific laser radiation with specific biological
tissue is re9uired.
++4
++3
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!he interaction between electromagnetic radiation and biological tissue
depends on-
1. !he wavelength of light.
). !he intensity of the radiation.
+. !he shape of irradiation 'continuous or pulsed(.
;or power levels is up to few Watts the interaction is divided into +
regions of wavelengths-
1. &hort =C region . the photons interact with the proteins G@4 and
/@4 and usually 1ills the biological cells.
). @ear =C and &hort visible range . photochemical reactions such as
photosynthesis 'especially with the e%cimer laser(.
+.Cisible and @ear Infra.Ged region . !hermal effects due to
absorption of the radiation.
++D
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!he parameter that summaries the effects of laser radiation on
biological tissue is fluence-
;luence H 'WattPtime(E&pot &i>e
When a laser beam hits matter 4 processes can ta1e place-
Geflection . according to the law of reflection- !he reflected angle is
e9ual to the incidence angle.
&cattering . laser energy is scattered to all directions.
!ransmission . laser beam pass through the material.
4bsorption . laser beam is absorbed by the material.
<nly the last process '4bsorption( can transfer energy to the material.
!hus causing a rise in temperature or chemical reaction.
)han#es in biolo#ical tissue as a result of laser action?
++B
/epending on the temperature many 1inds of changes can
occur in the biological system-
till 60
0
0- !issue becomes worm and it is possible to weld blood
vessels.
60.63
0
0- 0oagulation.
63.90
0
0- ?rotein /enaturi>ation.
90.100
0
0 *limination of fluids '/rying(.
100X
0
0- Capori>ation and carboni>ation.
'he effects of the laser beam on the biolo#ical tissue can be?
!hermal effects . ?roduce by most continuous wave lasers such as 0<
)

64L and 4rgon. !he laser energy is absorbed by the biological
tissue raise the local temperature so the tissue can be ablated
vapori>ed coagulate or cut.
"echanical effects . *specially when short pulses of high power laser is
used to create a IblastI by heating a small region of tissue to high
temperature in a very short time. !he blast creates a shoc1 wave that
disrupts the tissue near by. !his effect is used in eye treatment for
disrupting posterior capsule in secondary cataract.
0hemical effects . =sed in ?hoto./ynamic !herapy '?/!( and in
e%cimer laser applications such as reshaping the cornea.
Lasers in medical sur#ery
4lmost every medical surgery in which a removal of tissue is
re9uired or a cut needs to be made can be done with a laser. In general
the results of surgery using lasers are better than the results using a
surgical 1nife.
'he Advanta#es of Laser Sur#ery?
/ry field of surgery because laser energy seals small blood vessels.
,ess postoperative pain because of the sealing of nerve ends.
@o contact with mechanical instruments so sterili>ation is built in.
0lear field of view because no mechanical instrument bloc1s it.
?ossible wavelength specific reaction of specific colors of biological
tissue.
++9
?ossibility to perform microsurgery under a microscope. !he laser
beam passes through the same microscope.
?ossibility to perform surgical procedures inside the body without
opening it using optical fibers to transmit the laser beam.
!he laser can be used as a precise cutting tool.
It can be controlled by a computer and operate with a very small area
of effect under a microscope.
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!he areas of medical laser surgery are- eye treatment general
surgery ear nose and throat dentistry dermatology gastroenterology
and colo.rectal plastic surgery gynecology urology oncology
orthopedics neurosurgery veterinary cardiovascular etc.
+40
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When a bleeding need to be stopped a @d.64L laser can be
used. Its radiation enters deep into the tissue and heats and coagulates a
large area. When a clean cut need to be done an e%cimer laser is used. 4
more general cutting tool is the 0<
)
laser.
:d-5A6 Laser for medicine?
+41
"ost applications of continuous wave @d.64L laser in
medicine were to heat a big volume of tissue to high temperature. !hus
stopping hemorrhage by sealing blood vessels.
<ne of the main advantages of @d.64L laser for medicine is the
possibility to transmit high power of its radiation 'at 1.06 m
wavelength( through 9uart> optical fibers. !his enables performing
procedures inside the human body without the need to open it first. !he
fiber can be inserted through the body openings 'such as mouth or
rectum( or through a small incision and guided using medical
endoscope.
With the invention of synthetic sapphire tips at the end of
optical fibers a new area of contact surgery using @d.64L laser was
opened to medical doctors. !he idea is to conduct the @d.64L laser
radiation through an optical fiber which ends with a sapphire tip of
specific shape. ;or each application a different type of sapphire tip end
is used-
4 scalpel shaped tip enable cutting and immediate coagulating with the
@d.64L laser radiation coming out of the tip directly into the cut area.
Gounded or flat.surfaced tips distribute the @d.64L laser radiation on a
large area. &pecial frosted tips are used to cut and coagulate at the same
time.
)4
2
Laser for 3edicine
!he infra.red 'IG( wavelength of the 0<
)
laser '10.6 m( is
highly absorbed by water. &ince biological tissue contains D3.90F
water the 0<
)
laser beam is absorbed in a very thin layer of the tissue.
If the time of interaction is short no more than 0.1.0.) millimeter of
tissue are influenced by the laser beam. When a focused 0<
)
laser beam
is used for cutting the cut has very little effects on surrounding tissue.
When an unfocused 0<
)
laser beam is used for surface vapori>ation it
ablate thin layers one after the other with no damage to underlying
structures.
<ne of the main disadvantages of 0<
)
laser for medical surgery is the
unavailability of good optical fibers that can transmit high power beam
at wavelength of about 10 m to organs inside the human body.
+4)
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,asers can remove almost all the defects on the s1in.
&ometimes the laser is the only instrument to perform specific
procedure. "ost dermatological procedures are done in an outpatient
clinic under local anesthesia.
4mong these defects are- pigmented s1in abnormal s1in growth
carcinomas and malignancies blemishes tattoos. !oday with the wide
variety of lasers in use tattoos can almost completely be erased from the
s1in. /ifferent wavelengths are used to remove different in1 colors from
the s1in. !he specific laser wavelength is selectively absorbed by the
specific color without damage to surrounding cells. =sually the
treatment is made in a number of treatments.
'he main advanta#es of lasers for dermatolo#y are?
+4+
4lmost no bleeding.
4lmost no scars left after removal of defects.
!he lasers used mostly for the s1in are-
4rgon laser . highly absorbed by pigmentation and melanin 'dar1
tissue(. =sed for treating vascular lesions. ?enetrates the s1in 0.3.) mm.
/ye laser . "ostly used because of the tunability of the wavelength
which can be adapted to the organ to be removed. !he specific
wavelength which has ma%imum absorbance in the defect tissue can be
chosen while at the same time has low absorbance in normal tissue.
0<
)
laser.
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4mong the cosmetic applications of the laser the s1in resurfacing is a
very promising one.
+44
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!he laser was invented in 1960 and in 1961 this laser 'Guby( was used
by eye doctors. It is natural that the eye was chosen to be the first organ
for performing medical e%periments since the eye is transparent to the
electromagnetic spectrum in the visible range. 4nother natural device
that helps was the lens in the eye which focuses the electromagnetic
radiation onto the retina. !hus increasing the power density by orders of
magnitude.
+43
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!he first application was for e%periments in soldering detached retina in
animals. 4s a result of mechanical shoc1 the retina inside the eye can be
torn and detached from the tissue it is connected to. !he
electromagnetic radiation from the laser heats the detached retina and as
a result the damaged blood vessels around the retina are closed and
solder to place. In 1964 first e%periments were done on human sub5ects
and today it is a standard treatment. 7ecause of the focusing effect of the
eye small amount of laser power is needed to solder the detached retina.
+46
4ctually electromagnetic radiation was used for this purpose for many
years starting with the middle ages where the doctors used radiation
from the sun for this purpose.
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+4D
"ost of the change of direction 'refraction( of light rays
entering the eye is performed by the cornea since the light goes from air
'inde% of refraction about 1( to the tissue 'inde% of refraction about 1.+(.
!hus a small change in the radius of curvature of the cornea causes a
big change in the focusing of light in the eye.

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!he first medical treatments for changing the curvature of the cornea
were done by cutting tiny surgical incisions along the radius of the
cornea. =sing a diamond bladed 1nife few cuts were made under local
anesthesia. !he procedure was called Gadial Oeratotomy.
+4B
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=sing e%cimer laser under computer control a change in the shape of
the cornea can be precisely made by removing sub micron layers from
+49
the cornea. !he operation is called ?GO H ?hoto.Gefractive Oeratotomy
and most of the problems with focusing the image on the retina can be
repaired. !his operation which can ma1e eyeglasses obsolete is very
popular among people who care a lot about their appearance such as
actors politicians etc. !he entire procedure is new.
Interaction of the E9cimer laser !ith the cornea?
!he 4r; *%cimer laser operates in the =ltra.Ciolet spectrum region ' H
19+ nm(.
&ince this wavelength is highly absorbed by water and the cornea 'li1e
any other biological tissue( contains mostly water the laser beam ablate
submicron layers of the cornea without affecting surrounding tissue.
=nder computer control it is possible to sculpture the cornea by grafting
concentric circles from the cornea.
:e! directions-
&ince the outer layer of the cornea serves as a protective layer a new
method for ?GO is by removing the outer layer as a whole peace
reshaping the inner layer and recovering the outer layer bac1. 4nother
new procedure is being developed using Aolmium 64L laser at ).1 m
wavelength.
;rom 1993 there is ;/4 approval for the ?GO procedure but the follow
up continues for a few more years.
!he procedure will be a standard way to get rid of eyeglasses for most
people.
Lasers in %ia#nostic 3edicine$ and in combination !ith %ru#s?
/iagnostics of cancer cells using fluorescence and ?hoto
/ynamic !herapy
'?/!( . <ne of the biggest problems in medicine today is to find a cure
for cancer.
!here are many treatments for cancer to destroy the cancer cells such
as-
/isectomy of the infected organ.
Gadioactive irradiation.
Aeat treatment.
+30
4ll these treatments improve the chance of cure in some cases but the
ImagicI medicine has not yet been found. &ince there is no solution yet
the medical professionals are loo1ing for new ways to solve the big
problem of cancer.
In 19D) a new method was developed to identify and destroy
cancer cells. !his method is called- ?hoto./ynamic !herapy '?/!(. It is
based on the use of special drugs that are in5ected into the patient body.
!hese drug accumulates in cancer cells more than in InormalI cells. !he
drugsare sensitive to light at specific wavelengths.
When e%posed to these specific wavelengths-
It can release chemical substance that 1ills the cells around it.
It can emit fluorescence light so the cancer cells can be identified.
!he most well 1nown drug of this family is a derivative of Aemato.
?orfirin 'A?/( and called ?hotofrin. 4fter the drug is in5ected into the
patient the patient must be 1ept in a dar1 room for )4 hours. /uring this
time the drug is released from healthy cells and remains at high
concentration only in cancer cells.
!han the patient body is illuminated with specific red laser light at
wavelength 6+0 nm which cause the release of singlet <%ygen. !his
o%ygen is chemically very active and destroys the cells around it.
;or the last )0 years these treatments improved the chances of cure in
some cases but the ImagicI medicine has not yet been found. !he e%act
mechanism why the drug remains mainly in cancer cells is not yet
understood and is still under investigation. 4fter treatment the patient
body remains sensitive to light for a period of about 6 wee1s until all
the remains of the drug are released from his body. /uring this time he
is not allowed to be e%posed to bright light.
E9&lanation of the dru# o&eration?
4fter the photofrin drug absorb light it is transformed into an
e%cited state. ;rom this e%cited state there are two possible ways to
return to the ground state-
;luorescence . where the e%cited molecule emit photon with in a
nanosecond time frame while returning to the ground state. !his
phenomenon is used to identify cancer cells by searching for the
fluorescence.
+31
;or diagnostics the tissue is illuminated by short wavelengths
'usually the violet light from a Orypton laser( and the red fluorescence
'6+0.6D0 nm( shows where the cancer cells are.
0ross system . Where the e%cited molecule is going to a lower
energy state without emission of radiation with in microsecond time
frame. 4t this e%cited state if this molecule meets with o%ygen molecule
'<
)
( it reacts with it and releases the active singlet o%ygen.
!he search today is for a better drug that will perform the same effect
but at a shorter time scale and at higher efficiency. *%amples are-
0hlorides and ?talo.0yanines.
&ince the irradiation of the infected tissue is done at specific wavelength
suitable for the particular drug the laser is the preferred choice. !he best
laser for this purpose is the tunable dye laser. !he re9uired power
depends on the irradiated area but in general a continuous wave laser at
a few Watt power level is used. !he duration of irradiation is a few
minutes so the amount of energy per unit area is measured in tens of
Watts. 4nother laser that was tried for ?/! was the Lold Capor laser
which emits at 6)B nm. With the rapid developments in diode lasers
they will probably replace other lasers for this purpose as well.
!he wavelengths used for ?/! are in the visible spectrum range and are
transmitted well in optical fibers. !his property allows irradiation of
cancer cells within the body cavities such as digestion system or
secretion system.
4dvantages of ?/!-
!he treatment is harmless and can be repeated as needed. !he treatment
is non.traumatic and is short term compared to the radioactive or
chemical therapy which lasts wee1s.
!he entire ?/! is still in e%perimental stage and is not used as a
standard treatment.
Lo! Level Laser 'hera&y ;LLL'<
"ost of the medical laser applications were until recently based
on the thermal effects caused by the electromagnetic radiation which
was absorbed in the biological tissue. In the last few years some new
applications are using low power lasers with output power less than 1
Watt. &ome of the effects of these low power levels on the biological
+3)
tissue is not thermal and in effect the mechanism of interaction is not
yet clear. It is sometimes referred to as biostimulation which does not
e%plain a lot.
&ome of the low power laser applications are-
1. Wound healing . !here are reports in the medical literature that
shining a low power visible radiation from /iode laser or Ae.@e
laser at milliwatt power levels on open wounds speed the healing
process. !here is not yet any e%planation to this phenomena and there
need to be more controlled research on the sub5ect.
). &low down destruction of in5ured nerve cells . so far first e%periments
have been done only on small animals on cells from the optic nerve.
When a nerve cell is damaged it is deteriorating rapidly and die.
&hining a low power Ae.@e laser radiation on the damage cell seems to
slow down this degradation.
+. Geconnection of blood vessels . =sing low power 0<
)
laser surgeons
succeeded in connecting blood vessels without the need to use stitches.
!he process resembled the metal welding of two tubes.
4. ?ain relief . !here are some indications that shining a low power
radiation from diode laser on specific regions which cause pain or at
specific points on the body can reduce pains.
3. 4cupuncture without needles . &imilar to the pain relief some healers
are using milliwatt power from Ae.@e or diode lasers. !hey treat
patients using the same techni9ue which is used in needle
acupuncture but instead of inserting needles inside the s1in they shine
electromagnetic radiation from a laser. !here are no scientific evidences
that this treatments are useful but at least there are no problems of
infections of any 1ind using the laser compared to needles.
6. 0osmetic applications . "any cosmetic clinics are using lasers for
many 1inds of treatments. !he best 1nown use of the laser for
cosmetics is peeling the outer layer of the s1in 'width of 10.+0 micron (
by scanning it with a pulsed 0<
)
laser. !he layer underneath
regenerate a new fresh layer s1in. !his procedure replace chemical
peeling and surgery for s1in stretching. "any applications in cosmetics
use low power Ae.@e or diode lasers but until scientific evidence will
prove their effectiveness we shall not include them here.
+3+
D. Aair Gemoval . =sing a laser at specific wavelength an area of the
s1in is illuminated. !he laser radiation is absorbed only by the hair
'applied only to dar1 hair on pale s1in(.
&ome companies are trying to find techni9ues which apply to all colors
of hair and s1in. 4n e%ample- they first cover the s1in with some blac1
powder than wiping the power leaving remains of the powder near the
roots of the hair. 4gain the laser radiation is absorbed only by the blac1
powder parts. !hese procedures are still in e%perimental stages.
!he laser radiation is absorbed by the hair such that the hair root and
nearest cells around it are destroyed. !his treatment is used for a
permanent removal of hair.
B. Aair !ransplant . !a1ing out hair from one place on the body and
IplantingI it at another place by drilling a hole with a laser. !his
treatment is using hair from the same person so it is accepted by the
surrounding cells and the hair continue to grow normally in its new
position. !his treatment is very e%pensive and ta1es a long time 'hair is
to be treated one hair at a time :( but the results are very encouraging
and many people are coming for treatments.
Laser an#e-finder
"easuring distances with high speed and high accuracy was the
immediate military application after the laser was invented. &ince the
laser beam is electromagnetic light it is traveling in space with 1nown
velocity 'the velocity of light c(. 7y sending a short laser pulse to the
target and measuring the time it ta1e the beam to arrive at the target and
reflect bac1 to the sender it is easy to calculate the distance. "easuring
distances with high accuracy is important for military applications such
as measuring the distance to a shooting target for artillery and missiles
and navigation.
+34
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When the pulse of laser light is sent an electronic trigger signal is send
to a time counter. When the detector receive the reflected signal from
the target it stop the time counter. @ow a computer calculate the
distance to the target by multiplying half the time of the counter by the
speed of light 'since the laser beam travel the distance to the target and
bac1(.
!he laser beam is scattered by the target into all directions 'diffuse
reflectance(. !hus very little intensity from the reflected signal reach the
detector.
+33
In a simple detecting system the reflected signal from the target is
collected by the detector amplified electronically and the electronic
signal is transferred to the computer for processing.
!here are special ways to increase the sensitivity of the detecting
system and the best is to use heterodyne detection. In this system the
small signal received from the target is optically mi%ed with a strong
signal of a local oscillator 'laser(. 4s a result of the mi%ing of the two
optical signals a third signal is created oscillating at a fre9uency e9ual
to the difference in fre9uencies between the received signal and the local
oscillator.
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Guby laser range.finder . was first used in 196) 'two years
after the laser was invented(. !he laser range.finder was installed on
+36
tan1s and improved the accuracy of their hitting. *ven today a few laser
range.finders are based on the ruby laser.
@d.64L laser range.finder . "ost military laser range.finders in the
field are based on @d.64L laser.
/iode laser range.finder . 7ecause of the many advantages of the diode
laser all new laser range.finders are based on diode lasers which will
gradually replace other laser types.
Laser 'rac"in# Systems?
!rac1ing a moving target is very important for military applications.
=sing /oppler effect it is possible to calculate the velocity of the
moving target and its direction of movement . !hus it is possible to use
the computer to align the optical system to trac1 the moving ob5ect.
&ince the laser beam is moving at the speed of light is easy to trac1 fast
moving ob5ects even if they suddenly change their direction.
Laser 'ar#et %esi#nator
!he laser is used to mar1 targets for attac1 by IsmartI artillery
and guided missiles. !he properties that ma1e the laser so attractive as
laser designator are-
!he laser beam advance great distances in a straight line.
!he laser beam propagate at very high speed 'speed of light(.
It is possible to modulate the laser beam to include information for
identification. 4 soldier in the field or a flying vehicle can be used to
send a laser beam on the target. !he laser is designed to send a series of
pulses in a specific pattern 'code( of pulses of invisible light. &pecial
detecting systems are loc1ed on these specific pattern of laser pulses
and guide the I&mart 7ombsI to hit the mar1ed target.
+3D
;igure 1+.)- ,aser /esignator systems in the 7attlefield.
Laser !ea&ons ;LStar WarL<,
4 lot was written on the &trategic /efense Initiative '&/I( of
the =& government. !his futuristic pro5ect was named by the public
I&tar WarsI. !he idea behind this initiative was to build high power
devices that can send beams over very big distances in a very high
accuracy and very high speed. !hese high power devices were supposed
to destroy the =&&G missiles above their launching sites right after this
launch. &ince these missiles were supposed to carry nuclear weapons it
was not possible to let them arrive above *urope or the =&. 7y
destroying the missiles at the launch >one a great damage would be
caused to the attac1er so such defense system was a threat to the other
side.
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<ne of the more advanced device in this &/I pro5ect was a
laser. !here were two possible locations to put the laser-
1.<n a high "ountain 'to reduce the length of transmission through
the atmosphere(. !he atmosphere strongly absorbs the laser beam.
).<n a satellite revolving around *arth.
4n artist view of such system is described in figure 1+.+.
+39
;igure 1+.+- 4n artist view of a laser system for
destroying Inter 0ontinental 7allistic "issiles 'I07"(.
'he &roblem !ith the idea of the S%I
!he problem with the whole idea of the &/I was that these
advanced technologies are far from being reality and re9uire huge
amount of money for very long period of time.
4nother problem is that the protection against these laser weapons is
relatively simple-
<ne simple way is to coat the missile with a reflective mirror coating
which will
prevent absorption and will divert the laser beam to different
directions.
4 more sophisticated protection for the missiles is based on the
principle described in ;igure 1+.4.
+60
;igure 1+.4- ?rotective cover used to prevent missile destruction by laser
radiation.
4 protective coating on the missile is designed to absorb the radiation of
the laser. When the laser energy start being absorbed by the coating it is
pilled of the missile and create a plasma cloud. !his plasma cloud is not
transparent to the laser radiation so all the laser radiation will be
absorbed by the plasma cloud and the missile will not be destroyed.
+61
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!he &/I pro5ect was canceled but there still e%ist a pro5ect
called 47, '4irborne ,aser( for destroying enemy missiles from a laser
on a plane. &ince the laser beam is a beam of light it travels at light
speed. !hus it can be used to shoot down enemy !heater 7allistic
"issiles '!7"( while they are still at their boost phase. !7" are used
within a specific geographical area.
It is enough to damage the s1in of the missile at the boost phase to
cause its destruction in the enemy territory. 4 good e%ample is the Ira9
threat with the &cud missiles. !he laser beam is absorbed at the missile
s1in and the heat energy wea1ens the metal structure sufficiently so that
internal pressure will brea1 the missile.
!he 47, pro5ect is based on chemical laser of o%ygen iodine with
output power of 1 mega.Watt.
+6)
!he telescope for directing the laser beam on the target is based on a
mirror with diameter of 1.3.) meters at the nose of the plane.
In parallel to the laser weapon a few pulsed lasers with output power of
1 1W will be used for trac1ing the missiles in their flight.
!he estimate pulse rate is 3.10 1A> with each pulse having energy of 1.
) J.
Laser blindin# for man and sensitive equi&ment
4 simple and very promising pro5ect which is being developed
at many sites all over the world is laser system for blinding enemy
soldiers and their optical e9uipment. !he power re9uired is not specially
high because of the high sensitivity of our sight system and the high
sensitivity of the optical detection systems in use at the battlefield. !he
operation of blinding laser system is simple- the laser beam is used to
scan the space in front of the military troops blinding enemy soldiers
and their e9uipment.
<ptical power density higher than the safe level can cause blindness
'temporary or permanent( to humans and saturation or damage to
sensitive optical e9uipment.
'he structure of the eye
In ;igure 1+.3 a cross section of the human eye is shown.
,ight hitting the cornea is refracted and focused by the lens on the
retina.
+6+
;igure 1+.3-0ross section through the right Auman *ye.
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4ll the eye structures from the cornea up to the retina are
transparent to the visible and @ear.Infra.Ged '@IG( spectrum up to 1.4
_m` as can be seen in the transmission spectrum in ;igure 9.3

;igure 1+.6 !ransmission &pectrum of the Auman *ye.
es&onse =unction of the (uman Eye
;igure 1+.D shows the response function of the human eye to
different regions of the visible spectrum. !he eye is most sensitive to the
yellow light and the sensitivity of the eye dropped toward both sides of
the visible spectrum- the red and the violet.
;igure 1+.D !he response function of the human eye to different regions
of the visible spectrum
+66
.lindin# Laser Systems?
;or the simplest blinding system it is advised to use
wavelengths that are transmitted into the eye but are beyond the visible
spectrum region. !he enemy soldier is unaware of the e%istence of this
invisible electromagnetic radiation so he does not protect himself. &ince
the eye is transparent to these wavelengths in the near.infra.red '@IG(
this radiation is focused on the retina and burns it.
!he fact that the eye does not sense this radiation prevent the activation
of the natural human defense 'the blin1ing refle% when high light
intensity is pointed on the eye(.
It is relatively simple to protect soldiers against these blinding lasers by
giving them goggles with filters that transmit only visible spectrum.
&uch goggles does not disturb regular vision and can also be used to
protect sensitive optical instruments.
4 more sophisticated blinding laser system operates within the visible
spectrum and use tunable laser. It is difficult to design protection
against such lasers because a filter that will bloc1 visible light will not
allow the soldier to see.
"any solutions are now in development such as special coatings on the
goggles which change their transmission properties very fast 'in less
than a nanosecond( when high power light hit them. !hese coatings
transform from the transparent stage into a non.transparent 'bloc1ing(
stage.
)om&act %isc and )%-43$ 4&tical stora#e of di#ital information,
&ince the beginning of history man searched for means of
storing information in order to inherit 1nowledge to following
generations. 4t first the cave.man mar1ed the hunting drawings on the
cave walls. !hen came shard boards parchment scrolls paper printing
and now the magnetic recordings. "agnetic recordings is used on many
devices such as- !ape recorders computer tapes for storing information
in big computers computer dis1ettes and hard drives for storing
information in personal computers '?08s(.
+6D
4s society developed more the amount of information is
growing at an e%ponential rate. ?eople are trying to find better ways to
store information and the current trend is toward- /igital <ptical
&torage of Information.
%i#ital 4&tical Stora#e of Information,
/igital system operates on two states 'binary system( which are
defined as I1I or I0I. *ach binary digit is called IbitI. !he basic storage
unit in a computer is composed of B bits and called IbyteI.
4 printed plain te%t in a boo1 is stored in ).4 O7. 4 boo1 of )00
pages of plain te%t is stored in 400.B00 O7. <n one optical dis1 it is
possible today to store up to 10 L7 '10
10
bytes( of information.
"agnetic storage is a little behind in storage capacity although it is
possible to store almost the same amount.
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Information by its nature is dynamic and changes continuously.
Written papers are static impossible to update interactively cost a lot of
money to prepare and occupies a lot of space.
!hus digital storage advantages are-
/igital storage allows continuous updating. 4s an e%ample we can
compare the information you read now on the computer monitor to a
standard te%t boo1. It is very easy to update a web page compared to
publishing a new edition of a boo1.
Getrieving information is dynamic . /igital storage is very fle%ible as a
data base. It is
+69
possible to e%tract information according to specific categories and
compare information from different sources easily 'a fantastic e%ample
is the Internet(.
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4
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In 199D.B the best and cheapest 1nown technology to store digital
information is optical storage. ;rom the available optical storage
techni9ues the most common and cheap storage is the 0/.G<"
'0ompact /isc . Gead <nly "emory
!he standard 0/.G<" stores about 330 "7 of information which can
contain 130000 pages of printed te%t.
Evolution of standards of )%-43?
<ne of the most important issues in a mass product such as 0/.
G<" is international standard. !his standard enable universal use of
products manufactured by different companies in different countries.
!he standard determines the physical dimensions of the 0/.G<" the
way the information is stored on it and more technical details such as
the drive speed. !he 0/ technology was developed in 19D6 at ?hilips in
!he @etherlands and at &ony in Japan. !hese companies determined the
first standard of digital storage on 0/.
;igure 1+.B !he 0ompact /isc.
+D0
!he information is recorded along a continuous spiral trac1 which
contains "icro.pits on a plastic material with a metallic coating

)% Structure
!he diameter of the 0/ is 1)0 mm 'see figure 9.D( and it is
divided into !rac1s 'see figure 1+.9(.
;igure 1+.9 "ethod of recording information on a 0/
<n one side of the 0/ the digital information is recorded in binary 'I0I
and I1I( form. !he binary information is coded into depresions 'pits( on
the 0/ 'see figure 1+.9(. !he other side of the 0/ contains a printed
label with the information about the 0/ for human reading.
!wo special trac1s are reserved for the operating system-
!rac1 00 which is the ,ead.in.!rac1 contains information about the
0/ such as the names of the songs their location on the 0/ etc. It is
+D1
located in the part close to the center between diameters 44 mm and 30
mm.
!rac1 44 which is the ,ead.out.!rac1 located in the outer part up to
about 1 mm beyond the outer diameter of the information trac1s.
Information trac1s are between these two special trac1s. ?hysically
located between 30 mm and 1+6 mm.
!here is a similar standard for 0/ with diameter B0 mm. !he only
difference is that the ma%imum diameter of the information trac1s is D3
mm.
!he light reflected from a valley is at a 1B0
0
phase difference from the
light reflected from the upper surface.
*very time that light is reflected from the border between pit and 0/
surface there is a destructive interference between the two signals and
the reading is logic state >ero 'I0I(.
Gotation of the 0/-
/uring the recording and reading of the information the rotation speed
of the 0/ is controlled such as the trac1 under the light beam is moving
at a constant linear velocity .
!hus the rotation speed of the 0/ 'angular velocity( is changing
continuously to ad5ust the constant linear velocity. When the reading
head is close to the center of the 0/ the rotation rate is 1300 rotation
per second and it goes down to D00 rotation per second when the
reading head is far away from the center of the 0/ near its perimeter.
;or standard velocity 0/./4/ the linear velocity is 1.+ mEs.
!he optical head read D3 bloc1s of information per second which are
translated to transmission of information at a rate of 130 17Es.
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Gecording digital information on a 0/ is done by a pointing
laser radiation on a photo.sensitive coating which change its properties
when e%posed to specific 'short( wavelength of light 'photoresist(. !he
information 'coded in binary form- <nE<ff( is transferred to a
+D+
modulator which is a device that control the light out of the laser. !his
laser radiation create the pits on the photoresist and the result is a
"aster 0/. !he "aster 0/ is used in a process of *lectro.plating or
?hotopolymer Geplication to stamp hundreds of 0/ per hour with hot
pressing. ;or comparison copying information on magnetic dis1ettes is
slower by few orders of magnitude.
In the production of the "aster 0/ the goal is to ma1e the pits as small
as possible in order to have the ma%imum available density of
information storage.
&ince diffraction of light dictate the limit to the si>e of the minimum
laser spot si>e the best way to increase the density of information
storage is to use shorter wavelength.
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Geading Information from the 0/ is done by illuminating it
with a focused beam from a diode laser. !he diode laser radiation is
focused by an optical system into a small spot on the surface of the 0/.
+D3
!he radiation is reflected bac1 to a detector from both the upper metalic
surface and the bottom of the pit.
<ne of the first designs of the 0/ was by laser light transmitted through
small holes in the 0/ and detected by an array of photo.electric
detectors on the other side of the dis1.
!he 0/ today is based on the reflection of the laser light from the metal
coating on the 0/. !he detector is mounted on the same side of the 0/
as the laser.
;igure 1+.10 <ptical Geading system of the 0/
1hysics 1rinci&le of eadin# Information from )%?
"ost people thin1 the upper metallic surface of the 0/ reflects
light while the depression 'IpitI( does not. If you read again about the
structure of the 0/ you will see that both surfaces are covered with the
same metal coating. It is not that one of them reflects the laser light and
the other absorbs or scatters it.
!he beam is reflected from both the upper metallic surface and the
bottom of the pit.
!he underlying mechanism is wave interference between the laser light
reflected from the pit and the light reflected from the surface.
!he 0/ is spinning under the light beam. !he laser beam scans the
trac1s. When the beam is reflected from the upper metallic surface or
the bottom of the pit there is only one reflected wave to the detector.
+D6
When the laser beam is reflected from a transition between the upper
and lower metallic surfaces two waves 'with a phase difference of p(
are reflected to the detector. !hese two waves interfere destructively
'cancel each other( and the detector reads no reflected signal.
When the detector IseeI a transition between the pit and the upper
surface the detector reads IoneI.
<therwise the reflection is from metallic surface and there is no
transition 'no destructive interference( so the reading is I>eroI.
Advanta#es of the )%?
1. Aigh density storage medium.
). Gapid access to the data compared to special bac1up tapes.
+. Geading the information from the 0/ is done without mechanical
contact between the reading head and the storage medium. !hus there is
no wearing of the medium or the reading head.
4. 0/ can store information for many years and does not need special
protection during storage as magnetic tapes need.
3. !he 0/ is not influenced by magnetic fields since the storage is not
based on magnetism.
6. !he 0/ is washable unli1e magnetic storage devices.
D. !he distance between the reading head and the 0/ is up to a few
millimeters compared to 0.3 micron in magnetic recorders. !hus
mechanical damage due to impact is negligible.
B. !he laser beam passes through a plastic coating before it is focused
on the reflecting surface. !he si>e of the beam on the outer surface of
the plastic is about 1 mm 'see figure 1+.1+(. !hus small dust particles
on the plastic and small scratches are not disturbing the operation of the
0/.
+DD
;igure 1+.1+- ;ocusing a laser beam on the surface of the 0/.
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!he re9uirement for multimedia 'use of many media
interactivly( caused ?hilips and &ony to define the Lreen 7oo1 in 19BD.
In this boo1 they defined the 0ompact /is1 Interactive '0/.I(. !his
standard was applicable for consumer electronic products as well as
personal computers '?0s(.
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1.!he reading speed from 0/ is doubled every few months.
!he first 0/ read at Isingle speed of 130 O7Es.
@e%t came the Idouble speedI at +00 O7Es.
4t the end of 199B the speed is up to +6 times the single speed.
). 4ccess time to the information becomes much shorter toward less
than 100 msec.
+. 0/.G devices which allow the user to burn his own 0/ at home
are available at relatively low prices at the end of 199B.
4. 0/.WG is a new device which allows writing many times to the
0/.
3. Geliability increase which increases storage time. !his can be
achieved by replacing aluminum with gold and replacing the plastic
with glass.
+B1
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In 1993 new standard was established for /C/ /igital Cersatile /is1
'called at first /igital Cideo /is1(. !hey were first developed for storing
a full digital movie.
!he /C/ is a special dis1 that can store up to 4.D L7 information on a
single layer on the dis1.
!he new devices can store information on both sides so the total amount
of information is 9.4 L7.
+B)
!he si>e of the /C/ is the same as 0/ but because it uses a shorter
wavelength the pits can be smaller 'minimum si>e 0.4 m( and so is the
distance between trac1s '0.D4 m(.
0/.G<"s are based on diode laser with infra.red wavelength of DB0
nm.
/C/ devices are based on diode laser with red wavelength of 630 nm.
4s we saw the e%act wavelength is a critical parameter in reading the
information since the process is based on the interference between the
beams reflected from different depths inside the recording media.
In order for the new /C/ machines to be able to read 0/.G<" media
two separate optical pic1ups need to be inside. *ach optical pic1up
operates at its own specific wavelengths.
&ince the si>e of the diode lasers is very small both two lasers can be
combined on the same mechanism so the e%tra laser will add very little
to the price of the instrument.
;irst devices with both lasers appeared in the mar1et at the end of 1996
by &ony.
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!he width of the transparent layer in /C/ is 0.6 mm compared
to 1.) mm in regular 0/. ;uture /C/ can use two layers of recording
material on each side of the /C/. <ne of the layers will be semi.
transparent and by changing the lens it will be possible to focus on
each layer separately. !his will increase the capacity of each /C/ to B.3
L7 on each side to a total of 1D L7 on the /C/.
+B4
!hese /C/ can store digital movies where the viewer can choose the
way a movie develop.
It can be an interactive movie with many viewing angles languages
different levels of violence and different ways in which the story
develops.
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When blue /iode laser ' H 430 nm( becomes commercially available
the amount of information on the /C/ can increase a few times.
In ;ebruary 1996 a Japanese company announced the first blue diode
laser ' H 410 nm( operating at room temperature. !his laser made of
La@ is of the type I"ultilayer 9uantum wellI and it operated for
minutes before it burned out. 4t the end of 199D this type of laser
operate for more than hundred hours and many researchers are trying to
improve it.
!he predicted amount of information on such dis1 can be 60 L7.
Laser 1rinter
*veryone heard about laser printers and most offices are using laser
printers for printing their documents. We are all aware of the 9uality of
the printing out of a laser printer but few 1nows to answers 9uestions
about the operation principles of the laser printer-
What is the role of the laser in a laser printerf
What is the difference between a laser printer and a photocopy
machinef
0an the same system be used for printing documents from a
computer and photocopying documentsf
What are the advantages of the laser printer compared to the dot
printersf
!he laser printer was invented in 19D) by Kero% 0orporation. It enabled
for the first time to get out of a computer a printing 9uality similar to
the printing office.
?rinting process is divided into two stages-
1.Geceiving the information to be printed and translating it to the image
on the writing device.
).!ransferring the information from the writing device to the paper.
1hotoco&y ;Mero9< machine and laser &rinter?
!here is a lot of similarity in the printing process between laser
printer and a photocopy machine. In both systems the process of
transferring the information to the paper is the same and the main
+B6
difference between them is in the way the information is written on the
photo.conductive drum.
In a photocopy machine an optical imaging of the content of the
document is made by a set of lenses. 4 moving bright light scans the
document and each area of the document is imaged on the photo.
conductive drum.
In a laser printer the information is transferred very fast to the photo.
conductive drum one dot at a time by a laser beam which is scanning
the photo.conductive drum.
In a laser printer there is an independent processor which controls the
internal memory of the printer. "ost of the processing of the
information from the electronic pulses which came from the computer
up to the printed paper is done within the laser printer. !his way the
computer 5ust sends the bul1 of information to the printer and is free
from controlling the process of printing.
&ince the process of putting the information on paper in a laser printer is
very similar to the process of photo.coping machine we shall describe
this process first.
4&tical Stora#e of Information
We already saw the 0ompact./isc or 0/.G<" as a way to
store information and read it optically. !here are storage devices which
act li1e magnetic hard disc drives of a computer but store the
information optically. 7oth writing the information on the optical disc
and reading it are done using lasers. !hese devices allow rewriting
information on the optical dis1 thousands of times unli1e 0/ which is
write.once device.
@ew devices which are now at a research stage are based on
holographic writing and reading of information. !hese devices store a
complete page as an image unli1e the storage of bits in standard storage
devices.
+BD
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"agneto optical storage media have a big advantage of
removability. !he magnetic recording material has a specific fi%ed
+BB
temperature at which magneti>ation is lost the 0urie point. !he
principle of operation of a "< recording device is to heat the media to a
temperature close to the 0urie point and then use a small magnetic field
to change the media polarity between its two possible states. !he
controlled heating is performed by a laser. !he 0urie point of most
recording materials is around 130
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Gecording a sector on the "< dis1 is done in three stages-
1.!he specific area on the "< recording media is heated by the laser
beam. !hen a magnetic field directs all the magnetic domains 'bits( to a
specific direction. !his is e9uivalent to erasing all information and
starting with a fresh page of INerosI.
). @ow the laser pass again heat 5ust the areas which contain
information of I<nesI and the magnet now pass with the opposite
polarity and change the directions of these specific domains only.
+. 4 verification of the data written is made.
!he re9uirement for three cycles limits the average access time of "<
devices.
*%periments are made to put two or three heads on the same device
such that all three stages of the process will be performed in one
revolution of the media.
4&tical )om&uter
*lectronic computers are limited by the speed of current flow
through the wires inside the computer. 7y using pulses of light instead
of electrical currents it is possible to increase by orders of magnitude the
speed of the computers.In electronics it is possible today to put millions
of transistors into one integrated circuit 'I0(.
;or optical computers similar circuits are needed to be developed and
they are called integrated optics 'I<(. !his is a new research sub5ect and
there are not yet commercial products of optical computers. In the
laboratory scientists have demonstrated simple operations of edition and
multiplication but it will probably ta1e more than 10.)0 years until such
products will be available.
.ar )ode Scanner.
+B9
With increased automation in every.day life there was a need
for a standard automatic identification system for consumer products.
"any automatic systems for identifying products are based on optical
systems. &uch systems are based on a beam of light which scan a bar
code on the product. !he reflected light is read by an optical system. 7ar
code is a code based on a series of dar1 and bright bands with specific
distances between them. It is made by writing dar1 bands on white
bac1ground. =sually the bar code appears on a paper label. In a common
bar code the information is coded in one dimension- the width of the
dar1 and bright bands. !he length of the bands is 5ust for easy reading
and does not contain any meaningful information.
.asic 4&tic 1rinci&le of 4&eration?
!he use of bar code is based on the principle that a dar1 ob5ects
absorb light while white ob5ects reflect light. 7ecause of this principle
there is a difference in light intensities reflected from dar1 and bright
bands. !his differences are detected by an optical detector through an
optical imaging system. 4 computer is used to analy>e the information
received from the bar code.
In the first bar code systems a ,ight *mitting /iode ',*/( was used as
the light source. ,ight is emitted from ,*/ in a wide angel which create
diverging beam.
!his diverging beam created problems because the optical focusing
system created the desired small spot for reading the bar code only at the
focus.
When the bar code is not e%actly at the focus of the optical system the
spot of light is too big and the 9uality of reading degrades 'the number
of mista1es in reading the data increases(.
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In order to translate information into bar code there are few
different methods. !he differences between the methods is in the width
of the dar1 bands and the shape in which they are arranged. &ince the
computer operation is based on the binary system 'I0I and I1I( it is
possible to build very simple codes.
&ince there are many coding system we will concentrate on the simple
three-
1.!he simplest binary code.
).!he standard ) out of 3 system.
+.!he common code for consumer product in the mar1et- =niversal
?roduct 0ode '=?0(.
1, 'he sim&lest binary code,
In the simplest binary code a wide dar1 band represents the
digit 1 and a thin dar1 band represent the digit 0. !he wide spaces
between the dar1 bands have fi%ed width which is the same as the thin
dar1 band. 4n e%ample of such code can be seen in figure 11.1).
;igure 11.1) 4n e%ample of a simple binary code.
+9)
!his is a very simple code but it is not reliable. 4s an e%ample it does
not contain a mar1 for the beginning or the end of the code.
!he simplest binary code is not in use any more and appears here for
demonstration purpose only.
2, L2 out of FL bar code
&ince people are not used to wor1 with binary numbers they
devised decimal code using the digits 0.9. !his is a more advanced code
than the binary code since every decimal number is coded by two wide
dar1 bands and three thin dar1 bands 'overall 3 dar1 bands(. !he white
space between the dar1 bands does not contain information at all. !he
width of a wide dar1 band is three times the width of a thin dar1 band.
!he width of a white space is the same as a thin dar1 band. 4t the
beginning of the bar code 'to the left( there is a special code that mar1s
the beginning of the code. Its shape is + wide bands followed by )
narrow bands as can be seen in figure 11.1+.
;igure 11.1+- !he numbers 1)+ written using I) out of 3I bar code.
4t the end of the bar code 'on the right( there is a special code to mar1
the end. Its shape is ) wide bands ) narrow bands followed by a single
wide bend. !he special mar1s at both ends of the bar code tells the
computer where the code starts and where it ends. It enable the scanning
+9+
system to scan either from right to left of from left to right. !his code is
still in use in the industry but is not used for consumer products
3, 'he Aniversal 1roduct )ode ;A1)<
!he =?0 bar code is the standard consumer product code. !he
code is based on a fi%ed number of dar1 bands on a white bac1round.
!he dar1 bands have different width and different spaces between them.
!hey are usually on a white label but they can be part of the product
wraper. 4n e%ample can be seen in figure 11.14.
;igure 11.14- an e%ample of =niversal ?roduct 0ode containing all
decimal digits
7ecause of the narrow width of the lines reading such code without
mista1es is done using laser beams only.
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!he optical system used to read the information from the bar
code does not depend on the coding method. Geading the information is
done in certain stages-
1.!he laser beam scan the code and is reflected from it to a detector or
collection of detectors 'photodiodes(.
). !he detectors transform the optical signals into electrical signals.
+93
+. !he electrical signals are transferred into the computer and
translated by it to numbers and digits which describe the product. !his
information is used by the computer for further processing 'printing a
receipt managing inventory etc.(.
Increasing reliability and avoiding mista1es from reflection of standard
illuminations-
!he fact the laser has the monochromatic light 'a single defined
wavelength( enable a filter in front of the detector to transmit to the
detector only the laser wavelength. !his way reflections of other light
sources from the bar code are not detected by the detector. !hus only
the information from the bar code illuminated by the laser reaches the
detector.
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!he optical scanner can be installed in one of + forms-
1.;le%ible Ilight penI Aandheld scanner.
+96
).;i%ed &canner which can scan the bar code in one of two ways-
a.=sing static laser beam.
b.=sing scanning laser beam.
1, LLi#ht &enL
I,ight penI contains a diode laser and detector inside a device
which has the shape of a pen. It emits a narrow beam of laser light and
the user move the Ilight penI manually along the label with the bar code.
!he detector inside the Ilight penI receive the reflected light from the
bar code and transfer it to the computer. &uch system can be seen in
figure 1+.13.
;igure 1+.13- Ilight penI
In the past ,*/ were used in light pens but as described earlier the
poor depth of field of the ,*/ re9uired contact between the pen and the
barcode thus damage to the barcode and the pen. 4nother way to use
Ilight penI is by using a fi%ed laser inside the table 'hidden( and
transferring the laser light to the Ilight penI using an optical fiber.
+9D
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1.,aser fi%ed in a table . similar to the Ilight penI but in this system
the product with its bar code is moved along the fi%ed laser beam.
).4utomatic scanning system.
4 low power laser beam 'from Aelium.@eon laser or a diode laser
pass through an optical system which contains lenses mirrors and
prisms which transfer the laser lights to a beam splitter.
4n e%ample of such system is described in figure 1+.16. ;rom the
beam splitter the laser arrives to a spinning or vibrating mirror. ;or
every situation of the mirror the incidence angel of the light is different
and so is the reflection angel. "ore mirrors are used to direct the beam
to the bar code and bac1 from bar code to the beam splitter which
transfer it to the detector.
!he new systems in use today have several beams scanning in
different directions simultaneously. @o beam splitters are used since
the beams arrive to the bar code at an angle and are reflected to the
other side at the same angle. !hus even if the product face the beams in
any direction it can still be read. !he computer analy>e the signals
received from several detectors and only when a meaningful reading is
registered it ma1es a sound that the code is accepted.
+9B
;igure 1+.16- 4utomatic scanning system for reading information of a
bar code.
Advanta#es of the Automatic Scannin# System?
1.Aigh level of safety . the beam tro5ectory is determined in advance
toward the bar code and there is no danger of pointing the laser beam
into unwanted directions.
).Cery high scanning rate 'tenth of meter per second( such that the
beam scan the code many times and the computer can chec1 and verify
thus increasing the reliability of reading. 0ompared to the Ilight penI
where the scanning rate is determined by the manual movement of the
operator8s hand and limited to one scan per second.
+.!he scanning rate is fi%ed and is not influenced by the sha1ing of the
operator8s hand. =sing fi%ed scanning rate it is very easy to calculate
the widths of the dar1 and bright bands thus decreasing the number of
mista1es in reading the bar code.
4.!he entire system is hidden and protected and there is no damage to
e%ternal parts such as the Ilight penI which is connected by a cable to
the computer.
+99
3.4utomatic scanning system can operate without an operator in
systems where the products are moving 'such as in assembly line(.
!here are many advantages to an automatic scanning system and
practically all systems in massive use are of this 1ind.
A&&lications of bar code?
!he main application of bar code is in those applications where
a 9uic1 way of feeding information into the computer by a computer
illiterate person is needed. It replace learning to operate a 1eyboard.
*%amples are-
1.4t a selling point to read the code of the product to the cash register.
!his information is used both to calculate the price that the buyer needs
to pay and to update the inventory of the store. =sing bar code decrease
the number of mista1es reading the information is very fast and
everyone can operate the system.
).In industry . for managing storage inventory chec1ing items on a
production line to avoid mista1es etc.
+.4n e%ample of essential use of bar code is in hospitals- when a
patient enters the hospital he gets many labels with his essential details.
4t every stage of his treatment this labels are put on test samples of his
blood urine etc. !hroughout the treatment the computer chec1s that the
re9uired test belongs to the specific patient and the medications that he
gets are the right ones.
4. In the =& mail . !he =& mail is using Nip 0ode which consist of
long and short bars.
(olo#rams on credit cards and other valuable &roducts to avoid
for#ery.
!he production of the master hologram re9uires sophisticated
e9uipment and special 1nowledge. !his ma1es them ideal in preventing
forgery. *%amples for this use of holograms are on- every ICisaI credit
card "icrosoft software special ban1 notes.
4pplications in the future will probably include all 1inds of
identification cards.
400
4&tical =iber )ommunications
*ach channel in communications needs a bandwidth 'range of
fre9uencies around the central transmission fre9uency(. <ptical
fre9uencies 'in the visible or near.infra.red spectrum region( are very
high fre9uencies '10
14
.10
13
A>(. !he bandwidth of voice communication
over phone lines is about 10 1A>. !hus the number of phone
conversations that can be send over optical communications system is
huge.
/iode lasers can be modulated at speeds of tens of giga.Aert> '10
10
A>(
and their light can be transmitted over tens of 1ilometers of optical fibers
without the need for amplification. !hus optical fiber communications
provide the perfect solution for reliable high volume communication.
4dvantages of optical fibers are- wide bandwidth immunity from
electrical interference low weight low cost more secure transmission.
=sing optical fibers instead of the metal wires that transmit electrical
signal have so many advantages that all the new communication lines
are made of optical fibers.
In one optical fiber to the home all the communications need can be
fulfilled-phone television radio cable !C computer communication
etc.
=ree S&ace 4&tical )ommunications
!he very high modulation speed of diode lasers enables direct
line of sight optical communication at very high speed. !he main
applications of free space optical communications are-
a. 0ommunication between satellites in space which can transfer
information at a bit rates of 10
10
bits per second. !hus tens of thousands
of phone conversations can be transmitted simultaneously.
b. "ilitary use of free space optical communication channels are used
especially in the battle field when it is not practical to have fiber optics
lin1s. !he communication is based on direct line of sight and provides a
secure lin1 because of the very narrow divergence of the laser beam.
401
Lasers in Art and Entertainment
=sing lasers that emit in the visible spectrum range it is
possible to create impressive visual effects. When a laser beam pass
through a region of humidity smo1e or any other small particles in the
air the scattered light can be seen by observers from all sides. In big
outdoor shows when the effect need to be seen from a distance it is
possible by moving a small optical element 'such as mirror( to move
laser beams over large area.
;or entertainment it is common to use lasers which emit few laser
wavelengths. ;irst each color is separated using prisms to create many
laser beams of different colors. =sing small vibrating mirrors controlled
by a computer it is possible to move each laser beam very rapidly and
create moving colored images.
&ince our vision is based on seeing the image a little time after it has
disappeared we see a full picture created by laser beam although the
laser beam illuminates each point for a brief period of time.
!he first devices were used to create two dimensional moving pictures
on screens but the new devices are used to create three dimensional
moving sculptures in space 'with small particles in it(.
=sing emitted laser powers of few watts it is possible to create big
moving images in free space an impossible tas1 to create by other
means.
=sing argon ion and 1rypton lasers that emit in the visible spectrum
range it is possible to create impressive visual effects. *ach of these
lasers emits several visible wavelengths. 4rgon ion and 1rypton lasers
are suitable for these visual effects since they emit hundreds of milli.
watts at each wavelength simultaneously. !he laser beam passes through
a prism or grating and is separated into beams of different colors
'wavelengths(. 4 computer controls each beam 'color( and moves a
mirror according to the music played.
(olo#rams for e9ibitions and museums
Aolograms allows us to see three dimensional images. !hus
there are special holography museums which show holograms as an art
by itself. 4 more advanced use is to show holograms of rare e%ibits
40)
which can be damaged by e%posing to the public. &uch e%ibits include
archeological e%ibits which need to be 1ept at special light temperature
and humidity conditions. Cery e%pensive items which can be stolen or
damage by the public. Gare items which can not be e%ibited in every
museum but their holograms can.
Lood hologram contains all the information included in the original
ob5ect. <nce color holography will be developed many special e%ibits
will be available to be seen at many museums.
>inetic scul&tures,
Cisible light is used to create visual effects. =sing lasers in the
visible spectrum with the help of optical elements which cause
reflection refraction and dispersion it is possible to create three
dimensional sculptures which are moving in space.
In order to see the laser beams in space we need a medium which scatter
light in all directions. !he standard medium is smo1e which contains
very small particles suspended in the air. When using higher power
visible lasers it is possible to see the reflections from the particles in
IstandardI air without the use of smo1e.
!he best lasers for these application are the 4rgon Ion and the Orypton
Ion lasers. 4 IwallI 'plane( of light can be easily created by a rotating or
vibrating mirror. 7y using multiple rotating andEor vibrating mirrors
controlled by computers it is possible to design complicated shapes
which appear in space. 0ombing holography with high power visible
lasers will enable new type of virtual sculptures in space.
Scientific A&&lications

S&ectrosco&y.
*very material has its own characteristic absorption and
emission spectrum. 7y selective e%citation using specific wavelengths it
is possible to identify materials with high certainty even if only small
traces e%ist. &pectroscopy is used in the research of molecules by
optically e%citing the molecules. It is one of the most important tools in
the research of the structure of matter.
40+
!he laser allows the use of definite controlled wavelengths which
results in a very high resolution measurements. Increasing the accuracy
of the determination of the wavelength allows a distinction between
smaller details in the material structure.
?hoto.chemistry is the science of chemical changes which are the result
of light.
*%amples are-
I!anningI of the s1in in the sun light.
?hotosynthesis in plants.
!he process of vision within the retina cells of the eye.
Induced fluorescence is a very sensitive process which allows
selective e%citation of specific energy levels in a specific molecule. !his
process is used in forensic science to identify trace residuals of
molecules.
Inertial fusion by laser
Equivalence bet!een mass and ener#y?
"ass and energy are related by the mathematical formula-
*HmPc
)
!his well.1nown formula was discovered by 4lbert *instein in 1903
and he e%plained the e9uivalence between mass and energy using this
relation.
*very reaction which results in products with total mass less than the
original mass releases energy. !he amount of energy is e9ual to the
mass difference times the s9uare of the velocity of light. !he first
artificial use of fusion energy was in the Aydrogen bomb '<ctober
193)(. &ince then scientists are trying to control the nuclear fusion
reaction2 in order to ma1e controlled use of the energy released.
404
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!here are two ways to ma1e practical use of the e9uivalence
principle between mass and energy-
1.@uclear fission . Where heavy element nuclei transform into lighter
elements such that the total mass of the product nuclei is less than the
original nucleus. !his is the process in nuclear reactors 'and atom
bombs(. !he problems with this process are radioactivity and e%plosions
It is based on chain reaction which can get out of control.
403
).@uclear ;usion . Where light nuclei are fused together to form
heavier nucleus. In this process li1e in nuclear fission the mass of the
original nuclei is greater than the mass of the final products. !he nuclear
fusion process occurs naturally in the &un and stars and the big
challenge is to perform a controlled nuclear fusion on *arth. !he
following pages e%plain the nuclear fusion processes and the research
programs to use it as an energy source of the future.

'he :uclear =usion 1rocess?
!he most common reactions that can serve in nuclear fusion
reactor are shown in figure 1+.1B.
=uel 3aterials for the :uclear =usion 1rocess,
&ince nuclei are positively charged particles there is a
repulsive electrostatic force between them. It is clear that the best
materials for nuclear fusion reaction are those with only one positive
406
;igure 1+.1D- ?ossible reactions
between light elements for
controlled nuclear fusion
reactions.
charge in the nucleus which suggest isotopes of hydrogen. !he best
materials are deuterium and tritium and we shall limit our discussion to
them.
/euterium . isotope of hydrogen which contains one proton and one
neutron in the nucleus.
1.<n every 6300 hydrogen atoms there is one deuteron '0.013F(.
). !he estimate of the total amount of deuterium on *arth is 10
16
Og which can supply energy for hundreds of millions of years for the
entire population.
+. !he most common material that contains hydrogen in nature is
water 'A
)
<(.
4. Water distribution on *arth ma1es deuterium available
everywhere.
3. 0ompared to the huge amount of energy released from each
fusion reaction it is relatively cheap to e%tract deuterium from water.
6. !here are no ecology problems with deuterium production
compared to oil or coal.
!ritium . Isotope of Aydrogen which contains one proton and two
neutrons in the nucleus.
1.@ot available in nature.
).Gadioactive material with lifetime of 1).+ years.
+.0reated by nuclear reactions such as bombarding ,ithium
isotopes with neutrons-

6
,i X n HHW ! X
4
Ae X 4.B "ev

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,i X n HHW ! X
4
Ae X ).3 "ev
4&timal )onditions for the o&eration of a )ontrolled :uclear
=usion eactor?
1. 4vailable raw materials which can be e%tracted easily.
). Aigh probability for the reaction to occur.
+. Aigh amount of energy release per reaction.
4. &afety of the production process.
3. @o ecology problems with the products of the process.
&ince controlled nuclear fusion reactor can solve the energy problem of
man1ind it is clear why huge amount of money is invested in research
40D
toward achieving this goal. !he energy from this process is relatively
clean and the raw material is available everywhere.
40B
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&ince the nuclei in the fusion reaction are both positively
charged there is electrostatic repulsion between them 'according to
0oulomb ,aw(. In order to create a fusion reaction the two nuclei need
to come very close to each other. !he simplest way to overcome the
electric repulsion between the nuclei is to give them high 1inetic
energy 'velocity( such that a collision will occur between them. In the
laboratory many fusion reactions have been tested for research purposes
by using big particle accelerators. !he problems with using big particle
accelerators are-
1. !he huge amount of energy needed for the accelerator.
410
). !he very low efficiency of the process.
!o produce practical energy the production process must have gain.
!his means that the process releases more energy than the energy put
into creating the process. It is impossible to gain energy by using
particle accelerators
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?ossible way to achieve particles moving at very high 1inetic
energies is by raising the temperature. We 1now the charge of the
particles so we can calculate the amount of energy needed to overcome
the electrical repulsion between them. 7y calculating the temperature
needed to bring the particles to this energy we get that a thermonuclear
fusion reaction can occur at about 100 millions degrees 0elsius. &uch
high temperature e%ists inside the sun 'and other stars( and this is the
process that creates the energy that we receive from the sun.
411
4t such high temperatures the atoms in matter are separated into
positively charged nuclei and negative free electrons. !his cloud of
charged particles is called plasma.
1
l
a
s
m
a
?lasma is a state of matter in which the nuclei are separated
from their electrons and form a cloud of ioni>ed particles at a specific
place. !o the outside world the cloud is electrically neutral since the
number of positive charges is e9ual to the number of negatively charged
particles. 4 special property of plasma is the loss of electromagnetic
energy radiation because the electrons are decelerated by the charges of
the nuclei electric field. !his radiation is called I7remsstrahlungI and it
is radiated away from the plasma.
4t temperatures up to hundreds of thousands degrees the rate at which
the plasma loose energy by radiation is greater than the rate of
thermonuclear fusion. When the temperature is raised further the fusion
reactions rate increases faster than the increase of the loss of energy by
radiation.
!he temperature at which energy creation is e9ual to the energy loss is
called IIgnition temperatureI of the plasma 'we assume ideal plasma in
which the only loss mechanism is 7remsstrahlung radiation.
!he ignition temperature is the minimum temperature at which the
plasma can supply itself the energy to 1eep its temperature.
41)
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41+
If we want to produce energy from plasma the rate at which
energy is released need to e%ceed the rate of energy input 'the difference
between them is the energy produced(. !heoretical calculations about
deuterium and tritium plasma show that a certain density of the materials
must be confined for a specific amount of time such the product of their
density with time will be greater than 10
14
secEcm
+
. !his criterion is
called ,awson criterion or the confinement criterion of the plasma and
it is strongly dependent on temperature.
!he main problem in achieving controlled nuclear fusion
reaction is finding a method of confinement for the plasma since
nothing can withstand such enormous temperatures.
4s we saw the re9uired temperature of the plasma is millions of
degrees. !here is no material that can serve as a container to confine the
hot plasma and withstand such high temperatures.
!here are two main methods of confinement of the plasma-
1. "agnetic confinement
4 special spatial magnetic field confine the charged particles of the
plasma cloud to a closed region by causing them to circulate. !he
special magnetic field lines cause the ions and electrons to move along
the closed magnetic field lines. !he magnitude of such magnetic field is
enormous and there is a long term research program 'both theoretical
and e%perimental( to solve the problems involved. &ince magnetic
confinement has no relation to lasers we shall not deal with this method
here.
). Inertial confinement of plasma using lasers
7y ,awson criterion what determines the conditions for nuclear fusion
are the product of the density and the time. 7y increasing the density of
the matter we can reduce the re9uired time of holding the plasma in a
specific region in space. !he idea of inertial confinement fusion is to
compress a small mass of deuterium and tritium to very high density for
a very short time. 0alculations show that a promising pellet which
contains /euterium and !ritium at atmospheric pressure needs to be
about 1 mm in diameter. 4t atmospheric pressure the confinement time
for the plasma is 10
.B
sec. If we can maintain the plasma for this time
we can get out of the fusion reactions more energy than we put inside.
!he problem is that at atmospheric pressure the plasma e%pands rapidly
so the density will reduce and it will be impossible to perform the
414
process. <n the other end at a pressure 10000 times than atmospheric
pressure the re9uired time by the ,awson criterion is about 10
.1)
sec.
413
416
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41D
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!o achieve the enormous pressures 'of the order of 10
1)
atmospheres( on the pellet the idea is to use the roc1et propulsion
principle 'which is based on @ewton !hird ,aw(-
!he fuel material is inside a hollow spherical shell.
!he outer layer of the shell is heated rapidly to very high
temperature.
!he outer shell evaporates and e%pands rapidly outside.
4s a result 'reaction( of the outer shell e%pansion pressure is created
on the inner shell toward the center.
!he compression process raises the temperature to the re9uired high
temperature for the fusion process. !he re9uired amount of energy is of
the order of 10
14
Joule in a nanosecond 10
.9
sec time scale. ?utting such
huge amount of energy at such short time is done by the laser. !hus the
laser is ideal for the inertial confinement scheme.
41B
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;irst e%periments were done using 0<
)
laser at wavelength of 10.6
_m` because it has the re9uired high power. ,ater e%periments were
419
done with @d.Llass laser because its pulses were precisely controlled
and it also has high power.
!oday the tendency is to move to shorter wavelengths mostly by
doubling and tripling the fre9uency of the @d.Llass laser '!hus reducing
the wavelength accordingly( in non.linear crystals. !he reason for
shorter wavelengths is seen in figure 1+.19.
;igure 1+.1B 4bsorption of laser beams at different wavelengths.
'hree .asic equirements for :uclear =usion?
1, (i#h tem&erature of the &lasma . such that the deuterium and
tritium nuclei will have enough 1inetic energy to overcome the
electrostatic repulsion between them.
!he energy is measured in units of electron volt eC '1 eC H 1.6 P 10
.19
J (.
!he average energy per particle at temperature ! is-
* H +1! E ) 1 H 1.+BP10
.)+
J
2, (i#h density of &articles ;n<,
/ensity describes the number of particles per unit volume. !he
denser the material it contains more particles per unit volume.
4)0
3, Lon# confinement time ;<,
Ge9uirements ) and + for the n and t to be high enough mean that there
will be high probability for collisions between deuterium and tritium
nuclei. !his is the ,awson criterion-.
nP W 10
14
sEcm
+
It is enough to increase one of these numbers to achieve the goal of
controlled nuclear fusion .
'hreshold 'em&eratures for )ontrolled :uclear =usion?
!hreshold !emperature _1eC`
1. / X ! HHW
4
Ae X n X 1D.6 "eC 4
). / X / HHW
+
Ae X n X +.) "eC 30
+. / X / HHW ! X p X 4 "eC 30
4. / X
+
Ae HHW
4
Ae X p X 1B.+ "eC 100
;rom this table it is clear that-
1.!he first reaction is preferred at this stage 'because of the relatively
low temperature re9uired(.
).In the future the second reaction will be preferred because it does
not contain the radioactive tritium.
+.!he forth reaction has advantages since the products are charged
particles 'protons and alfa(.
It is relatively easy to e%tract energy from charged particles.
Sta#es in )ontrolled :uclear =usion 1rocess-
!he first reaction that the scientists will try to perform under controlled
conditions is-
/ X ! HHW
4
Ae X n X 1D.6 "eC
4)1
;igure 1+.)0 describes the stages in controlled nuclear fusion reaction in
a pellet.
1. *nergy on the target . by many laser beams simultaneously.
). ?ellet compression . !he outer layer heat up and e5ected away. 4
shoc1 wave toward the center compresses the nuclear fuel toward the
center. ?ressure rise to tens of millions of atmospheres.
+. ;uel IIgnitionI . 4s a result of compression the temperature rises at
the center and nuclear fusion occurs at 30.100 millions degrees.
4. I"ini *%plosionI . !he fusion process produce enormous amounts
of energy which is released in all directions on a time scale of micro.
seconds 'miniature Aydrogen bomb ...(.

;igure 1+.19 &tages in controlled nuclear fusion.
7ecause of the high compression of the pellet the temperature inside
reaches the
re9uired temperature to perform controlled nuclear fusion. <nce the
fusion reaction starts it releases a lot of energy which continues the
fusion process until the entire pellet burns. 4ctually the process is not
100F efficient only about +0F. !hus the practical ,awson criterion is-
ne W 10
13
secEcm
+
It is interesting to follow how the re9uired energy for the controlled
nuclear fusion process evolved with time over +0 years of research-
4t first based on simple calculations scientists thought that energy of 1
1J would be sufficient. !his re9uirement grew about 10 fold every 10
years and today the estimate is about 1 "J. !oday the fusion process is
4))
understood based on e%perimental results so the estimate is more
realistic.
;usion research has many military implications which e%plain why
most of the research was conducted in @ational laboratories in the =&4
and the Gussia. !he e%planation here is limited to the physics of the
fusion process and the way to e%tract usable energy out.
4)+
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When all the mass of /euterium and !ritium is transformed in
a nuclear fusion reaction the amount of energy released per 1 gram
matter is-
*
7urn
H +.4P10
1+
J
!o start a process of nuclear fusion at energy of 100.1000 1eC the
re9uired amount of energy input is-
*
Aeat
H 10
9
.10
10
J
!here is a possibility to gain energy even when the efficiency of the
process will not be 100F. 7ased on theoretical and e%perimental results
the si>e of the pellet must be less then ) millimeter. !hus the amount of
nuclear fuel in each pellet is of the order of milligrams. 4fter
compression the pellet will be at the si>e of 0.) mm and than ignition
starts.
4)3
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4ll the fusion e%periments in the past were based on direct
illumination of the target 'pellet( with the laser beams from all sides.
!he ImodernI approach is to use indirect heating using Aohlraum
'Aollow 0avity illumination(.
!he idea is to transfer the energy to the nuclear fuel uniformly from all
sides. !he Aohlraum is a special cylindrical chamber which is coated
with gold from the inside. !he laser beams hit the inside of the
Aohlraum cavity which results in a high flu% of %.rays . !hese %.rays
heat the pellet from all sides as can be seen in figure 1+.)1.


4)D
;igure 1+.)0- IIndirect AeatingI of the pellet using Aohlraum.
4)B
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4fter solving all the problems with the nuclear fusion reaction
ways must be developed to ma1e use of the released energy. &ince we
are still far away from reaching this goal the research is theoretical for
now. *very nuclear fusion reactor for deuterium . tritium fuel have +
basic re9uirements-
1. ?rotection to the people around '&pecial walls design(.
). *fficient transfer of the energy released to useful energy.
+. 0reation of the tritium needed for fuel.
Inertial confinement reactor has another re9uirement-
4.*fficient transfer of the energy from the laser beams to the pellet.
In inertial confinement since the time is very short there is no need for
big magnets for plasma confinement. !hus it is enough to have li9uid
around the core of the reactor.
1. D0F of the nuclear reaction energy in a /.! reaction is carried with
the neutrons.
). !he pea1 of this energy is around 14 "eC.
<ther particles e5ected are- 4lfa particles %.rays and the remains of the
target chamber.
4+0
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!he basic design of a 0ontrolled @uclear ;usion Geactor is described in
figure 1+.)).
4+1
;igure 1+.)1- 7asic /esign of a 0ontrolled @uclear ;usion
Geactor.
!he neutrons are e5ected in the nuclear fusion reaction into all
directions. If a flowing Iblan1etI of li9uid ,ithium surrounds the core of
the reactor the e5ected neutrons will
collide with the lithium and transfer their energy to the li9uid. !he li9uid
,ithium temperature will rise and later by using heat e%changer the heat
energy can operate turbine to produce electricity.
1. !he width of the ,ithium Iblan1etI is about 0.3 . 1.3 m.
). !he collisions of neutrons with ,ithium can cause a nuclear reaction
which produce !ritium for the nuclear fuel-

6
,i X n
4
Ae X
+
A
4rders of 3a#nitude in a futuristic &o!er &lant based on fusion-
4verage power plant produce about 1000 "W electricity
which are e9uivalent to 10
9
JEs. In a nuclear fusion reactor-
1. !he laser produces 10
6
J per pulse.
). !he gain in energy in a pellet is about 100.
+. !he result is 10
B
J per pellet.
4. !he efficiency is about 40F.
3. ;rom the energy produced by the reactor 10
D
J are returned to the
laser with efficiency of 10F.
6. !hus the output energy is-
4+)
0.4P10
B
J . 10
D
J H +P10
D
J H +0 "J
D. !o produce 1000 "W the number of pulses need to be about +0
pulses per second.
B. !his re9uirement loo1s complicated in one reaction chamber but
the same laser can operate a few reaction chambers by switching from
one to another.
4mount of fuel re9uired at a +0 pellets per second rate per year is-

+0P60P60P)4P+63 H 9.3P10
B
pellets per year
9. *very pellet contains about 1 mg fuel.
!hus the amount of fuel per year-
4bout 10
6
grams H 10
+
Og
10. &ince deuterium is available from sea water and tritium is
produced by the reactor the amount of deuterium is enough to supply
humanity needs for many millions of years.

Lasers !hich emit very short &ulses ;10
-1F
-10
-1E
sec<,
Cery short pulses are a new tool for research. 4pplications of
very short pulses-
!hey can be used to study rapid processes. Illuminating the process at
short intervals and ta1ing a picture.
<ptical communications. !he shorter the pulse the greater the number
of pulses that can be send in a second. !his number determine the
amount of information that can be transmitted in a given time.
Laser coolin# of atoms,
4ll atoms in nature are moving because they are at a temperature higher
than 0 O thus they have thermal energy. 4t low temperatures it is
possible to almost stop atoms by using the momentum of the photons of
the laser radiation.
4++
4 beam of laser light moving in the opposite direction of a beam of
atoms can be made to interact with each other in such a way that the
atoms absorb photons from the laser beam. !he process occurs when the
photons energy 'which is determined by the photon fre9uency( is e%actly
e9ual to the energy difference between energy levels of these atoms.
When the atom is in motion then by the /oppler effect this atom IseesI
a slightly different fre9uency of the incoming photons. 7y using a few
beams from opposite directions it is possible to stop the movement of
atoms.
!he fre9uency of the laser beam is chosen such that it is very close to
the absorption fre9uency of the atom but not identical to it. *ach time
the atom starts to move toward one of the laser beams the /oppler
effect causes the radiation from that beam to be absorbed by the atom so
it returns to its place.
Study of the interaction of electroma#netic radiation !ith matter,
*lectromagnetic radiation can react with matter by many different
mechanisms. !he research of the mechanisms of interaction between
electromagnetic radiation and matter is a very productive research field
which produce many new applications.
;or all the medical applications of the laser this research is of valuable
importance. ;or all the industrial material processing applications by
lasers this research is of valuable importance. We shall mention the
advance in recent years of the interaction of electromagnetic radiation
with different biological molecules and the potential of genetic
engineering 'changing the gene properties by manipulations on the /@4
molecules within the nucleus of the biological cell(.
S&ecial a&&lications
Ener#y trans&ort in s&ace,
&pace stations are planned for the near future. 4nd space opens
new possibilities for the human race. !he energy for the space station
will be collected by big collections of solar cells. !here is an idea to
build such big solar collectors in space. !hese solar cells will convert the
4+4
solar energy into electricity. !he electrical energy will be send to *arth
in *lectromagnetic radiation form as a beam of laser energy.
!he advantages of putting the solar cells in space-
It is possible to use very large surfaces 'no space limitations(.
Weather conditions will not disturb the collection of solar radiation.
It is possible to collect energy around the cloc1 without the
limitation of dayEnight conditions on *arth.
!he 4tmosphere will not influence collection of solar radiation.
!he advantages of using lasers to transmit the energy to *arth-
!he laser is better for transmission of electromagnetic energy than
any other way of transmission 'such as micro.waves( because of its
small divergence angle. *ven after big distances the beam diameter is
not big. !hus an efficient collector is not impossible to build.
!here are specific laser wavelengths which are transmitted well
through the atmosphere which is not transparent for microwave
radiation.
Laser #yrosco&e.
Lyroscope is an instrument that helps maintain orientation in
space. In the past the gyroscopes were mechanical spinning systems in
which the principle of conservation of angular momentum help 1eep the
device pointing in one direction. !hese devices were very massive and
re9uired motors and maintenance. <ptical gyroscopes are based on a
principle called &agniac effect. !his effect which was discovered at the
beginning of the )0th century states that- I 4n electromagnetic wave
which moves in a closed path which surrounds a finite area is
influenced from the angular velocity of the system which is included in
this areaI.
1rinci&le of 4&eration of 4&tical 6yrosco&e?
!wo laser beams are moving in opposite directions in the same
ring path. 4ny change in the direction of the system will cause a
difference in the path of these two beams. 7y using inteferometric
measurements it is possible to detect very small changes so the laser
gyroscope is a very sensitive device.
4+3
!here are two 1inds of optical gyroscopes both based on the same
principle-
1. ,aser gyroscope is a laser with ring cavity. !he laser cavity is made
of three or four mirrors which form of a closed loop.
). ;iber gyroscope is a similar device but the beams of the laser light
are traveling along a fiber optic which is in a form of a coil.
=iber laser,
It is possible to create a laser action within an optical fiber. !he
active medium is an optical fiber made of impurity atoms embedded in
the glass of the fiber core.
!he advantages of the fiber.laser are-
!he optical fiber confine the laser beam within the fiber 'the active
medium(.
!he optical pumping is done by light which is confined within the
fiber.
;iber.laser can directly amplify an incoming signal of laser light
without having to transform it to an electrical signal which is then
amplified electronically and transformed bac1 into light.
!he main use of fiber.laser is in optical communication where the
signal transmitted over long distances 'such as over the ocean( need to
be amplified along the way.
!he most 1nown family of fiber laser is the *rbium '*r( /oped ;iber
4mplifier '*/;4( which is used in optical communications.
1)
3easurin# laser &arameters
4+6
4 lot of laser parameters characteri>e the laser beams- average
power or average energy divergence mode structure wavelength
fre9uency stability etc. *very application re9uires some specific
parameter 1nowledge. ?ractically for every laser the first parameter to
be measured is the power for continuous lasers 'or high repetition rate of
operation( and teh energy in the case of pulsed lasers. 4 special interest
could be focused on measuring some intrinsec parameters of the active
medium as small signal gain saturation intensity are.
3easurin# the &o!er or the ener#y of the laser beams
&ome effects which could be used to measure the laser energy
or the laser power are induced by laser beam interaction with a target. 4
proper calibration of the device is necessarly in any case. !he thermal
pyroelectric and photonic effects are the most used.
!he calorimeters measure by using the thermal effect of laser
radiation. !hey are divided into two categories- isoperibolical and
conductive.
In the first case the absorbing element is thermall insulated
from the rest of teh calorimeter and the increase in temperature due to a
laser pulse or due to a small time irradiation by a continuous wave laser
is measured.
!he conductive calorimeters have the absorbing element
thermally connected to the rest of the calorimeter. 7etween the
absorbing element and the rest of calorimeter 'air or water cooling is
also used( a laser power dependent gradient of temperature is
established. !his type of calorimeter is especially used to measure the
continuous laser beams.
7oth types of calorimeters 1eep a constant temperature onto the
outer envelope. =sually the calorimeters have two sections one which
is e%posed to the laser radiation and the other one e%posed to the
ambiental radiation and a differential measurement is accomplished. 4s
a conse9uence the fluctuations due to the ambiental temperature
induced fluctuations are avoided.
!he calibration of calorimeters could be performed by
compari>on with a reference calorimeter by using the radiation from a
standard lamp or by using methods of electrical substitution. !he
4+D
electrical substitution is performed by placing a resistor on the absorbing
element. 4 constant current or a 1nown energy electric pulse passes
through the resistor for calibration. &o a cheap absolute calorimeter is
built. !he errors are introduced because the electrical energy is not
totally absorbed and the dissipation of heat from the two parts of the
calorimeter is not identical.
!he pyroelectric detectors are the most used. If the time
constant of the detector is much smaller than the repetition period of the
laser pulses the signal delivered by the detector is proportional with the
average power of the laser beam. If the time constant is longer tahn the
laser pulse teh signal is proportional with the pulse energy. &o properly
calibrated the pyroelectric detectors could be used both for measuring
the power or the energy of laser beams.
=
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!

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Gadiometry is the measure of light distribution in space and time. !he
main terms are-
1.Gadiant energy '*( is the basic term which describe the
amount of energy which is carried by light. It is measured in units of
Joule J.
).Gadiant ?ower '?( is the the amount of radiation energy
carried at a unit of time- 't( is the time 'in seconds( of illumination.
4+B
Gadiant power is measured in units of Watt.

+. ?ower density 'irradiance( . !he radiation power '?( divided
by the illuminated area 's(. !he mathematical relation between
radiation power and power density is-
?ower density is measured in units of WattEcm
)
.
4+9

a
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s
a
f
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io
n
of
ti
m
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When the radiation power is described as a function of time the total
energy in a specific time interval can be calculated by the area under the
graph 'specific integral(.
;igure 1).1- ?ower as a function of time.
440
!he radiation out of a laser can be emitted as a continuous beam 'as in
Ae.@e laser or continuous wave 0<
)
laser( or as a pulsed radiation. 4
pulse of radiation from a laser can be long 'milliseconds( short
'microseconds nanoseconds( very short '10
.1)
s picoseconds( or
ultrashort '10
.13
s femtoseconds(.
,aser pulses can appear as single pulse or repetitive pulses and the rate
of pulses can be as high as thousands of millions per second.
)
h
a
r
a
ct
e
ri
st
ic
s
of

a
di
at
io
n
fr
o
m
la
se
r
441
Gadiation *nergy is described in different terms for continuous radiation
and pulsed radiation. ;or continuous laser . the laser power '?( is a good
measure-
*nergy is not enough since the same amount of energy can be
transmitted in a short time using high power or in a long time using low
power.
;or pulsed laser . the detailed parameters of the pulses are important
and average power is not enough.
0ommon parameters are-
1.*nergy per pulse '*
p
(.
1.?ulse duration 't( which is called pulse width.
1.@umber of pulses per second '??&( which is called fre9uency of the
pulses.
"easuring pulses of electromagnetic radiation is done by absorbing it
in matter 'detector( and measuring the change created in the physical
parameters of the detector.
L
a
se
r
1
o
!
e
r
In many applications the laser power is the most important
parameter since it determines the amount of energy delivered by the
radiation in a unit of time. ;or some applications the laser power need to
be stable so the power stability can be important.
!he output of a laser is determined by its type.
1.;rom specific type of laser it is not possible to get all power levels.
44)
).;or each type of laser there is a specific limited power range.
+. ;rom Ae.@e laser it is not possible to get high power level of Watts.
Aelium neon lasers are at power levels of milli.Watts.
4. ;rom 0<
)
laser it is possible to get tens of 1ilo.Watts continuously.
L
a
se
r
E
ff
ic
ie
n
c
y
<ne of the most important properties of a laser is its ma%imum
power which is the ma%imum amount of electromagnetic radiation
emitted in a unit of time. In order to get power out energy need to be put
in. !he ratio between the amount of energy out to energy in is defined as
the laser efficiency. It is common to e%press the laser efficiency in
percent.
,aser *fficiency H '<utput ?ower(E'Input power(
"ost lasers have low efficiency even as low as parts of a percent. Aeat
dissipation in low power lasers is relatively small so it is not important.
In high power lasers the heat dissipation is considerable and it ia a
problem to remove heat in e%cess. In a continuous 0<
)
laser generating
1000 W with efficiency of 10F the amount of heat generated is 9000 W.
44+
'
o
t
a
l

E
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y

o
f

a

L
a
s
e
r

,aser efficiency is determined by many factors which are
considered here for gas lasers. !he electrical energy is supplied to the
power supply which change part of the electrical energy to electrical
current in the gas. ?art of the 1inetic energy of the accelerated electrons
in the gas tube collides with gas molecules and transfer energy to them.
?art of the energy transferred to the gas molecules is used to e%cite
them to create population inversion. In the process of stimulated
emission part of the energy is used for creating laser radiation.
444
!he total efficiency of the laser is the product of the efficiencies of all
the mentioned processes-
!otal *fficiency of the laser H 'electrical efficiency of the power
supply(e'efficiency of energy transfer to the gas molecules(e'e%citation
efficiency(e'part of the energy used for lasing transitions(e'?art of the
energy in stimulated emission(e'part of the energy out of the output
coupler(
=sing the corresponding numbers reveals why the laser efficiency is
low. In some lasers the efficiency can be as low as parts of a percent
'even hundredth of a percent :(.
!able 1).1 summari>es the efficiencies of some common commercial
lasers-


,aser !ype
Wavelength _m`
!ypical *fficiency _F`
0<
)
10.6 13
Ae.@e 0.6+)B 0.1
Ae.0d 0.44) 0.+)3 0.01.0.0)
@d.64L 1.06 0.1.).0
;*, Wide Gange +0
/iode ,aser 0.D.1.3 )0
!able 1).1
<nly in diode lasers where electrical energy is directly transformed into
laser radiation it is possible to achieve high efficiency. &uch high
efficiency is the reason why not much energy is wasted in diode lasers
and they can operate without special cooling mechanisms.
Some e9am&les of &o!erNener#y meter from 4&hir 4&tronics
com&any
1hotodiode (eads for )W 1o!er
443
"odel ?/.+00 series heads offer spectral coverage from )00nm.
1B00nm. !he power range is from nanowatts to + Watts. !he ?/.+00
offers automatic bac1ground subtraction so the measurement is not
sensitive to room light. 4ll models have wavelength calibration built
into the system.

;eatures 4perture &pectral Gange
?ower
Gange
auto bac1ground
subtraction
10%10mm +30 . 1100nm
1nW.
+00mW
auto bac1ground
subtraction
10%10mm +30 . 1100nm
1nW .
+W
infrared region 3mm B00 . 1B00nm
3nW
.+00mW
446
wide spectral range 10mm )00 . 1100nm
1nW
.+00mW
low cost power meter
to measure 1 or )
wavelengths. Aas own
display
10mm 400 . 1100nm
)0nW.
)00mW
measures scanning
beams. Aas own
display
10%10mm 6++ 630 6D3nm
0.1 .
)0mW
!hermopile
&urface 4bsorber
Aeads

!hermopile 0W /etector Aeads
<phir thermopile surface absorber heads are spectrally flat from .19um.
)0um. !hey have a damage threshold of up to )0 OWEcm
)
. !hey offer a
wide dynamic range from uW to 1W and a fast response time as short as
1 second. !he detector head information is stored in the **G<" of the
44D
detector head and is downloaded when the display is turned on so all
heads are plug and play.
;eatures 4perture &pectral Gange ?ower Gange
*nergy
Gange
very low
powers
10mm 0.19 .)0um 60uW . )W
0.1mJ .
)J
general
purpose to
10W
16mm 0.19 .)0um 6mW . 10W
1mJ .
)0J
general
purpose to
+0W.
1Bmm 0.19 .)0um )0mW . +0W
6mJ .
+0J
large
aperture to
+0W
)9mm 0.19 .)0um B0mW.+0W
)0mJ .
+0J
!hin profile
to +0W
)6mm 0.13 .)0um B0mW.+0W
)0mJ .
60J
0W to
+0W.
Intermittent
to 130W
1Bmm 0.19 .)0um 60mW . 130W
)0mJ
.100J
0W to
40W.
Intermittent
to 130W
30mm 0.19 .)0um )00mW . 130W
30mJ
.)00J
;an cooled
to 130W
1Bmm 0.19 .)0um 60mW . 130W
)0mJ
.100J
;an cooled
to )30W.
30mm 0.19 .)0um )00mW .)30W
30mJ
.)00J
;an cooled
to +00W
)3mm 0.19 .)0um
,?-0.19 .1.310.6 um
1)0mW.+00W 30mJ
.)00J
44B
,? has high
damage
threshold
Water
cooled to
1000W.
+4mm 0.19 .)0um )0W.1000W
130mJ.
)00J
Water
cooled to
1300W. ,?
has high
damage
threshold
30mm
0.19 .)0um
,?-0.19 .1.310.6 um
)0W.1300W
130mJ.
)00J
Water
cooled to
3000W. ,?
has high
damage
threshold
30mm
0.19 .)0um
,?-0.19 .1.310.6 um
100W.3000W @.4.
Water
cooled to
B000W. ,?
has high
damage
threshold
30mm
0.19 .)0um
,?-0.19 .1.310.6 um
)00W.B000W @.4.
Water
cooled to
+0 Oilowatt
D0mm 0.4 .1.3um 10.6um +00W.+0000W @.4.
&elf contained water circulator for water cooled heads to B000W
!hermopile Colume 4bsorber Aeads
Features Aperture
Spectral
Range
Power
Range
Energy
Range
449
low powers
and energies
1mm
!.1" #
$um
!.m% #
&%
!.1m' #
'
general
purpose to
1!%
1$mm
!.1" #
$um
1!m%
#1!%
1m' #
1!'
general
purpose to
&!%
1(mm
!.1" #
$um
$!m%
#&!%
&!m' #
&!'
)ig) energy
and a*erage
power cont.
to &!%+
intermittent to
1,!%
1(mm
!.1" #
&um
$!m%#
1,!%
,!m'
#&!!'
)ig) energy
and a*erage
power
continuous to
1!!%
1(mm
!.1" #
&um
$!m% #
1!!%
,!m'
#&!!'
for long pulse
lasers
,mm
!.1" #
!um
1!m% #
,!%
,!m'
#!!'
fiber optic adapters for model &A#P-1!A-1!A#P
Features Aperture
Spectral
Range
Power
Range
Energy
Range
large aperture
to &!% E.
absorber for
e/cimer
lasers
"mm
!. #
!.0um+
1!.$um
(!m%#
&!%
!m' #
&!'
large aperture ,!mm !. # !!m%# ,!m' #
430
C% to 0!%
intermittent to
1,!% E.
absorber
!.0um+
1!.$um
1,!% !!'
Fan cooled to
,!%. E.
absorber for
e/cimer
lasers
,!mm
!. #
!.0um+
1!.$um
!!m%
#,!%
,!m'
#!

?ulsed *nergy ?yroelectric and ?hotodiode /etectors
!he ?* &eries pyroelectric detectors combine high accuracy high
damage threshold and high repetition rate operation in a single head. ;or
the first time you can measure both long pulses up to +m& and have a
high repetition rate up to 1OA> in the same detector head. !he pulsed
detectors also provide sensitivity down to 1 nJ

;eatures 4perture &pectral Gange *nergy Gange "a%imum
;re9uency
very low
energies to
10mm 0.).1.1um 1nJ . 10uJ 4000A>
431
nJ. silicon
photodiode
low
energies
pyroelectric
10mm 0.19 .10.6um )uJ . 10mJ 3000A>
)3mm
aperture
pyroelectric
77-
broadband
coating
)3%)3mm 0.19 . +um
0.19 . )0um
13uJ . 10JE
)00uJ . 10J
)000A>E
30A>
4Bmm
aperture
pyroelectric
77-
broadband
coating
4Bmm 0.19 . +um
0.19 . )0um
40uJ . 10JE
)00uJ . 10J
)000A>E
30A>
low profile
pyroelectric
head with
remote
electronics
module.
77A has
low
reflectance.
40mm 0.19 .+um 40uJ . )00mJ )000A>
pyroelectric
with
removable
diffuser for
high energy
density
4BmmE
)3mm
with
diffuser
in.
0.4.).3umE
0.4.+um
)00uJ . 30JE
100uJ . +0J
30A>E
+00A>
43)
beam
splitter for
pyro and
thermal
heads
4Bmm 0.19 . +um to W)00JEcm) @.4.
;eatures 4perture &pectral Gange *nergy Gange
"a%imum
;re9uency
low profile
metallic
1)mm 0.19 . +um )uJ . 1J 400A>
low profile
metallic
)3%)3mm 0.19 . +um 100uJ . 10J 40A>
low profile
broadband
)3%)3mm 0.19 . )0um 1mJ . 10J )0A>
low profile
with
diffuser
)0mm 0.4 . +um +mJ . 30J )0A>
low profile
metallic
4Bmm 0.19 . +um 400uJ . 10J )0A>
low profile
broadband
46mm 0.19 . )0um 10mJ . 10J 10A>
low profile 1)mm 0.19 . 1Bum )uJ . 1J 400A>
43+
77A
%iver#ence of Laser .eam ;beam diver#ence O<
!he radiation emitted from a laser is described in figure 1).). !he
straight lines that define the edges of the beam 'points of e
.)
( create an
angle called beam divergence.

;igure 1).)- /ivergence of ,aser 7eam '7eam /ivergence (
4 good appro%imation for the laser beam divergence is-

. 7eam /ivergence 'in Gadians(.
434
d
1
d
)
. 7eam diameters at points #1$ and #)$.
,
1
,
)
H /istances along the laser a%is from the end of the laser to
points #1$ and #)$.
:
e
a
r
=
ie
ld
a
n
d
=
a
r
=
ie
ld
of
a
L
a
se
r
.
e
a
m
!he output coupler of a laser is usually designed to create a
parallel beam out of the laser 'minimum divergence(. 4ccording to the
optical cavity type there is a place where the beam diameter is
minimum. !his place along the beam is called beam waist and from it
further on the beam e%pands. ;igure 1).+ describe a beam out of a semi
circular cavity and the place of the beam waist.
433

;igure 1).+- ,aser beam out of a semi circular optical cavity.
;igure 1).+ shows the inaccuracy of determining beam diameter when
the measurement is done close to the laser output coupler.
3
e
a
s
u
ri
n
#
.
e
a
m
W
ai
st
4nother e%ample of beam diameter can be seen in figure 1).4 for plan
parallel optical cavity.
436
;igure 1).4- ,aser 7eam out of a plan parallel mirror cavity.
In a stable optical cavity with spherical mirrors the beam waist is
determined by-
1. !he radiuses of the end mirrors.
). !he distance between the mirrors.
+. !he wavelength of the laser.
In a symmetric spherical mirror cavity the beam diameter at the center
of the cavity decrease as the ratio between the radius of the mirrors and
the distance between them decrease.
43D
%
ef
in
it
io
n
s
of
:
e
a
r
a
n
d
=
a
r
=
ie
ld
s
!he e9uation for calculating the beam divergence is always
correct at large distances from the laser. !hus it is the #far field$
e9uation and is not necessarily correct near the laser. !he condition of
#far field$ is defined as-

, . distance of the measuring point from the laser.
d . 7eam diameter at the output coupler or beam waist inside the
cavity 'if 1nown(.
. ,aser wavelength.
43B
!he condition of #near field$ is defined as-
7etween the near field and the far field there is a region which is not
defined.
!here is a definition for an artificial border between the near field and
the far field-
;or a Laussian beam the full angle of beam divergence in the far field is-
!he parameters which determines the 7eam /ivergence
;igure 1).3 shows the parameters which determines the beam
divergence-
W
0
. Gadius of the beam waist at the point > H 0.
439
W'>. Gadius of the beam at point >.
;igure 1).3- Laussian 7eam /ivergence.
;igure 1).6 e%plains graphically a compari>on between a beam with
narrow waist and thus high divergence to the same beam after
e%panding the beam waist thus reducing the beam divergence.

;igure 1).6- Aigh and ,ow Laussian 7eam /ivergence.
460

a
yl
ei
#
h

a
n
#
e
Gayleigh range '>
0
( is defined as the distance from the beam
waist until the beam area is doubled 'see figure 1).D(.
;igure 1).D- Gayleigh Gange
4t the distance of Gayleigh Gange the radius of the beam W'>( is
n H !he inde% of refraction of the medium that the beam pass through.
461
Onowing >
0
and the beam radius at >
0
'W
0
( it is easy to calculate the
beam diameter at any point >-


4s first appro%imation for > WW >
0
-
!hus at large distance '>( from the beam waist the beam radius can be
appro%imated as a linear function of >.
46)
6
a
u
ss
ia
n
.
e
a
m
%
iv
e
r
#
e
n
c
e
=sing the mathematical appro%imation for beam radius at large
distances the beam divergence can be determined as-
46+
;or small angles the tangence of the angle can be appro%imated by the
angle in radians and the result is-
0onclusion-
!he beam divergence angle is proportional to TEW
0
thus it is
determined by the amount of diffraction at the beam waist 'W
0
(.
.
e
a
m
%
ia
m
et
e
r
at
t
h
e
=
o
c
al
1
la
n
When a laser beam is focused by a positive lens with focal length f the
spot si>e 'beam diameter( at e
.)
points at the focus can be appro%imated
by-
d8 H fP
464
!hus the beam diameter depends only on-
1.!he focal length of the lens 'f(.
).!he divergence angle 'U( of the beam before the lens 'see figure
1).B(.
;igure 1).B- ;ocusing of a laser beam.
When two parameters out of f U d are 1nown the third can be
calculated.
463
3
e
a
s
u
ri
n
#
t
h
e
1
o
!
e
r
'
r
a
n
s
m
it
te
d
t
h
r
o
u
#
h
a
)
al
ib
r
466
at
e
d
1
in
h
ol
e
4 laser beam is focused by a positive lens into a calibrated
pinhole placed at the focal plan of the lens. !he pinhole diameter must
be less than the focused beam diameter such that part of the beam is
bloc1ed by the pinhole edges.
!he focal length 'f( of the lens must be at least 10 times 'preferably
much more( the diameter of the beam 'd( before the lens to reduce
spherical aberrations.
!he power transmitted through the pinhole is measured and compared
to the measured power without the pinhole. !he relative transmitted
power is calculated and used with the lens and pinhole parameters.
46D
)
h
a
r
a
c
t
e
r
i
s
t
i
c
s

o
f

L
a
s
e
r

a
d
i
a
t
i
o
n

1
u
46B
l
s
e
s

&ome lasers emit their radiation in the pulsed mode. !he
duration of each pulse can range from very short 'the shortest pulses
achieved today are 10
.13
s to very long of the order of second(.
!he e%planation below is divided to-
1. &ingle pulse of laser radiation.
). *%citation of the laser with pulsed energy.
+. ?hysical e%planation of the creation of laser pulses.
4. /ifferent types of pulses.
Si
n
#l
e
1
ul
se
of
L
a
se
r

a
di
at
io
n
4 laser pulse can be described by plotting the laser power as a
function of time 'as seen in figure 1).9(. 4 good appro%imation for the
469
shape of the laser pulse is the triangle. !he ma%imum emitted power is
?
ma%
. "ost laser pulses have a steep rise 'short rise time( and a longer
decay. It is common to consider the pulse duration 't
1E)
( as its width at
half ma%imum '0.3?
ma%
(. !hus the pulse width is the time interval in
which the pulse power is higher than half the ma%imum power- ;WA"
H ;ull Width at Aalf "a%imum.
;igure 1).9- ,aser power as a function of time in pulsed operation
4D0
E
n
e
r
#
y
of
a
Si
n
#l
e
1
ul
se
!he area under the graph in figure 1).9 describe the amount of
energy carried by the pulse and is measured by Joule WEs.
4ppro%imating the pulse shape by a triangle the area of a triangle is half
the length of the base 't
1E)
( times the height '?
ma%
(.
!hus !he pulse energy is-
* H ' t
1E)
(P?
ma%
!his appro%imation which is accurate for triangular pulse is used as a
good appro%imation for all laser pulses.
'he %etection of 4&tical adiation
!he detection of optical radiation is accomplished by converting the
radiant energy into an electric signal whose intensity is measured by
conventional techni9ues. &ome of the physical mechanisms that may be
involved in this conversion include-
a( generation of mobile charge carriers in solid.state photo.
conductive detectors2
b( changing through absorption the temperature of thermocuples
thus causing a change in the 5unction voltage2
4D1
c( release by the photoelectric effect of free electrons from
photoemissive surfaces.
!he most important detectors are-
a( the photomultiplier2
b( the photoconductive detector2
c( the photodiode
d( the avalanche photodiode.
4&tically Induced 'ransition ates
4 common feature of all optical etection schemes is that the
electric signal is proportional to the rate at which electrons are e%cited
by teh optical field. !his e%citation involves a transition of the electron
from some initial bound state 4 to a final state or group of states 7 in
which it is free to move and contribute to the current flow.
;or e%ample in an n.type photoconductive detector state 4
corresponds to electrons in the filled valence band or locali>ed donor
impurity atoms while state 7 corresponds to electrons in the conduction
band. 4 photon of energy hAB is absorbed in teh process of e%citing an
electron from a bound state 4 to a free state 7 in which the electron can
contribute to the current flow.
;ig.1).10 4bsorption of a photon
!he transition rate per electron from state 4 to 7 has to be considered.
!his rate is derived by 9uantum mechanical considerations E6arivE. 4
short presentation is necessary.
Liven a sinusoidal optical field-
4D)
hAB
4
7
[ ] [ ] ( 1 . 1) ' ( ' Ge ( ' ( '
)
1
( '
0 0
e
t V e t E e t E t e
t i t i
+

Where C't(H*'t(e%p'ig
0
t( the transition rate per electron induced by this
field W is proportional to C't(hC
e
't( -
( ) . 1) ' ( ' ( '
e
t V t V 5
B %

it could be easily show that C't(hC

e
't( is e9ual to twice the average value
of e
)
't( where the averaging is performed over a few optical periods.
0onsider now the problem of determining the transition rate due to a
field-
( + . 1) ' ( cos' ( ( ' cos' ( '
1 1 1 0 0 0
+ + + E t E t e
ta1ing -
0 0 1
<<
.
We can rewrite '1).1( as-
[ ] ( 4 . 1) ' ( ' Ge Ge' ( '
0 1 0 1
1
0 0
'
1 0
( '
1
( '
0
t i t i i
t i
t i
e e E e E e E e E t e


+
+
+
+ +
and using '1).1( we identify C't( as
t i t i i
e e E e E
0 1 0
( '
'
1 0
+
+ .
!hus using '1).)( we obtain-
( ) ( )
( 3 . 1) ' ( cos' )
0 1 1 0
)
1
)
0
'
1 0
'
1 0
1 0 1 0


+ + +
+ +
+ +

t E E E E
e E e E e E e E 5
t i i t i i
B %
!his shows that the transition rate has in addition to a constant term '
)
1
)
0
E E + ( a component oscillating at the difference fre9uency g with
4D+
a phase e9ual to the difference of teh two original phases. !his coherent
beating effect forms the basis of the heterodyne detection scheme.
'he 1hotomulti&lier
!he photomultiplier is used to measure radiation in the near ultraviolet
visible and near infrared regions of the spectrum. 7ecause of its inherent
high current amplification and low noise the photomultiplier is one of
the most sensitive instruments. It has been used to detect power levels as
low as about 10
.19
W.
!he photomultiplier consists of a photocathode '0( and a series of
electrodes called dynodes which are labeled 1 to B. !he dynodes are
1ept at progressively higher potentials with respect to teh cathode with a
typical potential difference between ad5acent dynodes of 100 C. !he last
electrode '4( the anode is used to collect the electrons. !he whole
assembly is contained within a vacuum envelope in order to reduce the
possibility of electronic collisions with gas molecules.
!he photocathode is thye most crucial part of the photomultiplier since
it converts the incident optical radiaiton to electronic current and thus
detrmines the wave.length response characteristics of the detector and
its limiting sensitivity. !he photocathode consists of materials with low
surface wor1 functions. !he wor1 function j is the minimum energy
re9uired to lift an electron from the metal into the vacuum so only
photons with hhkW j can be detected. !he vacuum level corresponds to
the energy of an electron at rest an infinite distance from the cathode.
0ompounds involving 4g.<.0s and &b.0s are often used. !hese
compounds posses wor1 functions as low as 1.3 eC as compared to 4.3
eC in typical metals. !his ma1es it possible to detect photons with
longer wavelengths. 4t present the lowest wor1 function materials ma1e
possible photoemission at wavelengths as long as 1 Rm.
!he electrons that are emitted from the photocathode are focused
electrostatically and accelerated toward the first dynode arriving with a
1inetic energy of typically about 100 eC. &econdary emission from
dynode surfaces causes a multiplication of the initial current.. !his
process repeats itself at each dynode until the initial current emitted by
the photocathode is amplified by a very large factor. If the average
secondary emission multiplication at each dynode is Z'that is Z
4D4
secondary electrons for each incident one( and the number of dynodes is
@ the total current multiplication between the cathode and anode is -
L H Z
@
'1).6(
Which for typical values of Z H 3 and @ H9 gives apro%imately L H
)P10
6
.
!he random fluctuations observed in the photomultiplier output are due
to-
a( cathode shot noise-
( ) ( D . 1) ' )
) )
1
+
& c 1
i i e 3 i
where
c
i is the current emitted by teh photocathode due to the signal
power which is incident on it and the current
&
i is the so called dar1
current which is due to teh random thermal e%citation of electrons from
the surface as well as to e%citation by cosmic rays and radioactive
bombardment.
b( /ynode shot noise which is the shot noise due to the
random nature of the secondary emission process at teh dynodes. &ince
current originating at a dynode does not e%ercise the full gain of the
tube the contribution of all the dynodes to teh total shot noise output is
smaller by a factor of Z
.1
than that of the cathode.
c( Johnson noise which the thermal noise associated with the
output resistance G connected across the anode. Its magnitude is given
by-
( B . 1) '
4
( '
)
)
R
0T
i
1

1hotoconductive %etectors
4D3
4 semiconductor crystal is connected n series with a resistance G and a
supply voltage C. !he optical field to be detected is incident on and
abslrbed in the crystal thereby e%citing electrons into the conduction
band 'or in p.type semiconductors holes into the valence band(. &uch
e%citation results in a lowering of the resistance G
d
of the semiconductor
crystal and hence in an increase in the voltage drop across G which for
mG
d
EG
d
aa1 is proportional to teh incident optical intensity.
Semiconductor 1hotodiode
&emiconductor p.n 5unctions are used widely for optical
detection. 4n incoming photon is absorbed in the p. type side creating a
hole and a free electron. If this ta1es place within a diffusion length 'the
distance in which an e%cess minority concentration is reduced to e
.1
of
its pea1 value or the average distance a minority carrier traverses before
recombining with a carrier of the opposite type( of the depletion layer
the electron will with high probability reach the layer boundary and
will drift under the field influence across it. 4n electron traversing the
5unction contributes a charge e to the current flow in the e%ternal circuit.
4 photodiode is capable of detecting only radiation with photon
energy hk W*
g
where *
g
is the energy gap of the semiconductor.
'he Avalanche 1hotodiode
4valanche photodiodes are similar in their construction to ordinary
photodiodes e%cept that because of the steep dependence of " on the
applied field in the avalanche region special cae mustbe e%ercised to
obtain very uniform 5unctions.
4D6