Module - II

LASERS AND OPTICAL FIBERS

LASER is the acronym of Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. It is

highly parallel coherent beam of light of very high intensity. T H Maiman, an American
physicist in 1960 fabricated the first laser.
Basic principles: Light radiation interacts with matter under appropriate condition. Due to
this the atoms undergo transition from one energy state to another. But if the transition takes
place from higher to lower energy state, the system will give out a part of its energy.

Consider two energy states E1 and E2 of a system. Then the

difference between the two energy states, E = (E2 – E1). If an
electron at the energy state E1 is excited by absorbing a photon
of high energy, it can move to a higher energy state E2. The
energy absorbed by the electron must be equal to the difference
between the two energy levels.

But according to Planck’s theory, the frequency corresponding to the energy E is

 = E/h = (E2 -E1) / h
where  is the frequency required for the transition of an electron to the higher energy state.
Or in the other way, if an electron in the energy state E2 emits a photon of frequency , then
the electron should occupy the energy state E1.

There are three possible ways in which interaction of radiation and matter can take place.
1. induced absorption 2) spontaneous emission and 3) stimulated emission.
1. Induced absorption: In this interaction, the atom absorbs all the energy of the incident
photon and excite to the higher energy level such that the difference in the energy of the
two states must be the energy of the incident photon.
Consider two energy states E1 and E2. Let a photon having an energy E= (E2-E1) be
incident on the atom. As a result the atom absorbs the photon of energy E and the
energy becomes E1+ E = E2. Hence the atom makes a transition to the excited state. This
is called induced absorption.

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  atom + photon  atom* (atom* - atom in the excited state)
2. Spontaneous emission: It is the emission of a photon, when an atom falls from a higher
energy state to a lower energy state without the aid of any external agency.
Consider an atom in the excited state. The atom voluntarily emits a photon of energy E
equal to (E2-E1) and falls to the energy state E1. The emission where an atom emits a
photon without any aid by external agency is called spontaneous emission. The photon
emitted may have any direction. Hence they are in-coherent. This is the kind of emission
that occurs in glowing electric bulb or a candle flame.
 atom*  atom + photon

3. Stimulated emission: In this an atom in an excited or higher energy level is stimulated to

fall to the lower state and emit photon energy. The photon thus emitted is called the
stimulated photon and will have same phase energy and direction of movement as that of
the passing photon called the stimulating photon.
Consider an atom in the excited state. Let a photon having an energy E= (E2-E1) interact
with the atom. The atom emits a photon and transits to the lower energy state. The two
photons travel in the same direction with exactly the same energy. The electromagnetic
wave associated with the two photons will have identical phase and thus they are
coherent. The directional coherent beam is the laser.
 atom* + photon  atom + photon + photon

Einstein’s Coefficients
According to Einstein, there is an exchange of energy between
matter and radiation which must be in equilibrium. Hence he
provided a theory which involved important parameters known as
Einstein’s coefficients which gives the probability of absorption
and emission process.

Consider two energy states E1 and E2 of a system of atoms. Let N1 be the number of atoms in
E1 and N2 be the number of atoms in E2 per unit volume of the system.  N1 and N2 are
called the number density of atoms in the state 1 and 2 respectively. Let U d be the energy
of the incident radiation/unit volume of the system where radiation lie in the range  & +d.
Then U represents the energy density of frequency .

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Case (i): Induced absorption: The atom in the level E1 can undergo a transition to the level
E 2  E1
E2 by absorbing a radiation of suitable frequency,   . The number of such
h
absorptions per unit time per unit volume is called rate of absorption. It depends on a) the
number density of lower energy state i.e. N1 and b) the energy density U.
 Rate of absorption  N1 U
or Rate of absorption = B12 N1 U --- (1) where B12 is the coefficient of induced absorption.

Case (ii): Spontaneous emission: In this case, an atom in the higher energy state E2 undergo a
transition to the lower energy state E1 voluntarily, by emitting a photon and it is independent
of energy density of any incident frequency. The number of such spontaneous emission per
unit time per unit volume is called the rate of spontaneous emission which is proportional to
the number density in the higher energy state i.e. N2.
 Rate of spontaneous emission = A21 N2 ---- (2)
where A21 is the Einstein’s coefficient of spontaneous emission
E 2  E1
Case (iii): Stimulated emission: It requires an external photon of frequency   to
h
stimulate the atom from higher energy state to lower energy state.
The number of stimulated emission per unit time per unit volume is called rate of stimulated
emission and is proportional to N2 and energy density U.
Rate of stimulated emission = B21 U N2 ---- (3)
where B21 is the Einstein’s coefficient of stimulated emission.

Let the system be in thermal equilibrium. Under such conditions, the number of photons
absorbed by the system per second must be equal to the number of photons it emits per
second by both the stimulated and spontaneous emission process.
Rate of absorption = rate of spontaneous emission + rate of stimulated emission
 B12 U N1 = A21 N2 + B21 U N2
Or U (B12 N1- B21 N2) = A21 N2
A21 N 2
U  
B12 N 1  B21 N 2

 
A 21  N2 
U    
B 21  B 12
N1  N 2 
 B 21 

Dividing N2 to the numerator and denominator, we have

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  
 
Or  U   A21 
1
 ---- (4)
B 21  B12 N 1  1 
B N 
 21 2 
But by Boltzmann’s law, we have
 E  E1   h 
 2   
 N 2  N 1e  kT 
 N 1e  kT 

 h  
N  
 1
 e  kT 
---- (5)
N 2

 
 
A 21  1  --- (6)
U  
B 21  B 12 kTh

 e  1
 B 21 

But according to Planck’s law,

 
8 h  3
 1  --- (7)
U  
c3  h

e kT
 1
Comparing equation (6) and (7) we have,
A 21 8 h  3
B 12
 and 1
B 21 c3 B 21

B12 = B21 = B and A21 = A

A
 U   h
 
B  e kT
 1 
 
Laser cavity
A laser device consists of an active medium
bound between two parallel mirrors of high
reflectivity. The mirror reflects the photons to and
pro through the active medium. Thus, the two
mirrors along with the medium is called laser cavity, inside which two types of waves exist,
one moving towards the right and other to the left. The waves interfere constructively or
destructively depending on the phase difference. In order to arrange for constructive
interference, the distance L between the two mirrors should be such that the cavity should be
integral multiple of half wavelength (λ/2) i.e. L = mλ/2, where m is an integer. Thus, the
radiation inside the laser cavity builds up resulting in amplification of stimulated emission of
radiation, which is a laser light.
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Requisites of laser system: For any lasing system it needs the following.
1) An energy source for pumping action.
2) An active medium for supporting population inversion.
3) A laser cavity.
The energy source provides the energy for pumping the atoms to the higher energy levels.
This energy may be in the form of light energy. This pumping is called optical pumping. The
energy will be absorbed by the active medium in which population inversion occurs and the
laser cavity provides the feedback necessary to tap certain permissible part of laser energy
from the active medium.

Condition for lasing action

The conditions for continuous laser beam are population inversion and metastable states.
1.Population inversion: For any lasing action, the number of atoms in the higher energy
state must be greater than the lower energy state and this condition is called population
inversion. Under normal condition, the population is more in lower state. But for stimulated
emission, more atoms must be present in the excited state which can be achieved by some
artificial means i.e. by providing energy or pumping energy into the active medium of the
lasing material.
2. Metastable state: It is a state different from the ordinary excited state. The atoms which
are excited to the higher energy states remain for a short duration of 10-8 sec and return to
one of the lower energy state, where they remain for longer time around 10 -3 sec to 10-2 sec.
These states are called metastable states. The transition from the metastable to the ground
state is the lasing transition, during which stimulated emission can occur by passing a
photon.
Consider 3 energy levels E1, E2 and E3 of a quantum
system. Let E2 be a metastable state of the system. By
the supply of external energy the atoms get excited
from E1 to E3. The atoms in E3 undergo spontaneous
transition to E1 and E2 rapidly. Since E2 is a
metastable state, the atoms in this state stay for a longer time duration because of which the
population in E2 increases steadily which is the population inversion.
Once the population of E2 exceeds E1, the stimulated emission takes place. Such stimulated
photons which are all identical in respect of phase, wavelength and direction, grow to a very
large number which build up the laser light.

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Characteristics of a laser beam
1) Directionality: Laser beam is a highly directional and highly collimated beam of light.
2) Monochromaticity: If the line width of radiation emitted by a Na source of wavelength
5896A0 is equal to 1 then the line width of radiation emitted by a He-Ne laser beam of
wavelength 6328A0 is 10-7 which is 10 million times better than that of Na source. Hence
it is highly monochromatic.
3) Coherence: If the phase difference between different wavefronts of the propagating light
is same at different time, then the wave is said to be highly coherent. The laser light is
highly coherent.
4) Light intensity: The intensity is 100 times more than the light from the sun of equal
surface area.
5) Focussiblity: It can be brought to a sharp focus even at large distance.

Carbon Dioxide Laser

The carbon dioxide laser was invented by Kumar Patel from Bell Laboratory in 1964. It is
one of the most efficient lasers amongst the different types of molecular gas lasers because of
their high power output. It produces a beam of infrared light with the principal wavelength
band covering around 9.6µm and 10.6 µm. A
CO2 molecule is made up of 3 atoms. Thus in
addition to electronic motions, atoms in the
molecule may vibrate in different modes or
rotate about different axes. The 3 modes of
vibrational motions are symmetric mode,
deformation or bending mode and asymmetric
mode as shown in the diagram. The energy
difference between various vibrational levels
corresponds to infrared region.
Construction: The schematic diagram of CO2 laser is as shown.

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It consists of a discharge tube having a bore of cross section of about 1.5mm 2 and length
26cm, with two electrodes at both ends. The windows W1 and W2 at the ends are fitted at
Brewster’s angle. The electrodes are connected to a power supply which provides current for
the discharge. The discharge tube is filled with a mixture of CO2 and N2 in the ratio 0.8 : 1.
The N2 gas is used to increase the efficiency of the laser. Other additives such as water
vapour and helium gases are also added.

Working: The energy level diagram of the active mixture is as shown in the diagram.

When current passes through the mixture of gases, the N2 molecules get excited to the higher
level which is a metastable state and molecules build up in that level. The N2 molecules
undergo inelastic collisions with ground state CO2 molecule and excite them to the E5 level,
where the excited state of N2 molecule is identical in energy to (001) vibrational level of CO2.
The processes can be represented as
e1 +N2 = e2+N2*,
N2* + CO2 = N2 + CO2*
Where e1 and e2 are the energy values of the electrons before and after collision and
N2, CO2 and N2* CO2* are the energy values of the nitrogen and CO 2 molecules in the
ground and excited states
Due to this the population of CO2 molecules builds up at the E5 level and hence population
inversion takes place. These molecules jump to lower energy state E 4 and E3 giving out 2
laser lights of frequency 10.6 µm and 9.6µm respectively. The remaining decay from E 4 to
E3, E3 to E2 or E2 to ground state will dissipate energy in the form of heat instead of light.
The laser works in continuous wave mode and hence it is used in industrial applications like
laser cutting, drilling, welding, medical field to destroy infected tissues in the wound etc.

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Applications
Due to the high intensity, high mono-chromaticity and coherence, lasers find many
applications in different fields.

1. LIDAR: Laser Rangefinder

LiDAR - Light Detection and Ranging - is an
active remote sensing system that can be used
to measure the distance of an object on the
earth’s surface. Rangefinder is one such
LIDAR that measures the distance from the
observer to a target for the purposes of surveying, auto-focusing or accurately aiming a
weapon or enemy without the enemy’s knowledge. The laser rangefinder uses a high power
pulsed laser signal, which is directed towards the enemy target from a transmitter. Upon
incidence, the beam bounces from the surface of the target and the signal is received by the
receiver. An internal clock then measures the time it takes for the beam to reach the target
and back and finally calculates the distance and then displays the distance on an internal
display. The receiver consists of reflector, photo-detector and amplifier.
LIDARS have numerous applications such as to designating Bombs ie by shining lasers at the
target, the bomb is released at the precise location of the target, to determine the depth of
snow in inaccessible areas, air pollutant distribution, attitude characterization of space debris,
trajectory of aircraft, satellites. Laser technology is more cost effective.
Applications: Key applications for LiDAR sensors include remote sensing, agriculture,
military, security, forestry, automotive, robotics, industrial, and unmanned aerial vehicle
(UAV) applications. They can be used for speed, 3D imaging, speed detection, and collision-
avoidance. Some specific applications where LiDAR has played a basic role include:
 Forest planning and management
 Forest fire management
 Flooded area maps
 Coastal mapping
 Agriculture
 Oil and gas exploration
 Mining
 Accident scene

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 2. Road Profiling: (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3444093/)
In road construction, renovation or expansion, it is a prerequisite for the engineers and scientists to
have accurate and reliable data that will have productive
work. Road profiling is the analysis and estimation of road
texture and its roughness. A profiler is an instrument that
produces the values related to road surface. It works on
three basic systems, reference elevation, height relative to
reference and longitudinal distance. A laser spot is
projected on the surface of the material to be measured.
The laser beam undergoes a reflection, where the
magnitude of the reflection depends on the type of surface targeted; a part of the reflected
signal hits the receiving sensor positioned at a known distance. By repeating this operation
for all the points in which it is possible to discretize the surface of the object

3. Laser barcode: (https://www.denso-wave.com/en/adcd/fundamental/barcode/scan/index.html)

A barcode scanner, or barcode reader, is a device
which consists of three different parts including
the illumination system, the sensor, and the
decoder. It “scans” the black and white elements
of a barcode by illuminating the code with a red
light and captures the information contained in
barcodes. The sensor (Photodiode) in the barcode
scanner detects the reflected light from the
illumination system (the red light) and generates an analog signal that is sent to the
decoder. The decoder interprets that signal, validates the barcode using the check digit,
and converts it into text. This converted text is delivered by the scanner to a computer
software system holding a database of the products.
Principles of bar code reading (https:// www.ex plainthatstuff. com/barcodescanners.ht ml)

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A bar code consists of white and black bars. Data retrieval is achieved when bar code
scanners shine a light at a bar code, capture the reflected light and replace the black and white
bars with binary digital signals. Reflections are strong in white areas and weak in black areas.
A sensor receives reflections to obtain analog waveforms. The analog signal is converted into
a digital signal via an A/D converter. (Binarization). Data retrieval is achieved when a code
system is determined from the digital signal obtained. (Decoding process). Laser scanners use
a laser beam as a light source and typically employ oscillating mirrors or rotating prisms to
scan the laser beam back and forth across the barcode.

4. Laser Printers
A laser printer is a popular type of
computer printer that uses a non-impact
photocopier technology where there are no keys
striking the paper. Their principle of operation
involves electrophotography, also called
xerography, similar to the process used in
photocopy machines.
A laser beam projects an image of the page to be
printed onto an electrically charged rotating drum
coated with selenium. Photoconductivity removes charge from the areas exposed to light. Dry
ink (toner) particles are then electrostatically picked up by the drum's charged areas. The
drum then prints the image onto paper by direct contact and heat, which fuses the ink to the
paper.
Like a photocopier, laser printers read the electronic data from the computer as tiny dots that
make up the text and images – one horizontal line at a time. As the beam moves across the
drum, the laser emits a pulse of light for every dot to be printed, and no pulse for empty
space. The laser doesn't actually move the beam itself. It bounces the beam off a movable
mirror instead. As the mirror moves, it shines the beam through a series of Lenses. The laser
assembly moves in only one plane, horizontally. After each horizontal scan, the printer moves
the photoreceptor drum up a notch so the laser assembly can draw the next line. A small
print-engine computer synchronizes all of this perfectly, even at dizzying speeds.
Color laser printers use colored toner (dry ink)' typically cyan, magenta, yellow, and black
(CMYK)' While monochrome printers only use one laser scanner assembly, color printers
often have two or more scanner assemblies.

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