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Laser Physics Paper ( 2022 )

The document provides an overview of Neodymium-doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet (Nd:YAG) lasers, detailing their construction, operation, and the principles of laser physics. It explains the four-level laser system, the role of pumping sources, optical resonators, and the process of stimulated emission leading to laser output. Additionally, it discusses Q-switching techniques for generating pulsed lasers and the characteristics that differentiate laser light from ordinary light.

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3 views

Laser Physics Paper ( 2022 )

The document provides an overview of Neodymium-doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet (Nd:YAG) lasers, detailing their construction, operation, and the principles of laser physics. It explains the four-level laser system, the role of pumping sources, optical resonators, and the process of stimulated emission leading to laser output. Additionally, it discusses Q-switching techniques for generating pulsed lasers and the characteristics that differentiate laser light from ordinary light.

Uploaded by

tron8883
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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CHAPTER — 05] TYPES OF LASER yo AZTLAN et eer err ane DAU ee |NDWAGLASER IY IT YORE Soy CY we man © solid state laser in which Nd; YAG is used as a lasing medium is Neodymium-doped Yttrium Aluminum Gamet (Nd; YAG) laser, . Nd: YAG laser is a 4-level laser system, These lasers operate in both pulsed and continuous mode, * Ndi YAG laser generates laser light in the near-infrared region of the Spectrum at 1064 nm. It also emits laser light at several different wavelengths including 1440 nm, 1320 nm, 1120 nm, and 940 nm, CONSTRUCTION Nd:YAG laser consists of three elements called pumping source, active medium and optical resonator, PUMPING SOURCE % : a The pumping source supplies energy to the active medium to achieve population inversion, Flashtube or laser diodes are used as pumping source. Laser diodes are preferred over flashtubes because of its high efficiency and low cost. called a : @ scanned with OKEN Scanner LASER PHYSICS for B.S. & M.Sc, 160 Satie | ING phot laser diodes are used to supply energy to the active medium to population inversion. E ‘ : The four levels of Nd: YAG laser are involyed in lasing action. The 4~) E;, and Ey have “N” population of atoms. The population of atoms in the E, Ez, Es, and Eq are Ni, No, Na, and Ng respectively. Assume that energy levels ate ag E,; < E2 N2 >N3 > Ny. The atoms of lower state (E;) in the neodymium ions gains enough energy and moves to the pumping state Ey due to pumping. Achieve j levels, g energy State Oe Es Te ey oe Es vn aonna— Ez inversion i ne The lifetime of pumping state E; is very short. The atoms in energy state E, do not stay there for a long period. The atoms fall into the metastable state E; by releasing non- radiation energy. The lifetime of metastable state E3 is high as compared to the lifetime of pumping state Ey. The atoms reach Es much faster than they leave Es. It increases the population of atoms in the metastable state E3. The population inversion is created in level “E;”, The atoms of metastable state “E;” fall into the next lower state “E,” by releasing photons after completing lifetime. The emission of photons in this process is spontaneous. coon 1 @ scanned with OKEN Scanner |APTER — 05] TYPES OF LASER ——__161 _ “The lifetime of state E2 is very short, The atoms of energy state E) fall back to the ind state B) by releasing radiationless energy. | When photon emitted due to spontaneous emission is interacted with the other atom |r metastable state, it stimulates that atom. As a fesull, (wo photons are re The jnission of photons in this process is called stimulated emission. Oa Ee Cees, Weicila Es Es DmeneneneneelihBcamn E2 ke :, 200-208. 5, —228-888.:, When these two photons again interact with the atoms of metastable state hotons are released. N i Me Ss These generated photons bounce back and forth between the two mir h multe thar atoms to fall into the lower energy state by releasing photons. In >» aillions of atoms are sti toem This called laser output. \DVANTAGES Lor “power consumpti : . A t posterior capsular opacification(a condition that :YAG lasers are used to remove skin cancers S @ scanned with OKEN Scanner 4) » Qr* Sa LASER PHYSICS for B.S. & M.Sc. Classes (efi E@ “wee ie wot OPTICAL RESONATOR the signal can be amplified via stimulated emission with a population inversion, The overall gain is quite small. Most of the excited atoms in the population inversion _ emit spontaneously and do not contribute to the output, Therefore a resonator is required for' positive feedback f | An optical resonator has two mirrors, The active medium is placed between these mirrors. The mirrors reflect lasing photons back and forth’ so that stimulated ‘emission continues to build up for laser action. The photons produced by spontaneous decay are not along the axis of resonator so they are not amplified. The photons produced by stimulated emission are along the axis of resonator so they are amplified. The "back" mirror is 100% reflective. The "front" mirror is 95 - 99% reflective. The laser light leaks out through front mirror from the laser device. = The output of a laser may be a continuous waye. It can be pulsed by using the techniques of Q-switching, mode-locking or gain-switching.. @ scanned with OKEN Scanner The roontor ssid tobe sable the oat Deas covepe nthe cei, The ‘utp mirror of the Inser resonator Is finely coated to reach the required reflection ito ‘he cavity. ithe beam is too intense, the mirror may suller bresage. Breakage isin, ‘because it catses shutdown of the production. So for power up to 2kW, leer nay use sable cavity designs. ‘& Laser output i from the center of optieal axis ‘& Stable cavity design allows the bear to exile mary ‘ies imide the cavity ot Mh xi, the fel property and directionality are imposed ‘Tes epically used with low power laser, 3.7 Unstable Resonator A reconator i nid to be unstable ifthe osilating beam Fe 38 harm oes not converge into the cavity 7 ‘% For higher powered lasers, unstable cavities are often ‘wed ‘Laser output comes from the edge of output mirror which ‘soften « totally reflecting mirror, rather then optical exis. Vig. 3.7. An wntae rman, 2 "The ring, shaped bey evices the tensity of the enn, hse Mh I reakage. In the satne time, ring shape beam is poor for foetsing 1+ Unstable envities are suitable for higher gain per round-trip ter nyse Wh day require large miter of ecillntion between the mirrors | Usually beam size is Inrger than stable resonator beam. beease se will row uty is Inger than the reflectors nnd then escape the systeny7 @ scanned with OKEN Scanner @ scanned with OKEN Scanner Qed @ — Laser modes coupling together. @ ~~ Lock their phases to each other. yatta tein Pl feen ON RS, Q.14 Describe how Q-= switching is used to get pulsing lasers. Q-SWITCHING aicadyan 4 The Q-switching is used to generate intense short pulses of light with a laser. produces a high output pulse. The Q-switching produces a high population inversion the metastable state The stored energy is emitted in the form of very intense pulse of las radiation. The Q-switched lasers produce pulses of 10 ns to 250 ns. Laser Resonator ‘Pamping source Laser diode power supply The quality factor Q ofa laser is the ability of the cavity to store energy. 1 optical cavity increases the quality factor Q from low value to a high value Q-switching. The high value of Q means, high energy can be stored in the cavity. 1 low value of Q means, cavity will dissipate its energy rapidly. “a " @ scanned with OKEN Scanner R-04 ] LASER CAVITY 109 A INIQUES OF THE Q-SWITCHING ) There are four different tec hniques of Q—switehing: 2 Mechanical shutters 2. Rotating reflector method 3. Electro-optical shutters 4. Pa e shutter [ Phese techniques of Q -switching are explained as: Decne ‘AL SHUTTERS = _A shutter introduced in front of one of the mirrors in laser | mechanical shutter. The active medium is continuously pumped by ke _ Glosed. The population inversion in the cavity goes on increasing and ulti to a high value. The shutter is opened suddenly when high population inversion ‘nergy stored in the cavity will be released in the form of a short pulse of intensity. If the shutter is opened in a time much shorter than the ti building of laser oscillation, the output would consist of a giant puls: Shutter opening is slow, the output would be a series of pulses having sm power. = Rear Mirror x AdjustmentKnobs" "ATING REFLECTOR METHOD end mirror of the cavity is replaced with @ 100% reflecting pris g r method of Q-switching. prism spins rapidly around its axis prism revolves, it faces the cavity a short time. The Q-value ‘drops to minimum as it revolves @ scanned with OKEN Scanner Spinning retiector (Porro prism) Fe Rotating reflector methed of The laser action can occur on} ignment with e f ly When the prism j into alii tt laser cavity. If the rotating reflector’ rotates at “000 ue Se time in which Q-value of cavity switches from its maximum to minimum value is about 10-5: In place of total reflecting prism, the total reflecting mi i mator : I» ecting ical reso’ 4 be made to rotate with the help of motor. The speed Teel ae resonator length 50 cm is of the order of 30,000 rev/min. 3, ELECTRO-OPTICAL SHUTTERS The electro-optical shutters alter the refractive index of a cell by applying electric field to obtain faster Q-switching. Two such effects are called Rockels effect and Kerr effect, I. POCKELS EFFECT. ‘A erystal cell like potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) is a device which subjected to an applied de voltage, becomes birefringent. The crystal which splits light wave into two waves travelling at different velocities is called Birefringent] crystal offers different refractive indices for different polarized light. Onc way 1c g refractive index no. Other wave is called extraordinaryy @ scanned with OKEN Scanner er and the cell is without any Y loss, the cell becomes birefringent and rotates the g through it by 90°. The passage of light ; when Pockels cell is off. The qualit fution. The cell made of r. These dyes are chosen on. The concentration oe ‘the dye cell in the @ scanned with OKEN Scanner TERS CONTINVOLS WAVE (CW) AND PUTSED LASER ont comunon type is an arotisto- WQ-switching is required for shorter intervals then the lo-optic shutter consists of ferystal attached to a pene egiie modulator. An acou dectric transducer. When a radio freqnency (RF) signal is applic, acoustic waves: are eoerated which propagate in the quartz crystal. The acoustic waves ereate an effective fraction grating in the quartz crystal. When the acoustic wavw is switched off, the cqvtal oF glass piece transmits light, whereas strong Bragg reflection occurs when the acoustic wave is switched on, and the light beam is deflected out of the laser cavity. The acoustic wave is generated with an electronic driver with an RF power of the order of AW (several watts for large aperture devices) and an RF of the order of 100 MHz, When the acoustic wave is turned off, light passes through the crystal undeflected and re-enters the laser for further amplification. The device is operated as a modulator by keeping the scoustic wavelength (frequency) fixed and varying the drive power to vary the amount of ight in the reflected beam. The setup of an acoustic optic Q-switch is shown in Fig. (5.9) Abnerber Diced Bex Aga Mean “Tranaaiaed ean Preroclecn: randacer Fig. 8.9. The schematic setup of « no-remmant acousto-optic modulator. cere are several limitations associated with the design and performance of acousto-optic sdulators. The time taken for the acoustic wave to travel across the diameter of the St beam gives a limitation on the switching speed, and hence limits the modulation adwidth. Also, damage threshold has to be taken into account, for example, higher ‘cal intensities can be tolerated by crystalline quartz or fused silica, but at the cost tigher acoustic powers ( and thus also RF powers ). The acoustic power required also ‘ends on the optical aperture of the device: large aperture devices, as required for high @ scanned with OKEN Scanner patel The hydrogen Hy and fuoring rogen fluoride molecule (2HF) in , an exch iy Vy LASER \S*° oy _ The word laser is acronym for “i 4G Radiation”: Its one of the outs 5, > Q ° Laser light soure a i Ne fe ce is much different from nt f inary ligh ‘ ® \or~ Laser is widely used as high power beat Ba : ° Laser is not used for illumination ght Ampli a landing inventions ore a by Stimulated Emission © * Ordinary light has multiple wavelengths, multidireetional and incoherent. , ional and i + ° Laser light is monochromati omatic, unidirectional, high i : . » high int id coherent. * Laser light can be produced as polarized light ee © Laser can generates short pulses at high power y Aeaprencenc i The light emitted by a laser is confined in a narrow cone, It slowly diverges W laser beam propagates outward. The beam divergence is the angular measure of increase in the radius or diameter with distance from the optical aperture.) Consider beam diameter d) and d) at two separate distances. The distances Z measured between the end of the laser and point “1” along the axis of the laser. distances Z> is measured between the end of the laser and point “2” along the axis of laser. The divergence angle is taken as the full angle calculated by using relation(S =r a) as of opening of the beam. Its val @ scanned with OKEN Scanner e divergence angle is given as 6 = Moo) -%, ii of the beam at Z, and Z. The “size of the beam t ‘use of beam divergence, vergence is given as 4 20 4 20 is the ™ diamet i os itis large ‘cr of the beam waist, The divergence is inversely for a beam of small waist, ‘€tgence due to diffraction is determined from R: hi hae Oo = 11.23 D is diameter of aperture of laser. The “diffraction divergence” is ab waist divergence” in case of gas lasers. ayleigh’s criterion as SITY, ~~ al power per unit area is called optical intensity 1” of a laser be through an imagined surface perpendicular to the propagatio P hee y ical i i i ity is Wim?. The power ‘output o: ical intensity (or light intensity is W, my ere mW to a few kW. This is concentrated in a bean having st @ scanned with OKEN Scanner & Scanned with OKEN Scanner The coherenc e 'Y requires a co at one point and time and the nnection between the amplitud ted n le and p) ‘The coherent photons are skews on and phase of the light at another poi light having single wavelength is called monochromatic. The laser I The laser light is colored due to single wav city is the major characteristics of laser that make it different from Bato hromaticity can be proved using a glass prism. The brea into component colors with gradual bending from short wavelength he prism does not spread laser beam into different colors. magnetic fields vibrating perpendicular to each other an give rise to light waves. The polarization is meas magnetic field in a light wave. ¢ field remains in one plane while its magr ized light beam. The conventional light @ scanned with OKEN Scanner

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