Engineering Physics Module - 3
Engineering Physics Module - 3
Module 3
Introduction:
LASER is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Laser
produces narrow, amplified, coherent beam of light. Production of laser is as a result of interaction
of radiation with matter. First laser was built by Theodore H. Maiman in 1960
1 Angular spread In ordinary light the angular spread In laser beam the angular spread
is more is less.
2 Directionality They are not directional They are highly directional
3 Intensity It is less intense It is highly intense
4 Coherence It is not a coherent beam and is not It is a coherent beam and is in
in phase phase
5 wavelength The radiation are polychromatic The radiations are
monochromatic
6 Example Sun light, Mercury vapor lamp He- Ne Laser, Co2 laser
Let us discuss them in detail. Consider a system with two energy states E1 (lower state) and E2
(higher state)
Induced Absorption: A system in a lower state E1 absorbs radiation and going to a higher state
E2 is called induced absorption. This can happen if and only if the energy of the radiation is at
least equal to the difference between the energy levels. This can be represented by the equation,
ℎ𝜈 = 𝐸2 − 𝐸1 .
Spontaneous Emission: A system at a higher energy level E2 comes to the lower energy level E1
by emitting radiation of energy,
ℎ𝜈 = 𝐸2 − 𝐸1 ,
by itself without the aid of any external agency is called spontaneous emission. The process of
spontaneous emission is represented in figure 3.2
Stimulated Emission: A system at a higher energy level E2 comes to the lower energy level E1,
by the emission of radiation of energy
E = ℎ𝜈 = 𝐸2 − 𝐸1 ,
if and only if another photon of same energy is passed by. There are 2 emitted photons, both (in
same phase, 𝜆, amplitude) coherent. One is called stimulating Photon & other stimulated photon.
Einstein’s coefficients:
Einstein obtained an expression for energy density at thermal equilibrium of a system, in terms of
important parameters known as Einstein’s coefficients.
Induced Absorption: Here the atoms at level E1 goes to E2 by absorbing radiation of energy
E2 − E1
hν = E2 − E1 ∶ ν =
h
The rate of induced absorption is proportional to,
i) No. of atoms/unit volume in state E1 &
ii) Energy density of incident radiation 𝑈𝜈
Spontaneous emission: Here the atoms at level E2, come to E1, by itself, by emitting radiation of
energy
E2 – 𝐸1
E = E2 – E1 or 𝜈 = h
The rate of spontaneous emission is proportional to the number of atoms/unit volume in level E2.
Rate of spontaneous emission 𝛼 N2
Rate of spontaneous emission = A21N2 ……………….……(2)
A21Einstein’s coefficient of spontaneous emission or probability of spontaneous emission.
Stimulated Emission: Here, the atoms at level E2 comes to state E1, by emitting photon of energy
E = E2-E1, only if it is aided by another photon of same energy. The rate of stimulated emission
is proportional to
𝐴21 𝑁2 𝐴21 𝑁2
𝑈𝜈 = = 𝐵 𝑁 ---------- (5)
(𝐵12 𝑁1 −𝐵21 𝑁2 ) 𝐵21 𝑁2 ( 12 1 − 1)
𝐵21 𝑁2
A 1
U 2 1 …….……….(7)
B2 1
h
1 2 e kT 1
B
B2 1
𝑣3 1
According to Planck’s law, 𝑈𝜈 = 8𝜋ℎ { ℎ𝑣 } ……..……. (8)
𝑐3
(𝑒 𝐾𝑇−1)
𝐴21 8𝜋ℎ𝑣 3
Comparing (7) & (8) , =
𝐵21 𝐶3
𝐵12
=1 ∴ 𝐵12 = 𝐵21
𝐵21
Therefore,
Einstein’s coefficient for induced absorption = Einstein’s coefficient for stimulated emission.
𝐴
In general, 𝑈𝜈 = -------------------- (9)
𝐵(𝑒 ℎ𝑣/𝐾𝑇 −1)
𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐵21𝑁2 𝑈𝜈 𝐵 𝑁
i) = = ( 21 ) 2
𝐴𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐵21𝑁1 𝑈𝜈 𝐵 𝑁
12 1
𝑁
= 𝑁2 (𝐵21 = 𝐵12 )
1
Laser action :
Condition and requisites for Laser action :- The process of stimulated emission dominates only
when the population of the higher energy state (E2) is higher than the population of the lower
energy (E1). This condition is called population inversion. The stimulated emission results in the
emission of stimulated photons. This is called laser emission.
For laser action to take place the requisites are,
Laser cavity: It converts the active medium into light generator. It consists of the active medium
bound between two mirrors. (The active medium together with the two mirrors form optical
cavity). One mirror is 100% reflecting and the other is 90% reflecting. The two mirrors along
with the active medium form the cavity, in which two types of waves, one moving towards right
and the other moving towards left exist. The length of the optical cavity should be designed in
such a way that, path length travelled by the wave 2L (L length of optical cavity) should support
constructive interference.
𝑚𝜆
i.e. 2L = m𝜆 or 𝐿 = 2
Active medium: A medium in which light gets amplified. The medium can be solid, liquid or
gas. Only a small fraction of the medium is responsible for stimulated emission and amplification
and they are called active centres. The remaining part of the medium supports the active centres.
Pumping: The process of exciting the atoms to the required higher energy level is called pumping.
If pumping is done by optical energy, it is called optical pumping. [eg.: Ruby laser]. The pumping
done by electrical energy is called electrical pumping. [eg.: He-Ne laser]. If pumping is done by
chemical reactions, it is called chemical pumping.
Metastable state: Any ordinary excited state cannot be used to achieve the condition for
population inversion. Metastable state is a special excited state, where an atom can stay for more
than a milli second (10-3 sec). But in an ordinary excited state, an atom can stay for less than 10 -9
sec (nano sec). The metastable state helps to attain the population inversion.
Population inversion: Normally, the population of atoms in lower energy state is always
greater than the population of atoms in higher energy state. Consider three energy state E1, E2 &
E3, where E1 < E2 < E3. Let E2 be the metastable state. By supplying suitable energy let the
system goes from E1 to E3. E3 being an ordinary excited state, atoms get de-excited from E3 toE2
or E1 as represented in figure 3.4
At E2, atoms can stay for more than millisecond. So the population of atoms at E2 increases rapidly
and becomes greater than the population of E1. This condition, where the population of higher
energy state is greater than the lower energy state is called “Population inversion”.
Stimulated emission: The process in which an external photon is used to make a system come
from its excited state to lower state, thereby emitting two coherent photons is called stimulated
emission. Once population inversion is attained stimulated emission can be made to happen by
passing a photon of right energy. All the atoms in the metastable state can be brought to ground
state, by emitting photons of same energy and phase.
Directionality
Ordinary light lacks directionality and spreads in all directions. The average angular spread is
1m/m. On the contrary, Laser radiation is highly directional and has a less angular spread of around
1mm/m.
For example, the laser beam can be focused to very long distance with less divergence.
Where d1 , d2 are any two distances for the laser source emitted and r1, r2 are the radii of the beam
spots at a distance d1, and d2 respectively.
Intensity: Since an ordinary light spreads in all directions, the intensity reaching the target is very
less. But in the case of laser, due to high directionality, the intensity of laser beam reaching the
target is of high. For example, 1 mill watt power of He-Ne laser appears to be brighter than the
sunlight.
Coherence: It is that property where the beams of light travels with a constant phase difference or
with no phase difference. Laser beams are highly coherent which results in extremely high power.
Types of Laser:
Based on the type of active medium, Laser systems are broadly classified into the following
categories.
Introduction:
A quantum dot laser is a semiconductor laser that uses quantum dots as the active medium in
its light emitting region. It tightly confines the electrons and holes to produce steady output,
regardless of external temperature.
Construction:
There are a number of direct band gap semiconductors that can be used for laser devices. Like
GaAs based lasers are used in the near IR region, while in the visible region, CdX (X is a
chalcogenide) based lasers are used. Laser devices are usually single or double hetero structures.
schematic view of the band structure of a typical quantum dot laser is given Fig 1.
An ideal QD laser consists of a 3D-array of dots with equal size and shape (middle of the figure),
surrounded by a higher band-gap material which confines the injected carriers. The thickness of
active layer (in all the three directions) in a hetero junction laser can be made very thin comparable
to the de Broglie wavelength of the electrons (typically around the nm range) to achieve quantum
confinement. The energy levels are no longer continuous but are quantized. The spacing between
the quantized energy levels depend on the width of the active layer. This also controls the
wavelength of the laser radiation.
Also the efficiency of a quantum dot laser is greater than that of a bulk laser due to a tailoring of
the distribution of electrons and holes that are involved in the stimulated emission (light producing)
process.
The whole structure is embedded in an optical waveguide consisting of lower and upper cladding
layers (n-doped and p doped shields). Here p-GaAs and n-GaAs is usually AlGaAs layer. The
beam is confined to the active GaAs region by total internal reflection at the GaAs-AlGaAs layer.
This is because the refractive index of the GaAs is higher than AlGaAs.
Working Principle:
The laser structure consists of three layers of InGaAs quantum dots each of which is grown in a
matrix of GaAs (10 nm thick). These are themselves grown in Al0.3Ga0.7As, and together comprise
the waveguide core of the device. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) studies indicate the dots are
lens like in shape, are 2.2nm high and 36 nm in diameter with a dot density of 4.5x1010 cm -2.
When a forward bias is applied, carriers are injected into the active region. The difference between
quantum dot energy levels can be used for the laser action instead of the band gap. This is very
useful since the wavelength of light emitted can be tuned simply by altering the thickness of the
layer. These active region carriers which are injected achieves population inversion, and the
recombination leads to emission. The emitted light is reflected by the mirrors at the end of the
device and the inactive regions, with their lower refractive index, confine the light within the active
region. The light intensity is proportional to the forward bias current. There is a minimum forward
bias current, called threshold current, Ith, above which stimulated emission takes place and here
the intensity is directly proportional to the current. At low current, spontaneous emission
dominates, the threshold current depends on the laser structure, the optical losses due to absorption,
the refractive index of the various layers and the device dimensions. Using different Q-dot
structures scientists have achieved emission of light in the ranges of:
– 0.9-1.1 µm
– 1.27-1.3 µm
– 1.9 µm
– Small active volume means smaller population inversion necessary for lasing.
Application of Quantum dot Laser: Quantum dot lasers find commercial application in medicine (laser
scalpel, optical coherence tomography), display technologies (projection, laser TV), spectroscopy and
telecommunications. A 10 Gbit/s quantum dot laser that is insensitive to temperature fluctuation for
use in optical data communications and optical networks has been developed using this technology.
The laser is capable of high-speed operation at 1.3 μm wavelengths, at temperatures from 20 °C to
70 °C. It works in optical data transmission systems, optical LANs and metro-access systems. In
comparison to the performance of conventional strained quantum-well lasers of the past, the new
quantum dot laser achieves significantly higher stability of temperature.
Laser ablation has proven to be an effective method for producing nanoparticles. No precursors
are required to produce particles during laser ablation and nanoparticles can be formed from most
materials including materials with complex stoichiometry. Particles generated from laser ablation
have a narrow particle size distribution with a variable primary particle size and shape. Laser
ablation (LA) is a process in which a laser beam is focused on a sample surface to remove material
from the irradiated zone. Laser ablation has been considered and used for many technical
applications, including: the production of nano materials, deposition of thin metallic and dielectric
films, fabrication of superconducting materials, routine welding and bonding of metal parts, and
micromachining of MEMS structures.
When the laser beam is focused on the surface of a solid target material in the ambient media (gas
or liquid), the temperature of the irradiated spot rapidly increases, vaporizing the target material.
The collisions between the evaporated species (atom and clusters) and the surrounding molecules
result in excitation of the electron state coupled with light emission and generation of electrons
and ions, forming a laser-induced plasma plume. The plasma structures (size of the plume and its
emission spectrum) depend on the target material, ambient media (liquid or gas), ambient pressure,
and laser conditions.
Advantages Disadvantages
FIBER OPTICS
They are light guides used in optical communication as wave guides. They are made of
transparent dielectric materials like glass or plastic.
An optical fibre is made of two parts. One is the inner cylindrical material made of glass
or plastic called core and the other is called cladding which envelopes the core. Cladding is made
of same material as that of core but with lesser refractive index. The cladding envelopes core as
concentric cylinder. There is a material continuity between core and cladding. The cladding is
enclosed in a polyurethane jacket which safeguards the fibre against any chemical reaction with
the surrounding. Many such fibres, each protected by individual jacket grouped to form a cable.
A cable may consist of one to several hundred fibres.
A waveguide is a tubular structure through which energy can be guided in the form of
waves. This is also called light guide (or) fibre wave guide. The guiding mechanism is as follows
:
We know that in an optical fibre cladding has a R.I always lesser than that of the core. The light
signal which enter into the core can strike the core-cladding interface only at large angles of
incidence. The light signal undergoes reflection after reflection with the core. Since each
reflection is T.I.R the signal sustains its strength and also present within the core during
propagation.
The guiding or propagation of light continues as long as the wave guide or fibre is not bent too
sharply. This is because for sharp bends the light does not undergo T I R and hence the strength
of the signal drops down. Therefore care should be taken to avoid very sharp bends in the fibre.
Consider a plane xx’ separating two media of R.I n1 & n2. Let n1 >n2. A light wave AO be incident
on xx’ at O at an angle of incidence 𝜃1 . Since n1>n2, the light gets refracted as OA’ with 𝜃2 as the
angle of refraction. Also 𝜃2 > 𝜃1 . As the angle of incidence 𝜃1 is increased, angle of refraction 𝜃2
also increases and for an angle 𝜃c, the refracted ray just grazes the boundary ,(i.e) 𝜃2 = 900. For
any angle of incidence 𝜃1 > 𝜃𝑐 , the ray gets reflected back into the medium of R.I n1. This is called
TIR. The angle 𝜃𝑐 , for which 𝜃2 = 900 is called critical angle. According to Snell’s law,
n1sin𝜃1 = n2sin 𝜃2
When 𝜃1 = 𝜃𝑐 , 𝜃2 = 900,
𝜃𝑐 = sin-1(n2/ n1).
TIR has a special importance. During any other reflection like plane mirror reflection, some energy
is lost. But in TIR there is absolutely no loss in energy. Because of this property, optical fibres are
able to sustain the light signal transmission over a long distance.
Consider the ray AO entering into the core at an angle 𝜃0 with the axis of the core. Let this gets
refracted as OB at an angle 𝜃1 to the axis. Let the angle of incidence at B be critical angle.
Therefore the ray just graces the core – cladding interface as BC. The angle of incidence at B is
(90 - 𝜃1 ).
From the fig. it is clear that any ray falling into the core making an angle less than 𝜃0 , will have
the angle of refraction less than 𝜃1 . Due to this the angle of incidence at B becomes greater than
critical angle and hence the ray undergoes TIR.
On the other hand any ray entering the core with an angle greater than 𝜃0 will be incident at B
making an angle less than the critical angle and so gets refracted and lost.
If OA is rotated around the axis of the core by keeping 𝜃0 same, it is seen that those rays which
are funneled into the core within this cone of half angle 𝜃0 will only be TIR and the rest of the
incident light emerge from the sides of the fibre.
Angle 𝜃0 is called acceptance angle and sin𝜃0 is called numerical aperture. NA represents the
light gathering capacity of optical fibre.
Let 𝑛0 , 𝑛1 , 𝑛2 be the r.I of the surrounding, core and cladding respectively. For refraction of ray
𝐴0
At B,
𝑛1 sin(90 − 𝜃1 ) = sin 90 ∗ 𝑛2
𝑛1 sin(90 − 𝜃1 ) = 𝑛2
𝑛2
𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃1 =
𝑛1
𝑛1
𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃0 = 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃1
𝑛0
𝑛1
= √(1 − 𝑐𝑜𝑠 2 𝜃1
𝑛0
𝑛1 𝑛2 2
= √(1 − 2 )
𝑛0 𝑛1
𝑛1 √𝑛1 2 − 𝑛2 2
=
𝑛0 𝑛1
√𝑛1 2 − 𝑛2 2
𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃0 =
𝑛0
If the surrounding media in air, 𝑛0 = 1
N.A = √𝑛1 2 − 𝑛2 2
Fractional index change ∆ is defined as the ratio between the change in Refractive Index of core
and cladding to the refractive index of the core.
𝑛1−𝑛2
∆ =
𝑛1
∴ (𝑛1 − 𝑛2 ) = ∆𝑛1
N.A = 𝑛1 √2∆
If ∆ increases, NA also increases and hence the light gathering capacity of optical fiber increases.
But ∆ cannot be increased to a very large extent, since it causes signal distortion.
Based on the type of the material used, they are classified into two types
1. Glass fiber:
Example: Core: SiO2 Cladding: SiO2
Core: GeO2- SiO2 Cladding: SiO2
2. Plastic fiber:
Example: Core: polymethyl methacrylate : Cladding: Co- Polymer
Core: Polystyrene : Cladding: Methyl methacrylate
Mode : It is defined as the number of rays a fibre can support. If a fibre can support only one ray
for propagation, it is called single mode fibre. If a fibre can support more than one mode for
propagation it is called Multimode fibre.
In a multimode fibre, the number of modes depend on numerical aperature, diameter of core,
𝑉2
wavelength of ray it propagates. The number of modes is given by 𝑁 ≃ ,
2
Where V is V-number
𝜋𝑑
V-number = (NA)
𝜆
𝜋𝑑 √𝑛1 2 −𝑛2 2
V-number = 𝜆 𝑛𝑜
1) Single mode fibre : It has a core material of uniform refractive index. Similarly cladding also
is made of a material whose refractive index is uniform
but less than that of core. So Refractive Index profile attains a stepwise shape. The core dia
is 8 to 10 𝜇𝑚 & cladding dia is 70 to 80 𝜇𝑚. Because of narrow
Core it can guide only a single mode. This is effectively used one and it needs lasers as source
of light used in submarine cable system.
2) Step-index multi mode fibre : Similar to single mode fibre but core dia is 50 to 200 𝜇𝑚
and cladding dia is 100 𝜇𝑚 to 250 𝜇𝑚. It is capable of guiding a number of modes. In
this also R.I profile has a stepwise shape. This accept LED or laser as source of light.
Applied in data communication with low bandwidth requirement.
3) Graded index multimode fibre (GRIN) : The dia of core is 100 to 250 𝜇𝑚 and that of
cladding is 100 to 250 𝜇𝑚. The core material R.I decreases in radially outward direction
from the axis and becomes equal to that of the cladding at the interface. It was either LED
or laser as the source of light. Typical application in telephone trunk
Attenuation : It is the power loss suffered by optical signal, when it propagates through the fiber.
It is also called fiber loss. It is represented by 𝛼.
10 𝑝
𝛼= − 𝑙𝑜𝑔10 ( 𝑝𝑜 ), where L length of fiber in km
𝐿 𝑖
The unit of 𝛼 is dB/km. Attenuation can be due to i) Absorption, ii) Scattering iii) Radiation.
Absorption : The power can be lost by intrinsic or extrinsic absorption. Each fiber material has
its own nature of absorbing certain 𝜆. This is called intrinsic absorption. The absorption by the
impurities present in the fiber is called extrinsic absorption. Eg. : Hydroxy ions.
Scattering : The signal gets scattered by impurities of very small size. This scattering is more if
1
𝜆 of light is small, as scattering is proportional to 𝜆4 . Due to very small variation in R.I. also,
scattering occurs. The structural inhomogenities can also cause scattering.
Radiation: This occurs due to bending of fiber. It can be macroscopic and microscopic. The loss
is negligible for macroscopic bends, microscopic bends are mainly manufacturing defects, due to
which the I.R gets lost and the power loss occurs.
They are used in point to point telecommunication system. The block diagram is shown below.
The voice gets converted into analog electrical signal which gets coded in the binary form by
coder. These are converted into optical pulses and get modulated by suitable light source. This is
done by optical transmitter. From this the optical power is fed into optical fiber which gets
transmitted through it by undergoing TIR. The output from optical fiber is fed into a photo detector
which converts them into binary electrical signal. They are then decoded and then get converted
into sound energy.
While getting transmitted through optical fiber the signal gets attenuated and the power drops. To
regain the power a repeater unit, which has a receiver & transmitter kept side by side is used. A
receiver receives the optical signal, converts into electrical signal, amplifies and modulates it and
sends it to the transmitter. A transmitter amplifies the signal, converts it into optical signal and
feed it into the fiber.