Process Description: How a Laser Works

Daniel Finkel
ENG 202C
10-19-2011

:/ience an/ 8cope
%e purpose oI tis document is to provide te reader wit te knowledge oI ow lasers work.
%is document will Iocus on te scientiIic reasoning beind w lasers work. %e intended
audience is late ig scool and college students wit an interest in science and te wa tings
work around tem. %e document will describe all te main psical concepts needed Ior
understanding te science beind lasers in as simple a wa as possible. %is is so tat even
students wo migt ave just gotten interested in psics, and aven`t et ad te opportunit to
gain a lot oI knowledge in te matter, can be able to get a grasp oI te science and not scare tem
oII wit overl tecnical descriptions. %is document could be Iound witin lower-level psics
textbooks or as a stand-alone tecnical description. %e reader sould gain a better understanding
oI ow lasers work upon completion oI tis document.




























ntro/:ction
aser is an acronm Ior Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission Radiation. %e main
caracteristics oI a laser are:
1. ts ligt is monocromatic, meaning it onl contains one wavelengt. Wite ligt tat we
normall see contains a range oI diIIerent wavelengts, wit colors suc as red, blue, and
green aving teir own, muc smaller, range oI wavelengts witin it. %is is w lasers
are onl one color, because te onl ave one wavelengt.
2. ts ligt is coerent, meaning it`s organized in tat te potons (ligt particles) move one
aIter anoter in an organized manner. %o get scientiIic, te waves oI eac poton are in
pase wit eac oter.
3. ts ligt is directional, meaning its beam is tigt and concentrated and looks like a
straigt line; tis is opposed to te ligt Irom a Ilasligt bulb, wic goes in ever
direction.
%e basic teoretical Ioundations oI te laser were establised b Albert Einstein in 1917, and
te Iirst Iunctional gas laser (te most commonl used) was built in 1960 b psicists Ali Javan
and William R. Bennet, Jr. Since ten, lasers ave become an integrated part oI people`s dail
lives. CDs, barcode scanners, laser ee treatment, industrial macining, and even missile deIense
are just a Iew examples tat sow ow wide a range oI uses lasers ave.

What makes :p a Laser Device?
All lasers can be simpliIied to a sstem oI tree essential parts, illustrated in Figure 1.




O a pump source
O a laser medium
O an optical resonator
(at least two mirrors)



Figure 1: Components oI a laser

%e pump source is te energ source oI te laser. %e energ it supplies is usuall in te Iorm
oI an electrical current or ligt oI a diIIerent wavelengt. %e tpe oI pump source used is
determined b te laser medium.

%e laser medium is te most important component oI te laser device and is solel responsible
Ior te wavelengt oI te ligt emitted. %ese mediums can be gases, liquids, solids, or even
semiconductors

%e laser device requires an optical resonator, wic can be made up oI at least two mirrors in
parallel. %e mirror on te end opposite were te laser exits is coated wit a igl reIlective
optical coating, wile te mirror near te laser`s exit point is made to onl be partiall reIlective.
%e reason Ior tis will be described more in dept later, but tis is so te potons reIlect Irom
one mirror to te oter, passing troug te laser medium eac time until te exit troug te
partiall reIlective mirror.

%he Physics behin/ How Lasers Work
As te acronm implies, stimulated emission is an important part oI lasers. BeIore one can
understand stimulated emission owever, one must Iirst understand energ states oI atoms.

Understanding Atomic Energy States
Atoms are te basic building blocks oI all
matter, and te are made up oI a nucleus,
consisting oI protons and neutrons at te
center, wit electrons orbiting around it.
(Figure 2) %e diIIerent electron orbits ave a
diIIerent energ associated wit tem. %e
Iurter out te orbit is Irom te nucleus, te
iger te energ oI tat orbit. %e orbit
closest to te nucleus is called te 'ground
state. Figure 2: aout oI an atom

Wen an atom absorbs or loses energ, weter troug
eat, ligt, or electricit, te electrons will jump Irom
one orbit to anoter depending on te amount oI energ
transIerred. As in Figure 3, wen an atom absorbs
energ, an electron will jump to a iger energ orbit.
Wen it emits energ, an electron will jump down to a
lower-energ orbit. However, electrons do not want to
be at tese iger energ levels, and te will tr to get
as close to te ground state as possible. %o do tis, te
need to emit energ to drop down an orbital. Wat te
emit are potons, te Iundamental units oI ligt.
Figure 3: Simple energ levels in an atom
!oton Wavelengts
Wen a poton is emitted, it as a speciIic wavelengt determined b te jump between energ
levels tat te electron perIormed. %is is because it takes a speciIic amount oI energ to jump
Irom one energ level to anoter. Figure 4 sows a more accurate representation oI energ levels
in an atom. t sows ow jumping between lower energ levels requires more energ tan
jumping between iger energies.

For example iI two atoms oI te same
element ad electrons jump Irom te
n2 to te n1 level, te potons te
emit would ave te same wavelengt
and, tereIore, te same color. I instead,
owever, te electron in one oI te
atoms jumped Irom te n3 to te n2
level, te energies transIerred would be
diIIerent, and te two potons would
ave two diIIerent wavelengts.
Figure 4: Bor model oI Hdrogen atom

Stimulated Emission
I an electron is at a ig enoug energ level, it is possible Ior it to naturall emit a poton and
drop to a lower energ level on its own. %is emission oI a poton can also be stimulated wit a
little outside elp. I a poton oI a certain wavelengt interacts wit an atom tat as excited
electrons (electrons at ig energ levels), te electron will drop in energ and emit anoter
poton oI te same wavelengt and direction as te incoming poton. %is process is stimulated
emission and is illustrated in Figure 5.












Figure 5: Stimulated Emission oI potons in an atom

How Lasers are Create/
Wit knowledge oI te psics beind it, te process oI creating a laser becomes a ver simple
ting to understand. %e diIIerent laser device components and teir roles in creating te laser
will now be described in steps.

1. %e laser medium is placed between te mirrors oI
te optical resonator; te pump source is placed
beside te medium, so tat it can interact wit te
medium.

Figure 6
2. Power is sent to te pump source, wic
subsequentl sends energ into te medium, oIten in te
Iorm oI ligt. %is energ gets absorbed b te individual
atoms oI te medium, exciting te electrons and raising
tem to iger energ levels.
Figure 7
3. Some oI te atoms naturall emit potons once teir
electrons reac a ig enoug energ level. %ese
potons are reIlected back and Iort between te
two mirrors, wit onl ver Iew exiting troug te
partiall reIlective mirror.

Figure 8
4. As tese potons get reIlected back and Iort witin
te medium, some interact wit oter atoms. %is causes
stimulated emission to occur witin tose atoms, creating
more potons oI te same wavelengt. A 'snowball eIIect
develops as more potons are now interacting wit te
atoms, wic keep absorbing energ Irom te pump source
and raising teir electron energ levels.
Figure 9
5. %e partiall reIlective mirror is made so tat onl
potons itting it at a certain angle and direction will
be able to penetrate it. %e large poton densit in
te medium allows Ior a stead stream oI potons to
exit te device at a rate large enoug to visibl see
ligt. %e ligt tat exits te device is
monocromatic, coerent, and directional - a laser! Figure 10
Concl:sion
%o simpliI te process oI creating a laser even Iurter, te steps can be summarized in te
Iollowing wa.

1. A laser medium is placed between two mirrors, one Iull reIlective and te oter
partiall reIlective. A pump source is placed b te laser medium

2. %e pump source provides energ to te laser medium.

3. Potons are emitted Irom te laser medium. %e bounce between te mirrors
undreds and tousands oI times, causing more potons to be emitted.

4. %e potons emerge troug te partiall reIlective mirror, creating a laser.

asers are being implemented into our dail lives more and more ever da, et not man people
know ow te work. UnIortunatel, te science Iiction Ieel oI lasers makes tem diIIicult to
approac Ior most people, and te are aIraid to learn more about it Ior Iear tat it would be too
diIIicult to understand. ope tis document as proven tat te process oI ow lasers are
Iormed is not as diIIicult a concept to understand as most people expect it to be.

Works Cited

nIormation not alread known to te autor was summarized Irom te Iollowing websites:

hLLp//wwwbrlLannlcacom/L8checked/Loplc/1243694/gaslaser
hLLp//sclencehowsLuffworkscom/laser4hLm
hLLp//enwlklpedlaorg/wlkl/Laser
hLLp//repalrfaqecedrexeledu/sam/laserfaqhLm#faqllp2
hLLp//enwlklpedlaorg/wlkl/Laser_consLrucLlon



mages were borrowed Irom te Iollowing websites:

hLLp//wwwLhelupendblogcom/2009/03/lupesnewalbumlscalledlasersnoLwehLml
hLLp//enwlklpedlaorg/wlkl/llleLaserconssvg
hLLp//happpyhalogensblogspoLcom/2011/04/moreofhlsLorylessonhLml
hLLp//llbraryLhlnkquesLorg/C006669/daLa/Chem/aLomlc/bohrhLml
hLLp//Lhsspslaneedu/chemweb/unlL8/problems/bohr/
hLLp//phlcubedblogspoLcom/2011/03/whaLlnworldlslaserparL3of3hLml
hLLp//sclencehowsLuffworkscom/laser3hLm