Laser Physics, Lectures

After taking the course, the student will be then able to:

-       understand the basic functioning of a laser and its properties

-       describe the basic phenomena that occur during light-matter interaction, in the semiclassical approximation;

-       understand the different broadening mechanisms of the gain lineshape, and their impact on the overall performances of a laser;

-       characterise the performances of optical resonators, in terms of their stability

-       describe the propagation of light inside optical resonator, within the paraxial approximation;

-       analyse the operation of continuous-wave lasers using the appropriate formalism to describe their different parts.

• Basic structure of a laser
• Properties of a laser beam:
• • Coherence
  • Directionality
  • Monochromaticity
  • Brightness
• Fundamental interactions between light and matter
• • Fundamental processes
  • 2-, 3-, and 4-level systems
  • Population inversion
  • Semiclassical theory of light-matter interaction
  • Broadening mechanisms
  • Saturation of absorption and gain
• Optical resonators properties
• • Ray optics approach to optical resonators
  • Fabry-Perot interferometer
  • ABCD matrices
  • Stability of an optical resonator
  • Quality factor and cavity lifetime
• Paraxial Optics and Gaussian beams
• • Paraxial approximation
  • Fundamental Gaussian beam
  • Higher-order modes and cavity symmetry
• Continuous wave laser operation
• • Rate equations
  • Conversion efficiency
  • Optimisation of output power
    
    

• Coherence
• Saturation effects
• Propagation of Gaussian beams
• Modes characteristics inside resonators

Common learning events for all

Exercise:

29.10.2021 10:00 - 12:00, TAU Tietotalo TB103 auditorio (237)
05.11.2021 10:00 - 12:00, TAU Tietotalo TB103 auditorio (237)
12.11.2021 10:00 - 12:00, TAU Tietotalo TB103 auditorio (237)
19.11.2021 10:00 - 12:00, TAU Tietotalo TB103 auditorio (237)
26.11.2021 10:00 - 12:00, TAU Tietotalo TB103 auditorio (237)
03.12.2021 10:00 - 12:00, TAU Tietotalo TB103 auditorio (237)
10.12.2021 10:00 - 12:00, TAU Tietotalo TB103 auditorio (237)

Lecture:

26.10.2021 12:00 - 14:00, TAU Tietotalo TB104 auditorio (182)
28.10.2021 14:00 - 16:00, TAU Tietotalo TB104 auditorio (182)
02.11.2021 12:00 - 14:00, TAU Tietotalo TB104 auditorio (182)
04.11.2021 14:00 - 16:00, TAU Tietotalo TB104 auditorio (182)
09.11.2021 12:00 - 14:00, TAU Tietotalo TB104 auditorio (182)
11.11.2021 14:00 - 16:00, TAU Tietotalo TB104 auditorio (182)
16.11.2021 12:00 - 14:00, TAU Tietotalo TB104 auditorio (182)
18.11.2021 14:00 - 16:00, TAU Tietotalo TB104 auditorio (182)
23.11.2021 12:00 - 14:00, TAU Tietotalo TB104 auditorio (182)
25.11.2021 14:00 - 16:00, TAU Tietotalo TB104 auditorio (182)
30.11.2021 12:00 - 14:00, TAU Tietotalo TB104 auditorio (182)
02.12.2021 14:00 - 16:00, TAU Tietotalo TB104 auditorio (182)
07.12.2021 12:00 - 14:00, TAU Tietotalo TB104 auditorio (182)
09.12.2021 14:00 - 16:00, TAU Tietotalo TB104 auditorio (182)

Compulsory Prerequisites

• Optics, FYS.240, 5 cr

Textbook, Lecture notes

O. Svelto, "Principles of Lasers", 5th Edition (Springer, Berlin,  2010)

General scale, 0-5