It's a Basic concept of Laser on the basis of bandgap. I tried to explain on the easiest way the semiconductor and then i gave the view on Islamic perspective about Laser concept.
2. OUTLINE:
1. What is Laser?
2. How does laser work?
i. Direct/Indirect Bandgap Semiconductors
ii. Radiative Transitions
3. Lasing Reqirements
4. Laser Types
5. Laser Structures
6. Unique Properties of Laser
7. Important Parameters of Laser
8. Application of Laser
9. Laser From Islamic Perspective
3. WHAT IS LASER?
(Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation)
A device that generates an intense beam of coherent
monochromatic light by stimulated emission of photons from
excited atoms or molecules.
The LASER beam was invented by the physicist MAIMAN in
1960
Laser is a source of highly directional monochromatic
coherent light
4. HOW DOES LASER WORK?
DIRECT AND INDIRECT SEMICONDUCTORS
• In direct bandgap semiconductor, the
recombination process releases light as
photons
• In Indirect bandgap semiconductors, a
change in electron momentum is required
for recombination to occur
Photon out
5. HOW DOES LASER WORK?
RADIATIVE TRANSITIONS
Optical Absorption
Spontaneous Emission
Stimulated Emission
8. STIMULATED EMISSION
Conduction Band
Valance Band
Ec
Ev
ℎ𝑣
Egℎ𝑣
ℎ𝑣
The stimulated photons have unique properties:
• In phase with the incident photon
• Same wavelength as the incident photon
• Travel in same direction as incident photon
9. UNIQUE PROPERTIES OF LASER
High Monochromaticity
Highly Collimated Beam
High power
Wide Tuning Range
Very Short Pulse Width
10. HIGH MONOCHROMATICITY
(NARROW SPECTRAL WIDTH)
In Light Source ---
A plot of intensity versus wavelength and it has a certain width (∆λ)
In Laser Device --- the width is extremely narrow and this means a
radiation of a monochromatic wave [2]
11. HIGHLY COLLIMATED BEAM
To collimate the light beam of a typical source whose diameter is (2h)
and then to collect the light by a lens with a focal length of (f), the
angle of diversion (𝜃) would be given by (h) over (f)[2]
For a laser source emitting a beam with a diameter of (D),
which angle of diversion (𝜃) that is very small, and is very
close to (λ) over (D) and that means we got a highly collimated
laser beam
12. Continuous Output (CW) Pulsed Output (P)
Energy(Watts)
Time
Energy(Joules)
Time
HIGH POWER
• The laser can be either continuous or pulsed. The
continuous laser power goes up to the range of
megawatts. Whereas, the pulsed power can reach the
range of exawatt, which is ten to the power 18-[13]
13. 10-13 10-12 10-11 10-10 10-9 10-8 10-7 10-6 10-5 10-4 10-3 10-2 10-1 1 10 102
LASERS
200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 10600
Ultraviolet Visible Near Infrared Far Infrared
Gamma Rays X-Rays Ultra- Visible Infrared Micro- Radar TV Radio
violet waves waves waves waves
Wavelength (m)
Wavelength (nm)
Nd:YAG
1064
GaAs
905
HeNe
633
Ar
488/515
CO2
10600
XeCl
308
KrF
248
2w
Nd:YAG
532
Retinal Hazard Region
ArF
193
Communication
Diode
1550
Ruby
694
Laser-Professionals.com
Alexandrite
755
Wide Tuning Range
• Wide Tuning range means that laser has a broad range of
electromagnetic spectrum[15]
14. VERY SHORT PULSE WIDTH
Lasers have a very short pulse width. It can goes down
to the range of femtosecond (ten to the power - 15)
16. POPULATION INVERSION
In thermal equilibrium 𝐸𝑐 > 𝐸𝑣,
𝐸𝑐 < 𝐸𝑣
Population Inversion is the first important requirement for lasing
action to occur[3]
If Electron concentation in the deplation region,NEc>NEv, then
the population inversion will be satisfied
Another requirement is to enhance the stimulated emission over
spontaneous emission
17. OPTICAL RESONATOR
An optical cavity,
resonating cavity is
an arrangement of
mirrors that forms a
standing wave cavity
resonator for light
waves. [14]
18. LASER TYPES
According to the active material:
Solid-state
Liquid, gas
Semiconductor lasers.
According to the wavelength:
Infra-red
Visible
Ultra-violet (UV) or x-ray lasers.
19. SEMICONDUCTOR LASER
Stimulated, organized photon emission occurs when two
electrons with the same energy and phase meet. The two
photons leave with the same frequency and direction.
A semiconductor laser is a laser in which a semiconductor
serves as a photon source
The most common semiconductor material that has been used
in lasers is GaAs. Others are AlGaAs, GaP, InGaP, GaN,
InGaAs, GaInNAs, InP, GaInP
According to the material used, mainly there are two types in
semiconductor laser:
(1)Homo-junction laser
(2)Hetero-junction laser
20. OTHER TYPES OF SEMICONDUCTOR LASER
o Edge-emitting laser diodes
o External cavity diode lasers
o Broad area laser diodes
o High-power diode bars
o High-power stacked diode bars
o Surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs)
o Surface-emitting external-cavity semiconductor lasers (VECSELs)
o Quantum cascade lasers
21. HOMOJUNCTION LASER
The internal surfaces of the PN junction are polished to be mirrors[11]
Two sides are roughened to prevent lasing across the diode cavity
One side is cleaved to make it a highly reflective surface
The last side is also cleaved, but it is made as a partially reflective
surface
22. HOMOJUNCTION LASER
At thermal equilibrium, the energy band
diagram of the PN junction, P and N
shall be highly doped[11]
If a forward bias Vf is applied, the Fermi
level of P will move down and the Fermi
level of N will move up
If a forward bias increased into a
sufficient large voltage, high injection of
electrons and holes into the depletion
region occur
Hence, NEc>NEv, and the population
inversion is satisfied
23. HETROJUNCTION LASER
Hetrojunction laser is the Double-Hetrostructure (DH) Laser
In which, a thin layer of a small bandgap semiconductor is
sandwiched between two larger bandgap semiconductors
DH laser requires less current to obtain the population inversion
and to start lasing in the active region[11]
24. RECENT TECHNOLOGIES—
By reducing the size of the active region—
Researchers achieved:
Quantum Well LASER
Quantum Wire LASER
Quantum Dot LASER
Hetrojunction Laser Quantum Well Laser
25. IMPORTANT PARAMETERS OF LASERS
Laser Power
- maximum allowable power
Peak power
- peak power for pulsed generation
Wavelength
Focal Spot Size
- the focal spot size determines the maximum
energy density that can be achieved when the
laser beam power is set
Death Of Focus (DOF)
- DOF is the distance over which the focused
beam has about the same intensity
Threshold Current
26. THRESHOLD CURRENT
Lasing threshold is minimum
current that must occur for
stimulated emission[6]
It is generally desirable that the
threshold current be as low as
possible, resulting in more
efficient device
Thus, a threshold current is
one measure used to quantify
the performance of a laser
diode.
27. APPLICATION OF SEMICONDUCTOR LASER
Optical communication---
The portable optical telephone
Multichannel stationary communication lines
Optical detection and ranging and special automation systems-
Range-finding
Aitimetry
Automatic-tracking systems
Optical electronics----
The emitter in an optron
Logic circuits
Address devices
Holographic memory system
Metrology
Spectroscopy
Material processing
Pumping solid-state lasers
Medical treatments
28. LASERS FROM ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE
Indeed, I swear by what you see. And by what you do not
see.[Surah Al-haqqah(69):38,39].
Allah mentioned long time ago that we do not see some
particles and creatures. However, the verse doesn’t deny
the fact we could be able to see some of them later on.
Scientists discovered the range of the visible light which
can be detected by the human eye.
All other waves out this range are not visible to our bare
eyes. However, the invention of laser and its applications
(such like laser microscopy) led to the discovery of many
tiny particles. Laser can also detect fast phenomena that
we were not able to catch
In addition, laser application in astronomy helped
researchers to capture clearer images of distant galaxies.
For different applications, different lasers with different
bandgap are used.
29. LASERS FROM ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE
Everything We created is precisely measured.
[Surah Al-Qamar(54):49].
All parameters and properties should be chosen
and used precisely. Allah says in Surat Al-
Qamar. We should remember and think about
the greatness of Allah who created everything
precisely.
Especially when we study that the laser
wavelength decreases and the photons energy
increases when we use a larger bandgap
semiconductor.
30. References:
[1]: Solid State Electronic Devices, B.G. Streetman, S. Banerjee
[2]: Semiconductor Devices Physics and Technology, S.M.SZE.
[3]: An Introduction to Semiconductor Devices, D.Neamen
[4]: How a Laser Works – YouTube.
[5]: How can we achieve population inversion in an P-N diode -YouTube.
[6]: Energy and wavelength [https://faebianbatisman.wordpress.com].
[7]: Understanding Lasers and Fiberoptics, Prof.S.Ezekiel,MIT –YouTube
[8]: http://www.aml.engineering.columbia.edu/
[9]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser
[10]: https://www.teamwavelength.com/info/laserdiodedrivers.php
[11]: construction and working of semiconductor laser – YouTube
[12]: Stimulated Emission – YouTube
[13]: https://www.rp-photonics.com/semiconductor_lasers.html
[14]: Laser ppt – [https://www.slideshare.net/donpraju/laser-ppt]
[15]: Laser – [https://www.slideshare.net/viinnyy/laser]
[16]: Semiconductor Laser- [https://www.slideshare.net/ashiqshariff/]