LASER PHYSICS
- Overview
- Assessment methods
- Learning objectives
- Contents
- Full programme
- Bibliography
- Delivery method
- Teaching methods
- Contacts/Info
Basic notions of electromagnetism and quantum physics
Oral exam
The exam consists in at least three questions on the three different parts of the program:
- Radiation-matter interaction and the laser dynamics equations,
- Resonators, cavities and pumping schemes,
- Short and ultra-short pulses generation in lasers
The answers should develop the requested topics, and for each question the student will get up to 10 points. The final score will be the sum of these three points. In the case of maximum score (30), the student will be given a third question for the merit, in order to evaluate the capacity of the student to reason on topics slightly outside the course program, even if tightly connected.
The student should be able to give a physical explanation of the laser dynamics, to describe the dynamics by means of the rate equations, and should be able to describe how a laser works in different regimes.
The skills requested at the end of the course are:
- The capacity of learning and capacity of using data bases and electronic journals
- The achievement of an adequate level of basic knowledge, that will allow the student to deepen in the future specific topics about the course, also by consulting advanced textbooks and specialized journals also in English.
- Introduction, spontaneous and stimulated emission, pumping schemes and laser properties
- Radiation-matter interaction: black body theory, spontaneous emission, absorption and stimulated emission, Line broadening mechanisms, non-radiative decay.
- Energy levels, radiative and non-radiative transitions in molecules and semiconductors
- Passive optical resonators
- Pumping processes
- Laser behaviour in continuous regime, Rate equations, 4 level laser and 3 level laser.
- Transient behaviour of the laser: Q-switching, gain switching, model-locking and methods of mode-locking
- Examples of lasers: solid state lasers, dye lasers, semiconductor lasers, gas lasers
- Laser beam properties
- Transformation of laser beams: propagation, amplification, frequency conversion, pulse compression and pulse expansion.
- Examples of laser applications
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Principles of lasers, Orazio Svelto, IV edition
Lectures at the blackboard and laboratory visits.
For further information contact Dr. Ottavia Jedrkiewicz at ottavia.jedrkiewicz@uninsubria.it