SO FAR WE HAVE LEARNT,

Temporal coherence or coherence time of the source (

c
), which
can be converted to coherence length via relation
The linewidth (v) and monochromaticity (spectral purity) (v/v)
The spatial coherence or lateral coherence width
w
l

1
C
v

C
L c
MICHELSON STELLAR INTERFEROMETER
Using the concept of spatial coherence, Michelson developed an ingenious
method for determining the angular diameter of stars. The method is based on
the result that for a distant circular source, the interference fringes will disappear
if the distance between pinholes S
1
and S
2
(see Fig. 17.8) is given by
where is the angle subtended by the circular source as shown in Fig. 17.8.


For a star whose angular diameter is 10
7
rad, the distance d for which the
fringes will disappear is
where we have assumed 5000 . Obviously, for such a large value of d, the
fringe width will become extremely small. Further, one has to use a big lens,
which not only is difficult to make, but only a small portion of which will be
used.
To overcome this difficulty, Michelson used two movable mirrors M
1
and M
2
as
shown in Fig. 17.9, and thus he effectively got a large value of d. The
apparatus is known as Michelsons stellar interferometer. In a typical
experiment the first disappearance occurred when the distance M
1
M
2
was
about 24 ft, which gave
for the angular diameter of the star. This star is known as Arctures. From
the known distance of the star, one can estimate that the diameter of the star is
about 27 times that of the Sun.
Note that a laser beam is spatially coherent across the entire beam. Thus, if a
laser beam is allowed to fall directly on a double-slit arrangement (see Fig.
17.10), then as long as the beam falls on both the slits, a clear interference
pattern is observed on the screen. This shows that the laser beam is
spatially coherent across the entire wave front.
Figure 17.11 shows the interference pattern obtained by Nelson and Collins
by placing a pair of slits of width 7.5 mm separated by a distance 54.1 mm
on the end of the ruby rod in a ruby laser. The interference pattern agrees with
the theoretical calculation to within 20%. To show that the spatial coherence is
indeed due to laser action, they showed that below threshold (of the laser)
no regular interference pattern was observed; only a uniform darkening of the
photographic plate was obtained.
Since some of the energy is coupled back to the system, it is said
to act as an oscillator. Indeed, in the early stages of the
development of the laser, there was a move to change its name to
LOSER which is an acronym for light oscillation by stimulated
emission of radiation. Since it would have been difficult to obtain
a research grant for LOSERs, it was decided to retain the name
LASER.
LASER is an acronym for light amplification by stimulated
emission of radiation.
Important Milestones


1917 The theory of stimulated emission was put forward by Albert Einstein.

1954 The phenomenon of stimulated emission was first used by Charles
Townes in 1954 in the construction of a microwave amplifier device
called the maser, which is an acronym for microwave amplification by
stimulated emission of radiation. At about the same time, a similar device
was also proposed by Prochorov and Basov in the U.S.S.R.

1958 The maser principle was later extended to the optical frequencies by
Schawlow and Townes in 1958, which led to the realization of the device
now known as the laser. Townes, Basov, and Prochorov were awarded the
1964 Nobel Prize in Physics for their fundamental work in the field of
Quantum Electronics, which has led to the construction of oscillators and
amplifiers based on the laser-maser principle.

1959 In a conference paper, Gordon Gould introduced the term LASER as an
acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.

1960 The first successful operation of a laser device ( 0.6943 mm) was
demonstrated by Theodore Maiman in 1960 using a ruby crystal.

1961 Within a few months of the operation of the ruby laser, Ali Javan and his
associates constructed the first gas laser, namely, the helium-neon laser

1961 The first fiber laser (barium crown glass doped with Nd
3+
ions) was
fabricated by Elias Snitzer.

1962 Semiconductor lasers (which are now extensively used in fiber-optic
communication systems) were discovered by four independent groups.

1963 C. K. N. Patel discovered the CO
2
laser ( 10.6 mm).

1964 W. Bridges discovered the Ar-ion laser ( 0.515 mm), and J. E. Geusic
and coworkers discovered the Nd:YAG laser ( 0.515 mm).

Since then, laser action has been obtained in a large variety of materials including
liquids, ionized gases, dyes, and semiconductors.
The light emitted from a laser often possesses some very special characteristics.
Some of these are
1. High power : Continuous wave lasers having
power levels of ~ 10
5
W and pulsed lasers
having a total energy of ~ 50,000 J can have
applications in welding, cutting, laser fusion, etc.
2. Tight focusing : Because of highly directional
properties of the laser beams, they can be focused
to areas of approximately few micrometers
squaredthis leads to very high intensities and
therefore leads to applications in surgery,
material processing, compact discs, etc. Laser
pulses having very small cross-sectional area (and
high energy) can be guided
through special fibers leading
to very interesting nonlinear
effects.
Levelling of ceramic tiles floor with a laser
device
Laser sight used by the Defense Forces
3. Directionality : The divergence of the laser beam is usually limited by
diffraction, and the actual divergence can be less than 10
5
rad; this leads to the
application of the laser in surveying, remote sensing, etc.
Because of such unique properties of the laser beam, it finds important
applications in many diverse areas, and indeed one can say that after the
discovery of the laser, optics has become an extremely important field of study.
For example, a 2 mW diffraction-limited laser beam incident on the eye can
produce an intensity of about 10
6
W-m
2
at the retinathis would certainly
damage the retina. Thus, whereas it is quite safe to look at a 500 W bulb, it is
The basic principle involved in the lasing
action is the phenomenon of stimulated
emission, which was predicted by
Einstein in 1917.
4. Spectral purity : Laser beams can have an extremely small spectral width
10
6
. Because of high spectral purity, lasers find applications in
holography, optical communications, spectroscopy, etc.
very dangerous to look directly into a 5
mW laser beam. Indeed, because a laser
beam can be focused to very narrow areas,
it has found applications in areas such as
eye surgery and laser cutting.