INTRODUCTION .

Laser : Device that emits light (electromagnetic radiation), through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of photons.
Laser : An acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation .

PROPERTIES.
Laser has certain unique properties, namely, High monochromaticity Coherence & Directionality, compared to ordinary sources of light, though both are electromagnetic radiations.

 Consisting of a single wavelength of

light or other radiation All light consists of waves traveling through space. The color of the light is determined by the length of those waves

MONOCHROMATICITY .

 Each color of visible light has its own characteristic wavelength

(Wavelength : The distance over which the wave repeats itself ) All common light sources emit light of many different wavelengths White light contains all, or most, of the colors of the visible spectrum while Ordinary colored light consists of a broad range of wavelengths covering a particular portion of the visible-light spectrum The beam of a laser consists of an extremely narrow range of wavelengths within a single portion of the spectrum. It is said to be nearly "monochromatic," or nearly "single-colored. Near-monochromaticity is a unique property of laser light, meaning that it consists of light of almost a single wavelength. (Mike Leeming) NO PERFECT MONOCHROMATISM

DIRECTIONALITY.

Figure here shows light being emitted from a light bulb in all directions. All conventional light sources emit light in this manner. Devices such as automobile headlights and spotlights contain optical systems that collimate the emitted light, such that it leaves the device in a directional beam;

however, the beam produced always diverges (spreads) more rapidly than the beam generated by a laser

 This

figure illustrates the highly directional nature of light produced by a laser. "Directionality" is the characteristic of laser light that causes it to travel in a single direction within a narrow cone of divergence.

But again, perfectly collimated light cannot be produced. All light beams eventually spread (diverge) as they move through space.

 In the parallel beam of light waves from an ordinary source traveling through space shown here, none of the waves has any fixed relationship to any of the other waves within the beam. This light is said to be "incoherent," meaning that the light beam has no internal order. Whereas in case of the light waves within a highly collimated laser beam, all of the individual waves are in step, or "in phase," with one another at every point.

COHERENCE.

"Coherence" is the term used to describe the in-phase property of light waves within a beam Most fundamental property of laser light Distinguishes it from the light from other source

 To make these three properties occur takes something called stimulated emission. This does not occur in your ordinary flashlight -- in a flashlight, all of the atoms release their photons randomly. In stimulated emission, photon emission is organized. The photon that any atom releases has a certain wavelength that is dependent on the energy difference between the excited state and the ground state. If this photon (possessing a certain energy and phase) should encounter another atom that has an electron in the same excited state, stimulated emission can occur. The first photon can stimulate or induce atomic emission such that the subsequent emitted photon (from the second atom) vibrates with the same frequency and direction as the incoming photon.

The other key to a laser is a pair of mirrors, one at each end of the lasing medium. Photons, with a very specific wavelength and phase, reflect off the mirrors to travel back and forth through the lasing medium. In the process, they stimulate other electrons to make the downward energy jump and can cause the emission of more photons of the same wavelength and phase. A cascade effect occurs, and soon we have propagated many, many photons of the same wavelength and phase. The mirror at one end of the laser is "half-silvered," meaning it reflects some light and lets some light through. The light that makes it through is the laser light.

Laser light consists of essentially one wavelength, having its origin in stimulated emission from one set of atomic energy levels.
EM wave of frequency n = (E2 - E1) only can be amplified, n has a certain range which is called line width. The generation of laser is such that the laser cavity forms a resonant system and laser oscillation is sustained only at the resonant frequencies of the cavity. This leads to the further narrowing of the laser line width. So laser light is usually very pure in wavelength, we say it has the property of monochromaticity.

Explanation for monochromaticity.

Reason for coherence.

The two emitted photons are said to be in phase, which means that the crest or the trough of the wave associated with one photon will occur at the same time as on the wave associated with the other photon. An avalanche of similar photons is created and these photons have a fixed phase relationship with each other. Inside a laser, the stimulated emission occurs in a resonant cavity with mirrors at both ends. Thus by repeating this process of interaction of photon with excited atoms many times, one can produce a highly coherent beam of light. Since a common stimulus triggers the emission events, which provide the amplified light, all the emitted photons are "in step" and have a definite phase relation to each other.

WHY DIRECTIONAL.
The mirrors placed at opposite ends of a laser cavity enables the beam to travel back and forth in order to gain intensity by the stimulated emission of more photons at the same wavelength, which results in increased amplification due to the longer path length through the medium. The multiple reflections also produce a well-collimated beam. The high degree of collimation arises from the fact that the cavity of the laser has very nearly parallel front and back mirrors, which constrain the final laser beam to a path, which is perpendicular to those mirrors. Collimation refers to the degree to which the beam remains parallel with distance. A perfectly collimated beam would have parallel sides and would never expand at all.

1. Laser in its non lasing phase

2. The flash tube fires and injects light into the rod. The light excites atoms.

3. Some of these atoms emit photons

4. Some of these photons run in a direction parallel to the ruby's axis, so they bounce back and forth off the mirrors. As they pass through the crystal, they stimulate emission in other atoms

5. Monochromatic, single-phase, collimated light leaves through the half-silvered mirror -- laser light!

Thank you