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Quantum Optics Journal of the European Optical Society Part B

Resolving conundrums in lasing without inversion via exact solutions to simple models

Marlan O. Scully

Published Aug 1, 1994• 55 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Aspects of lasing without inversion (LWI) have been the subject of spirited debate. Analytical solutions are here presented which provide a useful tool for resolving many of the conundrums and also provide new insights into the physics of the problem. The presentation is written for the student with some background in laser physics but not LWI. Some of the material is therefore in the nature of a review.

DOI
10.1088/0954-8998/6/4/001

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Aspects of lasing without inversion (LWI) have been the subject of spirited debate. Analytical solutions are here presented which provide a useful tool for resolving many of the conundrums and also provide new insights into the physics of the problem. The presentation is written for the student with some background in laser physics but not LWI. Some of the material is therefore in the nature of a review.
This review paper is devoted to amplification and lasing without population inversion involving atomic transitions in gas media. We start by discussing the main motivation in inversionless lasing research, namely, the generation of short-wavelength laser light. Then, we review the basic physics of inversionless lasing in two-level and, eventually, in three- and multilevel atomic configurations. Finally, we summarize the current state of the art of LWI experiments and indicate the main difficulties with respect to short-wavelength laser generation.
The most commonly used lasers operate with population inversion. This requires an incoherent pumping power (from lamps, electrical discharges, etc.) that rapidly scales with the frequency of the generated laser radiation. In practice, this is the main obstacle for the operation in the continuous-wave regime of short-wavelength lasers in the UV, X-rays, etc. But lasers can also operate without population inversion using atomic coherences excited in the laser medium by coherent pumping with another laser. We present in this paper a short review of the field of lasing without inversion (LWI). In particular, we summarize the basic physics of LWI in the framework of both semiclassical theory and quantumjump formalism to describe light-matter interaction. We also review the experimental state-of-the-art in LWI. Most proof-of-principle demonstrations of LWI have used atomic vapours, so far. But recently gain without inversion (a pre-requisite for lasing) has been observed also in a technologically relevant medium: semiconductor nanostructures that can be tailored to have “artificial atom” electron states.