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Optical Maser by the Method of Electron Excitation

Leqi Lin

Published Sep 27, 1961• 1 citation
OpenAlex

Abstract

Abstract : A method of achieving optical maser oscillation by electron excitation was investigated. In this scheme, atoms in the ground level, upon being collided by incident electrons, made transitions to excited levels. It was shown that maser oscillation is possible between 2 excited levels, if certain conditions are satisfied. A simple model was used for general analysis, and an Hg vapor system was utilized as an example. (Author)

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The equations are generalized governing coherent emission from quantum mechanical amplifiers (microwave, infrared, and optical masers) using either electric or magnetic dipole transitions. Earlier analyses by Gordon, Zeiger and Townes, Feynman, Vernon and Hellworth, and Wang and Singer, are incorporated in this generalization. The principal new result of this analysis is that an amplitude modulation of the output is to be expected from all maser oscillators excepting those in which excited atoms are supplied at a notably greater rate than the depopulation rate due to coherent induced emission. This analysis also suggests that an energy population inversion of electric dipole moments can be performed using coherent light sources in the same manner as with magnetic dipole moments. It appears therefore that modulation of an optical or infrared maser (e.g., for communication purposes) may be easily accomplished by varying the population of excited states through control of the pumping energy. This modulation may be both by absorption and amplification. (Author)

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Proceedings of the IEEE•Jan 1, 1963•33 citations
Abstract : A method of achieving optical maser oscillation by electron excitation was investigated. In this scheme, atoms in the ground level, upon being collided by incident electrons, made transitions to excited levels. It was shown that maser oscillation is possible between 2 excited levels, if certain conditions are satisfied. A simple model was used for general analysis, and an Hg vapor system was utilized as an example. (Author)
The equations are generalized governing coherent emission from quantum mechanical amplifiers (microwave, infrared, and optical masers) using either electric or magnetic dipole transitions. Earlier analyses by Gordon, Zeiger and Townes, Feynman, Vernon and Hellworth, and Wang and Singer, are incorporated in this generalization. The principal new result of this analysis is that an amplitude modulation of the output is to be expected from all maser oscillators excepting those in which excited atoms are supplied at a notably greater rate than the depopulation rate due to coherent induced emission. This analysis also suggests that an energy population inversion of electric dipole moments can be performed using coherent light sources in the same manner as with magnetic dipole moments. It appears therefore that modulation of an optical or infrared maser (e.g., for communication purposes) may be easily accomplished by varying the population of excited states through control of the pumping energy. This modulation may be both by absorption and amplification. (Author)
. In this paper experiments performed with the one-atom maser are reviewed. Furthermore, possible experiments to test basic quantum physics are discussed. Introduction, the One-Atom-Maser The most promising avenue to study the generation process of radiation in lasers and masers is to drive a maser consisting of a single mode cavity by single atoms. This system, at first glance, seems to be another example of a Gedanken-experiment treated in the pioneering work of Jaynes and Cummings (1963), but such a one-atom maser (Meschede, Walther and Müller, 1985) really exists and can in addition be used to study the basic principles of radiation-atom interaction. The advantages of the system are: it is the first maser which sustains oscillations with less than one atom on the average in the cavity, this setup allows to study in detail the conditions necessary to obtain nonclassical radiation, especially radiation with sub-Poissonian photon statistics in a maser system directly in a Poissonian pumping process, and it is possible to study a variety of phenomena of a quantum field including the quantum measurement process. What are the tools that make this device work: It was the enormous progress in constructing superconducting cavities together with the laser preparation of highly excited atoms – Rydberg atoms – that have made the realization of such a one-atom maser possible.
The interaction of an intense optical-maser field with excited atoms in a gas discharge leads to a considerable change in the population of those levels which are resonant at the maser frequency. This will cause a change in the population of other levels that are connected to the maser levels through collision-induced nonradiative as well as radiative transitions. Using the 1.15-\ensuremath{\mu} optical maser, these effects have been studied in detail for the 2s2s2s levels of neon where the changes are completely due to collisions. By analyzing the intensity changes in spontaneous emission originating from a gas-discharge cell placed within the maser resonator, we have observed the approach to a partial thermalization of two closely spaced levels. In this way we have been able to obtain the atomic-collision cross section for excitation transfer between the 2s22{s}_{2}2s2​ and 2s32{s}_{3}2s3​ levels. In pure neon this has been found to be ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{23}=(2.3\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.3)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}16}$ cm2{\mathrm{cm}}^{2}cm2. For a helium-neon mixture the measured cross section is ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{23}=(1.8\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.3)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}16}$ cm2{\mathrm{cm}}^{2}cm2. The experimental method used to determine these cross sections eliminates the uncertainties caused by the effects of electron-atom collisions and radiative cascade. These techniques also yield the ratio of the Einstein coefficients for the transitions $2{s}_{2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}2{p}_{10}$ and $2{s}_{3}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}2{p}_{10}$. The measured ratio is $\frac{{A}_{2}}{{A}_{3}}=3.0\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.4$.
The possibility of observing two-photon processes using the intense beam of the ruby optical maser is considered theoretically for two general types of experiment. The essential approximation in the theory is the hypothesis that excited states exist which connect both the initial and final states by electric dipole transitions having a total oscillator strength $f\ensuremath{\sim}1$. Simple formulas are obtained for the two-photon absorption which do not depend on the details of the electronic structure. Recent experiments on the CaF2{\mathrm{F}}_{2}F2​: Eu++{\mathrm{Eu}}^{++}Eu++ system are in quantitative agreement with the predictions of the theory.
The extension of optical maser techniques to the γ-ray region is considered. It is shown that under certain conditions induced γ rays can be produced. The condition of criticality rather than that of oscillation is used because a γ-ray maser does not have a resonant structure. The main observable effects are the shortening of lifetimes of some γ excitations and the appearance of two or more coherent γ quanta. It appears to be difficult to prepare samples that will become critical. The principles are applied to a specific example.
The extension of optical maser techniques to the γ-ray region is considered. It is shown that under certain conditions induced γ rays can be produced. The condition of criticality rather than that of oscillation is used because a γ-ray maser does not have a resonant structure. The main observable effects are the shortening of lifetimes of some γ excitations and the appearance of two or more coherent γ quanta. It appears to be difficult to prepare samples that will become critical. The principles are applied to a specific example.