In this paper a completely classical model for laser action is discussed. An active medium consisting of classical anharmonic oscillators interacts with a classical electromagnetic field in a resonant cavity. Comparison with the case of a medium consisting of harmonic oscillators shows the significance of nonlinearities for producing self-sustained oscillations in the radiation field. The results for the classical model are found to be similar to those for a semiclassical model of the ammonia-beam maser. The conclusion is that laser action is not intrinsically a quantum-mechanical effect. The classical-laser theory as given in this paper can also be applied to the case of the electron-cyclotron maser.
In this paper a completely classical model for laser action is discussed. An active medium consisting of classical anharmonic oscillators interacts with a classical electromagnetic field in a resonant cavity. Comparison with the case of a medium consisting of harmonic oscillators shows the significance of nonlinearities for producing self-sustained oscillations in the radiation field. The results for the classical model are found to be similar to those for a semiclassical model of the ammonia-beam maser. The conclusion is that laser action is not intrinsically a quantum-mechanical effect. The classical-laser theory as given in this paper can also be applied to the case of the electron-cyclotron maser.
This chapter explains a semi classical model in terms of a self consistent theory. An electric field present within the medium produces microscopic dipole moments; these moments added together in a many-atom system lead to a macroscopic polarization. This polarization acts as a source in the Maxwell's equations producing a reaction field. The electric field produces a dipole moment that can be explained by using the quantum mechanical model of the interaction of the classical electromagnetic field with an atom having quantized energy levels. Principles of statistical mechanics are used by considering the medium as an ensemble and density matrix is used to facilitate the process of calculating the macroscopic polarization. The semi classical model can apply to the lasers bounded by Brewster windows in a cavity that can sustain oscillation of a linearly polarized field. Two-mode operation of a laser is the simplest case of multimode operation.
A theoretical model for the behavior of an optical maser is presented in which the electromagnetic field is treated classically, and the active medium is made up of thermally moving atoms which acquire nonlinear electric dipole moments under the action of the field according to the laws of quantum mechanics. The corresponding macroscopic electric polarization of the medium acts as a source for an electromagnetic field. The self-consistency requirement that a quasistationary field should be sustained by the induced polarization leads to equations which determine the amplitudes and frequencies of multimode oscillation as functions of the various parameters characterizing the maser. Among the results obtained are: threshold conditions, single-mode output as a function of cavity tuning, frequency pulling and pushing, mode competition phenomena including frequency locking, production of combination tones, and population pulsations. A more approximate discussion of maser action using rate equations is also given in which the concept of "hole burning" plays a role.
A new semiclassical model of the active medium of a gas laser and a description of its interaction with a classical electromagnetic field are reported. The model is based upon an exact microscopic formulation of the density of the active medium in a suitably defined semiclassical state space. Field-medium interaction mechanisms are studied by coupling the equation describing the dynamics of this density with Maxwell's field equations and the Schr\"odinger wave equation. Coupled stochastic nonlinear equations are formulated and quasilinear techniques are employed to effect their solutions. Wave-dipole correlations, the dominant nonlinearity, is shown to effect stability, produce the phenomena of hole burning, mode coupling, and frequency conversion, and to provide the mechanism whereby nonresonant pump field energy is converted into resonant laser oscillations.
Abstract This present paper is an attempt to describe the operation of a laser by a method patterned closely after the classical theory of dispersion. There, the electromagnetic field is treated as a classical system interacting with a collection of classical harmonic oscillators which are at rest. In the present case the radiation field is still treated classically, but, in accordance with the correspondence principle, the oscillators are now virtual oscillators associated with the up-and-down transitions in effective two-state atoms which are described quantum mechanically. The atoms carrying these virtual oscillators are not at rest but move with different velocities. We show how the Lorentz averaging can be performed for such systems, and derive a closed set of equations linking the average electric field E, with the average polarization density P„ and the average population inversion density Mp associated with atoms moving with the velocity v. Next, we investigate the conditions for the existence of a steady state if pumping is present, and if the electric field is represented by a standing wave, or a travelling wave of a single frequency (single-mode case). It turns out that, notwithstanding the nonlinear nature of the equations, the steady-state conditions give a simple complex dispersion relation; moreover, the real and imaginary part of this dispersion relation are equivalent to the usual heuristic expressions which specify the operating frequency in terms of the index of refraction and cavity length, and which balance the gain against the losses. The single-mode case is analysed in detail without any smallness assumptions for the resultant intensity. The small-intensity case gives the usual results exhibiting the tuning dip. For high intensities the relative depth of the dip tends to zero. At the end of the paper we discuss proposed extensions and additional applications.
It is pointed out that induced radiation effects cannot be purely quantum in nature and that they must be present in the classical theory of radiation processes. The classical theory is usually built on the example of the harmonic oscillator. Several effects arising from the interaction of the oscillators with the field disappear when harmonic oscillators are considered. This is particularly true when one is concerned with radiation processes induced by the field. In addition, the interaction between the field and the radiation of nonlinear oscillators (their frequencies depend on the energy) was not previously considered from the standpoint of the classical theory. Because of these reasons and because of the interest in the problem of quantum generators the question of the role of induced radiation in classicai theory was examined. The theory is described, and some specific properties of the classical system are contrasted with those of the quantum system. The description includes a discussion of spontaneous radiation processes and both harmonic and anharmonic oscillators are considered. The limiting transition from quantum to classical theory is discussed, and a detailed comparison of the two more » theories is made. An ensemble of oscillators distributed in energy is discussed in the classical theory. It is shown, for certaln determined conditions, that classical systems do not absorb but rather enhance incident radiation. (TTT) « less
This paper has two purposes: 1) to clarify the relationship between the quantum theory of radiation, where the electromagnetic field-expansion coefficients satisfy commutation relations, and the semiclassical theory, where the electromagnetic field is considered as a definite function of time rather than as an operator; and 2) to apply some of the results in a study of amplitude and frequency stability in a molecular beam maser. In 1), it is shown that the semiclassical theory, when extended te take into account both the effect of the field on the molecules and the effect of the molecules on the field, reproduces almost quantitatively the same laws of energy exchange and coherence properties as the quantized field theory, even in the limit of one or a few quanta in the field mode. In particular, the semiclassical theory is shown to lead to a prediction of spontaneous emission, with the same decay rate as given by quantum electrodynamics, described by the Einstein A coefficients. In 2), the semiclassical theory is applied to the molecular beam maser. Equilibrium amplitude and frequency of oscillation are obtained for an arbitrary velocity distribution of focused molecules, generalizing the results obtained previously by Gordon, Zeiger, and Townes for a singel-velocity beam, and by Lamb and Helmer for a Maxwellian beam. A somewhat surprising result is obtained; which is that the measurable properties of the maser, such as starting current, effective molecular Q, etc., depend mostly on the slowest 5 to 10 per cent of the molecules. Next we calculate the effect of amplitude and frequency of oscillation, of small systematic perturbations. We obtain a prediction that stability can be improved by adjusting the system so that the molecules emit all their energy h Ω to the field, then reabsorb part of it, before leaving the cavity. In general, the most stable operation is obtained when the molecules are in the process of absorbing energy from the radiation as they leave the cavity, most unstable when they are still emitting energy at that time. Finally, we consider the response of an oscillating maser to randomly time-varying perturbations. Graphs are given showing predicted response to a small superimposed signal of a frequency near the oscillation frequency. The existence of "noise enhancing" and "noise quieting" modes of operation found here is a general property of any oscillating system in which amplitude is limited by nonlinearity.