Lecture 8: Laser amplifiers
Lecture 8: Laser amplifiers
Lecture 8: Laser amplifiers
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Homogeneous broadening<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
If all of the atoms in a material that participate in a resonant<br />
interaction associated with the energy levels |1> and |2> are<br />
indistinguishable, their responses to an electromagnetic field<br />
are characterized by the same resonance frequency 21 and<br />
the same relaxation constant 21 .<br />
In such a homogeneous system, the physical mechanisms that<br />
contribute to the linewidth of the transition affect all atoms<br />
equally.<br />
Spectral broadening due to such mechanisms is called<br />
homogeneous broadening.<br />
Previously (in Lect. 2), we discussed that such<br />
homogeneously broadened systems can be described as the<br />
damped response characterized by a single resonance<br />
13<br />
frequency and a single relaxation constant.