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Lecture 8: Laser amplifiers

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Homogeneous broadening<br />

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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.

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