Physics 464 (ECE 464 ), Laser Physics I

Mondays and Wednesdays, 11:00 to 12:15 pm, PAIS Room 1160

Fall 2025

 

Instructor

Jean-Claude Diels

Physics & Astronomy room PAIS 2236, phone 277 4026

CHTM, room 114A, phone 272 7830 email: jcdiels@unm.edu

 

Teaching Assistant

Yankang Liu

YankangLiu@unm.edu

 

 

Reference material

Lecture content, followed by a link to the powerpoint file, and homework assignments will be posted on my personal Web site dielslab.unm.edu/courses.

References will be made to textbooks and articles, when appropriate. I follow the notations of the book “Ultrafast Phenomena” of which a link can be found before the first lecture.

Other reference material:

• LASERS, by Anthony E. Siegman, University Press
• Laser electronics, J.Y Verdeyen, Prentice Hall
• Solid state laser engineering, W. Koechner, Springer verlag
• Photonics, Saleh

 

Assignments

Homework problems will be assigned on a regular base, due generally on Wednesdays. They will count for 40% of the final grade.

Some problems will be treated in class.

Exams One midterm and one final; 30% of grade each.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Book "Ultrafast Phenomena"

 

INTRODUCTION

Putting Laser Light in Context

1. Light is just one example of wave

There are:

• Water waves
• Plasma waves
• Acoustic wave
• Light waves
• Gravitational waves

A wave propagate for huge distances, while each particle responsible for the wave motion stays at the same average position, just inducing the motion of the next particle.

In most cases, the wave starts from a local oscillation, and propagates radially from there, like rings produced by a duck paddling on a pond.

In the case of light, it is the electric field produced by a charge oscillating up and down that starts off the wave.

• Wave propagation equation (first order) Retarded frame
• Sine waves and “rogue waves”
• water waves, acoustic waves, gravitational waves and light waves Wave propagation equation
• Wave propagation equation: second order to first order - slowly varying envelope approximation

• Homework 1 assigned, due Monday August 25, 10 AM.

[Verdeyen Chapter 1]

[Ultrashort Laser Pulse Phenomena Section 1.2]

 1   Link to powerpoint file (Lecture 1.ppt)

2. Notations

POLARIZATION AS ELECTRON RESPONSE

Light-matter interaction: the light field moves the electron.  The field of the moving electrons adds to the applied light field.

Free electron versus bound electron.  Plasma frequency and Drude model.

 [Ultrashort Laser Pulse Phenomena Section 3.1, 3.2]

8  Link to powerpoint file (9-10-multiphoton_vs_tunnel_bound_vs_free_electron.ppt)

A good lecture on harmonic oscillator cav be found in:
web.ics.purdue.edu/~nowack/geos557/lecture3a-dir/lecture3a.htm
Electron oscillator applied to the description of polarization:
Pedrotti page 535-539 (chapter 25).
Born and Wolf: pages 95-99 (7th edition)
It is shown in the class that the same equations applies to plasma.

9  Link to powerpoint file (9-15-free_electron)

LIGHT-MATTER  INTERACTION

From semi-classical to classical

References:

• Ultrafast Phenomena: Section 3.3.4
• Verdeyen Chapter 14 

Interaction of light with two-level systems Coherent propagation effects; Adiabatic following,self-induced transparency, zero-area pulse propagation, photon echoes.

From Bloch's equations to rate equations approximation to linear polarization (Ultrafast Phenomena Section 3.4).

10  Link to powerpoint file (2-level systems.ppt)

11  Wrap-up 2 levels (Sept-22-wrap-up 2 levels)

• Parameters of rate equations how they are connected.
• Maxwell’s equations versus Einstein coefficients  (Einstein coefficient are treated in Verdeyen Chapter 7)
• Defying reciprocity in optics
• Power broadening, homogeneous broadening inhomogeneous broadening   (Broadenings are treated in Verdeyen Chapter 8)
• Creating an inversion with rate equations
• Saturation, self saturation, mutual saturation
• Design amplifiers

12  link to powerpoint file (line broadening_rate_equations_9-22.ppt)

13  link to powerpoint file (blackbody-Einstein-Sep29.ppt)

14  link to pdf file {broadening.pdf)
 

GAUSSIAN BEAMS

Best reference: the original paper of Kogelnik and Li 1966.

Verdeyen: Gaussian beams Ch3 --  ABCD matrices Ch2

15  Link to powerpoint file (Introduction to Gaussian beams.ppt)

16  Link to powerpoint file (Gaussian_beams2 - October 6.ppt)

17  Link to powerpoint file (Gaussian3_ABCD matrices.ppt)

Ultrafast Phenomena, Sections 1.6 and 1.7                                18     Link to powerpoint file (Gaussian4-spacetime.ppt)

19  Link to powerpoint file (Gaussian4-Stability versus equilibrium.ppt)

20  Link to powerpoint file (Gaussian6-recap-HeNe-Oct-13.PPT)

21  Link to powerpoint file (October 15-HeNe-mode-locking.ppt

Intermezzo: Laser gyro as a quantum two level system

22  Link to powerpoint file (October 20_Laser as a quantum system.ppt)

Other Lasers: solid state, homogeneous broadening, mode-locking

23  Link to powerpoint file (Other lasers.ppt)

Review for mid-term

24  Link to powerpoint file (Review -October_27.ppt)

 

25  Link to powerpoint file (Review October 29.ppt)

26  Link to powerpoint file (Review 3 - Nov. 3.ppt)

 

 

PROJECT

Link to powerpoint file (Project outline.PPT)

 

 

HOMEWORKS

HOMEWORK 1: Maxwell propagation equations

Due August 25, 10 AM                                     Solution

HOMEWORK 1I  Doppler shifts                          Solution

Due September 3                                                               Ducklings

HOMEWORK 1I I  Fourier transforms exercises               

Due September 19                        Solution

HOMEWORK 1V  Dielectric constant

Due October 1st

HOMEWORK V    Ti:sapphire laser cavity   (ppt file)

HOMEWORK VI   Time cavity        (ppt file)    DUE WEDNESDAY 11/13 BEFORE CLASS    CHECK NEW PPT WITH SLIDE 4 DELETED