I Stimulated Emission & Emitted photon direction

AI Thread Summary
Stimulated emission occurs when an electron in a higher energy state drops to a lower state, emitting a photon that matches the original in wavelength, phase, and direction. This process is fundamental to laser operation and is explained through the principles of quantum mechanics. The discussion raises questions about the preservation of these properties during stimulated emission and suggests a potential analogy between absorption and stimulated emission in terms of CPT symmetry. Additionally, the concept of negative radiation pressure is introduced, proposing a new perspective on how photons could be influenced in a given direction. Understanding these phenomena could enhance the comprehension of laser mechanics and photon behavior.
RobbyQ
Messages
28
Reaction score
11
TL;DR Summary
Stimulated Emission & Emitted photon direction
I always understood that a photon of correct wavelength would raise the energy level of an electron (which is the case)
But reading about lasers and stimulated emission I read the following where the electron drops a level upon absorption:-
"A photon with the correct wavelength to be absorbed by a transition can also cause an electron to drop from the higher to the lower level, emitting a new photon. The emitted photon exactly matches the original photon in wavelength, phase, and direction. This process is called stimulated emission."

How is this possible i.e dropping to a lower energy level and how/why is the photon wavelength, phase, and direction preserved?
 
Science news on Phys.org
Stimulated emission-absorption equations would be exchanged if performing CPT symmetry, suggesting they are CPT analogs - also through B_{12}=B_{21} symmetry for their Einstein's coefficients.

If so, and absorption is from positive radiation pressure, pushing photons into a target (from given direction) ... maybe we should think about stimulated emission through negative radiation pressure, pulling of photons (in given direction)?
https://scholar.google.pl/scholar?q=negative+radiation+pressure
https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/negative-radiation-pressure.1053657/
 
Last edited:
Thread 'A quartet of epi-illumination methods'
Well, it took almost 20 years (!!!), but I finally obtained a set of epi-phase microscope objectives (Zeiss). The principles of epi-phase contrast is nearly identical to transillumination phase contrast, but the phase ring is a 1/8 wave retarder rather than a 1/4 wave retarder (because with epi-illumination, the light passes through the ring twice). This method was popular only for a very short period of time before epi-DIC (differential interference contrast) became widely available. So...
I am currently undertaking a research internship where I am modelling the heating of silicon wafers with a 515 nm femtosecond laser. In order to increase the absorption of the laser into the oxide layer on top of the wafer it was suggested we use gold nanoparticles. I was tasked with modelling the optical properties of a 5nm gold nanoparticle, in particular the absorption cross section, using COMSOL Multiphysics. My model seems to be getting correct values for the absorption coefficient and...
Back
Top