Units for Einstein coefficients in stimulated emission?

[euler_ka_abbu]

Homework Statement

Hi,

I need to know the correct SI units for Einstein Coefficients (A and B) for stimulated emission (say laser).
The equation I'm on about is

Homework Equations

\frac{A}{B} = \frac{8\pi h\nu^{3}}{c^{3}}

The Attempt at a Solution

after some scribbling I got to \frac{A}{B} = \frac{Js}{m^{3}}
where J is joules, s seconds and m is meter.

any help appreciated. thanks

 

[diazona]

According to Wikipedia, the units of A are radians per second, and based on the ratio you got you should be able to figure out what the units of B are. Although I'm not sure whether to trust Wikipedia on this without having some other source (i.e. a textbook) to back it up.

 

[euler_ka_abbu]

thanks for your reply diazona!

apparently A is the probability per unit time of an electron making spotaneous transition so assuming A to be s^{-1} then B should be \frac {m^{3}}{Js^{2}}, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein_coefficients#The_Einstein_coefficients" gives for B \frac {sr m^{2}}{Js} where sr is solid angle and is dimensionless. I'm getting close but what am i doing wrong??

 

[km707]

Wikipedia's right, I just happened to be working on this so let me show you why.

The units of coefficient A has the same units as BxJ, where J is the average specific intensity with units Jm^-2s^-1Hz^-1Sr^-1

A is the transition probability so has unit s^-1

After juggling around I get =(m²SrHz)/J = what Wikipedia says :)

 

[kavey]

Sorry to dig up this old thread, but I came across this post when trying to find out which units to use and thought I should add the correct answer now I've found it.

Radiative Processes in Astrophysics by Rybicki and Lightman (p29) defines the transition probability per unit time (\mathrm{s}^{-1}) for stimulated emission as B_{21}\overline{J}, where \overline{J} is the mean intensity (\mathrm{Jm^{-2}s^{-1}sr^{-1}Hz^{-1}}). This gives B_{21} in units of \mathrm{m^2 sr J^{-1} s^{-1}} However, the book also states that the energy density u_\nu is often used instead of J_\nu to define the Einstein B-coefficients. u_\nu=\frac{4\pi}{c}J_\nu where J_\nu is in the same units as \overline{J} and therefore the units of u_\nu are \mathrm{Jm^{-3}sr^{-1}Hz^{-1}}. Therefore if the transition probability is defined as B_{21}\overline{u} (with \overline{u} again in the same units as u_\nu) then the units of B_{21} become \mathrm{m^3 sr J^{-1} s^{-2}} So both of you were correct! Just make sure you stick to one definition or the other.