three-level laser
A burst of energy excites electrons in more than half of the atoms from their ground state to a higher state, creating a population inversion. The electrons then drop into a long-lived state with slightly less energy, where they can be stimulated to quickly shed excess energy as a laser burst, returning the electrons to a stable ground state.
population inversion
physics
- Related Topics:
- laser
- energy level
population inversion, in physics, the redistribution of atomic energy levels that takes place in a system so that laser or maser action can occur. Normally, a system of atoms is in temperature equilibrium and there are always more atoms in low energy states than in higher ones. Although absorption and emission of energy is a continuous process, the statistical distribution (population) of atoms in the various energy states is constant. When this distribution is disturbed by pumping energy into the system, a population inversion will take place in which more atoms will exist in the higher energy states than in the lower.