Power supply creating population inversion in a laser is known as which term?

Power supply creating population inversion in a laser is known as which term?

• A. Pump
• B. Modalities
• C. Plume
• D. Fluence

Answer: (A)

Pumping is the act of delivering energy to the laser’s gain medium to raise its atoms into excited states. Population inversion—the condition needed for laser action—occurs when more atoms are in these excited states than in the ground state, and the power supply is what provides that energy. In many lasers, the pump can be electrical (diode-driven) or optical (light from lamps or diodes). Fluence, by contrast, measures energy per unit area of the laser beam itself, not how the medium is energized; the other terms don’t describe this energizing process.

Pumping is the act of delivering energy to the laser’s gain medium to raise its atoms into excited states. Population inversion—the condition needed for laser action—occurs when more atoms are in these excited states than in the ground state, and the power supply is what provides that energy. In many lasers, the pump can be electrical (diode-driven) or optical (light from lamps or diodes). Fluence, by contrast, measures energy per unit area of the laser beam itself, not how the medium is energized; the other terms don’t describe this energizing process.