Question #ae22c
1 Answer
May 15, 2017
One manner for an atom in an excited state (as in the laser media) to release excess energy is by the spontaneous emission of light in discrete units called photons.
Stimulated emission refers to the case in which a photon released by one excited atom (in the laser media) will cause (stimulate) an excited atom it may encounter in its path also to release a photon of excess energy. The result of this interaction is the combination of two photons with identical coherence properties (phase relationships) so that they add completely together to produce a beam of twice the intensity.
