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The theoretical basis upon which both the maser and laser rest was laid by Albert
Einstein in 1917 with a paper entitled "On the Quantum Theory of Radiation," which
introduced the process of stimulated emission.

To describe the phenomenon of spontaneous emission (fig. 1), let us consider

two energy levels, E1 and E2, where E1 is ground level and E2 an excited level, with E1< E2.
If an atom is arrived in excited state (E2), since E2>E1 it will tends spontaneous to
decay to the ground state (E1) by ,,spontaneous emission¶¶. The corresponding energy
difference must therefore be released by the atom. Spontaneous emission is therefore
characterized by the emission of a photon of energy hȞ = E2² E1.
Einstein predicted that in addition to the spontaneous emission of photons from
excited atoms, there is an emission forced by radiation to which the atoms might be exposed.
Let us now suppose that the atom is initially found in excited state (E2) and a photon
of frequency Ȟ, equal to that of the spontaneously emitted photon is incident on the material.
In this case, two photons of precisely the same wavelength and direction are produced
(fig. 1-b) and this was called stimulated emission.
The overall result for a greater number of excited atoms is a cascade of photons, all
traveling in the same direction and with the same frequency and phase as the photons that
shake out the excited atoms.

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 A true theory of physics must respond at least 3 fundamental questions about maser
and laser and the differences between lasers and masers arise implicit.
These questions are:
1. Are the maser and laser experimental set up identical with up presented
theoretical consideration?
2. Why it is possible to have a self-sustaining radiation in case of maser and not
in case of laser?
3. Why a laser can¶t work with only two levels of energy?
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The present text responds in detail only to the first question; the complete answers are
in present or further books. c
As was seen at Masers and quantum hypothesis link, there are more possibilities to
obtain the population inversion. The present discussion will be focused on the separation of
particle from beam due to an inhomogeneous magnetic field; the conclusions are valid for all
other population inversion methods too.
Quantum mechanic admit that a inhomogeneous magnetic field with a distribution
like in fig. 1 is able to act like a ,,state selector´. The atoms in the upper energy level are
entering into the cavity and the atoms in the lower energy level are removed.
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ác Atomic beam masers

|c Ammonia maser
|c ´ree Electron Maser
|c iydrogen maser
ác Œas masers
|c Rubidium maser
ác Solid State masers
|c Ruby maser

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the most important type of maser is the hydrogen maser which is currently used as an atomic
frequency standard. Together with other types of atomic clocks, they constitute the "Temps
Atomique International" or TAI. This is the international time scale, which is coordinated by
the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures, or BIPM.

It was Norman Ramsey and his colleagues who first realized this device. Today's masers are
identical to the original design. The maser oscillation relies on stimulated emission between
two hyperfine levels of atomic hydrogen. iere is a brief description of how it works:

ác ´irst, a beam of atomic hydrogen is produced. This is done by submitting the gas at
low pressure to an R´ discharge (see the picture on this page).

ác The next step is "state selection"²in order to get some stimulated emission, it is
necessary to create a population inversion of the atoms. This is done in a way that is
very similar to the famous Stern-Œerlach experiment. After passing through an
 aperture and a magnetic field, many of the atoms in the beam are left in the upper
energy level of the lasing transition. ´rom this state, the atoms can decay to the lower
state and emit some microwave radiation.

ác A high quality factor microwave cavity confines the microwaves and reinjects them
repeatedly into the atom beam. The stimulated emission amplifies the microwaves on
each pass through the beam. This combination of amplification and feedback is what
defines all oscillators. The resonant frequency of the microwave cavity is exactly
tuned to the hyperfine structure of hydrogen: 1420 405 751.768 iz.

ác A small fraction of the signal in the microwave cavity is coupled into a coaxial cable
and then sent to a coherent receiver.

ác The microwave signal coming out of the maser is very weak (a few pW). The
frequency of the signal is fixed and a
aa stable. The coherent receiver is used to
amplify the signal and change the frequency. This is done using a series of phase-
locked loops and a high performance quartz oscillator.


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