Merging
Plasma Lasing is a cyclical process of absorption and emission
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Here is a snapshot of the spark that illustrate this two-phase cycle of plasma lasing. The top part of the image shows the spark in its “vibrant” stage, where stimulated emission occurs.
The bottom part of the picture is when we can see plasma stretching out from the spark, absorbing energy. This stretching of the “dimmer” plasma propels the spark forward. In this phase, the particles within the plasma are absorbing energy, getting excited, just like the 'fueling' part of an engine cycle. This provides the energy needed for the subsequent phase, to trigger population inversion.
This cyclical process - energy absorption + stimulated emission - helps maintain the coherence of the sparks, allowing them to retain their distinct shape and color. It's as if each spark carries its own little 'quantum engine' that keeps it glowing and vibrant.
It must be noted that motion blur is generated through frame-blending, allowing us to visualize these two phases. The two phases are distinguished by varying intensities in the blended frames. Plasma, however, is transparent when it is absorbing energy, and light is only emitted from a plasma during a radiative transition, when an electron emits a photon as it falls back to a lower energy level. This motion blur, however, allows us to visualize how the sparks absorbs and emit energy, opening up avenues for a model that incorporates phase-triggered events as general characteristics of the spark.
Let's remove motion blur.
The cyclical process of absorption and emission still applies. This process can be translated as a cloud of oscillating electrons absorbing and emitting energy, bound to an ionic core within the plasma spark. This oscillation is locked between distinct electronic states that allows for the stimulated emission of blue sparks.
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