Sparks 101
01.
Tilting
02.
Population Inversion
03.
Stimulated Emissions
04.
Lasing
05.
Cyclical Process
01
Ready, set, tilt.
When the candle is lit, all it takes is tilting it to initiate the plasma light show. Tilting the candle in this experiment is like pressing the pedal to accelerate a car. It alters the distribution of heat and flow of gases around the flame. This mechanical disturbance affects the population distribution among the energy levels of atoms in the flame.
02
Population inversion
This disturbance generates a condition where more particles are in an excited state than in a lower energy state—a condition known as population inversion— and it enables the process of stimulated emission.
As we tilt the candle, generating a rapid, localized increase in the temperature and concentration of the additive, a sudden surge in the ionization and excitation of particles occurs. A population inversion is achieved.
03
Stimulated Emissions
The process of stimulated emission can now occur, where one photon triggers the emission of another, leading to a coherent spark of amplified light emission. This is what we call lasing, similar to the process of how laser light is generated. The sparks you're observing represent small regions where this lasing process is occurring.
LASING IS
​
MONOCHROMATIC​
Lasing generates a single wavelength of light. It is monochromatic. Sunlight or the light from a light bulb, on the other hand is made up of multiple wavelengths.​
04
Monochromatic
COHERENT
The waves of light lasing are all in phase with one another at all times. This means that the peaks and troughs of the waves of light all line up as the beam travels through space.
Incoherent
Coherent
COLLIMATED
As the waves of light emitted from a light or the sun travel, they spread out and disperse to a great degree from the source. The waves of light emitted from lasing, however, travel in a focused beam.
Collimated
05
Cyclical Process
These sparks are not simple ejections of light and heat seem in a typical flame; they are seeds of plasma that exhibit lasing. In fact, the sparks display a two-phase cycle - which we label as plasma lasing. This process highlights a cyclic process of energy absorption and emission.
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