What term describes the concept of moving electrons to an excited energy state and encouraging decay through a collision with a photon?

The concept of moving electrons to an excited energy state and encouraging their decay through a collision with a photon is known as stimulated emission. In this process, when an electron in a higher energy state encounters a photon of a specific energy that corresponds to the energy difference between the excited state and a lower energy state, it can be stimulated to drop down to that lower energy state. This results in the release of a photon that is coherent with the incoming photon, effectively amplifying the light and maintaining the same phase and frequency.

This mechanism is crucial to the operation of lasers, which rely on the principle of stimulated emission to produce coherent light. Understanding how electrons transition between energy states through this interaction is fundamental in the study of quantum mechanics and photonics, distinguishing it from other related terms like spontaneous emission, which occurs without external stimulation and does not involve phase coherence.