Preface ix Acknowledgments xi Chapter 1 An Overview of Laser Technology 1 1.1 What are Lasers Used For? 2 1.2 Lasers in Telecommunications 3 1.3 Lasers in Research and Medicine 4 1.4 Lasers in Graphics and Grocery Stores 4 1.5 Lasers in the Military 5 1.6 Other Laser Applications 5 Chapter 2 The Nature of Light 7 2.1 Electromagnetic Waves 7 2.

2 Wave-Particle Duality 10 Chapter 3 Refractive Index, Polarization, and Brightness 17 3.1 Light Propagation--Refractive Index 17 3.2 Huygens'' Principle 21 3.3 Polarization 24 3.4 Polarization Components 27 3.5 Birefringence 30 3.6 Brewster''s Angle 36 3.7 Brightness 41 Chapter 4 Interference 43 4.

1 What is Optical Interference? 43 4.2 Everyday Examples of Optical Interference 45 4.3 Young''s Double-Slit Experiment 46 4.4 Fabry-Perot Interferometer 49 Chapter 5 Laser Light 55 5.1 Monochromaticity 55 5.2 Directionality 56 5.3 Coherence 60 Chapter 6 Atoms, Molecules, and Energy Levels 63 6.1 Atomic Energy Levels 63 6.

2 Spontaneous Emission and Stimulated Emission 65 6.3 Molecular Energy Levels 66 6.4 Some Subtle Refinements 64 Chapter 7 Energy Distributions and Laser Action 73 7.1 Boltzmann Distribution 73 7.2 Population Inversion 76 7.3 L.A.S.

E.R. 79 7.4 Three-Level and Four-Level Lasers 82 7.5 Pumping Mechanisms 83 Chapter 8 Laser Resonators 87 8.1 Why a Resonator? 87 8.2 Circulating Power 88 8.3 Gain and Loss 90 8.

4 Another Perspective on Saturation 91 8.5 Relaxation Oscillations 93 8.6 Oscillator-Amplifiers 94 8.7 Unstable Resonators 95 8.8 Laser Mirrors 95 Chapter 9 Resonator Modes 99 9.1 Spatial Energy Distributions 99 9.2 Transverse Resonator Modes 100 9.3 Gaussian-Beam Propagation 101 9.

4 A Stability Criterion 107 9.5 Longitudinal Modes 109 Chapter 10 Reducing Laser Bandwidth 113 10.1 Measuring Laser Bandwidth 113 10.2 Laser-Broadening Mechanisms 116 10.3 Reducing Laser Bandwidth 118 10.4 Single-Mode Lasers 122 Chapter 11 Q-S witching 129 11.1 Measuring the Output of Pulsed Lasers 129 11.2 Q-Switching 135 11.

3 Types of Q-S witches 135 11.4 Mechanical Q-Switches 135 11.5 A-0 Q-Switches 136 11.6 E-O Q-Switches 138 11.7 Dye Q-Switches 140 Chapter 12 Cavity Dumping and Modelocking 143 12.1 Cavity Dumping 143 12.2 Partial Cavity Dumping 147 12.3 Modelocking--Time Domain 147 12.

4 Modelocking--Frequency Domain 151 12.5 Applications of Modelocked Lasers 152 12.6 Types of Modelocked Lasers 153 Chapter 13 Nonlinear Optics 155 13.1 What is Nonlinear Optics? 155 13.2 Second-Harmonic Generation 158 13.3 Birefringent Phase Matching 161 13.4 Quasi-Phasematching 165 13.5 Intracavity Harmonic Generation 168 13.

6 Higher Harmonics 169 13.7 Optical Parametric Oscillation 170 13.8 Raman lasers 172 Chapter 14 Semiconductor Lasers 175 14.1 Semiconductor Physics 175 14.2 Modern Diode Lasers 181 14.3 Diode Laser Bandwidth 182 14.4 Wavelength of Diode Lasers 183 14.5 Diode Arrays and Stacks 185 14.

6 Vertical Cavity, Surface-Emitting Lasers 185 14.7 Optically Pumped Semiconductor Lasers 187 14.8 Quantum Cascade Lasers 189 Chapter 15 Solid-State Lasers 191 15.1 Solid-State Laser Materials 191 15.2 Diode-Pumped Solid State Lasers 195 15.2.1 Diode-Pumping Geometry 199 15.2.

2 Pump Diodes, Pulsing, and Packaging 199 15.3 Lamp Pumping 201 15.4 Thermal Issues in Solid-State Lasers 205 15.5 Scaling Diode-Pumped Lasers to High Power 207 Chapter 16 Fiber Lasers 215 16.1 Acceptance Angle and Numerical Aperture 215 16.2 Doping Optical Fibers 216 16.3 Pumping Fiber Lasers 217 16.4 Fabricating Optical Fibers 218 16.

5 Feedback for Fiber Lasers 219 16.6 High Power Fiber Lasers 220 16.7 Large-Mode-Area Fibers 221 16.8 Holey Fibers 222 Chapter 17 Gas lasers: Helium-Neon and Ion 225 17.1 Gas-Laser Transitions 226 17.2 Gas-Laser Media and Tubes 227 17.3 Laser Excitation 229 17.4 Optical Characteristics 230 17.

5 Wavelengths and Spectral Width 230 17.6 He-Ne Lasers 232 17.7 Principles of He-Ne Lasers 232 17.8 Structure of He-Ne Lasers 234 17.9 Ar-and Kr-Ion Lasers 235 Chapter 18 Carbon Dioxide and Other Vibrational Lasers 239 18.1 Vibrational Transitions 240 18.2 Excitation 242 18.3 Types of CO2 Lasers 243 18.

4 Optics for CO2 Lasers 246 18.5 Chemical Lasers 246 Chapter 19 Excimer Lasers 249 19.1 Excimer Molecules 251 19.2 Electrical Considerations 253 19.3 Handling the Gases 255 19.4 Applications of Excimer Lasers 259 Chapter 20 Tunable and Ultrafast Lasers 263 20.1 Dye Lasers 265 20.2 Tunable Solid-State Lasers 268 20.

3 Nonlinear Converters 271 20.4 Ultrafast Lasers 274 Glossary 283 Further Reading 291 Index 293.