Introduction to Laser Technology

C. Breck Hitz is Executive Director of LEOMA, the Laser and Electro-Optics Manufacturers' Association. He was the founding editor of Lasers & Applications magazine, and a former editor of Laser Focus World.J. J. Ewing is the President of Ewing Technology Associates, Inc. His pioneering work on high-efficiency, ultraviolet lasers led to the discovery and development of the rare gas halide excimer lasers.Jeff Hecht is a contributing editor to Laser Focus World and correspondent for New Scientist magazine. He was a cofounder and contributing editor to Lasers & Applications. Mr. Hecht is the author of ten books, including Understanding Lasers: An Entry-Level Guide (Wiley-IEEE Press).

• Preface ixAcknowledgments xiChapter 1 An Overview of Laser Technology 11.1 What are Lasers Used For? 21.2 Lasers in Telecommunications 31.3 Lasers in Research and Medicine 41.4 Lasers in Graphics and Grocery Stores 41.5 Lasers in the Military 51.6 Other Laser Applications 5Chapter 2 The Nature of Light 72.1 Electromagnetic Waves 72.2 Wave-Particle Duality 10Chapter 3 Refractive Index, Polarization, and Brightness 173.1 Light Propagation—Refractive Index 173.2 Huygens' Principle 213.3 Polarization 243.4 Polarization Components 273.5 Birefringence 303.6 Brewster's Angle 363.7 Brightness 41Chapter 4 Interference 434.1 What is Optical Interference? 434.2 Everyday Examples of Optical Interference 454.3 Young's Double-Slit Experiment 464.4 Fabry-Perot Interferometer 49Chapter 5 Laser Light 555.1 Monochromaticity 555.2 Directionality 565.3 Coherence 60Chapter 6 Atoms, Molecules, and Energy Levels 636.1 Atomic Energy Levels 636.2 Spontaneous Emission and Stimulated Emission 656.3 Molecular Energy Levels 666.4 Some Subtle Refinements 64Chapter 7 Energy Distributions and Laser Action 737.1 Boltzmann Distribution 737.2 Population Inversion 767.3 L.A.S.E.R. 797.4 Three-Level and Four-Level Lasers 827.5 Pumping Mechanisms 83Chapter 8 Laser Resonators 878.1 Why a Resonator? 878.2 Circulating Power 888.3 Gain and Loss 908.4 Another Perspective on Saturation 918.5 Relaxation Oscillations 938.6 Oscillator-Amplifiers 948.7 Unstable Resonators 958.8 Laser Mirrors 95Chapter 9 Resonator Modes 999.1 Spatial Energy Distributions 999.2 Transverse Resonator Modes 1009.3 Gaussian-Beam Propagation 1019.4 A Stability Criterion 1079.5 Longitudinal Modes 109Chapter 10 Reducing Laser Bandwidth 11310.1 Measuring Laser Bandwidth 11310.2 Laser-Broadening Mechanisms 11610.3 Reducing Laser Bandwidth 11810.4 Single-Mode Lasers 122Chapter 11 Q-S witching 12911.1 Measuring the Output of Pulsed Lasers 12911.2 Q-Switching 13511.3 Types of Q-S witches 13511.4 Mechanical Q-Switches 13511.5 A-0 Q-Switches 13611.6 E-O Q-Switches 13811.7 Dye Q-Switches 140Chapter 12 Cavity Dumping and Modelocking 14312.1 Cavity Dumping 14312.2 Partial Cavity Dumping 14712.3 Modelocking—Time Domain 14712.4 Modelocking—Frequency Domain 15112.5 Applications of Modelocked Lasers 15212.6 Types of Modelocked Lasers 153Chapter 13 Nonlinear Optics 15513.1 What is Nonlinear Optics? 15513.2 Second-Harmonic Generation 15813.3 Birefringent Phase Matching 16113.4 Quasi-Phasematching 16513.5 Intracavity Harmonic Generation 16813.6 Higher Harmonics 16913.7 Optical Parametric Oscillation 17013.8 Raman lasers 172Chapter 14 Semiconductor Lasers 17514.1 Semiconductor Physics 17514.2 Modern Diode Lasers 18114.3 Diode Laser Bandwidth 18214.4 Wavelength of Diode Lasers 18314.5 Diode Arrays and Stacks 18514.6 Vertical Cavity, Surface-Emitting Lasers 18514.7 Optically Pumped Semiconductor Lasers 18714.8 Quantum Cascade Lasers 189Chapter 15 Solid-State Lasers 19115.1 Solid-State Laser Materials 19115.2 Diode-Pumped Solid State Lasers 19515.2.1 Diode-Pumping Geometry 19915.2.2 Pump Diodes, Pulsing, and Packaging 19915.3 Lamp Pumping 20115.4 Thermal Issues in Solid-State Lasers 20515.5 Scaling Diode-Pumped Lasers to High Power 207Chapter 16 Fiber Lasers 21516.1 Acceptance Angle and Numerical Aperture 21516.2 Doping Optical Fibers 21616.3 Pumping Fiber Lasers 21716.4 Fabricating Optical Fibers 21816.5 Feedback for Fiber Lasers 21916.6 High Power Fiber Lasers 22016.7 Large-Mode-Area Fibers 22116.8 Holey Fibers 222Chapter 17 Gas lasers: Helium-Neon and Ion 22517.1 Gas-Laser Transitions 22617.2 Gas-Laser Media and Tubes 22717.3 Laser Excitation 22917.4 Optical Characteristics 23017.5 Wavelengths and Spectral Width 23017.6 He-Ne Lasers 23217.7 Principles of He-Ne Lasers 23217.8 Structure of He-Ne Lasers 23417.9 Ar-and Kr-Ion Lasers 235Chapter 18 Carbon Dioxide and Other Vibrational Lasers 23918.1 Vibrational Transitions 24018.2 Excitation 24218.3 Types of CO2 Lasers 24318.4 Optics for CO2 Lasers 24618.5 Chemical Lasers 246Chapter 19 Excimer Lasers 24919.1 Excimer Molecules 25119.2 Electrical Considerations 25319.3 Handling the Gases 25519.4 Applications of Excimer Lasers 259Chapter 20 Tunable and Ultrafast Lasers 26320.1 Dye Lasers 26520.2 Tunable Solid-State Lasers 26820.3 Nonlinear Converters 27120.4 Ultrafast Lasers 274Glossary 283Further Reading 291Index 293