Understanding Laser Technology

About the Authors C. Breck Hitz is executive director of LEOMA, the Laser and Electro--Optics Manufacturersa Association. His areas of research include modelocking and nonlinear optics in solid--state lasers. Mr. Hitz was the founding editor of Lasers & Applications magazine (now Lasers & Optronics), and a former editor of Laser Focus. Over the past 20 years, he has taught the course based upon this book at leading American laser companies and corporate research laboratories. J. J. Ewing has been a leading developer of new laser sources for over 25 years. His pioneering work on high--efficiency, ultraviolet lasers led to the discovery and development of the rare gas halide excimer lasers now used for eye surgery and for processing computer chips. Dr. Ewing is currently the president of Ewing Technology Associates, Inc., researching diode--pumped solid--state lasers for remote sensing applications and novel micro--discharge devices for point chemical detection sensors. Jeff Hecht is a contributing editor to Laser Focus World and correspondent for New Scientist magazine. He was a confounder and contributing editor to Lasers & Applications and also served as managing editor of Laser Focus. Mr. Hecht is the author of 10 books, including Understanding Lasers, Understanding Fiber Optics, The Laser Guidebook, City of Light: The Story of Fiber Optics, and Optics: Light for a New Age.

Preface. Acknowledgments. An Overview of Laser Technology. The Nature of Light. Refractive Index, Polarization, and Brightness. Interference. Atoms, Molecules, and Energy Levels. Energy Distributions and Laser Action. Laser Resonators. Resonator Modes. Reducing Laser Bandwidth. Q--Switching. Cavity Dumping and Modelocking. Nonlinear Optics. Semiconductor Lasers. Solid--State Lasers. Helium Neon, Helium Cadmium, and Ion Lasers. Carbon Dioxide and Other Vibrational Lasers. Excimer Lasers. Tunable and Ultrafast Lasers. Glossary. Index. About the Authors.