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| Preface | |
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| Introduction and Overview | |
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| The Idea of the Laser | |
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| What is a Laser? | |
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| Laser Materials and Types | |
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| Optical Properties of Laser Light | |
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| How Lasers are Used | |
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| What Have We Learned? | |
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| Physical Basics | |
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| Electromagnetic Waves and Photons | |
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| Quantum and Classical Physics | |
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| Interactions of Light and Matter | |
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| Basic Optics and Simple Lenses | |
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| What Have We Learned? | |
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| How Lasers Work | |
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| Building a Laser | |
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| Producing a Population Inversion | |
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| Resonant Cavities | |
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| Laser Beams and Resonance | |
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| Wavelength Selection and Tuning | |
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| Laser Excitation Techniques | |
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| What Have We Learned? | |
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| Laser Characteristics | |
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| Coherence | |
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| Laser Wavelengths | |
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| Behavior of Laser Beams | |
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| Laser Power | |
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| Laser Efficiency | |
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| Duration of Emission | |
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| Polarization | |
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| What Have We Learned? | |
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| Optics and Laser Accessories | |
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| Classical Optical Devices | |
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| Transparent Optical Materials | |
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| Optical Surfaces, Coatings and Filters | |
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| Nonlinear Optics | |
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| Beam Intensity and Pulse Control | |
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| Beam Direction and Propagation | |
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| Mounting and Positioning Equipment | |
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| Optical Measurement | |
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| What Have We Learned? | |
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| Types of Lasers | |
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| Laser Oscillators and Optical Amplifiers | |
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| Laser Media | |
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| The Importance of Gain | |
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| Broadband and Wavelength-Tunable Lasers | |
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| Laser-Like Light Sources | |
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| What Have We Learned? | |
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| Gas Lasers | |
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| The Gas Laser Family | |
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| Gas-Laser Basics | |
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| Helium-Neon Lasers | |
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| Argon- and Krypton-Ion Lasers | |
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| Metal-Vapor Lasers | |
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| Carbon Dioxide Laser | |
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| Excimer Lasers | |
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| Chemical Lasers | |
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| Other Gas Lasers | |
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| What Have We Learned? | |
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| Solid-State and Fiber Lasers | |
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| What is a Solid-State Laser? | |
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| Solid-State Laser Materials | |
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| Optical Pumping | |
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| Ruby Lasers | |
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| Neodymium Lasers | |
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| Vibronic and Tunable Solid-State Lasers | |
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| Erbium and Other Eye-Safe Lasers | |
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| Rare-Earth-Doped Fiber Lasers | |
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| Rare-Earth-Doped Fiber Amplifiers | |
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| Raman Fiber Lasers and Amplifiers | |
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| What Have We Learned? | |
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| Semiconductor Diode Lasers | |
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| Basics of Semiconductor Diode Lasers | |
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| Semiconductor Basics | |
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| Light Emission at Junctions | |
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| Layers and Confinement in Diode Lasers | |
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| Confinement in the Junction Plane | |
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| Edge-Emitting Diode Lasers | |
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| Surface-Emitting Diode Lasers | |
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| Quantum Wells and Dots | |
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| Quantum Cascade Lasers | |
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| Optical Properties of Diode Lasers | |
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| Diode Laser Materials and Wavelengths | |
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| Silicon Lasers | |
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| Packaging and Specialization of Diode Lasers | |
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| What Have We Learned? | |
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| Other Lasers and Related Sources | |
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| Tunable Dye Lasers | |
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| Extreme-Ultraviolet Sources | |
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| Free-Electron Lasers | |
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| Silicon Lasers | |
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| What Have We Learned? | |
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| Low-Power Laser Applications | |
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| Advantages of Laser Light | |
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| Reading with Lasers | |
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| Optical Disks and Data Storage | |
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| Laser Printing and Marking | |
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| Fiber-Optic Communications | |
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| Laser Measurement | |
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| Laser Pointers, Art, and Entertainment | |
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| Low-Power Defense Applications | |
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| Sensing and Spectroscopy | |
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| Holography | |
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| Other Low-Power Applications | |
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| What Have We Learned? | |
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| High-Power Laser Applications | |
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| High- Versus Low-Power Laser Applications | |
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| Attractions of High-Power Lasers | |
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| Materials Working | |
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| Electronics Manufacturing | |
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| Three-Dimensional Modeling | |
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| Laser Medical Treatment | |
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| Photochemistry and Isotope Separation | |
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| Laser-Driven Nuclear Fusion | |
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| High-Energy Laser Weapons | |
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| Futuristic High-Power Laser Ideas | |
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| What Have We Learned? | |
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| Lasers In Research | |
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| Lasers Open New Opportunities | |
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| Laser Spectroscopy | |
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| Manipulating Tiny Objects | |
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| Atom Lasers and Bose-Einstein Condensates | |
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| Slow Light | |
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| Nanoscale Lasers | |
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| Petawatt Lasers | |
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| Attosecond Pulses | |
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| Laser Acceleration | |
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| Other Emerging Research | |
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| What We Have Learned | |
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| Answers to Quiz Questions | |
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| Laser Safety | |
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| Handy Numbers and Formulas | |
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| Resources and Suggested Readings | |
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| Glossary | |
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| Index | |