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| Preface | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Energy Transfer Between Radiation and Atomic Transitions | |
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| Optical Amplification | |
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| Interaction of Radiation with Matter | |
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| Blackbody Radiation | |
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| Boltzmann's Statistics | |
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| Einstein's Coefficients | |
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| Phase Coherence of Stimulated Emission | |
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| Absorption and Optical Gain | |
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| Atomic Lineshapes | |
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| Absorption by Stimulated Transitions | |
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| Population Inversion | |
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| Creation of a Population Inversion | |
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| The Three-Level System | |
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| The Four-Level System | |
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| The Metastable Level | |
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| Laser Rate Equations | |
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| The Three-Level System | |
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| The Four-Level System | |
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| Comparison of Three- and Four-Level Lasers | |
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| Properties of Solid-State Laser Materials | |
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| Overview | |
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| Host Materials | |
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| Active Ions | |
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| Ruby | |
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| Nd:Lasers | |
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| Nd:YAG | |
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| Nd:Glass | |
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| Nd:Cr:GSGG | |
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| Nd:YLF | |
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| Nd:YVO[subscript 4] | |
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| Er:Lasers | |
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| Er:YAG | |
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| Er:Glass | |
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| Tunable Lasers | |
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| Alexandrite Laser | |
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| Ti:Sapphire | |
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| Cr:LiSAF | |
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| Tm:YAG | |
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| Yb:YAG | |
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| Laser Oscillator | |
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| Operation at Threshold | |
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| Gain Saturation | |
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| Circulating Power | |
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| Oscillator Performance Model | |
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| Conversion of Input to Output Energy | |
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| Laser Output | |
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| Relaxation Oscillations | |
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| Theory | |
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| Spike Suppression | |
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| Gain Switching | |
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| Examples of Laser Oscillators | |
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| Lamp-Pumped cw Nd:YAG Laser | |
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| Diode Side-Pumped Nd:YAG Laser | |
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| End-Pumped Systems | |
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| Ring Laser | |
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| Laser Amplifier | |
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| Single- and Multiple-Pass Pulse Amplifiers | |
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| Pulse Amplification | |
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| Nd:YAG Amplifiers | |
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| Nd:Glass Amplifiers | |
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| Multipass Amplifier Configurations | |
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| Regenerative Amplifiers | |
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| cw Amplifiers | |
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| Signal Distortions | |
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| Spatial Distortions | |
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| Temporal Distortions | |
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| Depopulation Losses | |
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| Amplified Spontaneous Emission | |
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| Prelasing and Parasitic Modes | |
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| Reduction of Depopulation Losses | |
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| Self-Focusing | |
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| Whole-Beam Self-Focusing | |
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| Examples of Self-focusing in Nd:YAG Lasers | |
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| Small-Scale Self-Focusing | |
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| Suppression of Self-Focusing | |
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| Optical Resonator | |
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| Transverse Modes | |
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| Intensity Distribution | |
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| Characteristics of a Gaussian Beam | |
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| Resonator Configurations | |
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| Stability of Laser Resonators | |
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| Diffraction Losses | |
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| Higher-Order Modes | |
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| Mode Selection | |
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| Active Resonator | |
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| Examples of Resonator Designs | |
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| Resonator Modeling and Software Packages | |
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| Longitudinal Modes | |
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| The Fabry-Perot Interferometer | |
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| Laser Resonator with Gain Medium | |
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| Longitudinal Mode Control | |
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| Injection Seeding | |
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| Intensity and Frequency Control | |
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| Amplitude Fluctuations | |
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| Frequency Tuning | |
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| Frequency Locking | |
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| Hardware Design | |
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| Unstable Resonators | |
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| Confocal Positive-Branch Unstable Resonator | |
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| Negative-Branch Unstable Resonator | |
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| Variable Reflectivity Output Couplers | |
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| Gain, Mode Size, and Alignment Sensitivity | |
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| Wavelength Selection | |
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| Optical Pump Systems | |
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| Pump Sources | |
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| Flashlamps | |
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| Continuous Arc Lamps | |
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| Laser Diodes | |
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| Pump Radiation Transfer Methods | |
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| Side-Pumping with Lamps | |
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| Side-Pumping with Diodes | |
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| End-Pumped Lasers | |
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| Face-Pumped Disks | |
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| Thermo-Optic Effects | |
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| Cylindrical Geometry | |
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| Temperature Distribution | |
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| Thermal Stresses | |
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| Photoelastic Effects | |
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| Thermal Lensing | |
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| Stress Birefringence | |
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| Compensation of Optical Distortions | |
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| Slab and Disk Geometries | |
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| Rectangular-Slab Laser | |
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| Slab Laser with Zigzag Optical Path | |
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| Disk Amplifiers and Lasers | |
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| End-Pumped Configurations | |
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| Thermal Gradients and Stress | |
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| Thermal Lensing | |
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| Thermal Fracture Limit | |
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| Thermal Management | |
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| Liquid Cooling | |
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| Conduction Cooling | |
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| Air/Gas Cooling | |
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| Q-Switching | |
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| Q-Switch Theory | |
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| Fast Q-Switch | |
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| Slow Q-Switching | |
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| Continuously Pumped, Repetitively Q-Switched Systems | |
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| Mechanical Q-Switches | |
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| Electro-Optical Q-Switches | |
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| KDP and KD*P Pockels Cells | |
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| LiNbO[subscript 3] Pockels Cells | |
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| Prelasing and Postlasing | |
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| Depolarization Losses | |
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| Drivers for Electro-Optic Q-Switches | |
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| Acousto-Optic Q-Switches | |
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| Bragg Reflection | |
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| Device Characteristics | |
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| Passive Q-Switches | |
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| Cavity Dumping | |
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| Mode Locking | |
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| Pulse Formation | |
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| Passive Mode Locking | |
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| Liquid Dye Saturable Absorber | |
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| Coupled-Cavity Mode Locking | |
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| Kerr Lens Mode Locking | |
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| Semiconductor Saturable Absorber Mirror (SESAM) | |
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| Active Mode Locking | |
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| cw Mode Locking | |
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| Transient Active Mode Locking | |
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| Picosecond Lasers | |
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| AM Mode Locking | |
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| FM Mode Locking | |
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| Femtosecond Lasers | |
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| Laser Materials | |
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| Dispersion Compensation | |
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| Examples of Kerr Lens or SESAM Mode-Locked Femtosecond Lasers | |
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| Chirped Pulse Amplifiers | |
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| Nonlinear Devices | |
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| Nonlinear Optical Effects | |
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| Second-Order Nonlinearities | |
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| Third-Order Nonlinearities | |
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| Harmonic Generation | |
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| Basic Theory of Second Harmonic Generation | |
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| Phase Matching | |
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| Properties of Nonlinear Crystals | |
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| Intracavity Frequency Doubling | |
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| Third Harmonic Generation | |
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| Examples of Harmonic Generation | |
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| Optical Parametric Oscillators | |
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| Performance Modeling | |
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| Crystals | |
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| Quasi Phase Matching | |
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| Design and Performance | |
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| Raman Laser | |
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| Theory | |
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| Device Implementation | |
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| Optical Phase Conjugation | |
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| Basic Considerations | |
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| Material Properties | |
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| Focusing Geometry | |
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| Pump-Beam Properties | |
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| System Design | |
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| Damage of Optical Elements | |
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| Surface Damage | |
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| Inclusion Damage | |
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| Damage Threshold of Optical Materials | |
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| Scaling Laws | |
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| Laser Host Materials | |
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| Optical Glass | |
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| Nonlinear Crystals | |
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| Dielectric Thin Films | |
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| System Design Considerations | |
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| Choice of Materials | |
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| Design of System | |
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| System Operation | |
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| Laser Safety | |
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| Conversion Factors and Constants | |
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| Definition of Symbols | |
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| References | |
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| Subject Index | |