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| Preface | |
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| Acknowledgments | |
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| An Overview of Laser Technology | |
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| What are Lasers Used For? | |
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| Lasers in Telecommunications | |
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| Lasers in Research and Medicine | |
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| Lasers in Graphics and Grocery Stores | |
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| Lasers in the Military | |
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| Other Laser Applications | |
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| The Nature of Light | |
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| Electromagnetic Waves | |
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| Wave-Particle Duality | |
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| Refractive Index, Polarization, and Brightness | |
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| Light Propagation-Refractive Index | |
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| Huygens' Principle | |
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| Polarization | |
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| Polarization Components | |
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| Birefringence | |
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| Brewster's Angle | |
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| Brightness | |
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| Interference | |
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| What is Optical Interference? | |
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| Everyday Examples of Optical Interference | |
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| Young's Double-Slit Experiment | |
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| Fabry Perot Interferometer | |
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| Laser Light | |
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| Monochromaticity | |
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| Directionality | |
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| Coherence | |
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| Atoms, Molecules, and Energy Levels | |
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| Atomic Energy Levels | |
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| Spontaneous Emission and Stimulated Emission | |
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| Molecular Energy Levels | |
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| Some Subtle Refinements | |
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| Energy Distributions and Laser Action | |
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| Boltzmann Distribution | |
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| Population Inversion | |
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| L.A.S.E.R. | |
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| Three-Level and Four-Level Lasers | |
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| Pumping Mechanisms | |
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| Laser Resonators | |
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| Why a Resonator? | |
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| Circulating Power | |
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| Gain and Loss | |
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| Another Perspective on Saturation | |
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| Relaxation Oscillations | |
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| Oscillator-Amplifiers | |
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| Unstable Resonators | |
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| Laser Mirrors | |
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| Resonator Modes | |
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| Spatial Energy Distributions | |
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| Transverse Resonator Modes | |
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| Gaussian-Beam Propagation | |
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| A Stability Criterion | |
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| Longitudinal Modes | |
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| Reducing Laser Bandwidth | |
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| Measuring Laser Bandwidth | |
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| Laser-Broadening Mechanisms | |
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| Reducing Laser Bandwidth | |
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| Single-Mode Lasers | |
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| Q-Switching | |
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| Measuring the Output of Pulsed Lasers | |
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| Q-Switching | |
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| Types of Q-Switches | |
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| Mechanical Q-Switches | |
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| A-0 Q-Switches | |
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| E-0 Q-Switches | |
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| Dye Q-Switches | |
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| Cavity Dumping and Modelocking | |
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| Cavity Dumping | |
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| Partial Cavity Dumping | |
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| Modelocking-Time Domain | |
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| Modelocking-Frequency Domain | |
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| Applications of Modelocked Lasers | |
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| Types of Modelocked Lasers | |
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| Nonlinear Optics | |
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| What is Nonlinear Optics? | |
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| Second-Harmonic Generation | |
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| Birefringent Phase Matching | |
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| Quasi-Phasematching | |
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| Intracavity Harmonic Generation | |
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| Higher Harmonics | |
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| Optical Parametric Oscillation | |
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| Raman lasers | |
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| Semiconductor Lasers | |
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| Semiconductor Physics | |
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| Modern Diode Lasers | |
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| Diode Laser Bandwidth | |
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| Wavelength of Diode Lasers | |
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| Diode Arrays and Stacks | |
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| Vertical Cavity, Surface-Emitting Lasers | |
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| Optically Pumped Semiconductor Lasers | |
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| Quantum Cascade Lasers | |
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| Solid-State Lasers | |
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| Solid-State Laser Materials | |
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| Diode-Pumped Solid State Lasers | |
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| Diode-Pumping Geometry | |
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| Pump Diodes, Pulsing, and Packaging | |
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| Lamp Pumping | |
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| Thermal Issues in Solid-State Lasers | |
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| Scaling Diode-Pumped Lasers to High Power | |
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| Fiber Lasers | |
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| Acceptance Angle and Numerical Aperture | |
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| Doping Optical Fibers | |
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| Pumping Fiber Lasers | |
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| Fabricating Optical Fibers | |
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| Feedback for Fiber Lasers | |
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| High Power Fiber Lasers | |
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| Large-Mode-Area Fibers | |
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| Holey Fibers | |
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| Gas lasers: Helium-Neon and Ion | |
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| Gas-Laser Transitions | |
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| Gas-Laser Media and Tubes | |
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| Laser Excitation | |
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| Optical Characteristics | |
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| Wavelengths and Spectral Width | |
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| He-Ne Lasers | |
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| Principles of He-Ne Lasers | |
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| Structure of He-Ne Lasers | |
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| Ar and Kr-Ion Lasers | |
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| Carbon Dioxide and Other Vibrational Lasers | |
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| Vibrational Transitions | |
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| Excitation | |
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| Types of C02 Lasers | |
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| Optics for C02 Lasers | |
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| Chemical Lasers | |
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| Excimer Lasers | |
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| Excimer Molecules | |
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| Electrical Considerations | |
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| Handling the Gases | |
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| Applications of Excimer Lasers | |
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| Tunable and Ultrafast Lasers | |
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| Dye Lasers | |
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| Tunable Solid-State Lasers | |
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| Nonlinear Converters | |
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| Ultrafast Lasers | |
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| Glossary | |
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| Further Reading | |
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| Index | |