Ultraviolet Spectroscopy and UV Lasers covers a range of subjects, from ultraviolet (UV) and vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) sources to the latest advances in instrumentation and techniques for absorption, emission, and fluorescence spectroscopy.
Semiconductor lasers are among the most important optoelectronics devices. Remarkable development has been accomplished in the three decades since the first achievement in room-temperature continuous oscillation, which opened the possibility of practical applications of semiconductor lasers.
In the latest decade we have witnessed a tremendous advance in telecommunications technology. With the rapid growth and sophistication of digital technology and computers, communication systems have become more versatile and powerful.
Semiconductor diode lasers are the key components at the heart of many new high volume products such as compact disc players, laser printers, and fiber optic communication links.
Since its first demonstration in 1960, the laser has found widespread application in diverse areas including medicine, materials processing, optical communications and information technology.
Lasers continue to be an amazingly robust field of activity, one of continually expanding scientific and technological frontiers. Thus today we have lasing without inversion, quantum cascade lasers, lasing in strongly scattering media, lasing in biomaterials, lasing in photonic crystals, a single atom laser, speculation about black hole lasers, femtosecond-duration laser pulses only a few cycles long,
The field of photonics is enormously broad, covering everything from light sources to geometric and wave optics to fiber optics. Laser and light source technology is a subset of photonics whose importance is often underestimated. This book focuses on these technologies with a good degree of depth, without attempting to be overly broad and all-inclusive of various photonics concepts.
Although we are well into the fourth decade since the advent of the laser, the number and type of lasers and their wavelength coverage continue to expand. One seeking a photon source is now confronted with an enormous number of possible lasers and laser wavelengths.
Over the last few years, there has been a convergence between the fields of ultrafast science, nonlinear optics, optical frequency metrology, and precision laser spectroscopy. These fields have been developing largely independently since the birth of the laser, reaching remarkable levels of performance.
