Synopses & Reviews
This volume represents a collection of authoritative reviews by internationally recognized experts in the field of middle infrared (mid-IR) coherent sources and their applications. The compilation describes the fundamental principles and state-of-the-art of practical solid-state sources in the mid-IR regions of the spectrum covering the 2-50 m range. The described sources include, along with more traditional heterojunction semiconductor lasers, optical parametric oscillators, difference frequency generators, as well as the most recently developed broadband crystalline, quantum cascade and fiber lasers. The rapid advances in mid-IR science and technology have made these sources indispensable tools for a variety of applications in environmental monitoring and pollution control, agriculture and life sciences, and non-invasive disease diagnosis through breath analysis. Coherent mid-IR sources also offer important technologies for atmospheric chemistry, free-space communication, imaging, rapid detection of explosives, chemical and biological agents, narcotics, as well as for applications in air- and sea-borne security. In comparison to the previous volume on this subject in 2003, which focused mainly on the design and development of mid-IR sources, the emphasis in the present volume is shifted towards applications. The instructive nature of the book makes it an excellent text for practicing engineers, physicists and graduate students, who intend to develop or use mid-IR laser sources in various applications.
Synopsis
Coherent sources of mid-infrared (mid-IR) radiation are of great interest for a wide range of scienti?c and technological applications from spectroscopy and frequency metrology to information technology, industrial process control, pho- chemistry, photobiology and photomedicine. The mid-IR spectrum, which may be de?ned as wavelengths beyond ?2um, covers important atmospheric windows, and numerous molecular gases, toxic agents, air, water, and soil pollutants, c- ponents of human breath, and several explosive agents have strong absorption ?ngerprints in this region. The development of practical coherent solid-state sources in the mid-IR can thus provide indispensable tools for a variety of - plications in environmental monitoring and pollution control, detection of water and soil contaminants, food quality control, agriculture and life sciences, and n- invasive disease diagnosis and therapy through breath analysis. Coherent mid-IR sources also offer important technologies for atmospheric chemistry, free-space communication, imaging, rapid detection of explosives, chemical and biological agents, nuclear material and narcotics, as well as applications in air- and sea-born safety and security, amongst many. The timely advancement of coherent mid-IR sources is, therefore, vital to future progress in many application areas across a broad range of scienti?c, technological, and industrial disciplines. On the other hand, more than 40 years after the invention of laser, much of the mid-IR spectrum still remains inaccessible to conventional lasers due to fun- mental limitations, most notably a lack of suitable crystalline laser gain materials."
Synopsis
Covering fundamental principles and the state of the art, this is a collection of reviews from experts in mid-infrared (mid-IR) coherent sources. Among the sources covered are optical parametric oscillators, difference frequency generators, and the most recent broadband crystalline, quantum cascade, and fiber lasers. The authors show how advances in mid-IR science and technology make these sources indispensable for a variety of applications.
Table of Contents
Preface. I. Crystalline Laser and Nonlinear Optical Materials for the Mid-IR. New Monocrystals with Low Phonon Energy for Mid-IR Lasers; L. Isaenko et al.- Orthorombic Crystals of Lithium Thioindate and Selenoindate for Nonlinear Optics in the Mid-IR; J-J. Zondy et al.-Quaternary Nonlinear Optical Crystals for the Mid-IR Spectral Range from 5 to 12 Micron; V. Petrov et al.-Microstructured Semiconductors for Mid-Infrared Nonlinear Optics; P.S. Kuo and M. M. Fejer.- II Sources in the Mid-IR. Progresses in Quantum Cascade Lasers; J. Faist et al.- High-Brightness 2.X tm Semiconductor Lasers; M. Rattunde et al.- Broadband Mid-Infrared Solid-State Lasers; I. Sorokina.- New Regimes of Excitation and Mid-Infrared Lasing of Transition Metal Doped Il-VI Crystals; S. Mirov and V. Fedorov.- Advances in Mid-Infrared Fiber Lasers; M. Pollnau and S. D. Jackson.-Mid-Infrared Optical Parametric Oscillators and Applications; M. Ebrahim-Zadeh.- Mid-Infrared Integrated Optical Parametric Generators and Oscillators with Periodically Poled Ti:LiNbO3 Waveguides; S. Orlov et al.-Optical Parametric Generators and Amplifiers;V. Pasiskevicius and F.Laurell.-Tunable THz Sources Based on Quasi-Phase-Matched Gaffium Arsenide;K. Vodopyanov.- Semiconductor Waveguides for Nonlinear Frequency Conversion; L. Lanco et al.-III. Applications. 1. Semiconductor Laser Based Trace Gas Sensor Technology : Recent Advances and Applications; F. Tittel et al.-Trace-Gas Analysis with Isotopic Selectivity Using DFG-sources; H. Waechterand M. Sigrist.- Photoacoustic Spectroscopy Using Continuous Wave Optical Parametric Oscillators; A. K. Y. Ngai et al.-Online Monitoring of Exhaled Breath Using Mid-Infrared Laser Spectroscopy; M. Mürtz and P.Hering.- Ultrabroadband Solid-State Laser Based Trace Gas Sensoing; E. Sorokin.- Medical Applications of Mid-IR Solid-State Lasers; R. Steiner.-Opportunities for Mid-IR Sources in Intense-field and Attosecond Physics;M. Ivanov et al.-Ultrawideband Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy of Semiconductor Nanostructures; Th. Muller und K. Unterrainer.-