High Power Laser Handbook


Book Description

The State of the Art in High-Power Laser Technology Filled with full-color images, High-Power Laser Handbook offers comprehensive details on the latest advances in high-power laser development and applications. Performance parameters for each major class of lasers are described. The book covers high-power gas, chemical, and free-electron lasers and then discusses semiconductor diode lasers, along with the associated technologies of packaging, reliability, and beam shaping and delivery. Current research and development in solid-state lasers is described as well as scaling approaches for high CW powers, high pulse energies, and high peak powers. This authoritative work also addresses the emergence of fiber lasers and concludes by reviewing various methods for beam combining. Coverage Includes: Carbon dioxide lasers Excimer lasers Chemical lasers High-power free-electron lasers Semiconductor laser diodes High-power diode laser arrays Introduction to high-power solid-state lasers Zig-zag slab lasers ThinZag high-power laser development Thin disk lasers Heat capacity lasers Ultrafast solid-state lasers Ultrafast lasers in the thin disk geometry The National Ignition Facility laser Optical fiber lasers Pulsed fiber lasers High-power ultrafast fiber laser systems High-power fiber lasers for industry and defense Beam combining




Fiber Lasers


Book Description

The fiber laser, with its humble beginning in the late 1980s, has undergone tremendous development in the past decade or so, transforming itself from a research curiosity to a major force in modern manufacturing. Today, it is revolutionizing our economy by fundamentally changing the way we mark, machine, and process materials on an industrial scale. The recent development of high-power fiber lasers is also fundamentally shaping a wide range of other areas from physical sciences and medicine to geology and space exploration. In the past few years, the tactical deployment of direct energy weapons based on fiber lasers has become a reality. The development of fiber lasers is rooted in a number of technical areas including optical materials, optical waveguide design, nonlinear optics, optical fiber fabrication, and optical characterization, in addition to optical fiber components, and fiber laser design and architecture. No comprehensive in-depth coverage of such diverse topical areas has appeared in a single book. Many important developments have taken place in the past decade in both academia and industry. This book comprehensively covers the basics, technology and applications of fiber lasers including up-to-date developments in both academia and industry and is aimed to serve as both an introduction and research aid for graduate students, engineers, and scientists who are new to this field and also for veterans in the field




Fundamentals of Fiber Lasers and Fiber Amplifiers


Book Description

This book covers the fundamental aspects of fiber lasers and fiber amplifiers, and includes a wide range of material from laser physics fundamentals to state-of-the-art topics, as well as industrial applications in the rapidly growing field of quantum electronics. Emphasis is placed on the nonlinear processes taking place in fiber lasers and amplifiers, their similarities, differences to, and their advantages over other solid-state lasers. The reader will learn basic principles of solid-state physics and optical spectroscopy of laser active centers in fibers, main operational laser regimes, and practical recommendations and suggestions on fiber laser research, laser applications, and laser product development. The book will be useful for students, researchers, and professionals who work with lasers, in the optical communications, chemical and biological industries.




Fiber Lasers


Book Description

Over the past two decades, the use of fiber lasers in engineering applications has gradually become established as an engineering discipline on its own. The development of fiber lasers is mainly the result of studies from various domains like photonics, optical sensing, fiber optics, nonlinear optics, and telecommunication. Though many excellent books exist on each of these subjects, and several have been written specifically to address lasers and fiber lasers, it is still difficult to find one book where the diverse core of subjects that are central to the study of fiber laser systems are presented in simple and straight forward way. Fiber Lasers: Fundamentals with MATLAB Modelling, is an introduction to the fundamentals of fiber lasers. It provides clear explanations of physical concepts supporting the field of fiber lasers. Fiber lasers’ characteristics are analyzed theoretically through simulations derived from numerical models. The authors cover fundamental principles involved in the generation of laser light through both continuous-wave (CW) and pulsing. It also covers experimental configuration and characterization for both CW and Q-switching. The authors describe the simulation of fiber laser systems and propose numerical modelling of various fiber laser schemes. MATLAB® modelling and numerical computational methods are used throughout the book to simulate different fiber laser system configurations. This book will be highly desirable and beneficial for both academics and industry professionals to have ample examples of fiber laser approaches that are well thought out and fully integrated with the subjects covered in the text. This book is written to address these needs.




Single-Frequency Fiber Lasers


Book Description

This book gives a contemporary overview of the technologies of single-frequency fiber lasers. The development of single-frequency fiber lasers is one of the most significant achievements in the field of laser photonics over the past two decades. Owing to the crucial demands of a laser sources with highly stable single-frequency operation, narrow linewidth, low noise, scalable to high output power, compact and robustness structure, fiber lasers have been intensively studied since its introduction to the single-frequency laser community and they still continuously proceed to trigger the emergence of new technologies and applications. This book systematically demonstrates the single-frequency fiber laser technologies from fundamental principles to state-of-the-art progress. Details of selected typical applications of single-frequency fiber lasers are also given and discussed. The reader will acquire a good knowledge of the current situation within this important field.




Fiber Lasers


Book Description

A comprehensive account of the latest developments and applications in this rapidly developing field, covering a wide range of topics, such as power scaling and short pulse generation, dispersion management and modeling, broadband supercontinuum generation and wavelength tailoring. The book brings together contributions from the world's leading experts at major collaborative research centers throughout Europe, Australia, Russia and the USA. Each chapter presents a tutorial style introduction to the selected topic suitable for scientists, researchers and experts, as well as graduate and postgraduate students with a basic background in optics.




Introduction to Laser Technology


Book Description

The only introductory text on the market today that explains the underlying physics and engineering applicable to all lasers Although lasers are becoming increasingly important in our high-tech environment, many of the technicians and engineers who install, operate, and maintain them have had little, if any, formal training in the field of electro-optics. This can result in less efficient usage of these important tools. Introduction to Laser Technology, Fourth Edition provides readers with a good understanding of what a laser is and what it can and cannot do. The book explains what types of laser to use for different purposes and how a laser can be modified to improve its performance in a given application. With a unique combination of clarity and technical depth, the book explains the characteristics and important applications of commercial lasers worldwide and discusses light and optics, the fundamental elements of lasers, and laser modification.? In addition to new chapter-end problems, the Fourth Edition includes new and expanded chapter material on: Material and wavelength Diode Laser Arrays Quantum-cascade lasers Fiber lasers Thin-disk and slab lasers Ultrafast fiber lasers Raman lasers Quasi-phase matching Optically pumped semiconductor lasers Introduction to Laser Technology, Fourth Edition is an excellent book for students, technicians, engineers, and other professionals seeking a fuller, more formal introduction to the field of laser technology.




Handbook of Laser Micro- and Nano-Engineering


Book Description

This handbook provides a comprehensive review of the entire field of laser micro and nano processing, including not only a detailed introduction to individual laser processing techniques but also the fundamentals of laser-matter interaction and lasers, optics, equipment, diagnostics, as well as monitoring and measurement techniques for laser processing. Consisting of 11 sections, each composed of 4 to 6 chapters written by leading experts in the relevant field. Each main part of the handbook is supervised by its own part editor(s) so that high-quality content as well as completeness are assured. The book provides essential scientific and technical information to researchers and engineers already working in the field as well as students and young scientists planning to work in the area in the future. Lasers found application in materials processing practically since their invention in 1960, and are currently used widely in manufacturing. The main driving force behind this fact is that the lasers can provide unique solutions in material processing with high quality, high efficiency, high flexibility, high resolution, versatility and low environmental load. Macro-processing based on thermal process using infrared lasers such as CO2 lasers has been the mainstream in the early stages, while research and development of micro- and nano-processing are becoming increasingly more active as short wavelength and/or short pulse width lasers have been developed. In particular, recent advances in ultrafast lasers have opened up a new avenue to laser material processing due to the capabilities of ultrahigh precision micro- and nanofabrication of diverse materials. This handbook is the first book covering the basics, the state-of-the-art and important applications of the dynamic and rapidly expanding discipline of laser micro- and nanoengineering. This comprehensive source makes readers familiar with a broad spectrum of approaches to solve all relevant problems in science and technology. This handbook is the ultimate desk reference for all people working in the field.




High-Power Diode Lasers


Book Description

Starting from the basics of semiconductor lasers with emphasis on the generation of high optical output power the reader is introduced in a tutorial way to all key technologies required to fabricate high-power diode-laser sources. Various applications are exemplified.