Physics of Solid-State Laser Materials

The invention of the laser has had a profound impact on the quality of our lives. Lasers are commonly being used in a multitude of diverse applications ranging from price scanners at the checkout counters of retail stores to a variety of medical surgery procedures. This graduate-level text presents the fundamental physics of solid-state lasers, including the basis of laser action and the optical and electronic properties of laser materials. The book is divided into two parts. The first section opens with a review of the quantum mechanics and solid-state physics, spectroscopy, and crystal field theory; it then treats the quantum theory of radiation, the emission and absorption of radiation, and nonlinear optics; it concludes with discussions of lattice vibrations and ion-ion interactions and of their effects on optical properties and laser action. The second section treats specific sold-state laser materials, the protypical ruby and Nd-YAG systems being treated in greatest detail; it concludes with a discussion of novel and non-standard materials.