Intro; Preface; Who Should Read in this Book?; Contents; 1 The History of Laser; 2 An Introduction to Laser Technology; 2.1 The Laser; 2.1.1 Stimulated Emission; 2.1.2 Population Inversion and Amplification; 2.2 The Laser Medium; 2.2.1 The Laser Pumping Process; 2.2.2 Cooling; 2.3 Feedback and Self-Excitation; 2.4 The Laser Resonator; 2.5 Laser Radiation; 2.5.1 Characteristic Properties; 2.5.2 Laser Mode; 2.5.3 Coherence; 2.6 Fields of Applications of Laser Technology; 3 Electromagnetic Radiation; 3.1 The Spectrum of Electromagnetic Radiation; 3.2 The Wave Equation; 3.2.1 Maxwell's Equations

3.2.2 The General Wave Equation3.2.3 Wave Equation in Vacuum; 3.2.4 Wave Equations in Material; 3.2.5 Scalar Wave Equations; 3.3 Elementary Solutions of the Wave Equation; 3.3.1 Introduction to Complex Field Parameters; 3.3.2 Planar Waves; 3.3.3 Polarization of Electromagnetic Waves; 3.3.4 Spherical Waves; 3.3.5 Energy Density of Electromagnetic Waves; 3.4 Superposition of Waves; 3.4.1 Superposition with Different Phases; 3.4.2 Superposition of Differently Polarized Waves; 3.4.3 Superposition of Waves of Different Frequency; 3.4.4 Group Velocity and Dispersion

3.4.5 Superposition of Waves with Different Propagation Directions4 The Propagation of Electromagnetic Waves; 4.1 Propagation Regimes and Fresnel Number; 4.2 Geometrical Optics; 4.2.1 Fermat's Principle; 4.3 Reflection and Refraction; 4.3.1 Law of Reflection; 4.3.2 Law of Refraction; 4.3.3 Total Reflection; 4.4 Transmission and Reflection Coefficients; 4.4.1 The Fresnel Equations; 4.4.2 Reflectance and Transmittance; 4.4.3 The Brewster Angle; 4.5 Basic Optical Elements; 4.5.1 Refraction at a Prism; 4.5.2 The Thin Lens; 4.5.3 The Thick Lens; 4.5.4 Spherically Curved Mirrors

4.6 Matrix Formalism of Geometrical Optics4.7 Aberration; 4.7.1 Spherical Aberration; 4.7.2 Coma; 4.7.3 Astigmatism; 4.7.4 Field Curvature; 4.7.5 Distortion; 4.7.6 Chromatic Aberration; 4.7.7 Diffraction Limit; 4.8 Diffraction; 4.8.1 Huygens' Principle and Kirchhoff's Diffraction Integral; 4.8.2 The Fresnel Diffraction; 4.8.3 The Fraunhofer Diffraction; 4.8.4 Diffraction at the Slit; 4.9 Nonlinear Optics; 4.9.1 Maxwell's and Material Equations; 4.9.1.1 First Order Polarization; 4.9.1.2 Second-Order Polarization; 4.9.2 Wave Equation; 4.9.2.1 Separating the Fast Oscillating Factors

4.9.3 Three Wave Mixing4.9.3.1 Polarization of the Pump Wave; 4.9.3.2 Phase Matching; 4.9.3.3 Signal and Idler Waves; 4.9.3.4 Walk-off; References; 5 Laser Beams; 5.1 The SVE Approximation; 5.2 The Gaussian Beam; 5.2.1 The Amplitude Factor; 5.2.2 The Phase Factor; 5.2.3 The Intensity Distribution of the Gaussian Beam; 5.3 Higher-Order Modes; 5.3.1 The Hermite-Gaussian Modes; 5.3.2 The Laguerre-Gaussian Modes; 5.3.3 Doughnut Modes; 5.3.4 The Beam Radius of Higher-Order Modes; 5.4 Real Laser Beams and Beam Quality; 5.5 Transformation of Gaussian Beams; 5.5.1 The ABCD Law