This volume is the eighth of a well-established series devoted to inelastic light scattering by solids, both as a physical effect and as a spectroscopic technique. It appears jointly with volume VII and can be considered to be its continuation. Emphasis is placed on fullerenes, Raman spectroscopy of semiconductors, surfaces, and interfaces, and coherent phonons. A survey of some of the progress in other aspects of Raman spectroscopy, in particular in the field of semiconductor nanostructures including the fractional quantum Hall effect, and in Raman spectroscopy of isotopically modified crystals rounds up the description of the present status of the field. It will be useful to advanced students and to all researchers who apply Raman spectroscopy in their work.

Mathematical Methods for Signal and Image Analysis and Representation presents the mathematical methodology for generic image analysis tasks. In the context of this book an image may be any m-dimensional empirical signal living on an n-dimensional smooth manifold (typically, but not necessarily, a subset of spacetime). The existing literature on image methodology is rather scattered and often limited to either a deterministic or a statistical point of view. In contrast, this book brings together these seemingly different points of view in order to stress their conceptual relations and formal analogies. Furthermore, it does not focus on specific applications, although some are detailed for the sake of illustration, but on the methodological frameworks on which such applications are built, making it an ideal companion for those seeking a rigorous methodological basis for specific algorithms as well as for those interested in the fundamental methodology per se. Covering many topics at the forefront of current research, including anisotropic diffusion filtering of tensor fields, this book will be of particular interest to graduate and postgraduate students and researchers in the fields of computer vision, medical imaging and visual perception.

Basically, the first edition was expanded and errors corrected. The aim re mains to provide a reference book for technical information. I would like to thank all my colleagues for constructive comments. Also, I acknowledge support by projects 13 EU 104 and EU 226 of the German Federal Ministry for Research and Technology. In addition, results from the project BE 7997, supported by the European Commission, have been in cluded. Specifically, I thank Dr. Petermann, Institut fur Laserphysik, University of Hamburg and Dr. Ackermann of the Research Institute in Idar-Oberstein for the proof-reading of Chap. 11 and 12, Dipl. Phys. Luft of Siemens AG, Regensburg for the constructive reading of Chap. 7, my colleagues S. Benz and Dr. Kronert of Heraeus Quarz-Schmelze, Hanau for checking Chap. 6, Dr. H.J. Hoffmann of Schott Glas, Mainz for looking at Chap. 4 and 13, and above all Prof. Dr. H. Weber of the Optical Institute, Technical University Berlin. Schramberg, January 2001 Reinhard Iffiander Preface to the German Edition This book was written during my work in the field of solid-state laser de velopment for material processing. The main emphasis therefore lies in the compilation of physical and technical fundamentals of these lasers. The purpose of this book is to provide a specialized introduction to the field for engineers and technicians. It is not intended as a substitute for more detailed textbooks and specialized literat ure The bibliography gives details of many textbooks in the field of study."

Advancements in digital sensor technology, digital image analysis techniques, as well as computer software and hardware have brought together the fields of computer vision and photogrammetry, which are now converging towards sharing, to a great extent, objectives and algorithms. The potential for mutual benefits by the close collaboration and interaction of these two disciplines is great, as photogrammetric know-how can be aided by the most recent image analysis developments in computer vision, while modern quantitative photogrammetric approaches can support computer vision activities. Devising methodologies for automating the extraction of man-made objects (e.g. buildings, roads) from digital aerial or satellite imagery is an application where this cooperation and mutual support is already reaping benefits. The valuable spatial information collected using these interdisciplinary techniques is of improved qualitative and quantitative accuracy. This book offers a comprehensive selection of high-quality and in-depth contributions from world-wide leading research institutions, treating theoretical as well as implementational issues, and representing the state-of-the-art on this subject among the photogrammetric and computer vision communities.

The aquatic coastal zone is one of the most challenging targets for environmental remote sensing. Properties such as bottom reflectance, spectrally diverse suspended sediments and phytoplankton communities, diverse benthic communities, and transient events that affect surface reflectance (coastal blooms, runoff, etc.) all combine to produce an optical complexity not seen in terrestrial or open ocean systems. Despite this complexity, remote sensing is proving to be an invaluable tool for "Case 2" waters. This book presents recent advances in coastal remote sensing with an emphasis on applied science and management. Case studies of the operational use of remote sensing in ecosystem studies, monitoring, and interfacing remote sensing/science/management are presented. Spectral signatures of phytoplankton and suspended sediments are discussed in detail with accompanying discussion of why blue water (Case 1) algorithms cannot be applied to Case 2 waters.

Audience

This book is targeted for scientists and managers interested in using remote sensing in the study or management of aquatic coastal environments. With only limited discussion of optics and theory presented in the book, such researchers might benefit from the detailed presentations of aquatic spectral signatures, and to operational management issues. While not specifically written for remote sensing scientists, it will prove to be a useful reference for this community for the current status of aquatic coastal remote sensing.

CD included

An interactive CD accompanies this book containing the WASI program by Peter Gege (DLR, Germany). The WASI program allows users to interactively manipulate and view coastally relevantspectra. The CD also contains full color images of a selection of illustrations which are printed as black and white figures in the book.

Describes virtually all aspects of ion-exchanged glass waveguides, from fabrication to techniques for characterization and analysis.

This book highlights the various topics in which luminescence and electrochemistry are intimately coupled. The topic of this book is clearly at the frontier between several scientific domains involving physics, chemistry and biology. Applications in these various fields naturally also need to be mentioned, especially concerning displays and advanced investigation techniques in analytical chemistry or for biomedical issues.

Focusing on nanophotonics, which has been proposed by M. Ohtsu in 1993, this volume begins with theories for operation principles of characteristic nanophotonic devices and continues with novel optical near field phenomena for fabricating nanophotonic devices. Further topics include: unique properties of optical near fields and their applications to operating nanophotonic devices; and nanophotonic information and communications systems that can overcome the integration-density limit with ultra-low-power operation as well as unique functionalities. Taken as a whole, this overview will be a valuable resource for engineers and scientists working in the field of nano-electro-optics.

This text on contemporary optical systems is intended for optical researchers and engineers, graduate students and optical microscopists in the biological and biomedical sciences. In three sections, the book discusses high-aperture optical systems, nonlinear optical techniques, and various techniques that are finding new applications. The new second edition has been thoroughly revised and expanded to account for new advances in fluorescence imaging and diffractive optical lenses.

We arepleasedtopresentthesixthvolumeofProgressinUltrafastIntenseLaserS- ence. As the frontiers of ultrafast intense laser science rapidly expand ever outward, there continues to be a growing demand for an introduction to this interdisciplinary research?eldthatisatoncewidelyaccessibleandcapableofdeliveringcutting-edge developments. Our series aims to respond to this call by providing a compilation of concise review-style articles written by researchers at the forefront of this research ?eld, so that researcherswith differentbackgroundsas well as graduatestudentscan easily grasp the essential aspects. As in previousvolumesof PUILS, each chapterof this bookbeginswith an int- ductory part, in which a clear and concise overview of the topic and its signi?cance is given, and moves onto a description of the authors' most recent research results. All the chapters are peer-reviewed. The articles of this sixth volume cover a diverse rangeoftheinterdisciplinaryresearch?eld,andthetopicsmaybegroupedintothree categories: responses of molecules to ultrashort intense laser pulses (Chaps. 1 - 4), generation and characterization of attosecond pulses and high-order harmonics (Chaps. 5 - 8), and?lamentationand laser-plasma interactionand their applications (Chaps. 9 - 11).

Spectacular advances during the last decade have altered the related disciplines of computing and telecommunications beyond all recognition. The developments in the"enabling technologies,"which have made these advances possible, have been less obvious to the casual observer. The subject of this book is one of these technologies--the coding of still images and picture sequences (video).
Digital Compression of Still Images and Video is general in approach and covers all the recognized coding algorithms; explaining their basic theory in enough detail that the reader will understand the principles involved. Results which have been achieved with coding algorithms by researchers in all parts of the world are also discussed. A brief historical review of the area is included to orient those new to the field, and the work is supported by references spanning the period from the earliest work on time/frequency analysis, to the latest topic of research interest--image sequence transmission using asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) techniques.
This book will make an excellent reference for graduates and researchers working on image coding and transmission, and will also be of use to those in the related areas of computer vision and multimedia developments. It is essential reading for the rapidly increasing number of technical and professional staff in the industrial environment who, maybe for the first time, are coming to grips with image coding.
Key Features
* Provides complete and up-to-date coverage of all digital image and video coding (compression) techniques
* Includes more than 850 references covering relevant work from the 1940s to the present
* Presents information on new directions in coding
* Contains details on current coding standards
* Describes and explains all algorithms in use for image coding

Keeping abreast of the latest techniques and applications, this new edition of the standard reference and graduate text on laser spectroscopy has been completely revised and expanded. While the general concept is unchanged, the new edition features a broad array of new material, e.g., ultrafast lasers (atto- and femto-second lasers), coherent matter waves, Doppler-free Fourier spectroscopy, interference spectroscopy, quantum optics and gravitational waves and still more applications in chemical analysis, medical diagnostics, and engineering.

A bird's-eye view of the development and problems of recent photovoltaic cells and systems and prospects for Si feedstock is presented.

High-efficient low-cost PV modules, making use of novel efficient solar cells (based on c-Si or III-V materials), and low cost solar concentrators are in the focus of this book.

Recent developments of organic photovoltaics, which is expected to overcome its difficulties and to enter the market soon, are also included.

This book consists of the identification, characterization, and modeling of electromagnetic interferences in substations for the deployment of wireless sensor networks. The authors present in chapter 3 the measurement setup to record sequences of impulsive noise samples in the ISM band of interest. The setup can measure substation impulsive noise, in wide band, with enough samples per time window and enough precision to allow a statistical study of the noise. During the measurement campaign, the authors recorded around 120 noise sequences in different substations and for four ranges of equipment voltage, which are 25 kV, 230 kV, 315 kV and 735 kV. A characterization process is proposed, by which physical characteristics of partial discharge can be measured in terms of first- and second-order statistics. From the measurement campaign, the authors infer the characteristics of substation impulsive noise as a function of the substation equipment voltage, and can provide representative parameters for the four voltage ranges and for several existing impulsive noise models. The authors investigate in chapters 4 and 5 the modeling of electromagnetic interferences caused by partial discharge sources. First, the authors propose a complete and coherent approach model that links physical characteristics of high-voltage installations to the induced radio-interference spectra of partial discharge sources. The goodness-of-fit of the proposed physical model has been measured based on some interesting statistical metrics. This allows one to assess the effectiveness of the authors' approach in terms of first- and second-order statistics. Chapter 6 proposes a model based on statistical approach. Indeed, substation impulsive noise is composed of correlated impulses, which would require models with memory in order to replicate a similar correlation. Among different models, we have configured a Partitioned Markov Chain (PMC) with 19 states (one state for the background noise and 18 states for the impulse); this Markov-Gaussian model is able to generate impulsive noise with correlated impulse samples. The correlation is observable on the impulse duration and the power spectrum of the impulses. Our PMC model provides characteristics that are more similar to the characteristics of substation impulsive noise in comparison with other models, in terms of time and frequency response, as well as Probability Density Functions (PDF). Although PMC represents reliably substation impulsive noise, the model remains complex in terms of parameter estimation due to a large number of Markov states, which can be an obstacle for future wireless system design. In order to simplify the model, the authors decrease the number of states to 7 by assigning one state to the background noise and 6 states to the impulse and we call this model PMC-6. PMC-6 can generate realistic impulses and can be easily implemented in a receiver in order to mitigate substation impulsive noise. Representative parameters are provided in order to replicate substation impulsive noise for different voltage ranges (25-735 kV). Chapter 7, a generalized radio-noise model for substations is proposed, in which there are many discharges sources that are randomly distributed over space and time according to the Poisson field of interferers approach. This allows for the identification of some interesting statistical properties of moments, cumulants and probability distributions. These can, in turn, be utilized in signal processing algorithms for rapid partial discharge's identification, localization, and impulsive noise mitigation techniques in wireless communications in substations. The primary audience for this book is the electrical and power engineering industry, electricity providers and companies who are interested in substation automation systems using wireless communication technologies for smart grid applications. Researchers, engineers and students studying and working in wireless communication will also want to buy this book as a reference.

Image segmentation consists of dividing an image domain into disjoint regions according to a characterization of the image within or in-between the regions. Therefore, segmenting an image is to divide its domain into relevant components. The efficient solution of the key problems in image segmentation promises to enable a rich array of useful applications. The current major application areas include robotics, medical image analysis, remote sensing, scene understanding, and image database retrieval. The subject of this book is image segmentation by variational methods with a focus on formulations which use closed regular plane curves to define the segmentation regions and on a level set implementation of the corresponding active curve evolution algorithms. Each method is developed from an objective functional which embeds constraints on both the image domain partition of the segmentation and the image data within or in-between the partition regions. The necessary conditions to optimize the objective functional are then derived and solved numerically. The book covers, within the active curve and level set formalism, the basic two-region segmentation methods, multiregion extensions, region merging, image modeling, and motion based segmentation. To treat various important classes of images, modeling investigates several parametric distributions such as the Gaussian, Gamma, Weibull, and Wishart. It also investigates non-parametric models. In motion segmentation, both optical flow and the movement of real three-dimensional objects are studied.

Soft Computing Approach to Pattern Classification and Object Recognition establishes an innovative, unified approach to supervised pattern classification and model-based occluded object recognition. The book also surveys various soft computing tools, fuzzy relational calculus (FRC), genetic algorithm (GA) and multilayer perceptron (MLP) to provide a strong foundation for the reader. The supervised approach to pattern classification and model-based approach to occluded object recognition are treated in one framework , one based on either a conventional interpretation or a new interpretation of multidimensional fuzzy implication (MFI) and a novel notion of fuzzy pattern vector (FPV). By combining practice and theory, a completely independent design methodology was developed in conjunction with this supervised approach on a unified framework, and then tested thoroughly against both synthetic and real-life data. In the field of soft computing, such an application-oriented design study is unique in nature. The monograph essentially mimics the cognitive process of human decision making, and carries a message of perceptual integrity in representational diversity. Soft Computing Approach to Pattern Classification and Object Recognition is intended for researchers in the area of pattern classification and computer vision. Other academics and practitioners will also find the book valuable.

The first of its kind, this book reviews image processing tools and techniques including Independent Component Analysis, Mutual Information, Markov Random Field Models and Support Vector Machines. The book also explores a number of experimental examples based on a variety of remote sensors. The book will be useful to people involved in hyperspectral imaging research, as well as by remote-sensing data like geologists, hydrologists, environmental scientists, civil engineers and computer scientists.

The book describes first the principle photon generation processes from nuclear reactions, electron motion and from discrete quantum transitions. It then focuses on the use of photons in various selected fields of modern natural and life sciences. It bridges disciplines such as physics, chemistry, earth- and materials science, proteomics, information technology, photoelectrochemistry, photosynthesis and spintronics. Advanced light sources and their use in natural and life sciences are emphasized and the effects related to the quantum nature of photons (quantum computing, teleportation) are described. The content encompasses among many other examples the role of photons on the origin of life and on homochirality in biology, femtosecond laser slicing, photothermal cancer therapy, the use of gamma rays in materials science, photoelectrochemical surface conditioning, quantum information aspects and photo-spintronics. The book is written for scientists and graduate students from all related disciplines who are interested in the science beyond their immediate research field. It is meant to encourage interdisciplinary research and development in an age where nanoscience results in a convergence of formerly more disparate science.

This thesis covers the few-cycle laser-driven acceleration of electrons in a laser-generated plasma. This process, known as laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA), relies on strongly driven plasma waves for the generation of accelerating gradients in the vicinity of several 100 GV/m, a value four orders of magnitude larger than that attainable by conventional accelerators. This thesis demonstrates that laser pulses with an ultrashort duration of 8 fs and a peak power of 6 TW allow the production of electron energies up to 50 MeV via LWFA. The special properties of laser accelerated electron pulses, namely the ultrashort pulse duration, the high brilliance, and the high charge density, open up new possibilities in many applications of these electron beams.

Demonstrational Optics presents a new didactical approach to the study of optics. It emphasizes the importance of elaborate new experimental demonstrations, pictorial illustrations, computer simulations and models of optical phenomena in order to ensure a deeper understanding of wave and geometric optics. It includes problems focused on the pragmatic needs of students, secondary school teachers, university professors and optical engineers. Part 2, Coherent and Statistical Optics, contains chapters on interference, diffraction, Fourier optics, light quanta, thermal radiation (Shot noise and Gaussian light), Correlation of light fields and Correlation of light intensities. A substantial part of this volume is devoted to thermal radiation and its properties, especially with partial coherence. A detailed treatment of the photo-effect with respect to statistical properties leads to the basics of statistical optics. To illustrate the phenomena covered by this volume, a large number of demonstration experiments are described and discussed. In the chapters devoted to statistical phenomena computer simulations are described, the code of all relevant programs being included.

This book treats the phenomena and techniques of advanced optics confined in nanometer-scale regions, especially near-field optics and surface as well as local plasmons. Written by internationally distinguished scientists the coverage extends from the basics to the most advanced technologies, system characteristics and methods of manipulation.

This practitioner's look at optical transmission gives you essential, hands-on guidance to engineering for optimal network performance. Real-world applications illustrate in detail the principles of transmission systems engineering. Complete with tables containing optical signal, noise and impairment parameters, this book is a useful tool for calculating and modelling network transmission capabilities, evaluating tradeoffs among systems parameters and transmission optimization, and assessing optical transport limits and penalties. The book includes a series of transmission scenarios that help you ensure network transmission under worst case conditions, establish benchmarks for innovating high-performance, high-reliability optical transmission equipment, and achieve other network performance goals. An overview of systems engineering and optical networking fundamentals quickly brings students and novices up to speed on a wide range of critical topics all practitioners need to understand.

Mathematical methods play a significant role in the rapidly growing field of nonlinear optical materials. This volume discusses a number of successful or promising contributions. The overall theme of this volume is twofold: (1) the challenges faced in computing and optimizing nonlinear optical material properties; and (2) the exploitation of these properties in important areas of application. These include the design of optical amplifiers and lasers, as well as novel optical switches. Research topics in this volume include how to exploit the magnetooptic effect, how to work with the nonlinear optical response of materials, how to predict laser-induced breakdown in efficient optical devices, and how to handle electron cloud distortion in femtosecond processes.

An exciting new development has taken place in the digital era that has captured the imagination and talent of researchers around the globe - wavelet image compression. This technology has deep roots in theories of vision, and promises performance improvements over all other compression methods, such as those based on Fourier transforms, vectors quantizers, fractals, neural nets, and many others. It is this revolutionary new technology that is presented in Wavelet Image and Video Compression, in a form that is accessible to the largest audience possible. Wavelet Image and Video Compression is divided into four parts. Part I, Background Material, introduces the basic mathematical structures that underly image compression algorithms with the intention of providing an easy introduction to the mathematical concepts that are prerequisites for the remainder of the book. It explains such topics as change of bases, scalar and vector quantization, bit allocation and rate-distortion theory, entropy coding, the discrete-cosine transform, wavelet filters and other related topics. Part II, Still Image Coding, presents a spectrum of wavelet still image coding techniques. Part III, Special Topics in Still Image Coding, provides a variety of example coding schemes with a special flavor in either approach or application domain. Part IV, Video Coding, examines wavelet and pyramidal coding techniques for video data. Wavelet Image and Video Compression serves as an excellent reference and may be used as a text for advanced courses covering the subject.