Semiconductor quantum dots represent one of the fields of solid state physics that have experienced the greatest progress in the last decade. Recent years have witnessed the discovery of many striking new aspects of the optical response and electronic transport phenomena. This book surveys this progress in the physics, optical spectroscopy and application-oriented research of semiconductor quantum dots. It focuses especially on excitons, multi-excitons, their dynamical relaxation behaviour and their interactions with the surroundings of a semiconductor quantum dot. Recent developments in fabrication techniques are reviewed and potential applications discussed. This book will serve not only as an introductory textbook for graduate students but also as a concise guide for active researchers.

A. Sommerfeld's "Mathematische Theorie der Diffraction" marks a milestone in optical theory, full of insights that are still relevant today. In a stunning tour de force, Sommerfeld derives the first mathematically rigorous solution of an optical diffraction problem. Indeed, his diffraction analysis is a surprisingly rich and complex mix of pure and applied mathematics, and his often-cited diffraction solution is presented only as an application of a much more general set of mathematical results. This complete translation, reflecting substantial scholarship, is the first publication in English of Sommerfeld's original work. The extensive notes by the translators are rich in historical background and provide many technical details for the reader.

Presents a comprehensive study of the physical models for quantum dots (QDs) Discusses the properties of QDs and their applications Suggests ways to fine tune the electronic properties of QDs for specific applications Will be helpful for solid state physicists, material scientists, and engineers

The rapid growth in communications and internet has changed our way of life, and our requirement for communication bandwidth. Optical networks can enable us to meet the continued demands for this bandwidth, although conventional optical networks struggle in achieving this, due to the limitation of the electrical bandwidth barrier. Flexgrid technology is a promising solution for future high-speed network design. To promote an efficient and scalable implementation of elastic optical technology in the telecommunications infrastructure, many challenging issues related to routing and spectrum allocation (RSA), resource utilization, fault management and quality of service provisioning must be addressed. This book reviews the development of elastic optical networks (EONs), and addresses RSA problems with spectrum fragment issues, which degrade the quality of service provisioning. The book starts with a brief introduction to optical fiber transmission system, and then provides an overview of the wavelength division multiplexing (WDM), and WDM optical networks. It discusses the limitations of conventional WDM optical networks, and discusses how EONs overcome these limitations. It presents the architecture of the EONs and its operation principle. To complete the discussion of network architecture, this book focuses on the different node architectures, and compares their performance in terms of scalability and flexibility. It reviews and classifies different RSA approaches, including their pros and cons. It focuses on different aspects related to RSA. The spectrum fragmentation is a serious issue in EONs, which needs to be managed. The book explains the fragmentation problem in EONs, discusses, and analyzes the major conventional spectrum allocation policies in terms of the fragmentation effect in a network. The taxonomies of the fragmentation management approaches are presented along with different node architectures. State-of-the-art fragmentation management approaches are looked at. A useful feature of this book is that it provides mathematical modeling and analyzes theoretical computational complexity for different problems in elastic optical networks. Finally, this book addresses the research challenges and open issues in EONs and provides future directions for future research.

2D Materials for Surface Plasmon Resonance-based Sensors offers comprehensive coverage of recent design and development (including processing and fabrication) of 2D materials in the context of plasmonic-based devices. It provides a thorough overview of the basic principles and techniques used in the analysis and design of 2D material-based optical sensor systems. Beginning with the basic concepts of plasmon/plasmonic sensors and mathematical modelling, the authors explain the fundamental properties of 2D materials, including Black Phosphorus (BP), Phosphorene, Graphene, Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), MXene's and SW-CNT. It also details the applications of these emerging materials in clinical diagnosis and their future trends. This text will be useful for practising engineers, undergraduate and postgraduate students. Key Features Presents the fundamental concepts of 2D material assisted fibre optic and prism based SPR sensor in a student-friendly manner. Includes the recent synthesis and characterization techniques of 2D materials. Provides computational results of recently discovered electronic and optical properties of the 2D materials along with their effectiveness in the field of plasmonic sensors. Presents emerging applications of novel 2D material-based plasmonic sensors in the field of chemical, bio-chemical and biosensing.

This book explores the methods needed for creating and manipulating HDR content. HDR is a step change from traditional imaging; more closely matching what we see with our eyes. In the years since the first edition of this book appeared, HDR has become much more widespread, moving from a research concept to a standard imaging method. This new edition incorporates all the many developments in HDR since the first edition and once again emphasizes practical tips, including the authors' popular HDR Toolbox (available on the authors' website) for MATLAB and gives readers the tools they need to develop and experiment with new techniques for creating compelling HDR content. Key Features: Contains the HDR Toolbox for readers' experimentation on authors' website Offers an up-to-date, detailed guide to the theory and practice of high dynamic range imaging Covers all aspects of the field, from capture to display Provides benchmarks for evaluating HDR imagery

Shuji Nakamura's development of a blue semiconductor laser on the basis of GaN opens the way for a host of new applications of semiconductor lasers. The wavelengths can be tuned by controlling the composition. For the first time it is possible to produce lasers with various wavelengths, ranging from red through yellow and green to blue, in one substrate material. This fact, together with their high efficiency, makes GaN-based lasers very useful for a wide spectrum of applications. The second edition of this basic book on GaN-based devices has been updated and significantly extended. It includes a survey of worldwide research on GaN, as well as Nakamura's latest important developments. The reader finds a careful introduction to the physics and properties of GaN. The main part of the book deals with the production and characteristics of GaN LDs and LEDs. To complete the spectrum of applications, GaN power devices are also described.

Covers the fundamentals and research on graphene, including synthesis, properties, and various applications of graphene nanosheets Is a unique book on such an advanced research topic Gives an overview of the current status of the research and development in graphene Is illustrated throughout with excellent figures and includes latest references to accompany each section

Discusses the method to grow not only graphene over Cu but also allows the reader to know how to optimize graphene growth, using statistical design of experiments, on Cu interconnects in order to obtain good-quality and reliable interconnects Provides the basic understanding of graphene-Cu interaction mechanism Introduces a novel graphene growth process and graphene-assisted electroless copper plating

This self-contained monograph provides a mathematically simple and physically meaningful model which unifies gravity, electromagnetism, optics and even some quantum behavior. The simplicity of the model is achieved by working in the frame of an inertial observer and by using a physically meaningful least action principle. The authors introduce an extension of the Principle of Inertia. This gives rise to a simple, physically meaningful action function. Visualizations of the geometryare obtained by plotting the action function. These visualizations may be used to compare the geometries of different types of fields. Moreover, a new understanding of the energy-momentum of a field emerges. The relativistic dynamics derived here properly describes motion of massive and massless objects under the influence of a gravitational and/or an electromagnetic field, and under the influence of isotropic media. The reader will learn how to compute the precession of Mercury, the deflection of light, and the Shapiro time delay. Also covered is the relativistic motion of binary stars, including the generation of gravitational waves, a derivation of Snell's Law and a relativistic description of spin. We derive a complex-valued prepotential of an electromagnetic field. The prepotential is similar to the wave function in quantum mechanics. The mathematics is accessible to students after standard courses in multivariable calculus and linear algebra. For those unfamiliar with tensors and the calculus of variations, these topics are developed rigorously in the opening chapters. The unifying model presented here should prove useful to upper undergraduate and graduate students, as well as to seasoned researchers.

This book focuses on the gradual formation of the concept of 'light quanta' or 'photons', as they have usually been called in English since 1926. The great number of synonyms that have been used by physicists to denote this concept indicates that there are many different mental models of what 'light quanta' are: simply finite, 'quantized packages of energy' or 'bullets of light'? 'Atoms of light' or 'molecules of light'? 'Light corpuscles' or 'quantized waves'? Singularities of the field or spatially extended structures able to interfere? 'Photons' in G.N. Lewis's sense, or as defined by QED, i.e. virtual exchange particles transmitting the electromagnetic force? The term 'light quantum' made its first appearance in Albert Einstein's 1905 paper on a "heuristic point of view" to cope with the photoelectric effect and other forms of interaction of light and matter, but the mental model associated with it has a rich history both before and after 1905. Some of its semantic layers go as far back as Newton and Kepler, some are only fully expressed several decades later, while others initially increased in importance then diminished and finally vanished. In conjunction with these various terms, several mental models of light quanta were developed-six of them are explored more closely in this book. It discusses two historiographic approaches to the problem of concept formation: (a) the author's own model of conceptual development as a series of semantic accretions and (b) Mark Turner's model of 'conceptual blending'. Both of these models are shown to be useful and should be explored further. This is the first historiographically sophisticated history of the fully fledged concept and all of its twelve semantic layers. It systematically combines the history of science with the history of terms and a philosophically inspired history of ideas in conjunction with insights from cognitive science.

Provides a glimpse of the recent developments in metamaterial research Introduces new metamaterial designs to be used in the microwave and optical regimes Discusses the usefulness of new designs in developing absorbers and/or sensors Explores the platforms for future technology of embedded systems

The book addresses various approaches to television projection imaging on large screens using lasers. Results of theoretical and experimental studies of an acousto-optic projection system operating on the principle of projecting an image of an entire amplitude-modulated television line in a single laser pulse are presented. Characteristic features of image formation and requirements for individual components are discussed. Particular attention is paid to nonlinear distortions of the image signal, which show up most severely at low modulation signal frequencies. The feasibility of improving the process efficiency and image quality using acousto-optic modulators and pulsed lasers is studied.

Diffractive Nanophotonics demonstrates the utility of the well-established methods of diffractive computer optics in solving nanophotonics tasks. It is concerned with peculiar properties of laser light diffraction by microoptics elements with nanoscale features and light confinement in subwavelength space regions. Written by recognized experts in this field, the book covers in detail a wide variety of advanced methods for the rigorous simulation of light diffraction. The authors apply their expertise to addressing cutting-edge problems in nanophotonics. Chapters consider the basic equations of diffractive nanophotonics and related transformations and numerical methods for solving diffraction problems under strict electromagnetic theory. They examine the diffraction of light on two-dimensional microscopic objects of arbitrary shape and present a numerical method for solving the problem of diffraction on periodic diffractive micro- and nanostructures. This method is used in modern trends in nanophotonics, such as plasmonics, metamaterials, and nanometrology. The book describes the simulation of electromagnetic waves in nanophotonic devices and discusses two methods of calculating the spatial modes of microstructured photonic crystal fibres-a relatively new class of optical fibres with the properties of photonic crystals. The book explains the theory of paraxial and non-paraxial laser beams with axial symmetry and an orbital angular momentum-called vortex beams-which are used for optical trapping and rotating micro- and nanoparticles in a ring in the cross-sectional plane of the beam. The final chapter discusses methods for calculating the force and torque exerted by the electromagnetic field focused onto the microparticle of arbitrary form, whose dimensions are comparable with the wavelength of light.

This book explores new principles of Self-Initiating Volume Discharge for creating high-energy non-chain HF(DF) lasers, as well as the creation of highly efficient lasers with output energy and radiation power in the spectral region of 2.6-5 m. Today, sources of high-power lasing in this spectral region are in demand in various fields of science and technology including remote sensing of the atmosphere, medicine, biological imaging, precision machining and other special applications. These applications require efficient laser sources with high pulse energy, pulsed and average power, which makes the development of physical fundamentals of high-power laser creation and laser complexes of crucial importance. High-Energy Ecologically Safe HF/DF Lasers: Physics of Self-Initiated Volume Discharge-Based HF/DF Lasers examines the conditions of formation of SSVD, gas composition and the mode of energy input into the gas on the efficiency and radiation energy of non-chain HF(DF) lasers. Key Features: Shares research results on SSVD in mixtures of non-chain HF(DF) lasers Studies the stability and dynamics of the development of SSVD Discusses the effect of the gas composition and geometry of the discharge gap (DG) on its characteristics Proposes recommendations for gas composition and for the method of obtaining SSVD in non-chain HF(DF) lasers Develops simple and reliable wide-aperture non-chain HF(DF) lasers and investigates their characteristics Investigates the possibilities of expanding the lasing spectrum of non-chain HF(DF) lasers

This book gives insight into the theoretical backgrounds of optical vortices and their propagation in free space and simple optical systems. The author's theoretical analysis allows full comprehension of recent results and allows a bridge between the mentioned topics. For example, there is a solution for an accelerating beam propagating along an almost half-circle, obtained from a solution for an asymmetric vortex Bessel mode. And vice versa, there is a solution for an optical vortex with accelerating focusing, obtained from a solution for a two-dimensional accelerating Pearcey beam. The book is intended for graduate and postgraduate students studying optics or wave physics.

The Progress in Optics series contains more than 300 review articles by distinguished research workers, which have become permanent records for many important developments, helping optical scientists and optical engineers stay abreast of their fields.