Organic lasers are broadly tunable coherent sources, potentially compact, convenient and manufactured at low-costs. Appeared in the mid 60’s as solid-state alternatives for liquid dye lasers, they recently gained a new dimension after the demonstration of organic semiconductor lasers in the 90's. More recently, new perspectives appeared at the nanoscale, with organic polariton and surface plasmon lasers. After a brief reminder to laser physics, a first chapter exposes what makes organic solid-state organic lasers specific. The laser architectures used in organic lasers are then reviewed, with a state-of-the-art review of the performances of devices with regard to output power, threshold, lifetime, beam quality etc. A survey of the recent trends in the field is given, highlighting the latest developments with a special focus on the challenges remaining for achieving direct electrical pumping of organic semiconductor lasers. A last chapter covers the applications of organic solid-state lasers.

Semiconductor heterostructures represent the backbone for an increasing variety of electronic and photonic devices, for applications including information storage, communication and material treatment, to name but a few. Novel structural and material concepts are needed in order to further push the performance limits of present devices and to open up new application areas. This thesis demonstrates how key performance characteristics of three completely different types of semiconductor lasers can be tailored using clever nanostructure design and epitaxial growth techniques. All aspects of laser fabrication are discussed, from design and growth of nanostructures using metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy, to fabrication and characterization of complete devices.

Laser measurement technology has evolved in the last years in a versatile and reflationary way. Today, its methods are indispensable for research and development activities as well as for production technology. Every physicist and engineer should therefore gain a working knowledge of laser measurement technology. This book closes the gap of existing textbooks. It introduces in a comprehensible presentation laser measurement technology in all its aspects. Numerous figures, graphs and tables allow for a fast access into the matter. In the first part of the book the important physical and optical basics are described being necessary to understand laser measurement technology. In the second part technically significant measuring methods are explained and application examples are presented. Target groups of this textbook are students of natural and engineering sciences as well as working physicists and engineers, who are interested to make themselves familiar with laser measurement technology and its fascinating potentials.

Independent Variables for Optical Surfacing Systems discusses the characterization and application of independent variables of optical surfacing systems and introduces the basic principles of surfacing technologies and common surfacing systems. All the pivotal variables influencing surface quality are analyzed; evaluation methods for surface quality, the removal capability of tool influence functions, and a series of novel optical surfacing systems are introduced. The book also particularly focuses on the multi-path mode and dwell time used for deterministic surfacing. Researchers and graduate students working in optical engineering will benefit from this book; optical engineers in the industry will also find it a valuable reference work. Haobo Cheng is a professor at Beijing Institute of Technology.

The series Structure and Bonding publishes critical reviews on topics of research concerned with chemical structure and bonding. The scope of the series spans the entire Periodic Table and addresses structure and bonding issues associated with all of the elements. It also focuses attention on new and developing areas of modern structural and theoretical chemistry such as nanostructures, molecular electronics, designed molecular solids, surfaces, metal clusters and supramolecular structures. Physical and spectroscopic techniques used to determine, examine and model structures fall within the purview of Structure and Bonding to the extent that the focus is on the scientific results obtained and not on specialist information concerning the techniques themselves. Issues associated with the development of bonding models and generalizations that illuminate the reactivity pathways and rates of chemical processes are also relevant. The individual volumes in the series are thematic. The goal of each volume is to give the reader, whether at a university or in industry, a comprehensive overview of an area where new insights are emerging that are of interest to a larger scientific audience. Thus each review within the volume critically surveys one aspect of that topic and places it within the context of the volume as a whole. The most significant developments of the last 5 to 10 years should be presented using selected examples to illustrate the principles discussed. A description of the physical basis of the experimental techniques that have been used to provide the primary data may also be appropriate, if it has not been covered in detail elsewhere. The coverage need not be exhaustive in data, but should rather be conceptual, concentrating on the new principles being developed that will allow the reader, who is not a specialist in the area covered, to understand the data presented. Discussion of possible future research directions in the area is welcomed. Review articles for the individual volumes are invited by the volume editors. Readership: research scientists at universities or in industry, graduate students Special offer For all customers who have a standing order to the print version of Structure and Bonding, we offer free access to the electronic volumes of the Series published in the current year via SpringerLink.

Digital Imaging targets anyone with an interest in digital imaging, professional or private, who uses even quite modest equipment such as a PC, digital camera and scanner, a graphics editor such as PAINT, and an inkjet printer. Uniquely, it is intended to fill the gap between the highly technical texts for academics (with access to expensive equipment), and the superficial introductions for amateurs. The four-part treatment spans theory, technology, programs and practice. Theory covers integer arithmetic, additive and subtractive color, greyscales, computational geometry, and a new presentation of discrete Fourier analysis; Technology considers bitmap file structures, scanners, digital cameras, graphic editors, and inkjet printers; Programs develops several processing tools for use in conjunction with a standard Paint graphics editor and supplementary processing tools; Practice discusses 1-bit, greyscale, 4-bit, 8-bit, and 24-bit images for the practice section. Relevant QBASIC code is supplied an accompanying CD and algorithms are listed in the appendix. Readers can attain a level of understanding and the practical insights to obtain optimal use and satisfaction from even the most basic digital-imaging equipment.

This thesis examines laser generation from the ultraviolet to the short edge of the mid-infrared band by exploiting the nonlinear effects in photonic crystal fibers (PCFs). Several different physical mechanisms are investigated by using homemade PCFs with elaborately customized dispersion profiles. A particular focus is on the development of fiber optical parametric amplifiers (FOPAs) and oscillators (FOPOs) based on the PCFs with a zero-dispersion wavelength of ca.1.06 m. In particular, several schemes are proposed for solving the key problems involved in the application of FOPOs. These oscillators can be made more convenient to use by optimizing the wavelength-tuning mechanisms and made more energy-efficient with the help of specially designed cavity structures. Today's oscillators are more reliable, powerful and maneuverable than ever. This thesis provides a systematic road map in connection with the study of nonlinear wavelength generation in PCFs, from their fiber design and technical fabrication, to their physical mechanism and experimental investigation.

The thermal processing of materials ranges from few fem to seconds by Swift Heavy Ion Implantation to about one second using advanced Rapid Thermal Annealing. This book offers after an historical excursus selected contributions on fundamental and applied aspects of thermal processing of classical elemental semiconductors and other advanced materials including nanostructures with novel optoelectronic, magnetic, and superconducting properties. Special emphasis is given on the diffusion and segregation of impurity atoms during thermal treatment. A broad range of examples describes the solid phase and/or liquid phase processing of elemental and compound semiconductors, dielectric composites and organic materials.

With his Ph.D. thesis, presented here in the format of a "Springer Theses", Paul Fulda won the 2012 GWIC thesis prize awarded by the Gravitational Wave International Committee. The impact of thermal noise on future gravitational wave detectors depends on the size and shape of the interrogating laser beam. It had been known since 2006 that, in theory, higher-order Laguerre-Gauss modes could reduce thermal noise. Paul Fulda's research brings Laguerre-Gauss modes an enormous step forward. His work includes analytical, numerical and experimental work on table-top setups as well as experiments at the Glasgow 10m prototype interferometer. Using numerical simulations the LG33 mode was selected as the optical mode to be tested. Further research by Paul and his colleagues since then concentrated on this mode. Paul has developed and demonstrated simple and effective methods to create this mode with diffractive optics and successfully demonstrated its compatibility with the essential building blocks of gravitational wave detectors, namely, optical cavities, Michelson interferometers and opto-electronic sensing and control systems. Through this work, Laguerre-Gauss modes for interferometers have been transformed from an essentially unknown entity to a well understood option with an experimental basis.

Nanoscale Applications for Information and Energy Systems presents nanotechnology fundamentals and applications in the key research areas of information technology (electronics and photonics) and alternative (solar) energy: plasmonics, photovoltaics, transparent conducting electrodes, silicon electroplating, and resistive switching. The three major technology areas - electronics, photonics, and solar energy - are linked on the basis of similar applications of nanostructured materials in research and development. By bridging the materials physics and chemistry at the atomic scale with device and system design, integration, and performance requirements, tutorial chapters from worldwide leaders in the field provide a coherent picture of theoretical and experimental research efforts and technology development in these highly interdisciplinary areas.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the operating principles and technology of electron lenses in supercolliders. Electron lenses are a novel instrument for high energy particle accelerators, particularly for the energy-frontier superconducting hadron colliders, including the Tevatron, RHIC, LHC and future very large hadron colliders. After reviewing the issues surrounding beam dynamics in supercolliders, the book offers an introduction to the electron lens method and its application. Further chapters describe the technology behind the electron lenses which have recently been proposed, built and employed for compensation of beam-beam effects and for collimation of high-energy high-intensity beams, for compensation of space-charge effects and several other applications in accelerators. The book will be an invaluable resource for those involved in the design, construction and operation of the next generation of hadron colliders.

Transparent electrodes (TEs) are a class of materials that make it possible to bring electrical current or potentials in close proximity to optically active regions without significant loss of optical energy. However, it is a challenge to decouple the electrical and optical properties of a material, as the property of conductivity is strongly coupled to the imaginary part of the refractive index. An ideal TE has high transparency in combination with very low electrical resistivity. The main objective of the thesis was to develop TEs which can replace expensive, scarce and fragile Indium Tin Oxide (ITO), the most widely used TE material in the industry today. The thesis contains original work on ultrathin metal film (UTMF)-based TEs, which are essential elements in a wide range of optoelectronics, consumer electronics and energy devices. It presents new designs and fabrication methods and demonstrates the efficient use of UTMF-TEs in organic light emitting diodes and solar cells, achieving similar levels of efficiency to that of state-of-the-art ITO.

This is the only handbook available on X-ray data. In a concise and informative manner, the most important data connected with the emission of characteristic X-ray lines are tabulated for all elements up to Z = 95 (Americium). The tabulated data are characterized and, in most cases, evaluated. Furthermore, all important processes and phenomena connected with the production, emission and detection of characteristic X-rays are discussed.

Optical coatings, i.e. multilayer stacks composed from a certain number of thin individual layers, are an essential part of any optical system necessary to tailor the properties of the optical surfaces. Hereby, the performance of any optical coating is defined by a well-balanced interplay between the properties of the individual coating materials and the geometrical parameters (such as film thickness) which define their arrangement. In all scientific books dealing with the performance of optical coatings, the main focus is on optimizing the geometrical coating parameters, particularly the number of individual layers and their thickness. At the same time, much less attention is paid to another degree of freedom in coating design, namely the possibility to tailor optical material properties to an optimum relevant for the required specification. This book, on the contrary, concentrates on the material aside of the problem. After a comprehensive review of the basics of thin film theory, traditional optical coating material properties and their relation to the efficiency of coating design methods, emphasis is placed on novel results concerning the application of material mixtures and nanostructured coatings in optical coating theory and practice, including porous layers, dielectric mixtures as well as metal island films for different applications.

Authored by the developer of dressed photon science and technology as well as nanophotonics, this book outlines concepts of the subject using a novel theoretical framework that differs from conventional wave optics. It provides a quantum theoretical description of optical near fields and related problems that puts matter excitation such as electronic and vibrational ones on an equal footing with photons. By this description, optical near fields are interpreted as quasi-particles and named dressed photons which carry the material excitation energy in a nanometric space. The author then explores novel nanophotonic devices, fabrications, and energy conversion based on the theoretical picture of dressed photons. Further, this book looks at how the assembly of nanophotonic devices produces information and communication systems. Dressed photon science and technology is on its way to revolutionizing various applications in devices, fabrications, and systems. Promoting further exploration in the field, this book presents physically intuitive concepts, theories, and technical details for students, engineers, and scientists engaged in research and development in dressed photon science and technology as well as nanophotonics.

An energetic charged particle beam introduced to an rf cavity excites a wakefield therein. This wakefield can be decomposed into a series of higher order modes and multipoles, which for sufficiently small beam offsets are dominated by the dipole component. This work focuses on using these dipole modes to detect the beam position in third harmonic superconducting S-band cavities for light source applications. A rigorous examination of several means of analysing the beam position based on signals radiated to higher order modes ports is presented. Experimental results indicate a position resolution, based on this technique, of 20 microns over a complete module of 4 cavities. Methods are also indicated for improving the resolution and for applying this method to other cavity configurations. This work is distinguished by its clarity and potential for application to several other international facilities. The material is presented in a didactic style and is recommended both for students new to the field, and for scientists well-versed in the field of rf diagnostics.

This work explores the scope and flexibility afforded by integrated quantum photonics, both in terms of practical problem-solving, and for the pursuit of fundamental science. The author demonstrates and fully characterizes a two-qubit quantum photonic chip, capable of arbitrary two-qubit state preparation. Making use of the unprecedented degree of reconfigurability afforded by this device, a novel variation on Wheeler's delayed choice experiment is implemented, and a new technique to obtain nonlocal statistics without a shared reference frame is tested. Also presented is a new algorithm for quantum chemistry, simulating the helium hydride ion. Finally, multiphoton quantum interference in a large Hilbert space is demonstrated, and its implications for computational complexity are examined.

This book employs homogeneous coordinate notation to compute the first- and second-order derivative matrices of various optical quantities. It will be one of the important mathematical tools for automatic optical design. The traditional geometrical optics is based on raytracing only. It is very difficult, if possible, to compute the first- and second-order derivatives of a ray and optical path length with respect to system variables, since they are recursive functions. Consequently, current commercial software packages use a finite difference approximation methodology to estimate these derivatives for use in optical design and analysis. Furthermore, previous publications of geometrical optics use vector notation, which is comparatively awkward for computations for non-axially symmetrical systems.

This book presents the fundamental physics of optical interferometry as applied to biophysical, biological and medical research. Interference is at the core of many types of optical detection and is a powerful probe of cellular and tissue structure in interfererence microscopy and in optical coherence tomography. It is also the root cause of speckle and other imaging artefacts that limit range and resolution. For biosensor applications, the inherent sensitivity of interferometry enables ultrasensitive detection of molecules in biological samples for medical diagnostics. In this book, emphasis is placed on the physics of light scattering, beginning with the molecular origins of refraction as light propagates through matter, and then treating the stochastic nature of random fields that ultimately dominate optical imaging in cells and tissue. The physics of partial coherence plays a central role in the text, with a focus on coherence detection techniques that allow information to be selectively detected out of incoherent and heterogeneous backgrounds. Optical Interferometry for Biology and Medicine is divided into four sections. The first covers fundamental principles, and the next three move up successive scales, beginning with molecular interferometry (biosensors), moving to cellular interferometry (microscopy), and ending with tissue interferometry (biomedical). An outstanding feature of the book is the clear presentation of the physics, with easy derivations of the appropriate equations, while emphasizing "rules of thumb" that can be applied by experimental researchers to give semi-quantitative predictions.

Ellipsometry is the method of choice to determine the properties of surfaces and thin films. It provides comprehensive and sensitive characterization in contactless and non-invasive measurements. This book gives a state-of-the-art survey of ellipsometric investigations of organic films and surfaces, from laboratory to synchrotron applications, with a special focus on in-situ use in processing environments and at solid-liquid interfaces. In conjunction with the development of functional organic, meta- and hybrid materials for new optical, electronic, sensing and biotechnological devices and fabrication advances, the ellipsometric analysis of their optical and material properties has progressed rapidly in the recent years.

The book presents results of a comprehensive study of various features of eigen electromagnetic waves propagating across the axis of plasma filled metal waveguides with cylindrical geometry. The authors collected in one book material on various features of surface flute waves, i.e. impact of waveguide design on wave dispersion, wave damping influenced by various reasons, impact of plasma density and external magnetic field inhomogeneity on the wave, and impact of waveguide corrugation and electric current on the wave. A variety of present surface waves applications and possible future applications is also included. Using the method of successive approximations it is shown how one can solve problems, which concern real experimental devices, starting from simple models. The book applies to both professionals dealing with problems of confined plasmas and to graduate and post-graduate students specializing in the field of plasma physics and related applications.

This book provides a new direction in the field of nano-optics and nanophotonics from information and computing-related sciences and technology. Entitled by "Information Physics and Computing in NanosScale Photonics and Materials", IPCN in short, the book aims to bring together recent progresses in the intersection of nano-scale photonics, information, and enabling technologies. The topic will include (1) an overview of information physics in nanophotonics, (2) DNA self-assembled nanophotonic systems, (3) Functional molecular sensing, (4) Smart fold computing, an architecture for nanophotonics, (5) semiconductor nanowire and its photonic applications, (6) single photoelectron manipulation in imaging sensors, (6) hierarchical nanophotonic systems, (8) photonic neuromorphic computing, and (9) SAT solver and decision making based on nanophotonics.

Lanthanide-Doped Luminescent Nanomaterials reviews the latest advances in the development of lanthanide-doped luminescent inorganic nanoparticles for potential bioapplications. This book covers the chemical and physical fundamentals of these nanoparticles, such as the controlled synthesis methodology, surface modification chemistry, optical physics, and their promising applications in diverse bioassays, with an emphasis on heterogeneous and homogeneous in-vitro biodetection of tumor biomarkers. This book is intended for those readers who are interested in systematically understanding the materials design strategy, optical behavior of lanthanide ions, and practical bioapplications of lanthanide nanoparticles. It primarily focuses on the interdisciplinary frontiers in chemistry, physics and biological aspects of luminescent nanomaterials. All chapters were written by scientists active in this field and for a broad audience, providing both beginners and advanced researchers with comprehensive information on the subject. Xueyuan Chen is a Professor at Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter (FJIRSM), Chinese Academy of Sciences. Yongsheng Liu is a Research Associate Professor at FJIRSM, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Datao Tu is a Research Assistant Professor at FJIRSM, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

This biography of the famous Soviet physicist Leonid Isaakovich Mandelstam (1889-1944), who became a Professor at Moscow State University in 1925, describes his contributions to both physics and technology, as well as discussing the scientific community which formed around him, usually called the Mandelstam school. Mandelstam's life story is thereby placed in its proper cultural context. The following more general issues are taken under consideration: the impact of German scientific culture on Russian science; the problems and fates of Russian intellectuals during the revolutionary and post-revolutionary years; the formation of the Soviet Academy of Sciences; and transformation of the system of higher education in the USSR during the 1920's and 1930's.The author shows that Mandelstam's fundamental writings and his lectures notes allow to reconstruct his philosophy of science and his approach to the social and ethical functions of science and science education. That reconstruction is enhanced through extensive use of hitherto unpublished archival material as well as the transcripts of personal interviews conducted by the author.

This book pays tribute to an extraordinary researcher and personality, Manuel Cardona. He had significant influence in the development of science and inside the scientific community. The book consists of contributions by former collaborators and students of Prof. Manuel Cardona. The short contributions deal with personal encounters with Manuel Cardona describing his extraordinary personality. This includes descriptions of scientific discussions, Manuel Cardona's involvement in social justice and his enormous knowledge about human culture, languages and history.