Optics has become one of the most dynamic fields of science since the first volume of Progress in Optics was published forty years ago. At the time of inception of this series, the first lasers were only just becoming operational, holography was in its infancy, subjects such as fiber optics, integrated optics and optoelectronics did not exist and quantum optics was the domain of only a few physicists. The term photonics had not yet been coined. Today these fields are flourishing and have become areas of specialization for many science and engineering students as well as numerous research workers and engineers throughout the world.

The awarding of Nobel prizes to seven physicists over the last twenty years has recognized advances in these fields. The volumes in this series now contain 240 review articles by distinguished research workers, which have become permanent records for many important developments. They have helped optical scientists and optical engineers to stay abreast of their fields. There is no sign that developments in optics are slowing down or becoming less interesting. We confidently expect that, just like their predecessors, future volumes of Progress in Optics will faithfully record the most important advances that are being made in optics and related fields.

The articles in this volume 43 cover a broad range of subjects, of interest to scientists concerned with optical theory or with optical devices.

This book is devoted to the formation and dynamics of localized structures (vortices, solitons) and of extended patterns (stripes, hexagons, tilted waves) in nonlinear optical resonators such as lasers, optical parametric oscillators, and the like. Theoretical analysis is performed by deriving order parameter equations, and also through numerical integration of microscopic models of the systems under investigation. Experimental observations, and possible technological implementations of transverse optical patterns are also discussed. A comparison with patterns found in other nonlinear systems, both optical systems and extended systems in general, is given.

This volume contains essays that examine the optical works of Giambattista Della Porta, an Italian natural philosopher during the Scientific Revolution. Coverage also explores the science and technology of early modern optics. Della Porta's groundbreaking book, Magia Naturalis (Natural Magic), includes a prototype of the camera. Yet, because of his obsession with magic, Della Porta's scientific achievements are often forgotten. As the contributors argue, his work inspired such great minds as Johanes Kepler and Francis Bacon. After reading this book, researchers, historians, and students will have a better appreciation of this influential scientist. They will also gain a greater understanding of an important period in the history of optics. Readers will learn about Della Porta's experimental method, a process governed by the protocols, aims, and theoretical assumptions of natural magic. Coverage also discusses the material properties and limitations of optical technology in the early 17th century, based on a recently discovered Dutch spyglass. It also demonstrates how diagrams were instrumental in the discovery of the sine law of refraction. In addition, the book includes an in-depth analysis of previously untranslated Latin sources. This makes the material useful to historians of optics unfamiliar with the language. More than 70 illustrations complement the text.

This book is mostly concerned on the experimental research of the nonlinear optical characteristics of various media, low- and high-order harmonic generation in different materials, and formation, and nonlinear optical characterization of clusters. We also demonstrate the inter-connection between these areas of nonlinear optics.
Nonlinear optical properties of media such as optical limiting can be applied in various areas of science and technology. To define suitable materials for these applications, one has to carefully analyse the nonlinear optical characteristics of various media, such as the nonlinear refractive indices, coefficients of nonlinear absorption, saturation absorption intensities, etc. Knowing the nonlinear optical parameters of materials is also important for describing the propagation effects, self-interaction of intense laser pulses, and optimisation of various nonlinear optical processes. Among those processes one can admit the importance of the studies of the frequency conversion of coherent laser sources. The area of interest for nonlinear optical characterization of materials is also closely related with new field of nanostructures formation and application during laser-matter interaction.
We show how the nonlinear optical analysis of materials leads to improvement of their high-order nonlinear optical response during the interaction with strong laser fields. Ablation-induced nanoparticles formation is correlated with their applications as efficient sources of coherent short-wavelength photons. From other side, recent achievements of harmonic generation in plasmas are closely related with the knowledge of the properties of materials in the laser plumes. All of these studies are concerned with the low-order nonlinear optical features of various materials. The novelty of the approach developed in present book is related with inter-connection of those studies with each other."

Novel coherent light sources such as x-ray free-electron lasers open exciting prospects for the interaction of light with nuclei. The thesis "Coherent Control of Nuclei and X-rays" covers this still-developing field and proposes, in a daring attempt to revolutionize nuclear physics, three innovative schemes for taming nuclei using coherent effects. The theoretical explorations, which address control of nuclear quantum states, a nuclear memory for single photons in future photonic circuits, and optimized concepts for a nuclear clock, make use of new approaches at the borderline between nuclear physics and quantum dynamics. The result is a well written work, impressive in its stimulating style and promising ideas.

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.

In the never-ending quest for miniaturization, optically controlled particle trapping has opened up new possibilities for handling microscopic matter non-invasively. This thesis presents the application of photorefractive crystals as active substrate materials for optoelectronic tweezers. In these tweezers, flexible optical patterns are transformed into electrical forces by a photoconductive material, making it possible to handle matter with very high forces and high throughput. Potential substrate materials' properties are investigated and ways to tune their figures-of-merit are demonstrated. A large part of the thesis is devoted to potential applications in the field of optofluidics, where photorefractive optoelectronic tweezers are used to trap, sort and guide droplets or particles in microfluidic channels, or to shape liquid polymers into optical elements prior to their solidification. Furthermore, a new surface discharge model is employed to discuss the experimental conditions needed for photorefractive optoelectronic tweezers.

Particularly intense lightning discharges can produce transient luminous events above thunderclouds, termed sprites, elves and jets. These short lived optical emissions in the mesosphere can reach from the tops of thunderclouds up to the ionosphere; they provide direct evidence of coupling from the lower atmosphere to the upper atmosphere. Sprites are arguably the most dramatic recent discovery in solar-terrestrial physics. Shortly after the first ground based video recordings of sprites, observations on board the Space Shuttle detected sprites and elves occurring all around the world. These reports led to detailed sprite observations in North America, South America, Australia, Japan, and Europe. Subsequently, sprites were detected from other space platforms such as the International Space Station and the ROCSAT satellite. During the past 15 years, more than 200 contributions on sprites have been published in the scientific literature to document this rapidly evolving new research area. The need for international information exchange was quickly recognized, and sprite sessions became a permanent feature with a constantly growing number of contributions in the scientific communities of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), the International Union of Radio Science (URSI), the International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA) and the European Geosciences Union EGU).

Metal-semiconductor nanostructures represent an important new class of materials employed in designing advanced optoelectronic and nanophotonic devices, such as plasmonic nanolasers, plasmon-enhanced light-emitting diodes and solar cells, plasmonic emitters of single photons, and quantum devices operating in infrared and terahertz domains. The combination of surface plasmon resonances in conducting structures, providing strong concentration of an electromagnetic optical field nearby, with sharp optical resonances in semiconductors, which are highly sensitive to external electromagnetic fields, creates a platform to control light on the nanoscale. The design of the composite metal-semiconductor system imposes the consideration of both the plasmonic resonances in metal and the optical transitions in semiconductors - a key issue being their resonant interaction providing a coupling regime. In this book the reader will find descriptions of electrodynamics of conducting structures, quantum physics of semiconductor nanostructures, and guidelines for advanced engineering of metal-semiconductor composites. These constituents form together the physical basics of the metal-semiconductor plasmonics, underlying many effective practical applications. The list of covered topics also includes the review of recent results, such as the achievement of a strong coupling regime, and the preservation of non-classical statistics of photons in plasmonic cavities combined with semiconductor nanostructures.

On June 1St 2004 the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology of the Technische Universitat Miinchen bestowed the degree of the doctor honoris causa to Leopold B. Felsen, for extraordinary achievements in the theory of electromag netic fields. On this occasion on June 1St and 2nd 2004 at the Technische Universitat Miinchen a symposium on "Fields, Networks, Computational Methods, and Systems: A Modern View of Engineering Electrodynamics" in honor of Leopold B. Felsen was organized. The symposium topic focused on an important area of Leopold Felsen research interests and, as the title emphasizes, on a modern view of applied Electro dynamics. While the fundamental physical laws of electrodynamics are well known, research in this field is experiencing a steady continuous growth. The problem -solving approaches of, say, twenty years ago may seem now fairly obsolete since considerable progress has been made in the meantime. In this monograph we collect samples of present day state of the art in dealing with electromagnetic fields, their network theory representation, their computation and, finally, on system applications. The network formulation of field problems can improve the problem formulation and also contribute to the solution methodology. Network theory systematic approaches for circuit analysis are based on the separation of the circuit into the connection circuit and the circuit elements. Many applications in science and technology rely on computations of the electromagnetic field in either man-made or natural complex structures."

Since their inception more than 2.5 years ago, photon correlation techniques for the spatial, temporal or spectral analysis of fluctuating light fields have found an ever-widening range of applications. Using detectors which re spond to single quanta of the radiation field, these methods are intrinsically digital in natnre and in many experimental situations offer a unique degree of accuracy and sensitivity, not only for the study of primary light sources themselves, but most particularly in the use of a laser-beam probe to study light scattering from pure fluids, macromolecular suspensions and laminar or turbulent flowing fluids and gases. Following the earliest developments in laser scattering by dilute macro nl01ecular suspensions, in, ... hich particle sizing was the main aim, and the use of photon correlation techniques for laser-Doppler studies of flow and tnrbuence. both of which areas were the subject of NATO ASls in Capri, Italy in 19; 3 and 19;6. significant advances have be('n made in recent years in many other areas. These were reflected in the topics covered in this NATO Advanced Research Workshop, which took place from August 2;th to 30th, 1 ) }6, at the Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland. These in cluded ('xperimental techniques. statist.ics and data reduction, colloids and aggregation, polymers, gels, liquid crystals and mixtures, protein solutions, critical pllf'nomena and dense media."

This second edition is an extended version of the first edition of Geometrical Charged-Particle Optics. The updated reference monograph is intended as a guide for researchers and graduate students who are seeking a comprehensive treatment of the design of instruments and beam-guiding systems of charged particles and their propagation in electromagnetic fields. Wave aspects are included in this edition for explaining electron holography, the Aharanov-Bohm effect and the resolution of electron microscopes limited by diffraction. Several methods for calculating the electromagnetic field are presented and procedures are outlined for calculating the properties of systems with arbitrarily curved axis. Detailed methods are presented for designing and optimizing special components such as aberration correctors, spectrometers, energy filters monochromators, ion traps, electron mirrors and cathode lenses. In particular, the optics of rotationally symmetric lenses, quadrupoles, and systems composed of these elements are discussed extensively. Beam properties such as emittance, brightness, transmissivity and the formation of caustics are outlined. Relativistic motion and spin precession of the electron are treated in a covariant way by introducing the Lorentz-invariant universal time and by extending Hamilton's principle from three to four spatial dimensions where the laboratory time is considered as the fourth pseudo-spatial coordinate. Using this procedure and introducing the self action of the electron, its accompanying electromagnetic field and its radiation field are calculated for arbitrary motion. In addition, the Stern-Gerlach effect is revisited for atomic and free electrons.

Demonstrational Optics presents a new didactical approach to the study of optics. Emphasizing the importance of elaborate new experimental demonstrations, pictorial illustrations, computer simulations and models of optical phenomena in order to ensure a deeper understanding of the general and statistical optics. It includes problems focused on the pragmatic needs of students, secondary school teachers, university professors and optical engineers.

This volume aims to present improved teaching methods and practical explanations of optical phenomena. An important feature is the inclusion of elaborate pictorial approach to explaining optical phenomena in parallel to a general mathematical description. The modern approach developed here is also used to illustrate many basic phenomena, complimenting the existing literature.

The volume contains a valuable compendium of optical experiments for university, college and senior-school physics teachers. Experiments and modern computer simulations are described within the volume in sufficient detail to allow successful reproduction in a classroom or lecture theatre.

Nonlinear optical phenomena can be exploited in advanced devices for transport, processing, and storage of information. These are needed as the present-day approach - mainly using on electron-based technology - faces the challenges of increasing demand on bandwidth and processing speed. A key role in the development of nonlinear devices is the availability of novel materials with the required nonlinear optical properties. With such materials, scientific creativity and careful design, promising concepts have been developed resulting in the demonstration of devices. This book contains the proceedings of NOIS 2000 (Nonlinear Optics for the Information Society) Annual Meeting of the COST Action P2, held at the University of Twente, in Enschede, The Netherlands, on 26-27 October, 2000. It comprises a selection of the presentations at the meeting, reporting state-of-the-art research and developments in the field of applications of nonlinear phenomena in information technology.

Over the past decade or more, the art relating to modern optical waveguides has evolved as a nighly focused interdis ciplinary field, so attractive, stimulating and full of far reachin3 promise that no parallel could be found earlier in other branches of applied sciences except, perhaps, in solid state electronics and computer technology. This Proceedings, with a selection of 53 papers and briefs by 96 authors of 16 countries, is of real internation al dimensions. It is the outgrowth of the International Symposium held June 20-23, 1983, the first international meeting on this subject taking place in China. Since almost every country in the world, Eastern or ~;estern, large or small, has been involved in the study and promotion of this technological revolution, it is only natural that China snoula be happy to serve as host country of the international meeting to promote an interchange of experiences and iaeas conducive to greater achievements in the future.

The 11th International Conference on X-Ray Lasers had contributions in the following topical areas: Transient Collisional X-Ray Lasers, Table-Top High Repetition Rate X-Ray Lasers, Optical-Field Ionised (OFI) X-Ray Lasers, Theory and Simulation of X-Ray Lasers, High Order Harmonic Generation, XUV Optics and X-Ray Laser Applications, Capillary Discharge X-Ray Lasers, Alternative Sources of coherent XUV Radiation.

The proceedings of this conference constitute a comprehensive source of reference for scientists involved in researching the development and application of coherent X-Ray sources.

Random inhomogeneous media may possess unique physical properties that are significantly enhanced and may attain a level of practical importance and versatility that rivals or surpasses their geometrically ordered counterparts. Making judicious use of these enhancement effects, as well as of other aspects of the many complex resonances that distinguish these systems, can lead to new and unexpected physics and many applications. Localization of various sorts of optical excitations occur and recur in a wide gamut of disordered systems, leading to the enhancement of many optical phenomena, especially nonlinear processes. The book reviews recent advances in the nonlinear optics of random media and discusses numerous applications based on the unique properties of nanostructured composite materials. The contributing authors are world best experts in the field and provide a state-of-the-art description of the world of the optics of random media.

Optical disc industry is one of the successful businesses in the world, and huge amounts of discs and drives have been spread all over the world. More than a billion discs are produced and distributed every year. Since the ?rst optical discs - Laser Discs and Compact Discs (CD) - were shipped in the early 1980s, they have rapidly dominated the world music market, and DVDs will replace the video-tape market in the near future. The optical disc and drive technologies consist of the most advanced and integrated systems with regard to optics, physics, chemistry, mathematics, electronics, mechanics and related subjects; a huge number of scientists and engineers have engaged in the research and development of the systems. One of the key factors of the development of the optical disc systems, of course, results in the availability of cheap, stable, and reliable semiconductor laser units. Now, you can store data up to 4. 7GB on a single side of the 12-cm DVD, and in the near future, blue laser technology will allow storage of more than 20GB on the same size disc. We should not however forget the other core technologies such as focusing the beam on the surface of a spinning disc precisely, and encoding and decoding digital data. The data capacity of optical discs has increased from 0. 65GB to 25GB by the year 2003, and we certainly believe it will continue to increase with new technologies.

This book presents a collection of extended contributions on the physics and application of optoelectronic materials and metamaterials. The book is divided into three parts, respectively covering materials, metamaterials and optoelectronic devices. Individual chapters cover topics including phonon-polariton interaction, semiconductor and nonlinear organic materials, metallic, dielectric and gyrotropic metamaterials, singular optics, parity-time symmetry, nonlinear plasmonics, microstructured optical fibers, passive nonlinear shaping of ultrashort pulses, and pulse-preserving supercontinuum generation. The book contains both experimental and theoretical studies, and each contribution is a self-contained exposition of a particular topic, featuring an extensive reference list. The book will be a useful resource for graduate and postgraduate students, researchers and engineers involved in optoelectronics/photonics, quantum electronics, optics, and adjacent areas of science and technology.

This book is the first comprehensive volume on nonlinear dynamics and chaos in optical systems. A few books have been published recently, but they summarize applied mathematical methodologies toward understanding of nonlinear dynamics in laser systems with small degrees of freedom focusing on linearized perturbation and bifurcation analyses. In contrast to these publications, this book summarizes nonlinear dynamic problems in optical complex systems possessing large degrees of freedom, systematically featuring our original experimental results and their theoretical treatments. The new concepts introduced in this book will have a wide appeal to audiences involved in a rapidly-growing field of nonlinear dynamics. This book focuses on nonlinear dynamics and cooperative functions in realistic optical complex systems, such as multimode lasers, laser array, coupled nonlinear-element systems, and their applications to optical processing. This book is prepared for graduate students majoring in optical and laser physics, but the generic nature of complex systems described in this book may stimulate researchers in the field of nonlinear dynamics covering different academic areas including applied mathematics, hydrodynamics, celestial mechanics, chemistry, biology, and economics.

This book presents the recent progress in the field of nanophotonics. It contains review-like chapters focusing on various but mutually related topics in nanophotonics written by the world's leading scientists. Following the elaboration of the idea of nanophotonics, much theoretical and experimental work has been carried out, and several novel photonic devices, high-resolution fabrication, highly efficient energy conversion, and novel information processing have been developed in these years. Novel theoretical models describing the nanometric light-matter interaction, nonequilibrium statistical mechanical models for photon breeding processes and near-field-assisted chemical reactions as well as light-matter interaction are also explained in this book. It describes dressed photon technology and its applications, including implementation of nanophotonic devices and systems, fabrication methods and performance characteristics of ultrathin, ultraflexible organic light-emitting diodes, organic solar cells and organic transistors.

Optical Properties of Metal Clusters deals with the electronic structure of metal clusters determined optically. Clusters - as state intermediate between molecules and the extended solid - are important in many areas, e.g. in air pollution, interstellar matter, clay minerals, photography, heterogeneous catalysis, quantum dots, and virus crystals. This book extends the approaches of optical molecular and solid-state methods to clusters, revealing how their optical properties evolve as a function of size. Cluster matter, i.e. extended systems of many clusters - the most frequently occuring form - is also treated. The combination of reviews of experimental techniques, lists of results and detailed descriptions of selected experiments will appeal to experts, newcomers and graduate students in this expanding field.

When a photon meets a nanostructure, many interesting phenomena occur. This book aims at developing the theories and the applications of photon interactions with nanostructures. The contributors were all participants in the well-known Japanese national research project, "Near-Field Nano-Optics", which ran from 1997 to 2000. The book covers a wide range of disciplines in nano-optics, including the theoretical development of imaging-contrast mechanisms as a result of photon and nanomatter interactions, and discussions on different near-field nanoprobes. Applications of nano-optics to sensing, imaging, analysis, and the fabrication of nanostructures, such as molecules and quantum devices, are also discussed, with a collection of experimental examples.