Modern advanced semiconductor lasers show complex spatio-temporal dynamics of the emitted optical fields. This book presents fundamental theories and simulations of the spatio-temporal dynamics and quantum fluctuations in semiconductor lasers. The dynamic interplay of light and matter is theoretically described by taking into account microscopic carrier dynamics, spatially dependent light-field propagation and the influence of spontaneous emission and noise. Microscopic simulations reveal the internal spatio-temporal dynamics of in-plane lasers, high-power amplifiers and vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers. The theory developed here provides the basis for the interpretation of measured emission properties and may serve as a predictive guideline for the design of advanced semiconductor lasers.

Symplectic geometry, well known as the basic structure of Hamiltonian mechanics, is also the foundation of optics. In fact, optical systems (geometric or wave) have an even richer symmetry structure than mechanical ones (classical or quantum). The symmetries underlying the geometric model of light are based on the symplectic group. Geometric Optics on Phase Space develops both geometric optics and group theory from first principles in their Hamiltonian formulation on phase space. This treatise provides the mathematical background and also collects a host of useful methods of practical importance, particularly the fractional Fourier transform currently used for image processing. The reader will appreciate the beautiful similarities between Hamilton's mechanics and this approach to optics. The appendices link the geometry thus introduced to wave optics through Lie methods. The book addresses researchers and graduate students.

This monograph is devoted to the creation of a comprehensive formalism for quantitative description of polarized modes' linear interaction in modern single-mode optic fibers. The theory of random connections between polarized modes, developed in the monograph, allows calculations of the zero shift deviations for a fiber ring interferometer. The monograph addresses also the Sagnac effect and the Thomas precession. Devices such as gyroscopes, used in navigation and flight control, work based on this technology. Given the ever increasing market for navigation and air traffic, researchers and practitioners in research and industry need a fundamental and sound understanding of the principles. This work presents the underlying physical foundations.

As we approach the end of the present century, the elementary particles of light (photons) are seen to be competing increasingly with the elementary particles of charge (electrons/holes) in the task of transmitting and processing the insatiable amounts of infonnation needed by society. The massive enhancements in electronic signal processing that have taken place since the discovery of the transistor, elegantly demonstrate how we have learned to make use of the strong interactions that exist between assemblages of electrons and holes, disposed in suitably designed geometries, and replicated on an increasingly fine scale. On the other hand, photons interact extremely weakly amongst themselves and all-photonic active circuit elements, where photons control photons, are presently very difficult to realise, particularly in small volumes. Fortunately rapid developments in the design and understanding of semiconductor injection lasers coupled with newly recognized quantum phenomena, that arise when device dimensions become comparable with electronic wavelengths, have clearly demonstrated how efficient and fast the interaction between electrons and photons can be. This latter situation has therefore provided a strong incentive to devise and study monolithic integrated circuits which involve both electrons and photons in their operation. As chapter I notes, it is barely fifteen years ago since the first demonstration of simple optoelectronic integrated circuits were realised using m-V compound semiconductors; these combined either a laser/driver or photodetector/preamplifier combination.

Theory of Nonlinear Propagation of High Harmonics Generated in a Gaseous Medium establishes the theoretical tools to study High-Order Harmonic Generation (HHG) by intense ultrafast infrared lasers in atoms and molecules. The macroscopic propagation of both laser and high-harmonic fields is taken into account by solving Maxwell's wave equations, while the single-atom or single-molecule response is treated with a quantitative rescattering theory by solving the time-dependent Schroedinger equation. This book demonstrates for the first time that observed experimental HHG spectra of atoms and molecules can be accurately reproduced theoretically when precise experimental conditions are known. The macroscopic HHG can be expressed as a product of a macroscopic wave packet and a photorecombination cross section, where the former depends on laser and experimental conditions while the latter is the property of target atoms or molecules. The factorization makes it possible to retrieve microscopically atomic or molecular structure information from the measured macroscopic HHG spectra. This book also investigates other important issues about HHG, such as contributions from multiple molecular orbitals, the minimum in the HHG spectrum, the spatial mode of laser beams, and the generation of an isolated attosecond pulse. Additionally, this book presents the photoelectron angular distribution of aligned molecules ionized by the HHG light.

This volume treats new materials (nanotubes and quantum dots) and new techniques (synchrotron radiation scattering and cavity confined scattering). In the past five years, Raman and Brillouin scattering have taken a place among the most important research and characterization methods for carbon nanotubes. Among the novel techniques discussed in this volume are those employing synchrotron radiation as a light source.

"Photophysics of Carbon Nanotubes Interfaced with Organic and Inorganic Materials "describes physical, optical and spectroscopic properties of the emerging class of nanocomposites formed from carbon nanotubes (CNTs) interfacing with organic and inorganic materials.

The three main chapters detail novel trends in photophysics related to the interaction of light with various carbon nanotube composites from relatively simple CNT/small molecule assemblies to complex hybrids such as CNT/Si and CNT/DNA nanostructures. The latest experimental results are followed up with detailed discussions and scientific and technological perspectives to provide a through coverage of major topics including:

-Light harvesting, energy conversion, photoinduced charge separation and transport in CNT based nanohybrids

-CNT/polymer composites exhibiting photoactuation; and

-Optical spectroscopy and structure of CNT/DNA complexes.

Including original data and a short review of recent research, "Photophysics of Carbon Nanotubes Interfaced with Organic and Inorganic Materials" makes this emerging field of photophysics and its applications available to academics and professionals working with carbon nanotube composites in fundamental and applied fields

Collision-or interaction-induced spectroscopy refers to radiative transitions, which are forbidden in free atoms or molecules, but which occur in clusters of interacting atoms or molecules. The most common phenomena are induced absorption, in the infrared region, and induced light scattering, which involves inelastic scattering of visible laser light. The particle interactions giving rise to the necessary induced dipole moments and polarizabilities are modelled at long range by multipole expansions; at short range, electron overlap and exchange mechanisms come into play. Information on atomic and molecular interactions and dynamics in dense media on a picosecond timescale may be drawn from the spectra. Collision-induced absorption in the infrared was discovered at the University of Toronto in 1949 by Crawford, Welsh and Locke who studied liquid O and N. Through the 1950s and 1960s, 2 2 experimental elucidation of the phenomenon, particularly in gases, continued and theoretical underpinnings were established. In the late 1960s, the related phenomenon of collision-induced light scattering was first observed in compressed inert gases. In 1978, an 'Enrico Fermi' Summer School was held at Varenna, Italy, under the directorship of J. Van Kranendonk. The lectures, there, reviewed activity from the previous two decades, during which the approach to the subject had not changed greatly. In 1983, a highly successful NATO Advanced Research Workshop was held at Bonas, France, under the directorship of G. Birnbaum. An important outcome of that meeting was the demonstration of the maturity and sophistication of current experimental and theoretical techniques.

This book presents an analytical theory of the electronic states in ideal low dimensional systems and finite crystals based on a differential equation theory approach. It provides precise and fundamental understandings on the electronic states in ideal low-dimensional systems and finite crystals, and offers new insights into some of the basic problems in low-dimensional systems, such as the surface states and quantum confinement effects, etc., some of which are quite different from what is traditionally believed in the solid state physics community. Many previous predictions have been confirmed in subsequent investigations by other authors on various relevant problems. In this new edition, the theory is further extended to one-dimensional photonic crystals and phononic crystals, and a general theoretical formalism for investigating the existence and properties of surface states/modes in semi-infinite one-dimensional crystals is developed. In addition, there are various revisions and improvements, including using the Kronig-Penney model to illustrate the analytical theory and make it easier to understand. This book is a valuable resource for solid-state physicists and material scientists.

This is the first volume of textbooks on atomic, molecular and optical physics, aiming at a comprehensive presentation of this highly productive branch of modern physics as an indispensable basis for many areas in physics and chemistry as well as in state of the art bio- and material-sciences. It primarily addresses advanced students (including PhD students), but in a number of selected subject areas the reader is lead up to the frontiers of present research. Thus even the active scientist is addressed. This volume 1 provides the canonical knowledge in atomic physics together with basics of modern spectroscopy. Starting from the fundamentals of quantum physics, the reader is familiarized in well structured chapters step by step with the most important phenomena, models and measuring techniques. The emphasis is always on the experiment and its interpretation, while the necessary theory is introduced from this perspective in a compact and occasionally somewhat heuristic manner, easy to follow even for beginners.

This book gives the first unified presentation of the physics and applications of optoelectronic devices. It covers the devices whose operation relies on the properties of quantum wells and fiber optics as well as their applications for optical communications and optical signal processing. The reader will benefit from a comprehensive mathematical treatment and from a state of the art presentation of the latest results in applied optoelectronics and semiconductor physics. The two different and complementary physical theories for describing optoelectronic devices, namely the electromagnetic field theory and quantum mechanics, are treated together in a combined manner, such that links and analogies are made apparent wherever possible.

Probing matter with beams of photons, neutrons and electrons provides the main source of information about both the microscopic and macroscopic structure of materials. This is particularly true of media, such as crystals and liquid crystals, that have a periodic structure. This book discusses the interaction of waves (which may represent x-rays, gamma rays, electrons, or neutrons) with various kinds of ordered media. After two chapters dealing with exact and approximate solutions to the scattering problem in periodic media in general, the author discusses: the diffraction of Moessbauer radiation in magnetically ordered crystals; the optics of chiral liquid crystals; the radiation of fast particles in regular media (Cherenkov radiation); nonlinear optics of periodic media; neutron scattering in magnetically ordered media; polarization phenomena in x-ray optics; magnetic x-ray scattering; and Moessbauer filtration of synchrotron radiation.

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.

This collection of the selected papers presented to the Second International Conference on Photonics, Optics and laser technology PHOTOPTICS 2014 covers the three main conference scientific areas of "Optics", "Photonics" and "Lasers". The selected papers, in two classes full and short, result from a double blind review carried out by conference Program Committee members who are highly qualified experts in the conference topic areas.

The PUILS series delivers up-to-date reviews of progress in Ultrafast Intense Laser Science, a newly emerging interdisciplinary research field spanning atomic and molecular physics, molecular science and optical science which has been stimulated by the recent developments in ultrafast laser technologies. Each volume compiles peer-reviewed articles authored by researchers at the forefront of each their own subfields of UILS. Every chapter opens with an overview of the topics to be discussed, so that researchers unfamiliar to the subfield as well as graduate students can grasp the importance and attractions of the research topic at hand. These are followed by reports of cutting-edge discoveries. This eighth volume covers a broad range of topics from this interdisciplinary research field, focusing on molecules interacting with ultrashort and intense laser fields, advanced technologies for the characterization of ultrashort laser pulses and their applications, laser plasma formation and laser acceleration.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the historical development of color science, told through the stories of more than 90 of the most prominent figures in the field and their contributions. The text comprises an extensive set of biographical essays about pioneering scientists in the field of color science, describing their most significant achievements and explaining how their findings influenced the general understanding of color. Grouped by historical period, each part is prefaced with a short introduction that sets the essays into context and helps the reader appreciate the background and the importance of the contributions made. Beginning with classical Greece and the works of Plato and Aristotle, the book goes on in the second part to describe the advances made by Islamic scholars such as Ibn al-Haytham between the 10th and 15th centuries. The third part covers contributions from Roger Bacon and Theodoric of Freiberg in the same period. Part four includes discussions on color formation and visual perception for a time period from about the 16th to the 18th centuries encompassing the Age of Enlightenment. This part addresses the works of nineteen pioneers including Descartes, Boyle, Newton, Goethe, Lambert, Purkynje, Runge, Dalton, Young and Chevreul. The final part is the largest section of the book and covers the most recent discoveries and contributions from pioneers born after 1800 and includes over 60 essays. Among the pioneers listed in this chapter are Nobel laureates, vision scientists including Helmholtz, and Hering, and many other notable color pioneers such as Munsell and Land. This part of the book also includes essays on contemporary figures in color science including Adams, Boynton, Crawford, Hardy, MacAdam, Ostwald and Wyszecki and reviews their contributions to this dynamic field. A useful reference for color scientists, science historians, artists and others, Pioneers of Color Science offers a fascinating insight into the development of color science and the nature of scientific advancement.

The imaging process in stellar interferometers is explained starting from first principles on wave propagation and diffraction. Wave propagation through turbulence is described in detail using Kolmogorov statistics. The impact of turbulence on the imaging process is discussed both for single telescopes and for interferometers. Correction methods (adaptive optics and fringe tracking) are presented including wavefront sensing/fringe sensing methods and closed loop operation. Instrumental techniques like beam combination and visibility measurements (modulus and phase) as well as Nulling and heterodyne interferometry are described. The book closes with examples of observing programmes linking the theory with individual astrophysical programmes.

This book details parametric down-conversion for the generation of non-classical state of light and its applications in generating various kinds of quantum entanglement among multiple photons from parametric down-conversion. It presents applications of the principle of quantum interference to multi-photon systems. The book also details continuous variable entanglement and various types of multi-photon interference effects.

Attophysics is an emerging field in physics devoted to the study and characterization of matter dynamics in the sub-femtosecond time scale. This book gives coverage of a broad set of selected topics in this field, exciting by their novelty and their potential impact. The book is written review-like. It also includes fundamental chapters as introduction to the field for non-specialist physicists. The book is structured in four sections: basics, attosecond pulse technology, applications to measurements and control of physical processes and future perspectives. It is a valuable reference tool for researchers in the field as well as a concise introduction to non-specialist readers.

Luminescence of Solids gathers together much of the latest work on luminescent inorganic materials and new physical phenomena. The volume includes chapters covering -- the achievements that have led to the establishment of the fundamental laws of luminescence -- light sources, light-dispersing elements, detectors, and other experimental techniques -- models and mechanisms -- materials preparation, and -- future trends. This international collection of cutting-edge luminescence research is complemented by over 170 illustrations that bring to life the text's many vital concepts.

Lightscatteringisusedinmanyapplications,rangingfromopticalparticlesizing of powders to interstellar dust studies. At the moment there is no a specialized journal aimed at studies of exclusively light scattering problems. Instead, d- ferent aspects of the problem and also di?erent applications are considered in a varietyof specializedjournalscoveringseveralscienti?cdisciplinessuchasch- istry, physics, biology, medicine, astrophysics, and atmospheric science, to name afew. The Light Scattering Reviews (LSR) series started in 2006 with the aim of facilitating interaction between di?erent groups of scientists working in diverse scienti?c areas but using the same technique, namely light scattering, for so- tion of speci?c scienti?c tasks. This second volume of LSR is devoted mostly to applications of light scattering in atmospheric research. The book consists of eight contributions prepared by internationally recognized authorities in cor- spondent research ?elds. The ?rst paper prepared by Howard Barker deals with the recent devel- ments in solar radiative transfer in the terrestrial atmosphere and global climate modelling. In particular, methods to compute radiative transfer characteristics needed for numerical global climate models are discussed in a great depth. Their de?cienciesareaddressedaswell.Theproblemof3Dradiativetransferincloudy atmospheres, a hot topic in modern climate modelling, is also considered.

This book traces the evolution of our understanding and utilization of light from classical antiquity and the early thoughts of Pythagoras to the present time. From the earliest recorded theories and experiments to the latest applications in photonic communication and computation, the ways in which light has been put to use are numerous and astounding. Indeed, some of the latest advances in light science are in fields that until recently belonged to the realm of science fiction. The author, writing for an audience of both students and other scientifically interested readers, describes fundamental investigations of the nature of light and ongoing methods to measure its speed as well as the emergence of the wave theory of light and the complementary photon theory. The importance of light in the theory of relativity is discussed as is the development of electrically-driven light sources and lasers. The information here covers the range o f weak single-photon light sources to super-high power lasers and synchrotron light sources. Many cutting-edge topics are also introduced, including entanglement-based quantum communication through optical fibers and free space, quantum teleportation, and quantum computing. The nature and use of "squeezed light" - e.g. for gravitational wave detection - is another fascinating excursion, as is the topic of fabricated metamaterials, as used to create invisibility cloaks. Here the reader also learns about the realization of extremely slow speed and time-reversed light. The theories, experiments, and applications described in this book are, whenever possible, derived from original references. The many annotated drawings and level of detail make clear the goals, procedures, and conclusions of the original investigators. Where they are required, all specialist terms and mathematical symbols are defined and explained. The final part of the book covers light expe riments in the free space of the cosmos, and also speculates about scenarios for the cosmological origins of light and the expected fate of the photon in a dying universe.

This thesis covers a broad range of interdisciplinary topics concerning electromagnetic-acoustic (EM-Acoustic) sensing and imaging, mainly addressing three aspects: fundamental physics, critical biomedical applications, and sensing/imaging system design. From the fundamental physics perspective, it introduces several highly interesting EM-Acoustic sensing and imaging methods, which can potentially provide higher sensitivity, multi-contrast capability, and better imaging performance with less distortion. From the biomedical applications perspective, the thesis introduces useful techniques specifically designed to address selected challenging biomedical applications, delivering rich contrast, higher sensitivity and finer spatial resolution. Both phantom and ex vivo experiments are presented, and in vivo validations are progressing towards real clinical application scenarios. From the sensing and imaging system design perspective, the book proposes several promising sensing/imaging prototypes. Further, it offers concrete suggestions that could bring these systems closer to becoming "real" products and commercialization, such as replacing costly lasers with portable laser diodes, or integrating transmitting and data recording on a single board.