The field of optics has been accelerating at an unprecedented rate, due both to the tremendous growth of the field of fiber-optic communications, and to the improvement of optical materials and devices. Throughput capabilities of fiber systems are accelerating faster than Moore's law, the famous growth rate of silicon chip capability, which has propelled that industry relentlessly over decades. In addition, new optical storage techniques push the limits of information density, with an ever decreasing cost per bit of storage. Economic investment in photonics is at an all-time high. At the same time, other fields of optics, adaptive optics for instance, are bringing new capabilities to more classical applications such as astronomical imaging. New lasers continue to be developed, with applications in display, sensing, and biomedicine following at ever-shorter intervals after the initial discoveries. Given this background, the NATO Mediterranean Dialog Advanced Research Workshop on Unconventional Optical Elements for Information Storage, Processing and Communications, held in Israel on October 19-21, 1998, came at an opportune moment in the history of optics. Its aim was to overview the current state-of-the-art and encourage cooperation in the Mediterranean region, with a view to highlighting and enhancing the existing potential for further development and innovation. The workshop included participants from Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Morocco, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom and USA.

The field of optics has been accelerating at an unprecedented rate, due both to the tremendous growth of the field of fiber-optic communications, and to the improvement of optical materials and devices. Throughput capabilities of fiber systems are accelerating faster than Moore's law, the famous growth rate of silicon chip capability, which has propelled that industry relentlessly over decades. In addition, new optical storage techniques push the limits of information density, with an ever decreasing cost per bit of storage. Economic investment in photonics is at an all-time high. At the same time, other fields of optics, adaptive optics for instance, are bringing new capabilities to more classical applications such as astronomical imaging. New lasers continue to be developed, with applications in display, sensing, and biomedicine following at ever-shorter intervals after the initial discoveries. Given this background, the NATO Mediterranean Dialog Advanced Research Workshop on Unconventional Optical Elements for Information Storage, Processing and Communications, held in Israel on October 19-21, 1998, came at an opportune moment in the history of optics. Its aim was to overview the current state-of-the-art and encourage cooperation in the Mediterranean region, with a view to highlighting and enhancing the existing potential for further development and innovation. The workshop included participants from Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Morocco, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom and USA.

The use of lasers in the processing of electronic and photonic material is becoming increasingly widespread, with technological advances reducing costs and increasing both the quality and range of novel devices which can be produced. Laser growth and processing of photonic devices is the first book to review this increasingly important field.
Part one investigates laser-induced growth of materials and surface structures, with pulsed laser deposition techniques, the formation of nanocones and the fabrication of periodic photonic microstructures explored in detail. Laser-induced three-dimensional micro- and nano-structuring are the focus of part two. Exploration of multiphoton lithography, processing and fabrication is followed by consideration of laser-based micro- and nano-fabrication, laser-induced soft matter organization and microstructuring, and laser-assisted polymer joining methods. The book concludes in part three with an investigation into laser fabrication and manipulation of photonic structures and devices. Laser seeding and thermal processing of glass with nanoscale resolution, laser-induced refractive index manipulation, and the thermal writing of photonic devices in glass and polymers are all considered.
With its distinguished editor and international team of expert contributors, Laser growth and processing of photonic devices is an essential tool for all materials scientists, engineers and researchers in the microelectronics industry.
The first book to review the increasingly important field of laser growth and processing of photonic devicesInvestigates laser-induced growth of materials and surface structures, pulsed laser deposition techniques, the formation of nanocones and the fabrication of periodic photonic microstructuresExamines laser-induced three-dimensional micro- and nano-structuring and concludes with an investigation into laser fabrication and manipulation of photonic structures and devices