Laser Hardcover

Dieter Bauerle

The first laser was built in early 1960 as a laboratory device. Only in the last twenty years has it been possible to produce lasers more reliable, more stable, more compact and cheaper. Since then, the triumph of lasers has been progressing inexorably. Many "technical achievements", especially in production engineering, are based on the use of lasers. Laser technology is today a separate field of expertise. With the development of durable, stable and inexpensive semiconductor lasers in combination with modern optics as well as more powerful electronics and the constantly improved glass and polymer fiber technology, another completely new discipline has emerged: photonics. Photonics deals with new optical technologies for the generation, amplification, transmission, control and measurement of light. Photonics and laser technology have revolutionized many fields of expertise or have only recently begun to develop new ones. Applications of photonics today include entertainment, printing and information technology, as well as many areas of industrial manufacturing, measurement and environmental technology, but also biotechnology, medicine and the arts. The purpose of this book is to introduce curious but not necessarily pre-trained readers to the fascinating developments in photonics and laser technology, and to provide them with a better understanding of the unique properties of laser light and its many applications in laser technology and photonics.

English

Wiley-Vch