Contents:

Introductory Concepts.- Interaction of Radiation with Atoms and Ions.- Energy Levels, Radiative, and Nonradiative Transitions in Molecules and Semiconductors.- Ray and Wave Propagation Through Optical Media.- Passive Optical Resonators.- Pumping Processes.- Continuous Wave Laser Behavior.- Transient Laser Behavior.- Solid-State, Dye, and Semiconductor Lasers.- Gas, Chemical, Free Electron, and X-Ray Lasers.- Properties of Laser Beams.- Laser Beam Transformation: Propagation, Amplification, Frequency Conversion, Pulse Compression, and Pulse Expansion.- Appendixes: Semiclassic Treatment of the Interaction of Radiation and Matter.- Line Shape Calculation for Collision Broadening.- Simplified Treatment of Amplified Spontaneous Emission.- Calculating Radiative Transition Rates of Molecular Transitions.- Space-Dependent Rate Equations.- Mode-Locking Theory: Homogeneous Line.- Propagation of a Laser Through a Dispersive Medium or a Gain Medium.- Higher Order Coherence.- Physical Constants and Useful Conversion Factors.- Answers to Selected Problems.- Index.