Optics, Light and Lasers: The Practical Approach to Modern Aspects of Photonics and Laser Physics, First Edition (Physics Textbook)

421 Pages·2004·13.53 MB·English

by  Dieter Meschede

Dieter Meschede
Optics, Light and Lasers
The Practical Approach to Modern Aspects of
Photonics and Laser Physics
Dieter Meschede
Optics, Light and Lasers
The Practical Approach to Modern Aspects of
Photonics and Laser Physics
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*
WILEY-
VCH
WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA
�
Author This book was carefully produced. Nevertheless,
author and publishe do not warrant the informa-
�
Prof Dr rer. nat. Dieter Meschede tion contained therein to be free of errors.
�
Institute for Applied Physics Readers are advised to keep in mind that state-
�
University of Bonn ments, data, illustrations, procedural details or
other items may inadvertently be inaccurate.
Library of Congress Card No.: applied for
British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
A catalogue record for this book is available from
the British Library
Translators Bibliographic information published by
Dr. Dorothea Gauer and Dr. Markus Mauerer Die Deutsche Bibliothek
Die Deutsche Bibliothek lists this publication in
the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibli-
"Optik, Licht und Laser" was originally published ographic data is available in the
by Teubner in 1999. Internet at <http://dnb.ddb.de >.
Cover Picture
The cover picture shows coherent white light which 0 2004 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co.
is generated by the propagation of a 100-femto- KGaA, Weinheim
second pulse at 800 nm through a tapered fibre.
The light emerging from this fi bre is recollimated. All rights reserved (including those of translation
A holographic 8-fold beamsplitter causes both into other languages). No part of this book may
spectral and spatial dispersion of the optical wave. be reproduced in any form — nor transmitted or
The central spot corresponds to the zeroth order translated into machine language without written
and is therefore not diffracted. Further discus- permission from the publishers. Registered
sions of white laser light as a recent research topic names, trademarks, etc. used in this book, even
can be found in section 8.5.6. when not specifically marked as such, are not to
0 Group of Prof. Dr. H. Giessen, Institute of be considered unprotected by law
Applied Physics, University of Bonn
Printed in the Federal Republic of Germany
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ISBN 3-527-40364-7
Preface
Though being taught as a subfield of classical electrodynamics, optics is now once again
considered to be an important branch of physical sciences for the 21st century. Fur-
thermore, optics implicitly exists due to its propaedeutic contributions to the theory
of classical fields and quantum mechanics. In lecture halls today we can easily demon-
strate coherence phenomena with laser light sources. It is hence appropriate also in
lecturing to devote more room to the concepts of optics created since the 1960s.
This textbook attempts to link the central topics of optics that were established
200 years ago to the most recent research topics such as laser cooling or holography.
To compromise between depth and breadth, it is assumed that the reader is familiar
with the formal concepts of electrodynamics and also basic quantum mechanics. In
scientific education, this textbook may serve as a reference for the foundations of
modern optics: classical optics, laser physics, laser spectroscopy, nonlinear optics as
well as applied optics may profit. Teaching will be complemented through materials
presented by new media such as the internet. Nevertheless, the author strongly believes
that conventional textbooks will continue to be a prime source of learning. Novel
materials and complements will be made available, however, through the www.uni-
bonn.de/iap/ollE website.
Contents
Preface V
1 �Light rays 1
1.1 Light rays in human experience � 1
1.2 Ray optics � 2
1.3 Reflection � 2
1.4 Refraction � 3
1.5 Fermat's principle: the optical pathlength � 4
1.6 Prisms � 7
1.7 Light rays in waveguides � 10
1.8 Lenses and curved mirrors � 15
1.9 Matrix optics � 17
1.10 Ray optics and particle optics � 24
2 Wave optics 27
2.1 Electromagnetic radiation fields � 27
2.2 Wave types � 35
2.3 Gaussian beams � 37
2.4 Polarization � 47
2.5 Diffraction � 50
3 Light propagation in matter 65
3.1 Dielectric interfaces � 65
3.2 Complex refractive index � 71
3.3 Optical waveguides and fibres � 74
3.4 Light pulses in dispersive materials � 81
3.5 Anisotropic optical materials � 90
3.6 Optical modulators � 97
4 Optical images 107
4.1 The human eye � 108
4.2 Magnifying glass and eyepiece � 108
4.3 Microscopes � 110
4.4 Telescopes � 117
4.5 Lenses: designs and aberrations � 121
VIII � Contents
5 �Coherence and interferometry � 129
5.1 Young's double slit � 129
5.2 Coherence and correlation � 130
5.3 The double-slit experiment � 133
5.4 Michelson interferometer: longitudinal coherence � 139
5.5 Fabry-Perot interferometer � 145
5.6 Optical cavities � 150
5.7 Thin optical films � 156
5.8 Holography � 159
5.9 Laser speckle (laser granulation) � 163
6 Light and matter 165
6.1 Classical radiation interaction � 166
6.2 Two-level atoms � 175
6.3 Stimulated and spontaneous radiation processes � 184
6.4 Inversion and optical gain � 188
7 The laser 191
7.1 The classic system: the He-Ne laser � 193
7.2 Mode selection in the He-Ne laser � 195
7.3 Spectral properties of the He-Ne laser � 200
7.4 Applications of the He-Ne laser � 203
'7.5 Other gas lasers � 203
7.6 Molecular gas lasers � 206
7.7 The workhorses: solid-state lasers � 210
7.8 Selected solid-state lasers � 214
7.9 Tunable lasers with vibronic states � 221
8 Laser dynamics 227
8.1 Basic laser theory � 227
8.2 Laser rate equations � 233
8.3 Threshold-less lasers and microlasers � 237
8.4 Laser noise � 240
8.5 Pulsed lasers � 247
9 Semiconductor lasers 259
9.1 Semiconductors � 259
9.2 Optical properties of semiconductors � 262
9.3 The heterostructure laser � 270
9.4 Dynamic properties of semiconductor lasers � 279
9.5 Laser diodes, diode lasers, laser systems � 285
9.6 High-power laser diodes � 288
Contents � IX
10 Sensors for light � 291
10.1 Characteristics of optical detectors � 292
10.2 Fluctuating opto-electronic quantities � 295
10.3 Photon noise and detectivity limits � 297
10.4 Thermal detectors � 302
10.5 Quantum sensors I: photomultiplier tubes � 304
10.6 Quantum sensors II: semiconductor sensors � 309
10.7 Position and image sensors � 313
11 Laser spectroscopy � 317
11.1 Laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) � 317
11.2 Absorption and dispersion � 318
11.3 The width of spectral lines � 320
11.4 Doppler-free spectroscopy � 326
11.5 Transient phenomena � 332
11.6 Light forces � 338
12 Nonlinear optics I: Optical mixing processes � 349
12.1 Charged anharmonic oscillators � 349
12.2 Second-order nonlinear susceptibility � 351
12.3 Wave propagation in nonlinear media � 356
12.4 Frequency doubling � 359
12.5 Sum and difference frequency � 371
13 Nonlinear optics II: Four-wave mixing � 377
13.1 Frequency tripling in gases � 377
13.2 Nonlinear refraction coefficient (optical Kerr effect) � 379
13.3 Self-phase-modulation � 386
Appendix
A Mathematics for optics � 387
A.1 Spectral analysis of fluctuating measurable quantities � 387
A.2 Poynting theorem � 392
B Supplements in quantum mechanics � 393
B.1 Temporal evolution of a two-state system � 393
B.2 Density-matrix formalism � 394
B.3 Density of states � 395
Bibliography � 397
Index � 403