Basics of Laser Physics

Part I General description of a laser and an example.- Laser principle.- Fabry-Perot resonator.- The active medium: energy levels and line broadening.- Titanium-sapphire laser.- Part II Theoretical basis of the laser.- Basis of the theory of the laser: the Einstein coefficients.- Amplification of coherent radiation.- Laser theory.- Polarization and current in a laser medium.- Part III Operation of a laser.- Cavity resonator.- Open resonator.- Different ways of operation of a laser.- Femtosecond laser.- Part IV Types of lasers (except semiconductor lasers).- Solid state laser.- Some other lasers and laser amplifiers.- Free-electron laser.- Part V Semiconductor lasers.- An introduction to semiconductor lasers.- Basis of the bipolar semiconductor laser.- GaAs quantum well laser.- Semiconductor materials and heterostructures.- Quantum well lasers from the UV to the infrared.- Reflectors of quantum well lasers.- More about the quantum well laser.- Quantum wire and quantum dot laser.- Double-heterostructure laser and homojunction laser and a comparison of semiconductor lasers.- Unipolar semiconductor laser.- Part VI Laser related topics.- Optical communication.- Light emitting diode.- Nonlinear Optics.

Karl F. Renk, 1957 - 1962: Study at the Universities of Freiburg, Munich and Frankfurt; 1962: Diplom in Physics at the University Freiburg, Germany; 1966: PhD in Physics at the University Freiburg; 1966/67: Postdoc at the University Reading, Great Britain; 1967 - 72: Postdoc at the Technical University Munich; 1972: Professor of Physics, University of Regensburg; 1976 - 92: Visiting Professor at various laboratories: High-Frequency Magnet Laboratory in Grenoble; University of California, Los Angeles; Université Scientific et Médical de Grenoble; University of Canterbury, New Zealand; 2006: Professor emeritus