This extended and revised edition will serve as a concise,
self-contained, up-to-date introduction to Photonics for undergraduate
students. It can also be used as a primer by researchers and
professionals who start working in the field. Blending theory with
technical descriptions, the book covers a wide range of topics,
including the general mechanism of laser action, continuous and pulsed
laser operation, optical propagation in isotropic and anisotropic media,
operating principles and structure of passive optical components,
electro-optic and acousto-optic modulation, solid-state lasers,
semiconductor lasers and LEDs, nonlinear optical phenomena, and optical
fiber components and devices.
The book concludes with an overview of applications, including optical
communications, telemetry and sensing, industrial and biomedical
applications, solid-state lighting, displays, and photovoltaics. This
second edition includes a set of problems at the end of all but the last
chapter. These problems deal with numerical computations designed to
illustrate the magnitudes of important quantities and are also intended
to test the student's ability to apply theoretical formulas.