- The goal of the course is to provide a fundamental understanding of the physics of lasers.
- At the end of the course, you can explain the physical concepts of the various topics addressed in this course to peers.
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This course treats the main physical aspects of a very important light source, the laser. The course starts with an introduction to the the principles of laser operation and a brief description of some basic classical and quantum properties of atoms, molecules and semiconductors. We briefly recap Gaussian beams and Fabry-Perot resonators that are typically used in laser oscillators. We then continue with the classical Lorentz oscillator to describe the origin of absorption, emission, of the refractive index and spectral line broadening and its consequences for laser oscillation. We describe how to use rate equations for occupancy of atomic levels and photons to describe optical gain, the laser threshold, gain saturation, spectral and spatial hole burning, how to achieve mode selection and the fundamental lower limit for the spectral bandwidth of lasers. For selection of the optical phase of lasers, injection locking will be treated. These continuous-wave and steady-state equilibrium descriptions will then be expanded towards dynamical properties and effects in lasers, such as spiking and relaxation oscillations. To explain the generation of light pulses with high energy, the technique of Q-switching will be treated. To explain the generation of light pulses with ultrashort duration (e.g. in the femtosecond range), we describe mode-locking of lasers. During the course we will give specific technological examples of certain types of lasers, e.g, from the class of gas lasers, solid state lasers and semiconductor lasers.
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