Mid-Infrared Coherent Sources and Applications, 2008 NATO Science for Peace and Security Series B: Physics and Biophysics Series

Coherent sources of mid-infrared (mid-IR) radiation are of great interest for a wide range of scienti?c and technological applications from spectroscopy and frequency metrology to information technology, industrial process control, pho- chemistry, photobiology and photomedicine. The mid-IR spectrum, which may be de?ned as wavelengths beyond ?2µm, covers important atmospheric windows, and numerous molecular gases, toxic agents, air, water, and soil pollutants, c- ponents of human breath, and several explosive agents have strong absorption ?ngerprints in this region. The development of practical coherent solid-state sources in the mid-IR can thus provide indispensable tools for a variety of - plications in environmental monitoring and pollution control, detection of water and soil contaminants, food quality control, agriculture and life sciences, and n- invasive disease diagnosis and therapy through breath analysis. Coherent mid-IR sources also offer important technologies for atmospheric chemistry, free-space communication, imaging, rapid detection of explosives, chemical and biological agents, nuclear material and narcotics, as well as applications in air- and sea-born safety and security, amongst many. The timely advancement of coherent mid-IR sources is, therefore, vital to future progress in many application areas across a broad range of scienti?c, technological, and industrial disciplines. On the other hand, more than 40 years after the invention of laser, much of the mid-IR spectrum still remains inaccessible to conventional lasers due to fun- mental limitations, most notably a lack of suitable crystalline laser gain materials.

Crystalline Laser and Nonlinear Optical Materials for the Mid-IR.- New Monocrystals with Low Phonon Energy for Mid-IR Lasers.- Orthorhombic Crystals of Lithium Thioindate and Selenoindate for Nonlinear Optics in the Mid-IR.- Quaternary Nonlinear Optical Crystals for the Mid-Infrared Spectral Range from 5 to 12 ?m.- Microstructured Semiconductors for Mid-Infrared Nonlinear Optics.- Sources in the Mid-IR.- Progress in Quantum Cascade Lasers.- High-Brightness 2.X ?m Semiconductor Lasers.- Broadband Mid-Infrared Solid-State Lasers.- New Regimes of Excitation and Mid-IR Lasing of Transition Metal Doped II–VI Crystals.- Advances in Mid-Infrared Fiber Lasers.- Mid-Infrared Optical Parametric Oscillators and Applications.- Mid-Infrared Integrated Optical Parametric Generators and Oscillators with Periodically Poled Ti:LiNbO3 Waveguides.- Optical Parametric Generators and Amplifiers.- Tunable THz Sources Based on Quasi-Phase-Matched Gallium Arsenide.- Semiconductor Waveguides for Nonlinear Frequency Conversion.- Applications.- Semiconductor Laser Based Trace Gas Sensor Technology: Recent Advances and Applications.- Trace Gas Analysis with Isotopic Selectivity Using DFG-Sources.- Photoacoustic Spectroscopy Using Continuous Wave Optical Parametric Oscillators.- Online Monitoring of Exhaled Breath Using Mid-Infrared Laser Spectroscopy.- Ultrabroadband Solid-State Lasers in Trace Gas Sensing.- Medical Applications of Mid-IR Solid-State Lasers.- Opportunities for Mid-IR Sources in Intense-Field and Attosecond Physics.- Ultrawideband Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy of Semiconductor Nanostructures.

Covers the most recent advances in mid-infrared optical science and technology Is multidisciplinary by bringing together many aspects of mid-infrared technology in a comprehensive and focused volume Covers both system engineering and development as well as applications Is of interest to emerging scientific and technological applications in environment, photomedicine, photochemistry, life sciences, spectroscopy, safety and security