High Power Laser Handbook

The State of the Art in High-Power Laser TechnologyFilled with full-color images, High-Power Laser Handbook offers comprehensive details on the latest advances in high-power laser development and applications. Performance parameters for each major class of lasers are described. The book covers high-power gas, chemical, and free-electron lasers and then discusses semiconductor diode lasers, along with the associated technologies of packaging, reliability, and beam shaping and delivery. Current research and development in solid-state lasers is described as well as scaling approaches for high CW powers, high pulse energies, and high peak powers. This authoritative work also addresses the emergence of fiber lasers and concludes by reviewing various methods for beam combining.Coverage Includes:Carbon dioxide lasersExcimer lasersChemical lasersHigh-power free-electron lasersSemiconductor laser diodesHigh-power diode laser arraysIntroduction to high-power solid-state lasersZig-zag slab lasersThinZag high-power laser developmentThin disk lasersHeat capacity lasersUltrafast solid-state lasersUltrafast lasers in the thin disk geometryThe National Ignition Facility laserOptical fiber lasersPulsed fiber lasersHigh-power ultrafast fiber laser systemsHigh-power fiber lasers for industry and defenseBeam combining