When I look back at my time as a graduate student, I realize that the most valuable knowledge that I acquired concerned fundamental concepts in physics and mathematics, quantum mechanics and electromagnetic theory, with specific emphasis on their use in electronic and electro-optical devices. Today, many students acquire such information as well as analytical techniques from studies and analysis of the laser and its light in devices, components and systems. When teaching a graduate course at the University of California San Diego on this topic, I emphasize the understanding of basic principles of the laser and the properties of its radiation.

In this book I present a unified approach to all lasers, including gas, solid state and semiconductor lasers, in terms of “classical” devices, with gain and material susceptibility derived from their quantum mechanical interactions. For example, the properties of laser oscillators are derived from optical feedback analysis of different cavities. Moreover, since applications of laser radiation often involve its well defined phase and amplitude, the analysis of such radiation in components and systems requires special care in optical procedures as well as microwave techniques. In order to demonstrate the applications of these fundamental principles, analytical techniques and specific examples are presented. I used the notes for my course because I was unable to find a textbook that provided such a compact approach, although many excellent books are already available which provide comprehensive treatments of quantum electronics, lasers and optics.