Masers and Lasers

Mario Bertolotti received his degree in physics from the University of Roma, Italy, and was full professor of physics and optics for the Engineering Faculty of the University of Roma "La Sapienza", Italy from 1970 until 2008. He is the author of more than 500 peer-reviewed publications. A major part of his research has been in lasers and their applications, as well as nonlinear optics and nano-optics. He is an elected fellow of the Institute of Physics, Optical Society of America, European Optical Society, Italian Physical Society, and Italian Society of Optics and Photonics, of which he was also the president.

"Bertolotti has substantially updated his classic work to include many of the remarkable developments in laser science that have occurred in the three decades since the publication of the first edition, giving us a very readable account of the basic science and research behind one of the most important technologies of our time."—Peter Milonni, Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico, USA and University of Rochester, New York, USA"This book uniquely combines the historical development of one of the remarkable discoveries of the twentieth century with the biographies of contributors to this field, as well as scientific underpinnings and devices of modern applications. … Every laser researcher must have it and recommend it to his/her students."—Svetlana G. Lukishova, The Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, New York, USA"In the past 55 years, the laser has gone from the invention looking for an application to the expensive piece of equipment whose capabilities and shortcomings dictated research programs, to the commodity that facilitates every area of current technology. No one tells the story of this development better than Mario Bertolotti."—Carlos Stroud, The Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, New York, USA"One of the best books on lasers and masers."—Matthew M. Radmanesh, California State University, Northridge, USA "A great story, well told. … I will make it a ‘highly recommended’ reference for my future classes in quantum electronics and nonlinear optics."—From the Foreword by Amnon Yariv, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA"This book blazes a new trail in retracing the history and expounding the theory and experiments as they were discovered."—From the Foreword to the First Edition by Arthur L. Schawlow, Nobel Laureate"a highly readable scientific essay on the subject, a historic outline with high information density. The physics under discussion is presented with mathematical rigour and is fully referenced to scientific publications. The end-of-chapter references are comprehensive and carefully chosen, which adds value to the text"– Contemporary Physics (Dec 2015)

• Introduction. Stimulated Emission: Could the Laser have been Built More than 80 Years Ago? Intermezzo: Magnetic Resonance and Optical Pumping. The Maser. The Laser. The First Lasers. Laser Properties and Progresses in Novel Lasers. Nonlinear Optics. More Exotic Lasers. The Statistical Properties of Light.