Page 7 - Handbook of Lasers

This Handbook of Lasers is derived from data evaluated and compiled by the
contributors to Volumes I and II and Supplement 1 of the CRC Handbook Series of Laser
Science and Technology and to the Handbook of Laser Wavelengths. These contributors are
identified in following pages. In most cases it was possible to update these tabulations to
include more recent additions and new categories of lasers. For semiconductor lasers, where
the lasing wavelength may not be a fundamental property but the result of material
engineering and the operating configuration used, an effort was made to be representative
with respect to operating configurations and modes rather than exhaustive in the coverage of
the literature. The number of reported gas laser transitions is huge; they constitute nearly
80% of the over 16,000 laser wavelengths in this volume. Laser transitions in gases are well
covered through the late 1980s in the above volumes. An electronic database of gas lasers
prepared from the tables in Volume II and Supplement 1 by John Broad and Stephen Krog
of the Joint Institute of Laboratory Astrophysics was used for this volume, but does not
cover all recent developments.

Although there is a tremendous diversity of laser transitions and types, only a few laser
systems have gained widespread use and commercial acceptance. In addition, some laser
systems that were of substantial commercial interest in past years are becoming obsolete and
are likely to be supplanted by other types in the future. Nevertheless, separate subsections on
commercially available lasers are included thoroughout the volume to provide a perspective
on the current state-of-the-art and performance boundaries.

To cope with the continued proliferation of acronyms, abbreviations, and initialisms
which range from the clever and informative to the amusing or annoying, there is an
appendix of acronyms, abbreviations, initialisms, and common names for lasers, laser
materials, laser structures and operating configurations, and systems involving lasers. Other
appendices contain information about laser safety, the ground state electron configurations of
neutral atoms, and fundamental physical constants of interest to laser scientists and
engineers.

Because lasers now cover such a large wavelength range and because researchers in
various fields are accustomed to using different units, there is also a conversion table for
spectroscopists (a Rosetta stone) on the inside back cover.

Finally, I wish to acknowledge the valuable assistance of the Advisory Board who
reviewed the material, made suggestions regarding the contents and formats, and in several
cases contributed material (the Board, however, is not responsible for the accuracy or
thoroughness of the tabulations). Others who have been helpful include Guiuseppe
Baldacchini, Eric Bründermann, Federico Capasso, Tao-Yuan Chang, Henry Freund, Claire
Gmachl, Victor Granatstein, Eugene Haller, John Harreld, Stephen Harris, Thomas
Hasenberg, Alan Heeger, Heonsu Jeon, Roger Macfarlane, George Miley, Linn Mollenauer,
Michael Mumma, James Murray, Dale Partin, Maria Petra, Richard Powell, David Sliney,
Jin-Joo Song, Andrew Stentz, Roger Stolen, and Riccardo Zucca. I am especially grateful to
Project Editor Mimi Williams for her skill and help during the preparation of this volume.

Marvin J. Weber
Danville, California

©2001 CRC Press LLC