Lasers

Although the laser is a relatively recent development, it is already no longer possible to imagine our lives without it. Lasers are used in the home (CD players), in hospitals, in dentists' surgeries, in architecture, in industry, and, perhaps less pleasantly for some of us, by the police and armed forces. Consequently, many books have been written on these devices, but all or most of them deal only with their theoretical aspects. There is little, if any, literature on the practical use of lasers. This book aims to rectify that situation to some extent.
Lasers: Theory and Practice is written for a wide readership. It consists of two main parts. The first deals with the fundamentals of lasers, including such topics as types of laser, modes of laser operation, wavelengths, chopping, scanning, and applications. The second part contains a number of practical circuits and experiments. The circuits comprise, among others, a protection/alarm system, a distance meter, a seismograph, a pulse counter, an optical receiver, and an eavesdropping device. There are also some experiments in holography.