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This book provides a comprehensive introduction into photonics, from the electrodynamic and quantum mechanic fundamentals to the level of photonic components and building blocks such as lasers, amplifiers, modulators, waveguides, and detectors. The book will serve both as textbook and as a reference work for the advanced student or scientist. Theoretical results are derived from basic principles with convenient, yet state-of-the-art mathematical tools, providing not only deeper understanding but also familiarization with formalisms used in the relevant technical literature and research articles. Among the subject matters treated are polarization optics, pulse and beam propagation, waveguides, light-matter interaction, stationary and transient behavior of lasers, semiconductor optics and lasers (including low-dimensional systems such as quantum wells), detector technology, photometry, and colorimetry. Nonlinear optics are elaborated comprehensively. The book is intended for both students of physics and electronics and scientists and engineers in fields such as laser technology, optical communications, laser materials processing, and medical laser applications who wish to gain an in-depth understanding of photonics.

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Light as electromagnetic radiation.- Plane waves in optical media.- Beam- and pulse propagation.- Optical interference.- Dielectric wave guides.- Light/matter interaction.- Optical oscillators.- Nonlinear optics and acousto-optic.- Photo detection.

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Georg A. Reider is head of the Photonics Institute at the TU Vienna. He is giving graduate and post-graduate courses in photonics, nonlinear optics, Fourier optics, optical sensors and other areas. He holds a PhD in physics from the University of Innsbruck and is currently working at the TU Wien on nonlinear optics and related fields. He did photonics research at IBM Yorktown Heights, Columbia University, MPQ Garching and MPI Göttingen. He has published on surface second harmonic imaging, surface molecular dynamics, THz spectroscopy, fiber lasers, magneto-optics, laser micro-machining, laser plasma interactions, attosecond physics, and novel nonlinear materials.

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