Structuring light is a ubiquitous laboratory tool, and computer-controlled devices such as spatial light modulators (SLMs) can reshape an input beam into almost any desired output beam. This Spotlight ranges the basic principles of these devices to some of the most advanced techniques in beam shaping. Many examples have been included to make this guide more comprehensive and help those shaping beams with a SLM for the first time. The provided examples are based in MATLAB, but they can be easily adapted to other programing languages. Readers need only an undergraduate level of mathematics and a basic knowledge of programming.

A comprehensive review of the state of the art and advances in the field, while also outlining the future potential and development trends of optical imaging and optical metrology, an area of fast growth with numerous applications in nanotechnology and nanophysics. Written by the world's leading experts in the field, it fills the gap in the current literature by bridging the fields of optical imaging and metrology, and is the only up-to-date resource in terms of fundamental knowledge, basic concepts, methodologies, applications, and development trends.

High precision, high quality, and high throughput of ultrashort pulse laser ablation of bulk material are the most demanded properties that are required to let this process technology compete with other micro-machining techniques. Previous attempts to increase volumetric ablation rates of ultrashort pulse laser processes were based on the increase of fluence or pulse repetition rates. They run into limitations mainly set by the occurrence of bumpy surfaces due to overheating of bulk material. In this work, the potential of laser beam shaping for the enhancement of ablation rates is studied systematically for the first time. The question regarding the physically shortest possible process time for ablation of 2.5D-structures by means of an ultrashort pulse laser is answered using a heat conduction model, which is extended by the ability to consider spatially shaped beams. The strategy of laser beam stamping is implemented in a novel optical setup and proven both theoretically and experimentally to have a great potential for increasing ablation rates.

This book is a contemporary overview of selected topics in fiber optics. It focuses on the latest research results on light wave manipulation using nonlinear optical fibers, with the aim of capturing some of the most innovative developments on this topic. The book’s scope covers both fundamentals and applications from both theoretical and experimental perspectives, with topics including linear and nonlinear effects, pulse propagation phenomena and pulse shaping, solitons and rogue waves, novel optical fibers, supercontinuum generation, polarization management, optical signal processing, fiber lasers, optical wave turbulence, light propagation in disordered fiber media, and slow and fast light. With contributions from leading-edge scientists in the field of nonlinear photonics and fiber optics, they offer an overview of the latest advances in their own research area. The listing of recent research papers at the end of each chapter is useful for researchers using the book as a reference. As the book addresses fundamental and practical photonics problems, it will also be of interest to, and benefit, broader academic communities, including areas such as nonlinear science, applied mathematics and physics, and optical engineering. It offers the reader a wide and critical overview of the state-of-the-art within this practical – as well as fundamentally important and interesting – area of modern science, providing a useful reference which will encourage further research and advances in the field.

Discover the most recent advances in electromagnetic vortices In Electromagnetic Vortices: Wave Phenomena and Engineering Applications, a team of distinguished researchers delivers a cutting-edge treatment of electromagnetic vortex waves, including their theoretical foundation, related wave properties, and several potentially transformative applications. The book is divided into three parts. The editors first include resources that describe the generation, sorting, and manipulation of vortex waves, as well as descriptions of interesting wave behavior in the infrared and optical regimes with custom-designed nanostructures. They then discuss the generation, multiplexing, and propagation of vortex waves at the microwave and millimeter-wave frequencies. Finally, the selected contributions discuss several representative practical applications of vortex waves from a system perspective. With coverage that incorporates demonstration examples from a wide range of related sub-areas, this essential edited volume also offers: Thorough introductions to the generation of optical vortex beams and transformation optical vortex wave synthesizers Comprehensive explorations of millimeter-wave metasurfaces for high-capacity and broadband generation of vector vortex beams, as well as orbital angular momentum (OAM) detection and its observation in second harmonic generations Practical discussions of microwave SPP circuits and coding metasurfaces for vortex beam generation and OAM-based structured radio beams and their applications In-depth examinations and explorations of OAM multiplexing for wireless communications, wireless power transmission, as well as quantum communications and simulations Perfect for students of wireless communications, antenna/RF design, optical communications, and nanophotonics, Electromagnetic Vortices: Wave Phenomena and Engineering Applications is also an indispensable resource for researchers in academia, at large defense contractors, and in government labs.

This book describes the ultra-short laser–matter interactions from the subtle atomic motion to the generation of extreme pressures inside the bulk of a transparent crystal. It is the successor to Femtosecond Laser–Matter Interactions: Theory, Experiment and Applications (2011). Explanation and experimental verification of the exceptional technique for the phase transformations under high pressure are in the core of the book. The novel phase formation occurs along the unique solid-plasmasolid transformation path: the memory of the initial state is lost after conversion to plasma. New phase forms from chaos during the cooling to the ambient. The pressure-affected material remains detained inside a pristine crystal at the laboratory tabletop. Unique super-dense aluminium and new phases of silicon were created by the confined micro-explosions. The text also describes the recent studies that used the quasi-non-diffracting Bessel beams. The applications comprise the new high-pressure material formation and micromachining. The book is an appealing source for readers interested in the cutting-edge research exploring extreme conditions and creating nanostructures at the laboratory tabletop.

Modeling and Control of Magnetic Fluid Deformable Mirrors for Adaptive Optics Systems presents a novel design of wavefront correctors based on magnetic fluid deformable mirrors (MFDM) as well as corresponding control algorithms. The presented wavefront correctors are characterized by their linear, dynamic response. Various mirror surface shape control algorithms are presented along with experimental evaluations of the performance of the resulting adaptive optics systems. Adaptive optics (AO) systems are used in various fields of application to enhance the performance of optical systems, such as imaging, laser, free space optical communication systems, etc. This book is intended for undergraduate and graduate students, professors, engineers, scientists and researchers working on the design of adaptive optics systems and their various emerging fields of application. Zhizheng Wu is an associate professor at Shanghai University, China. Azhar Iqbal is a research associate at the University of Toronto, Canada. Foued Ben Amara is an assistant professor at the University of Toronto, Canada.

Handbook of Optoelectronics offers a self-contained reference from the basic science and light sources to devices and modern applications across the entire spectrum of disciplines utilizing optoelectronic technologies. This second edition gives a complete update of the original work with a focus on systems and applications. Volume I covers the details of optoelectronic devices and techniques including semiconductor lasers, optical detectors and receivers, optical fiber devices, modulators, amplifiers, integrated optics, LEDs, and engineered optical materials with brand new chapters on silicon photonics, nanophotonics, and graphene optoelectronics. Volume II addresses the underlying system technologies enabling state-of-the-art communications, imaging, displays, sensing, data processing, energy conversion, and actuation. Volume III is brand new to this edition, focusing on applications in infrastructure, transport, security, surveillance, environmental monitoring, military, industrial, oil and gas, energy generation and distribution, medicine, and free space. No other resource in the field comes close to its breadth and depth, with contributions from leading industrial and academic institutions around the world. Whether used as a reference, research tool, or broad-based introduction to the field, the Handbook offers everything you need to get started. (The previous edition of this title was published as Handbook of Optoelectronics, 9780750306461.) John P. Dakin, PhD, is professor (emeritus) at the Optoelectronics Research Centre, University of Southampton, UK. Robert G. W. Brown, PhD, is chief executive officer of the American Institute of Physics and an adjunct full professor in the Beckman Laser Institute and Medical Clinic at the University of California, Irvine.

It is well-known by now that the angular momentum carried by elementary particles can be categorized as spin angular momentum (SAM) and orbital angular momentum (OAM). In the early 1900s, Poynting recognized that a particle, such as a photon, can carry SAM, which has only two possible states, i.e., clockwise and anticlockwise circular polarization states. However, only fairly recently, in 1992, Allen et al. discovered that photons with helical phase fronts can carry OAM, which has infinite orthogonal states. In the past two decades, the OAM-carrying beam, due to its unique features, has gained increasing interest from many different research communities, including physics, chemistry, and engineering. Its twisted phase front and intensity distribution have enabled a variety of applications, such as micromanipulation, laser beam machining, nonlinear matter interactions, imaging, sensing, quantum cryptography and classical communications. This book aims to explore novel insights of OAM beams. It focuses on state-of-the-art advances in fundamental theories, devices and applications, as well as future perspectives of OAM beams.