Semiconductor Monolithic Passively Mode Locked Lasers (MMLLs) have been demonstrated and have a variety of applications including sensing, in optical communications and optical clock generation. The major advantage that these semiconductor light sources possess is their compact size, high efficiency, low cost and robustness. Also the ability to access different wavelengths using various semiconductor materials is a big advantage. The inability to get these lasers to operate at low repetition rates and the limited peak output power of the pulses are the two major limitations of these lasers. The repetition rate is inversely proportional to the semiconductor laser cavity length. The lowest repetition rate in current MMLLs is around 1GHz. This rate is limited by the complexity involved in the fabrication of centimeter long semiconductor laser cavities. The material loss, dispersion and carrier radiative recombination lifetime also limit the output repetition rate. Lower repetition rate lasers can be used in low frequency integrated optical circuits and also for imaging especially for Two-Photon Microscopy (TPM). TPM works by exciting florescence dyes using two photons instead of one. This requires pulsed lasers with high peak power and high energy per pulse. TPM is currently done by using expensive and bulky Ti:Sapphire mode locked lasers that can produce subpicosecond pulses at a repetition rate of order of 100 MHz. The possible use of semiconductor lasers for this application can transform this field by dramatically reducing the cost of imaging and allowing for dramatically smaller sized and more mobile imaging solutions. One potential way to reduce the repetition rate of the lasers without increasing the physical cavity length is to incorporate a slow light photonic crystal structure inside the lasers cavity. Such a laser cavity will have a group index that is much larger than the material refractive index thereby giving a longer optical path length for the same physical length of the device. The incorporation of the photonic crystal will also allow the possibility to do dispersion engineering within the laser cavity and to enable pulse compression. Both these effects can increase the two-photon excitation efficiency for TPM. In this work we highlight the design and progress towards the development of a monolithic semiconductor photonic crystal passively mode locked laser for two-photon microscopy.

An accessible yet rigorous introduction to nanophotonics, covering basic principles, technology, and applications in lighting, lasers, and photovoltaics. Providing a wealth of information on materials and devices, and over 150 color figures, it is the 'go-to' guide for students in electrical engineering taking courses in nanophotonics.

This book addresses fabrication as well as characterization and modeling of semiconductor nanostructures in the optical regime, with a focus on nonlinear effects. The visible range as well as near and far infrared spectral region will be considered with a view to different envisaged applications. The book covers the current key challenges of the research in the area, including: exploiting new material platforms, fully extending the device operation into the nonlinear regime, adding re-configurability to the envisaged devices and proposing new modeling tools to help in conceiving new functionalities. • Explores several topics in the field of semiconductor nonlinear nanophotonics, including fabrication, characterization and modeling of semiconductor nanostructures in the optical regime, with a focus on nonlinear effects • Describes the research challenges in the field of optical metasurfaces in the nonlinear regime • Reviews the use and achievements of all-dielectric nanoantennas for strengthening the nonlinear optical response • Describes both theoretical and experimental aspects of photonic devices based on semiconductor optical nanoantennas and metasurfaces • Gathers contributions from several leading groups in this research field to provide a thorough and complete overview of the current state of the art in the field of semiconductor nonlinear nanophotonics Costantino De Angelis has been full professor of electromagnetic fields at the University of Brescia since 1998. He is an OSA Fellow and has been responsible for several university research contracts in the last 20 years within Europe, the United States, and Italy. His technical interests are in optical antennas and nanophotonics. He is the author of over 150 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles. Giuseppe Leo has been a full professor in physics at Paris Diderot University since 2004, and in charge of the nonlinear devices group of MPQ Laboratory since 2006. His research areas include nonlinear optics, micro- and nano-photonics, and optoelectronics, with a focus on AlGaAs platform. He has coordinated several research programs and coauthored 100 peer-reviewed journal articles, 200 conference papers, 10 book chapters and also has four patents. Dragomir Neshev is a professor in physics and the leader of the experimental photonics group in the Nonlinear Physics Centre at Australian National University (ANU). His activities span over several branches of optics, including nonlinear periodic structures, singular optics, plasmonics, and photonic metamaterials. He has coauthored 200 publications in international peer-reviewed scientific journals.

This authoritative two-volume encyclopedia (A-M, N-Z) helps to master the large variety of physical phenomena and technological aspects involved in laser technology and the wider field of photonics. Besides explaining in detail the physical principles and common techniques of laser operation, it also addresses such supplementary topics as ultrashort pulses, optical communications, optoelectronics, general optics, and quantum optics. References to selected scientific articles and textbooks aid readers in their further studies, and the cross-disciplinary approach makes this four-color encyclopedia of huge benefit to a wide audience in industry, government, and academic research.

The aim of the work is give an overview of the activity in the field of Photonic Crystal developed in the frame of COST P11 action . The main objective of the COST P11 action was to unify and coordinate national efforts aimed at studying linear and nonlinear optical interactions with Photonic Crystals (PCs), without neglecting an important aspect related to the material research as idea and methods of realizations of 3D PC, together with the development and implementation of measurement techniques for the experimental evaluation of their potential applications in different area, as for example telecommunication with novel optical fibers, lasers, nonlinear multi-functionality, display devices, opto-electronics, sensors. The book contains contributions from authors who gave their lecture at the Cost P11 Training School.

This timely publication presents a review of the most recent developments in the field of Semiconductor Disk Lasers. Covering a wide range of key topics, such as operating principles, thermal management, nonlinear frequency conversion, semiconductor materials, short pulse generation, electrical pumping, and laser applications, the book provides readers with a comprehensive account of the fundamentals and latest advances in this rich and diverse field. In so doing, it brings together contributions from world experts at major collaborative research centers in Europe and the USA. Each chapter includes a tutorial style introduction to the selected topic suitable for postgraduate students and scientists with a basic background in optics - making it of interest to a wide range of scientists, researchers, engineers and physicists working and interested in this rapidly developing field. It will also serve as additional reading for students in the field.

Ultrafast photonics has become an interdisciplinary topic of high international research interest because of the spectacular development of compact and efficient lasers producing optical pulses with durations in the femtosecond time domain. Present day long-haul telecommunications systems are almost entirely based on the transmission of short burst