Optical Electronics

Abstract

The five years that have intervened since the appearance of the third edition of OPTICAL ELECTRONICS witnessed significant technical developments in the field and the emergence of some major trends. A few of the important developments are 1. Optical fiber communication has established itself as the key communication technology. 2. The semiconductor laser and especially the longer wavelength GaInAsP/InP version has emerged as the main light source for high-data-rate optical fiber communication systems. 3. Quantum well semiconductor lasers started replacing their conventional counterparts for high-data-rate long distance communication and most other sophisticated applications including ultra-low threshold and mode- locked lasers. 4. Optical fiber amplifiers are causing a minor revolution in fiber communication due to their impact on very long distance transmission and on large scale optical distribution systems. The accumulated weight of the new developments was such that when I last taught the course at Caltech in 1989 I found myself using a substantial fraction of course material that was not included in the text. The fourth edition brings this material into the fold. The main additions to the third edition, include major revisions and new chapters dealing with 1. Jones calculus and its extension to Faraday effect elements. 2. Radiometry and infrared detection. 3. Optical fiber amplifiers and their impact on fiber communication links. 4. Laser arrays. 5. Distributed feedback lasers, including multi-element lasers with phase shift sections. 6. Quantum well and ultra-low threshold semiconductor lasers. 7. Photorefractive crystals and two-beam coupling in dynamic holography and image processing. 8. Two-beam coupling and phase conjugation in stimulated Brillouin scattering. 9. Intensity fluctuations and coherence in semiconductor lasers and their impact on fiber communication systems. The book continues to be aimed at the student interested in learning how to generate and manipulate optical radiation and how to use it to transmit information. At Caltech the course is taken, almost in equal proportions, by electrical engineering, physics, and applied physics students. About half the students tend to be seniors and the rest graduate students. The prerequisites for taking the course at Caltech are a sound undergraduate background in electromagnetic theory—usually a one year course in this area—and an introduction to atomic physics. The hands-on and research flavor of the book owes greatly to the exciting mix of visitors, talented students, and postdocs who bombard me continually with their newest findings and thoughts.

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