Book reviewLasersA.E. SiegmanOxford University Press, 1986, 1283 pp., £60.00ISBN: 0198557132

Professor Siegman has long been one of the luminaries ofthe laser field. He is well known for many important con-tributions to research in lasers, particularly in the areasof resonators (unstable resonators, anti-resonant ringresonators) and mode-locking. He is, of course, also wellknown through his earlier books, including Introductionto Lasers and Masers, which was for many years one ofthe most widely used textbooks on the subject of lasers.The appearance of his new book, Lasers, has thereforebeen eagerly awaited and the wait has been well worth-while.

The first thing to be remarked on, and which cannotfail to impress itself on anyone who picks up the book, isits size, all 1283 pages and large pages at that. It weighsin at around 2.2 kg. One reason the book is so large isthat it covers a great deal of material, but another impor-tant reason is that the material is covered in a very thor-ough and detailed fashion. No short cuts are taken whenit comes to giving explanations. I find this a verywelcome feature. Despite the degree of detail the textremains always lively and informative and does notbecome bogged down in detail. The text is furtherenlivened with frequent insertions in the form of com-ments, references and problems, each of which is present-ed in an informative and thought-provoking way. Eventhe references are preceded by a sentence or two explain-ing why the reference is of interest and relevance. Theresult is that the book contains an enormous wealth ofinformation and food for thought.

As the author points out in his preface the book canserve a number of purposes for a number of differentgroups of people. For example it would serve as a text-book for graduate students, or even undergraduates atsenior level; it would provide the detail needed by a prac-ticing engineer or scientist working with lasers; the moreadvanced sections extend far enough into the state-of-the-art to provide a working reference for currentresearch in areas such as resonators, mode-locking, injec-tion locking etc.

While it is certainly true that the book can serve all ofthese purposes, its price is likely to be an inhibiting factorto most undergraduates. This is a pity, because theauthor's lucid style and careful explanations, withoutmaking great demands on background knowledge orsophisticated techniques, should certainly appeal stronglyto the undergraduate reader.

The author has also made it his aim to remove muchof the quantum mystique from 'quantum electronics', andthe book is built primarily on the classical electron oscil-lator model [Lorentz model]. So, Shrodinger's equationdoes not appear in the book (except as the 'NonlinearShrodinger equation', in a non-quantum context). This is

not to say that quantum ideas do not appear at all —obviously they must at some level, but they are presentedin a descriptive way which should make the text acces-sible to people with minimal background in quantumtheory. Despite this, as the author emphasises, he pro-vides a fully accurate, detailed and physically meaningfulunderstanding of lasers and even such topics as Rabiflopping, the Bloch equations and photon echoes receivetreatment within this essentially classical framework.

The book begins with an introductory chapter inwhich most of the principal features of lasers, to becovered in depth later, are dealt with in terms of simplephysical description. Then follows considerable detail (i.e.around 500 pages) on the basic process of stimulatedemission, and the consequent phenomena of amplifica-tion and oscillation. It is difficult in a few words to dojustice to the variety of material in this part of the book,including, as it does, such items of current interest aspulse compression in optical fibres, the soliton laser, andoptical bistability.

As expected in a book on lasers, there is discussion oflaser beams and resonators. However, in this book, it isnot confined simply to one or two chapters. Instead thereis effectively a book within the book. There is a block often chapters, approximately 360 pages in all, on thesubject of laser beams and resonators. This large sectioncould stand on its own as the most comprehensive bookavailable on this subject. Following this section, theremainder of the book concentrates on laser dynamics,i.e. Spiking, g-switching, mode-locking and injectionlocking. Here, as in the rest of the book, the author pro-vides up to date coverage of these subjects, with many ofthe references quoted being dated 1985.

Given a book that is so large, it would perhaps bethought inappropriate on the part of the reviewer tomention things that are not covered in the book. Onething does come to mind however, since many textbookson lasers do include a certain amount of material on theelectro-optic effect and nonlinear optical effects such asharmonic generation, these being so widely used in alaser context. Apart from the briefest of mentions theseare essentially absent from the book. Another pointwhich should be made, as the author does in his preface,is that this is not the book in which to find much detailabout particular types of laser, for example the CO2laser, semiconductor laser, dye lasers, etc. These lasersreceive mention, of course, but essentially in the role ofillustrating general principles.

These last comments are not, however, intended as inany way a criticism of the book. This is an excellent workand the author is to be congratulated on having produc-ed a book of such quality and magnitude.

DR D.C. HANNA

5715J

360 IEE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 134, Pt. J, No. 6, DECEMBER 1987