Revised edition of: Lasers and their application to the observation of Bose-Einstein condensates.

"Version: 20230501"--Title page verso.

Includes bibliographical references.

part I. Lasers. 1. The basic physics of lasers -- 1.1. Introduction -- 1.2. Optical spectra -- 1.3. Stimulated emission -- 1.4. Creating a population inversion -- 1.5. Laser modes and coherence

2. Conventional lasers -- 2.1. Introduction -- 2.2. Solid-state lasers -- 2.3. Harmonic generation -- 2.4. Gas lasers -- 2.5. Dye lasers -- 2.6. Excimer lasers

3. Semiconducting lasers -- 3.1. Introduction -- 3.2. Semiconductor physics -- 3.3. Semiconducting junctions -- 3.4. Light-emitting diodes and semiconductor lasers

4. Laser applications -- 4.1. Introduction -- 4.2. Communications -- 4.3. Optical data disks -- 4.4. Printers -- 4.5. Industrial applications -- 4.6. Photolithography -- 4.7. Inertial confinement fusion

part II. The application of lasers to the cooling and trapping of atoms. 5. Laser cooling of atoms -- 5.1. Introduction -- 5.2. The dilution refrigerator -- 5.3. Adiabatic demagnetization -- 5.4. Doppler cooling -- 5.5. Sisyphus cooling -- 5.6. Other approaches to cooling below the Doppler limit

6. Laser trapping of atoms -- 6.1. Introduction -- 6.2. Optical traps -- 6.3. Optical tweezers -- 6.4. Magnetic traps -- 6.5. Magneto-optical traps and forced evaporative cooling

7. Fermions and bosons -- 7.1. Introduction -- 7.2. Fermions, bosons, and the Pauli principle -- 7.3. Distinguishable and indistinguishable particles and quantum states -- 7.4. What is a boson and what is not a boson

8. Bose-Einstein condensates -- 8.1. Introduction -- 8.2. Bose-Einstein condensation -- 8.3. Creating and identifying a Bose-Einstein condensate -- 8.4. Microgravity Bose-Einstein condensate experiments -- 8.5. Quasiparticle Bose-Einstein condensates -- 8.6. Why is it useful?

9. Other applications of laser cooling and trapping -- 9.1. Introduction -- 9.2. Atomic fountains -- 9.3. Optical lattices -- 9.4. Optical lattice clocks -- 9.5. The applications of optical lattice clocks.

This Second Edition describes the basic design and operation of a variety of types of lasers. It overviews some of the traditional applications of lasers, such as laser printers and laser machining. It also describes an unconventional application of lasers: the cooling and confinement of atoms at very low temperature. Ultracold atoms have a number of possible applications that include study of Bose-Einstein condensates. The book reviews traditional Bose-Einstein condensate experiments, as well as zero-gravity experiments and experiments on quasiparticle condensates. Other applications of ultracold atoms include highly accurate atomic clocks, and their use as a time standard. This research and reference text is aimed at science and engineering professionals as well as upper level undergraduate and graduate physics students. Part of IOP Series in Coherent Sources, Quantum Fundamentals, and Applications.

General interest book for science and engineering professionals.

Also available in print.

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader, EPUB reader, or Kindle reader.

Richard A Dunlap is a Research Professor at Dalhousie University in Canada. He joined Dalhousie University in 1981 and became a full professor in 1990. Having published more than 300 refereed research papers, his previous books include Experimental Physics: Modern Methods, The Golden Ratio and Fibonacci Numbers, An Introduction to the Physics of Nuclei and Particles, Sustainable Energy, Novel Microstructures for Solids, Particle Physics and The M�ossbauer Effect. He is the author of thirteen books, including six with IOP ebooks.

Title from PDF title page (viewed on June 10, 2023).