Product Description

Now in a new full-color edition, Fundamentals of Photonics, Second Edition is a self-contained and up-to-date introductory-level textbook that thoroughly surveys this rapidly expanding area of engineering and applied physics. Featuring a logical blend of theory and applications, coverage includes detailed accounts of the primary theories of light, including ray optics, wave optics, electromagnetic optics, and photon optics, as well as the interaction of photons and atoms, and semiconductor optics. Presented at increasing levels of complexity, preliminary sections build toward more advanced topics,
such as Fourier optics and holography, guided-wave and fiber optics, semiconductor sources and detectors, electro-optic and acousto-optic devices, nonlinear optical devices, optical interconnects and switches, and optical fiber communications.

Each of the twenty-two chapters of the first edition has been thoroughly updated. The Second Edition also features entirely new chapters on photonic-crystal optics (including multilayer and periodic media, waveguides, holey fibers, and resonators) and ultrafast optics (including femtosecond optical pulses, ultrafast nonlinear optics, and optical solitons). The chapters on optical interconnects and switches and optical fiber communications have been completely rewritten to accommodate current technology.

Each chapter contains summaries, highlighted equations, exercises, problems, and selected reading lists. Examples of real systems are included to emphasize the concepts governing applications of current interest.

---

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #141786 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 1200 pages

Review
"…a broad survey on photonics that encompasses theory and applications." (CHOICE, September 2007)

"...excellent and up to date." (Books-On-Line)

From the Publisher
Covers the interaction of optics and electronics and their important applications in lasers, optical fibers and semiconductor optical devices. Examines the four theories of light--ray, wave, electromagnetic and photon optics as well as the theory of interaction of light with matter. Numerous applications and examples of actual systems are also provided.

From the Inside Flap
In recent years, photonics has found increasing applications in such areas as communications, signal processing, computing, sensing, display, printing, and energy transport. Now, Fundamentals of Photonics is the first self-contained introductory-level textbook to offer a thorough survey of this rapidly expanding area of engineering and applied physics. Featuring a logical blend of theory and applications, coverage includes detailed accounts of the primary theories of light, including ray optics, wave optics, electromagnetic optics, and photon optics, as well as the interaction of light with matter, and the theory of semiconductor materials and their optical properties. Presented at increasing levels of complexity, these sections serve as building blocks for the treatment of more advanced topics, such as Fourier optics and holography, guidedwave and fiber optics, photon sources and detectors, electro-optic and acousto-optic devices, nonlinear optical devices, fiber-optic communications, and photonic switching and computing. Included are such vital topics as:

• Generation of coherent light by lasers, and incoherent light by luminescence sources such as light-emitting diodes
• Transmission of light through optical components (lenses, apertures, and imaging systems), waveguides, and fibers
• Modulation, switching, and scanning of light through the use of electrically, acoustically, and optically controlled devices
• Amplification and frequency conversion of light by the use of wave interactions in nonlinear materials
• Detection of light by means of semiconductor photodetectors

Each chapter contains summaries, highlighted equations, problem sets and exercises, and selected reading lists. Examples of real systems are included to emphasize the concepts governing applications of current interest, and appendices summarize the properties of one- and two-dimensional Fourier transforms, linear-systems theory, and modes of linear systems.

---

Customer Reviews

Great as reference, only OK as a textbook
Photonics is the control, manipulation, transfer and storage of information using photons, the fundamental particles of light, and is also known as optoelectronics. As a reference, this book touches on every phase of photonics and is unsupplanted in its field even 14 years after it is published. It covers optics, lasers, semiconductor photon sources, electro-optics, and even acousto-optics in an accessible style with plenty of diagrams. There are plenty of equations explaining the theory throughout. This would be a great book if it were not for one thing- the total lack of worked examples or exercises. For engineers who like to learn by a combination of reading and doing, this leaves the reader completely unsure of his/her comprehension of the material. I have several suggestions for engineers who want to use this book to aid them in understanding photonics:
1. First and foremost try to get your hands on the solutions manual (ISBN 0471311138). This way you can work the examples and know if you are on the right track.
2. Get a copy of Schaum's Outline of Optics by Hecht to work through the early material on optics. This book almost stands alone as a study guide on optics and has many worked problems that the photonics book lacks.
3. Read over "Optoelectronics, Fiber Optics, and Laser Cookbook". I know it may look somewhat hokie and hobbyist in quality, but it has implementations of real optoelectronic circuits that work.
4. Finally, get a copy of an old book "Electro-optics" by Pinson. It is not as nearly as comprehensive as Photonics, but it does have some good worked out examples and explains the basics very well.
P.S.- After 15 years a second edition is scheduled for release in October 2006 (ISBN 0471784761) by the same publisher as the first edition. It will be 200 pages longer and feature two new chapters to cover the advances in the field of photonics: Photonic-Crystal Optics and Ultrafast Optics. All the chapters have been updated and many new sections have been added including Laguerre-Gaugassian beams, Sellemeier-equation analysis, photonic-crystal waveguides, holey and photonic-crystal fibers, microsphere resonators, optical coherence tomography, photon orbital angular momentum, Bohr theory, Raman amplifiers, low-noise avalanche photodiodes, tuning curves, and dispersion management. So, if you can wait on purchasing this book you might want to do so since it is so expensive, and you wouldn't want to be stuck with an expensive book that is not the latest edition!

The best optoelectronics book I know.
Excellent book for optoelectronics! It is written such a practical manner that it is easy to use both for studying and handbook. The level is deeper than Hecht's "Optics" but not so deep than Born&Wolf's "Principles of Optics". I recommend this book for everybody who research or studies optoelectronics. I like also the problems, although they are difficult, but they are just like 'real' problems what arise in research. Also, good reference lists after each chapter are great!

Best overview of photonics
Very well-written overview of the major topics of photonics. Excellent mix of theory and practical applications. I particularly like the book's structure, taking the reader logically through the sequence of geometric, wave, electromagnetic, and quantum optics. There is nothing superfluous in this book - its 900 pages are packed with useful information. It's written in an incredibly precise and error-free manner.