Knowledge of operation principles of modern solid-state lasers (including fiber lasers) and their typical paramaters, of the optical and material properties of active media; familiarity with main applications in industry, medicine, telecommunications and science.
Solid-state lasers are broadly used nowadays in telecommunications, industry, medicine and science. Long-distance communication or modern car plants are now unthinkable without solid-state lasers. They operate in many important spectral regions and offer stability, efficiency and compactness. Most importantly, they provide the highest power, best beam quality, the broadest tuning range, the highest pulse energy, and the shortest pulses, which are generally inaccessible for other types of lasers. Some most recent advances like femtochemistry or attophysics have only become possible owing to the solid-state lasers. The lecture course starts with the introduction of principles of laser action as well as the optical and electronic properties of laser materials, using mainly the semi-classical approach. After a brief review of design principles and operation regimes, the connection between the material parameters and laser properties is explained in detail. Finally, an overview of all modern solid-state lasers is provided, starting from broadband lasers suitable for ultrashortpulse generation till fixed-wavelength high-power kW-class lasers, especially fiber lasers.