Quantum Electronics [Paperback]

Amnon Yariv (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471609978 | ISBN-13: 978-0471609971 | Publication Date: January 17, 1989 | Edition: 3

This Third Edition of the popular text, while retaining nearly all the material of the previous edition, incorporates material on important new developments in lasers and quantum electronics. Covers phase-conjugate optics and its myriad applications, the long wavelength quaternary semiconductor laser, and our deepened understanding of the physics of semiconductor lasers--especially that applying to their current modulations and limiting bandwidth, laser arrays and the related concept of supermodes, quantum well semiconductor lasers, the role of phase amplitude coupling in laser noise, and free-electron lasers. In addition, the chapters on laser noise and third-order nonlinear effects have been extensively revised.

Product Details

• Paperback: 676 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 3 edition (January 17, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471609978
• ISBN-13: 978-0471609971
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.6 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #754,971 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Classic textbook in the field, broad but terse coverage., February 6, 1998

By 

Darren Hsiung (Berkeley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Quantum Electronics (Paperback)

This book is to the field of quantum electronics as Jackson's thick maroon book is to classical electrodynamics. The book covers a wide range of topics from basic concepts to advanced methods to real systems. It is a valuable reference, providing a wealth of knowledge for those who can get through it. Unfortunately, the text is brief and the derivations tend to make leaps and bounds without explanation. This is generally bad news for the student who wishes to learn the material for the first time. The use of examples throughout the book is appreciated, though they often deal with very specific problems and do not lend very well to understanding the basic concepts. Some prior knowledge of the subject, either mathematical or intuitive is recommended before delving into "Quantum Electronics". Kinda like Jackson's book, eh? My greatest complaint is the significant overlap with Yariv's other classic, "Optical Electronics". Imagine my shock and outrage when I discovered that the book I had just purchased repeats large sections of a book I already have, page-for-page verbatim. Perhaps a suggestion for future editions would be to combine the two books into one two volume work, thus eliminating redunancy and freeing up space to cover the material in greater detail.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too brief, unexplanatory. Avoid using for teaching purposes, February 26, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Quantum Electronics (Paperback)

Explanations are often brief, making reference to other works rather than filling in the details. As a student, I've used it for several graduate courses, and have found a need to reference other books such as Siegman's "Lasers" in order to understand the material. This is a common reaction, based upon classmates. Derivations leave out numerous steps for brevity, sometimes crucial ones. Often states results from other works, without any explanation. It often seems a collection of material drawn from numerous sources, with little thought to connecting the ideas and notation into a teaching tool. May be more useful as a reference.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars If you like rigor in physics books, this is not your type., January 12, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Quantum Electronics (Hardcover)

This book is a quick intro into optoelectronics. I mean quick. Really. Not much rigor (physical or mathematical) is to be found in this book. As I read the book, I kept having the feeling that the mathematical derivations are laid out to lead to the results desired, and if there have to be a dozen assumptions and approximations or skips in steps made to achieve the goal, then so be it. As for the justifications for those assumptions, why, they help you get to the desired results. For your amusement, I will point out one of such sneaky skips. Look first at Eq 8-1-17. If you don't like to take things for granted, you have verified this expression to your satisfaction. You are happy with it. Now fast forward to 8-7-3. Look at how there is a degeneracy factor in the Rabi frequency. Can you verify it?

As I've said, if you want rigor, this book will disappoint you. Unfortunately, it appears that just about every book in optoelectronics is written rather loosely in this sense. So you are really stuck with this one, more or less.