Customer Reviews

Solid-State Laser Engineering (Springer Series in Optical Sciences)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The book is very thorough in its coverage of the physics of and design of a wide variety of solid state lasers. Plenty of examples of laser performance are included. The book assumes a senior or first year graduate school level of knowledge for the theory discussions of the first few chapters. There is enough useful information to make the book valuable for the professional laser engineer, as well.

Where to begin on the errors that have propagated through so many revisions? Equations are incorrectly referenced in the text some figures have problems. See fig 8.30, p513 5th revision where the curves Xopt and Yopt appear to be switched for just one example. The best part about the book is the summary of materials and the references, which you often need.

My personal note to Mr. Koechner: Dear kind sir, please publish errata for this book. I mean no disrespect, it is the best reference of its kind. However, it could be improved substantially.

Anybody who needs to design or work with solid-state lasers should own a copy of this book!

This is a SSL classic, and the 5th Ed. is perfect.