Understanding Lasers and Fiberoptics Training

Lasers are essential to an incredibly large number of applications. Today, they are used in bar code readers, compact discs, medicine, communications, sensors, materials processing, computer printers, data processing, 3D-imaging, spectroscopy, navigation, non-destructive testing, chemical processing, color copiers, laser "shows", and n the military. There is hardly a field untouched by the laser. But what exactly is so unique about lasers that makes them so effective?

This video course is designed for engineers, scientists, medical personnel, managers, and others who work with lasers and/or fiberoptics, or who anticipate working with lasers and/or fiberoptics, yet have little or no background in laser or fiberoptic basics. The course focuses on fundamentals and emphasizes a physical intuitive interpretation of laser and fiberoptic phenomena and their applications. Because Professor Ezekiel keeps mathematics to a minimum, the topics covered are easily understood, without the need for a strong technical background.

Topics

• Why the interest in lasers
• Unique characteristics of lasers
• How such characteristics come about
• How a laser is constructed
• What determines the laser's power, intensity, energy, wavelength, spot size, collimation, tuning range, spectral width, efficiency, size and weight
• Generation of very short pulses
• What are the problems with lasers and how to handle them
• Types of lasers, including gas lasers, solid-state lasers, semiconductor lasers, and liquid lasers
• Examples of laser applications
• Why the interest in fiberoptics
• How light propagates in an optical fiber
• What determines the loss in a fiber
• Single mode and multimode propagation
• Single polarization fiber
• Fiber amplifier operation
• Fiberoptics applications in sensors and communications
• Future developments