Introduction to Nonlinear Laser Spectroscopy 2e

Book excerpt: Introduction to Nonlinear Laser Spectroscopy, Revised Edition presents the most useful nonlinear spectroscopy techniques at a level accessible to spectroscopists and graduate students unfamiliar with nonlinear optics. This book discusses the principles of nonlinear laser spectroscopy. Organized into seven chapters, this edition starts with an overview of the stimulated Raman effect and coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy, which can be used in a varied way to generate radiation in the ultraviolet and vacuum-ultraviolet areas. This text then explains the exciting possibilities started by saturated absorption and related techniques, including improved spectroscopic precision, studies of collisional dynamics, and better measurements of fundamental constants and of basic units. Other chapters examine Hamiltonian relaxation, which describes all of the processes that return the ensemble to thermal equilibrium. The final chapter deals with the method of infrared spectrophotography, which combines efficient detection, time resolution, and coherent infrared. Spectroscopists and graduate students will find this book extremely useful.