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Optical Waves in Layered Media

Article in Journal of Modern Optics · January 1990

DOI: 10.1080/09500349014550171

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 Journal of Modern Optics

ISSN: 0950-0340 (Print) 1362-3044 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tmop20

Optical Waves in Layered Media

R.C. Thompson

To cite this article: R.C. Thompson (1990) Optical Waves in Layered Media, Journal of Modern
Optics, 37:1, 147-148, DOI: 10.1080/09500349014550171

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09500349014550171

Published online: 01 Mar 2007.

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Book reviews 147

Introduction to Surface and Superlattice Excitations . M . G . CoTTAM and D . R . TILLEY .

(Cambridge University Press, 1989 .) [Pp . x+333 .] Price £50 .00, hardback . ISBN 0 521
321549 .

THE authors, in the introduction, state that their aim is 'to provide an introductory text for
someone starting research on surface modes or extending their range from one type of surface
mode to another' . They have basically achieved this . The book, while being an overview as it
must inevitably be for such a large field of research, nevertheless has enough foundation
Downloaded by [Chelsea & Westminster NHS Trust Dept of Urology] at 02:51 23 December 2015

material to be useful . Admittedly much of the experimental detail is missing, but the
interested reader can always turn to more specific texts for such information .
Notwithstanding this lack of detail, the authors are careful to relate the theory presented to
experimental results and in general the experimentalist reader should feel comfortable with
the balance of the book .
One aspect of the book, however, which experimentalists may find off-putting is the use of
the Green function which occurs in several places . The authors, to their credit, are clearly
aware that this may be a problem, especially if it is to be used as an advanced undergraduate
text, and present an appendix on the basic properties of Green functions . Sadly, the treatment
is too brief-and is primarily concerned with providing definitions . Further, the authors give
little physical insight into the significance of the Green functions used in the main text .
Breaking the book down into its various sections, the treatment of magnetic surface waves
is somewhat longer than it need be, while the treatment of electron states and optical waves in
superlattices is too short . While a justifiably brief discussion of surface roughness effects is
presented, a section on regularly perturbed surfaces would have been welcome .
Overall the book will serve, as it aims to do, as a useful introductory text for the many
aspects of surface and superlattice excitations presented . J . R . SAMBLES

Optical Waves in Layered Media . By PocHm YEH . (John Wiley & Sons, 1988 .) [Pp . x+406 .]
Price £30 . 45, hardback . ISBN 0 471 82866 1 .
SEVERAL books on the subject of the optics of layered media are already available, but most of
these are in the form of monographs . The book by Yeh has been written specifically as a
textbook `for a course in modern optics for Electrical Engineering or Applied Physics
students', according to the Preface. Although comprehensive, it is a very theoretical book, and
has relatively little on the practical aspects of many of the applications which are discussed .
The book can be divided broadly into five parts . The first three chapters are a
comprehensive development of the necessary electromagnetic theory, including polarisation
considerations and reflection at an interface . The second part (chapters 4 to 7) deals with the
optics of isotropic layers and their applications . The author develops here a matrix theory for
the analysis of multilayer structures and brings out clearly the analogy with the band theory of
electrons in crystalline solids . However, there are only seven pages which deal specifically with
anti-reflection and high-reflectance coatings, despite the enormous importance of these
applications of thin films and the variety of designs in use . There is also a short section on the
Gires-Tournois interferometer which fails to mention what such a device can be used for .
Chapters 8 to 10 are concerned with inhomogeneous layers and anisotropic media and
include discussions of the optical properties of crystals, including birefringence . It seems
rather strange to include a table of crystal symmetries and point groups without defining the
point groups anywhere in the book . The author goes on to discuss Lyot and Solc filters, used
for wavelength selection, in some detail, including designs with large angular apertures .
Chapter 11 is concerned with guided waves in layered media (i .e. propagation modes which
are confined to one, or several layers) . The bulk of this long chapter deals with slab waveguides
and their coupling, there is only a short discussion of cylindrical waveguides with no
derivation of the modes in such waveguides despite the clear relation to slab waveguide modes
and the importance of optical fibres .
The final short chapter is a very interesting general account of quantum wells and
superlattices including their potential for high-reflectance soft X-ray mirrors .
The author has provided many numerical examples and detailed problems in each chapter
of the book which complement the text well . The text itself is well written and clear .
Mathematical material is comprehensive and well developed in general but there are some


148 Book reviews

places where there is a lack of physical insight in the text to aid the interpretation and
understanding of the mathematics, which is complex in places . The book will form a good
reference for the theory of the optics of layered media, but I feel that the lack of some practical
aspects and physical insight mean that it falls a little short of the claim on the cover to show
`how to design and analyse optical devices using such media' . R . C . THOMPSON

Laser Materials and Laser Spectroscopy . Edited by WANG ZHIJIANG and ZHANG ZHIMING
Downloaded by [Chelsea & Westminster NHS Trust Dept of Urology] at 02:51 23 December 2015

(World Scientific, 1989 .) [Pp . xxiii+401 .] Price US $68.00, hardback . ISBN 9971
507390 .

THis book is the proceedings of a topical meeting on the subject of Laser Materials and Laser
Spectroscopy held in Shanghai during July 1988 as a satellite meeting of the International
Quantum Electronics Conference held in Tokyo.
It is divided into two main sections, the first dealing with laser materials and the second
with spectroscopic applications of lasers . Each of the 130 or so papers is typically three or four
pages long . By the nature of these short contributions it is rather difficult to form some kind of
perspective in this rapidly advancing field . It would have added to the value of the book if the
papers had been grouped into topics with an introduction to each topic . As might be expected,
there is a strong representation from Chinese institutes, particularly in studies of new laser and
nonlinear materials .
The book will be useful for those who attended the meeting as a record of the conference . It
is a book which one might recommend libraries to buy as a record of the conference, but it
would not appeal to the individual researcher for purchase . A . I . FERGUSON

Handbook of Solid-State Lasers . Edited by PETER K . CHEO . (Marcel Dekker, 1989 .)

[Pp . xiv+619 .] Price $165 .00 U .S .A . and Canada; $198 . 00 all other countries, hardback .
ISBN 0 8247 7857 X .

OVER the past few years solid-state lasers have experienced a renaissance, with renewed
interest directed towards transition metal doped lasers, doped garnets, tungstates and `new'
vibronic laser systems, of which titanium doped sapphire is the flagship . Much of this work
has been enhanced by the ready commercial availability of high power laser diode arrays as
pumping sources . Unfortunately, this book does not reflect these recent advances, possibly
due to the time lag between writing and publication, dealing, as it states in the preface, with
`lasers that have reached maturity' and by the same conditions have been presented in other
texts .
Chapters 1 and 2 are concerned with semiconductor lasers, the former dealing with basic
theory and techniques, all fairly familiar stuff, while the latter chapter describes various high
power systems from basic concepts to specific array geometries . Chapter 3 is concerned with
tunable lead salt lasers, reviewing the properties of these low quantum yield devices, which
operate in the 3-30 µm region . The materials growth, laser characteristics and some
spectroscopic applications are included .
Chapter 4 describes all aspects of alexandrite lasers from physical properties and
spectroscopy to many of the various laser arrangements, line narrowed, Q switched, flashlamp
pumped and c .w . pumped, concluding with an applications section concentrating principally
on isotope separation and lidar . Although alexandrite is being replaced by titanium doped
sapphire in some instances, this chapter provides a useful summary of alexandrite laser
research not readily found elsewhere .
The chapter on colour centre lasers is fairly repetitive of data previously published on
various laser systems, but it also includes brief sections on cryogenic engineering and cavity
engineering plus considerable descriptions of the various laser tuning devices .
The final chapter describes slab geometry lasers with their reduction of thermal distortion
and photoelastic effects being highlighted, some specific systems are mentioned briefly .
This is quite an expensive book and with much of the contents being readily available in
other texts, serious consideration would have to be given to its purchase as a personal text .
However, as a reference library copy, it may be of interest especially in view of the alexandrite
laser information, which has not been so accessible previously . J . R . TAYLER

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