Modern Laser Ceramics

Ken-ichi Ueda received the B.S. and M.S. degree from Osaka University, and Dr. Sci. from Tokyo University in 1977. After working in R&D center of JEOL and the Physic Department of Sophia University in Tokyo, He joined to the Institute for Laser Science at the University of Electro-Communications in 1981. He became a full professor in 1990. He is the director of ILS/UEC since 1996. He is a scientific leader on laser development of many programs for gravitational wave detection, inertial fusion energy, and others. He developed wide variety of lasers, excimer lasers, solid-state lasers and fiber lasers for scientific research programs and industrial applications. He has worked very hard as a topical editor and an editor-in-chief of international journals like Applied Optics, Optical Review, Laser Physics Letters and so on. He published more than 400 papers in the international journals. Hideki Yagi. He received the M.S. degree from Nagaoka University of Technology, Nagaoka, Japan, in 1994. Since 1994, he has been with Konoshima Chemical Company Ltd., Japan, working on a research project aimed at developing highly transparent ceramics for use as optical and laser materials. His main research work is focused on developing highly transparent ceramics and ceramic lasers. He published more than 50 papers in the international journals. Takagimi Yanagitani. He received the M.S. degree in science from Yamaguchi University, Yamaguchi, Japan, and the Ph.D. degree from Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan, in 1997. He joined the Konoshima Chemical Campany, Ltd., in 1985. From 1986 to 1988, he was seconded to National Institute for Research in Inorganic Materials. His main research work is focused on developing highly transparent ceramics and rare-earth-doped ceramic materials. He published more than 60 papers in the international journals. Alexander A. Kaminskii. He received his first (PhD) and second doctor degree and a full professor diploma in solid-state physics from the Institute of Crystallography of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1965, 1974, and 1981, respectively. In 1961 he joined the quantum electronics laboratory at the Nuclear Physics Institute of Moscow State University headed by Nobel Prize Laureate Prof. Alexander M. Prokhorov. In 1965 he joined the Institute of Crystallography of the Russian Academy of Sciences, where he currently leads the laser crystal physics laboratory. His research interests cover many aspects of the physics and spectroscopy of laser crystalline materials. In 1994, he was also appointed as a Director of the Joint Open Laboratory for laser crystals and precise laser systems under the auspices of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In 2006 Alexander A. Kaminskii was awarded with the full membership of the Russian Academy of Science. Alexander A. Kaminskii is a member of the board of the journals Physica Status Solidi, Material Science, and Laser Physics Review. He published five books and more than 740 papers in the field of physics and spectroscopy of laser crystalline materials.

1 Introduction and history- Current status of lasers based on nanocrystalline ceramics - History of laser ceramics
2 Fabrication - Modern fabrication processes of laser ceramics (including of all possible steps) - Composite ceramics- Grains and grain-boundary structure and its local chemistry
3 Physics of laser ceramics - Physical properties of modern laser ceramic based on cubic oxides with garnet and sesquioxide structure - Spectroscopic properties of laser ceramics based on cubic C-type sesquioxides - Spectroscopic properties of Nd3+ and Yb3+ ions in Y3Al5O12 co-doped with Cr and Ca(Mg) ions
4 Nonlinear-laser properties - Raman scattering in ceramics based on of cubic oxides with garnet and C-type sesquioxide structure
5 Laser properties of modern highly transparent oxide ceramics - Y3Al5O12:Nd3+ ceramic lasers - Y3Al5O12:Yb3+ ceramic lasers - Y3Al5O12:Er3+ ceramic lasers- Y3(Al,Sc)2Al3O12:Yb3+ ceramic lasers - Y2O3:Nd3+ ceramic lasers - Y2O3:Yb3+ ceramic lasers - Sc2O3:Yb3+ ceramic lasers- Lu2O3:Yb3+ ceramic lasers - YGdO3:Nd3+ ceramic lasers
6 Future prospects of highly-transparent ceramics - High-power ceramic lasers for industrial applications - High-power ceramic lasers for non-industrial and scientific applications - Femtosecond ceramic lasers for applications - Ceramic lasers for fusion drivers - Micro-chip and solid-state photonic devices - Lens materials - Lamp tubes - Optical ceramics - Scintillator ceramics for X-ray techniques
Bibliography
Subject index