Experimental spectroscopic techniques, especially those involving lasers, have wide-ranging applications in the fields of physics, medicine, electronics, and chemistry. Keeping in mind the importance of spectroscopic detection and characterization of atomic and molecular species, this book, now in its Second Edition, is updated. It deals with both the conventional and modern experimental techniques related to atoms, spectroscopy and lasers. It discusses the recent innovations, types and operating principles of lasers and laser systems. A section on Fiber Laser has been added in the new edition of the book. Recent developments in planetary detection of atoms and molecules by Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) has prompted the inclusion of a section on LIBS on planet Mars along with its applications. Primarily intended as a text for undergraduate and postgraduate students of Physics in various Indian universities, this uptodate book would be immensely useful also for both undergraduate and postgraduate students in Chemistry, Astrophysics, Metallurgy and Material Science, and Geology and Mining. Key Features Coverage is quite extensive to cater to students of most Indian universities—with detailed discussions on atoms, spectroscopy and lasers. Gives special emphasis on modern aspects of spectroscopy such as laser cooling of atoms. Contains more than 140 diagrams to illustrate the concepts better.

This book discusses many advances in optical physics and is intended mainly for experimentalists. The interaction of electromagnetic radiation with free atoms is introduced using classical or semi-classical calculations wherever possible. Topics discussed include the spontaneous emission of radiation, and atomic beam magnetic resonance experiments.

Principles of Laser Spectroscopy and Quantum Optics is an essential textbook for graduate students studying the interaction of optical fields with atoms. It also serves as an ideal reference text for researchers working in the fields of laser spectroscopy and quantum optics. The book provides a rigorous introduction to the prototypical problems of radiation fields interacting with two- and three-level atomic systems. It examines the interaction of radiation with both atomic vapors and condensed matter systems, the density matrix and the Bloch vector, and applications involving linear absorption and saturation spectroscopy. Other topics include hole burning, dark states, slow light, and coherent transient spectroscopy, as well as atom optics and atom interferometry. In the second half of the text, the authors consider applications in which the radiation field is quantized. Topics include spontaneous decay, optical pumping, sub-Doppler laser cooling, the Heisenberg equations of motion for atomic and field operators, and light scattering by atoms in both weak and strong external fields. The concluding chapter offers methods for creating entangled and spin-squeezed states of matter. Instructors can create a one-semester course based on this book by combining the introductory chapters with a selection of the more advanced material. A solutions manual is available to teachers. Rigorous introduction to the interaction of optical fields with atoms Applications include linear and nonlinear spectroscopy, dark states, and slow light Extensive chapter on atom optics and atom interferometry Conclusion explores entangled and spin-squeezed states of matter Solutions manual (available only to teachers)

Spectroscopy is an indispensable tool in understanding physical and chemical structure, and today verysophisticated spectroscopic instruments are available with modern data processing techniques. This bookcovers the elementary and basic aspects of atomic spectroscopy like Bohr’s theory and atomic physics up to thelatest developments including laser cooling, Bose–Einstein condensates and atom lasers. Spectroscopy playsa major role in every field of science and this book would be valuable for physicists, chemists and biologists.

With contributions by numerous experts

The spectra of molecules containing more than one atom are necessarily of single atoms. They are correspondingly much more complex than those richer, not only in the number of spectral lines, but also in qualitatively different phenomena which do not have any counterpart in single atoms. Historically, molecular spectra have revealed much fundamental phy sics, such as the connection between nuclear spin statistics. They have pro vided models of physical systems which have been useful in quite different areas, such as particle physics. Most especially, molecular spectra are of fundamental importance in understanding chemical bonding. They reveal not only bond lengths but also the strength of the bonding potential between atoms. Moreover, these measurements are obtained for electronic excited states, as well as for the ground state, and for unstable short-lived molecules. In recent years, tunable lasers have provided powerful tools for the measurement and analysis of molecular spectra. Even before that, molecules were being used in lasers, most notably in the carbon dioxide laser, which finds many industrial applications.

Laser Photoionization Spectroscopy discusses the features and the development of photoionization technique. This book explores the progress in the application of lasers, which improve the characteristics of spectroscopic methods. Organized into 12 chapters, this book starts with an overview of the fundamentals of the method for atoms and molecules. This text then examines the photoionization spectroscopy, which is based on the laser resonant excitation of particles into high-lying quantum states that are easy to detect by ionization. Other chapters explain the various basic schemes of multistep excitation, which can be used for resonance photoionization of molecules. This book discusses as well the different applications of the resonance photoionization technique in atomic and molecular spectroscopy. The final chapter considers the two well-known types of microscopy, namely, wave and corpuscular. This book is a valuable resource for chemists, physicists, analysts, and geochemists who are interested in laser spectroscopy techniques to solve nontrivial problems.