The invention of the semiconductor laser along with silica glass fiber has enabled an incredible revolution in global communication infrastructure of direct benefit to all. Development of devices and system concepts that exploit the same fundamental light-matter interaction continues. Researchers and technologists are pursuing a broad range of emerging applications, everything from automobile collision avoidance to secure quantum key distribution.

This book sets out to summarize key aspects of semiconductor laser device physics and principles of laser operation. It provides a convenient reference and essential knowledge to be understood before exploring more sophisticated device concepts. The contents serve as a foundation for scientists and engineers, without the need to invest in specialized detailed study. Supplementary material in the form of MATLAB is available for numerically generated figures.

A.F.J. Levi, University of Southern California
Tony Levi joined the faculty at the University of Southern California in mid-1993 after working for 10 years at AT&T Bell Laboratories. He invented hot electron spectroscopy, discovered ballistic electron transport in heterostructure bipolar transistors, demonstrated room temperature operation of unipolar transistors with ballistic electron transport, created the first microdisk laser, and carried out work in parallel fiber optic interconnect components in computer and switching systems. His current research interests include high-performance electronic and photonic systems, RF photonics, very small lasers and modeling their behavior, and optimal design of small electronic and photonic systems. To date he has published numerous scientific papers, several book chapters, is the author of the books Applied Quantum Mechanics and Essential Classical Mechanics for Device Physics, coeditor of the book Optimal Device Design, and holds 17 US patents.

Table of Contents
Semiconductor band structure and heterostructures
Spontaneous emission and optical gain
The semiconductor laser diode
Single-mode rate equations
Noise and fluctuations
Quantum behavior