In recent decades, laser cooling or optical refrigeration - a physical process by which a system loses its thermal energy as a result of interaction with laser light - have garnered a great deal of scientific interest due to importance of its applications. As an example, one of such applications is development of solid-state optical coolers, which generate no vibrations and have no moving parts imparting noise to sensors and other devices. Laser cooling can also be used to mitigate heat generation in high power lasers.
This book compiles and details cutting-edge research in laser cooling made by different scientific teams all over the world, who are currently revolutionizing optical refrigerating technology. It includes recent results on laser cooling by redistribution of radiation in dense gas mixtures, three conceptually different approaches to laser cooling of solids such as cooling with anti-Stokes fluorescence, Brillouin cooling and Raman cooling. It also discusses crystal growth and glass production for laser cooling applications. This book will appeal to anyone involved in laser physics, solid state physics, low temperature physics or cryogenics, material research, development of temperature sensors or infrared detectors.
About the Editor:
Galina Nemova received the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Russia, in 1987 and 1990, respectively. From 1990 to 2000, Dr. Nemova served as a staff Scientific Researcher at the Institute of Radio Engineering and Electronics, Russian Academy of Sciences. From 2000 to 2002, she was engaged as a Researcher Fellow at Laval University, Quebec, Canada. From 2002 to 2004, Dr. Nemova was an optical engineer/researcher at BraggPhotonics Inc., Montreal, Canada. In 2004 she joined Ecole Polytechnique de Montréal as a Researcher Fellow. Her research interests include laser cooling of solids, fiber lasers, fiber sensors, planar optical waveguides and surface polaritons. Dr. Nemova is a member of the Optical Society of America. In the last 10 years, she has published over 30 refereed journal articles, over 50 in conferences papers, including Invited presentations.
