Optics, Light and Lasers

This new, updated and enlarged edition of the successful and exceptionally well-structured textbook features new chapters on such hot topics as optical angular momentum, microscopy beyond the resolution limit, metamaterials, femtocombs, and quantum cascade lasers. It provides comprehensive and coherent coverage of fundamental optics, laser physics, and important modern applications, while equally including some traditional aspects for the first time, such as the Collins integral or solid immersion lenses.
Written for newcomers to the topic who will benefit from the author's ability to explain difficult theories and effects in a straightforward and readily comprehensible way.


Dieter Meschede studied physics in several places including Hannover, Cologne, Boulder, and Munich. He has been professor of experimental physics since 1990. At the University of Bonn his current scientific interests are directed towards light-matter interactions at the most elementary level, i.e. with single atoms and single photons for applications in quantum technology.