Review Articles in 2008

The word 'ceramics' is derived from the Greek keramos, meaning pottery and porcelain. The opaque and translucent cement and clay often used in tableware are not appropriate for optical applications because of the high content of optical scattering sources, that is, defects. Recently, scientists have shown that by eliminating the defects, a new, refined ceramic material — polycrystalline ceramic — can be produced. This advanced ceramic material offers practical laser generation and is anticipated to be a highly attractive alternative to conventional glass and single-crystal laser technologies in the future. Here we review the history of the development of ceramic lasers, the principle of laser generation based on this material, some typical results achieved with ceramic lasers so far, and discuss the potential future outlook for the field.

The unique properties of wide-bandwidth and dispersion-free propagation in photonic-crystal devices have made them a good candidate for slow-light generation. This article gives the background theory of slow light, as well as an overview of recent experimental demonstrations based on photonic-band engineering.

This article reviews different approaches for slow- and fast-light generation in optical fibres at telecommunication wavelengths, with emphasis on the stimulated–Brillouin–scattering approach — a relatively active area in optical–fibre–based control of slow and fast light.

Carbon nanotubes possess unique properties that make them potentially useful in many applications in optoelectronics. This review describes the fundamental optical behaviour of carbon nanotubes as well as their opportunities for light generation and detection, and photovoltaic energy generation.

Interactions between laser and matter are fascinating and have found a wide range of applications. This article gives an overview of the fundamental physical mechanisms in the processing of transparent materials using ultrafast lasers, as well as important emerging applications of the technology.