Photonics : A Short Course This book will serve as a concise self contained up to date introduction to Photonics to be used as a textbook for undergraduate students or as a reference book for researchers and professionals. Blending theory with technical descriptions the book covers a wide range of topics including the general mechanism of laser action continuous and pulsed laser operation optical propagation in isotropic and anisotropic media operating principles and structure of passive optical components electro optical and acousto optical modulation solid state lasers semiconductor lasers and LEDs nonlinear optics and optical fiber components and devices. The book concludes with an overview of applications including optical communications telemetry and sensing industrial and biomedical applications solid state lighting displays and photovoltaics