INTRODUCTION TO LASER WEAPON SYSTEMS
is the result of an almost 40-year history of graduate
studies in high energy lasers and optics at the Air Force
Institute of Technology. Book contents are based on a
series of short courses for scientists and engineers new
to the field of directed energy and, most recently, a 32-
hour course entitled Laser Weapons Systems sponsored
by the Directed Energy Professional Society, with
funding from the High Energy Laser Joint Technology
Office. This text covers a broad range of technical
disciplines pertinent to high energy laser systems and
draws on supplementary material from spectroscopy,
chemical kinetics, and optics and laser physics,
rendering the material suitable for graduate students as
well as working professionals.
About the Authors
Robert L. Hengehold has served on the Air Force
Institute of Technology faculty since 1961, teaching in
the areas of solid-state physics, laser physics, optical
diagnostics, and quantum physics. He has carried
out research in experimental solid-state physics,
semiconductor physics, optical diagnostics, and laser
spectroscopy, authoring over 115 archival publications
and 225 conference presentations. Dr. Hengehold
served as head of the AFIT Department of Engineering
Physics for over 25 years (1983 to 2009) and is a
fellow of the American Physical Society.
Glen P. Perram is professor of physics at the Air
Force Institute of Technology, having served on the
faculty since 1989. As an experimentalist in the area
of applied physics, his research interests include high
power gas and chemical lasers, and the remote sensing
of battlespace combustion events. He teaches graduate
courses in quantum mechanics, spectroscopy, lasers,
chemical kinetics, space surveillance, and optics.
Dr. Perram is a registered professional engineer in
the State of Ohio, and retired from active duty in the
U.S. Air Force in 2001. He is a fellow of the Directed
Energy Professional Society.
Steven T. Fiorino is a research assistant professor
of atmospheric physics at the Air Force Institute of
Technology, where he has served on the faculty since
2003. As a retired 21-year Air Force meteorologist/
weather officer, his research, teaching, and advising
have focused on atmospheric effects on military
systems such as high energy lasers and weapons of
mass destruction, and the impacts of those effects on
remote sensing instruments and algorithms. Dr. Fiorino
is the scientific developer of the Laser Environmental
Effects Definition and Reference (LEEDR) software
package and the atmospheric data used in the High
Energy Laser End-to-End Operational Simulation
(HELEEOS) model.
Salvatore J. Cusumano is director of the Center for
Directed Energy and assistant professor of optical
engineering at the Air Force Institute of Technology,
both positions held since 2005. As director of the
Center, he manages research in high energy lasers
(HELs) and high power microwaves (HPMs). Dr.
Cusumano teaches graduate courses in electrodynamics
and classical and Fourier optics. His research interests
span the technologies of directed energy with an
emphasis in pointing and tracking, adaptive optics,
and beam control. He holds two patents, jointly, in
phased array technology.