Covering fundamental principles and the state of the art, this is a collection of reviews from experts in mid-infrared (mid-IR) coherent sources. Among the sources covered are optical parametric oscillators, difference frequency generators, and the most recent broadband crystalline, quantum cascade, and fiber lasers. The authors show how advances in mid-IR science and technology make these sources indispensable for a variety of applications.

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Crystalline Laser and Nonlinear Optical Materials for the Mid-IR.- New Monocrystals with Low Phonon Energy for Mid-IR Lasers.- Orthorhombic Crystals of Lithium Thioindate and Selenoindate for Nonlinear Optics in the Mid-IR.- Quaternary Nonlinear Optical Crystals for the Mid-Infrared Spectral Range from 5 to 12 ?m.- Microstructured Semiconductors for Mid-Infrared Nonlinear Optics.- Sources in the Mid-IR.- Progress in Quantum Cascade Lasers.- High-Brightness 2.X ?m Semiconductor Lasers.- Broadband Mid-Infrared Solid-State Lasers.- New Regimes of Excitation and Mid-IR Lasing of Transition Metal Doped II-VI Crystals.- Advances in Mid-Infrared Fiber Lasers.- Mid-Infrared Optical Parametric Oscillators and Applications.- Mid-Infrared Integrated Optical Parametric Generators and Oscillators with Periodically Poled Ti:LiNbO3 Waveguides.- Optical Parametric Generators and Amplifiers.- Tunable THz Sources Based on Quasi-Phase-Matched Gallium Arsenide.- Semiconductor Waveguides for Nonlinear Frequency Conversion.- Applications.- Semiconductor Laser Based Trace Gas Sensor Technology: Recent Advances and Applications.- Trace Gas Analysis with Isotopic Selectivity Using DFG-Sources.- Photoacoustic Spectroscopy Using Continuous Wave Optical Parametric Oscillators.- Online Monitoring of Exhaled Breath Using Mid-Infrared Laser Spectroscopy.- Ultrabroadband Solid-State Lasers in Trace Gas Sensing.- Medical Applications of Mid-IR Solid-State Lasers.- Opportunities for Mid-IR Sources in Intense-Field and Attosecond Physics.- Ultrawideband Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy of Semiconductor Nanostructures.