Until recently ceramic materials were considered unsuitable for optics due to the numerous scattering sources such as grain boundaries and residual pores. However in the 1990s the technology to generate a coherent beam from ceramic materials was developed and a highly efficient laser oscillation was realized. In the future the technology derived from the development of the ceramic laser could be used to develop new functional passive and active optics. Co-authored by one of the pioneers of this field the book describes the fabrication technology and theoretical characterization of ceramic material properties. It describes novel types of solid lasers and other optics using ceramic materials to demonstrate the application of ceramic gain media in the generation of coherent beams and light amplification. This is an invaluable guide for physicists materials scientists and engineers working on laser ceramics. Language: English