Lasers for nuclear physics

An overview is given on the application of lasers in nuclear physics. The review focuses on atomic physics techniques for extracting nuclear properties such as the nuclear spin, the magnetic dipole moment, the spectroscopic quadrupole moment, and changes in charge radii. References are given for the work carried out in this field since 1988. At that time, E.W. Otten prepared an extensive review with a complete compilation of data on properties of nuclear ground and isomeric states, obtained by optical spectroscopy on unstable nuclei.