Multi-wave mixing gives rise to new frequency components due to the interaction of light signals with a suitable nonlinear medium. In this book a systematic framework for the control of these processes is used to lead readers through a plethora of related effects and techniques.

"Coherent Control of Four-Wave Mixing" discusses the frequency, temporal and spatial domain interplays of four-wave mixing (FWM) processes induced by atomic coherence in multi-level atomic systems. It covers topics in five major areas: the ultrafast FWM polarization beats due to interactions between multi-color laser beams and multi-level media; coexisting Raman-Rayleigh-Brillouin-enhanced polarization beats due to color-locking noisy field correlations; FWM processes with different kinds of dual-dressed schemes in ultra-thin, micrometer and long atomic cells; temporal and spatial interference between FWM and six-wave mixing (SWM) signals in multi-level electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) media; spatial displacements and splitting of the probe and generated FWM beams, as well as the observations of gap soliton trains, vortex solitons, and stable multicomponent vector solitons in the FWM signals. The book is intended for scientists, researchers, advanced undergraduate and graduate students in Nonlinear Optics. Dr. Yanpeng Zhang is a professor and Zhiqiang Nie is a Ph. D. student at the Key Laboratory for Physical Electronics and Devices of the Ministry of Education, Xi'an Jiaotong University, China. Dr. Min Xiao is a professor of physics at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, U.S.A.

The contributions in this volume were presented at a NATO Advanced Study Institute held in Erice, Italy, 4-19 July 2013. Many aspects of important research into nanophotonics, plasmonics, semiconductor materials and devices, instrumentation for bio sensing to name just a few, are covered in depth in this volume. The growing connection between optics and electronics, due to the increasing important role plaid by semiconductor materials and devices, find their expression in the term photonics, which also reflects the importance of the photon aspect of light in the description of the performance of several optical systems. Nano-structures have unique capabilities that allow the enhanced performance of processes of interest in optical and photonic devices. In particular these structures permit the nanoscale manipulation of photons, electrons and atoms; they represent a very hot topic of research and are relevant to many devices and applications. The various subjects bridge over the disciplines of physics, biology and chemistry, making this volume of interest to people working in these fields. The emphasis is on the principles behind each technique and on examining the full potential of each technique.

In view of the rapid growth in both experimental and theoretical studies of multi-photon processes and multi-photon spectroscopy of atoms, ions and molecules in chemistry, physics, biology, materials science, etc., it is desirable to publish an advanced series of volumes containing review papers that can be read not only by active researchers in these areas, but also by those who are not experts but who intend to enter the field. The present series aims to serve this purpose. Each review article is written in a self-contained manner by the expert(s) in the area, so that the reader can grasp the knowledge without too much preparation.

In view of the rapid growth in both experimental and theoretical studies of multi-photon processes and multi-photon spectroscopy of atoms, ions and molecules in chemistry, physics, biology, materials science, etc., it is desirable to publish an advanced series of volumes containing review papers that can be read not only by active researchers in these areas, but also by those who are not experts but who intend to enter the field. The present series aims to serve this purpose. Each review article is written in a self-contained manner by the expert(s) in the area, so that the reader can grasp the knowledge without too much preparation.

"Multi-Wave Mixing Processes - From Ultrafast Polarization Beats to Electromagnetically Induced Transparency" discusses the interactions of efficient multi-wave mixing (MWM) processes enhanced by atomic coherence in multilevel atomic systems. It covers topics in five major areas: attosecond and femtosecond polarization beats of four-wave mixing (FWM) processes; heterodyne detection of FWM, six-wave mixing (SWM) and eight-wave mixing (EWM) processes; Raman and Rayleigh enhanced polarization beats; coexistence and interactions of MWM processes via electromagnetically induced transparency(EIT); multi-dressing MWM processes. The book is intended for researchers, advanced undergraduate and graduate students in Nonlinear Optics. Dr. Yanpeng Zhang is a professor at the Key Laboratory for Physical Electronics and Devices of the Ministry of Education, Xi'an Jiaotong University. Dr. Min Xiao is a professor of Physics at University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, U.S.A.

In view of the rapid growth in both experimental and theoretical studies of multiphoton processes and multiphoton spectroscopy of atoms, ions and molecules in chemistry, physics, biology, material sciences, etc., it is desirable to publish an Advanced Series that contains review papers readable not only by active researchers in these areas, but also by those who are not experts in the field but who intend to enter the field. The present series attempts to serve this purpose. Each review article is written in a self-contained manner by the experts in the area so that the readers can grasp the knowledge in the area without too much preparation.The topics covered in this volume include “Ultrafast Photochemical Dynamics in Solution Studied by Femtosecond Time-Resolved Fluorescence Spectroscopy: Involvement of Highly Excited States”, “Spectral Selective Studies of Molecular Doped Solids and Applications”, “From Multiphoton to Tunnel Ionization”, “Cluster Dynamics in Intense Laser Fields”, and “Molecular Theory of Sum-Frequency Generation and its Application to Study Molecular Chirality”. It is hoped that the collection of topics in this volume will be useful not only to active researchers but also to other scientists in biology, chemistry, materials science and physics.This book has been selected for coverage in:• CC / Physical, Chemical & Earth Sciences• Index to Scientific Book Contents® (ISBC)