This new edition features numerous updates and additions. Especially 4 new chapters on Fiber Optics, Integrated Optics, Frequency Combs and Interferometry reflect the changes since the first edition. In addition, major complete updates for the chapters: Optical Materials and Their Properties, Optical Detectors, Nanooptics, and Optics far Beyond the Diffraction Limit. Features Contains over 1000 two-color illustrations. Includes over 120 comprehensive tables with properties of optical materials and light sources. Emphasizes physical concepts over extensive mathematical derivations. Chapters with summaries, detailed index Delivers a wealth of up-to-date references.

Primary events in natural systems or devices occur on extremely short time scales, and yet determine in many cases the final performance or output. For this reason research in ultrafast science is of primary importance and impact in both fundamental research as well as its applications. This book reviews the advances in the field, addressing timely and open questions such as the role of quantum coherence in biology, the role of excess energy in electron injection at photovoltaic interfaces or the dynamics in quantum confined structures (e.g. multi carrier generation). The approach is that of a monograph, with a broad tutorial introduction and an overview of the recent results. This volume includes selected lectures presented at Symposium on Ultrafast Dynamics of the 7th International Conference on Materials for Advanced Technologies.

Ultrafast photonics has become an interdisciplinary topic of high international research interest because of the spectacular development of compact and efficient lasers producing optical pulses with durations in the femtosecond time domain. Present day long-haul telecommunications systems are almost entirely based on the transmission of short burst

Although infrared spectroscopy has been applied with success to the study of important biological and biomedical processes for many years, key advances in this vibrant technique have led to its increasing use, ranging from characterization of individual macromolecules (DNA, RNA, lipids, proteins) to human tissues, cells and their components. Infrared spectroscopy thus has a significant role to play in the analysis of the vast number of genes and proteins being identified by the various genomic sequencing projects. Whilst this book gives an overview of the field, it highlights more recent developments, such as the use of bright synchrotron radiation for recording infrared spectra, the development of two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy and the ability to record infrared spectra at ultra fast speeds.

"This book is about Broadband Dielectric Spectroscopy as a Modern Analytical Technique"--

IR spectroscopy has become without any doubt a key technique to answer questions raised when studying the interaction of proteins or peptides with solid surfaces for a fundamental point of view as well as for technological applications. Principle, experimental set ups, parameters and interpretation rules of several advanced IR-based techniques; application to biointerface characterisation through the presentation of recent examples, will be given in this book. It will describe how to characterise amino acids, protein or bacterial strain interactions with metal and oxide surfaces, by using infrared spectroscopy, in vacuum, in the air or in an aqueous medium. Results will highlight the performances and perspectives of the technique. - Description of the principles, expermental setups and parameter interpretation, and the theory for several advanced IR-based techniques for interface characterisation - Contains examples which demonstrate the capacity, potential and limits of the IR techniques - Helps finding the most adequate mode of analysis - Contains examples - Contains a glossary by techniques and by keywords