This second edition in paperback provides an up-to-date review of the state of the art in different generation processes for ultrashort laser pulses. Inaddition, extensive applications in a wide range of fields - in physics,engineering, chemistry, and biology - are discussed: Eight chapters dealwith the following topics: -the generation of picosecond and femtosecond laser pulses -nonlinear wave interactions - new investigations in solid-state physics - recent progress in optoelectronics - advances in coherent material excitations - ultrafast vibrational lifetimes and energy redistribution in liquids - new observations of chemical reactions in the liquid state - the primary processes of important biological systems The book is essential reading for scientists and engineers who want to know what is going on in this rapidly advancing field. It should also interest graduate students and others who seek an introduction to laserpulses.

Ten years ago, Stanley L. Shapiro edited the book entitled Ultrashort Light Pulses (Topics Appl. Phys., Vol. 18), which was written by eight experts in the field. Six years later, Charles V. Shank added a bibliography (1980-1983) in the second edition with approximately one thousand new references. During the past decade the field has grown so rapidly that a completely new book had to be written. In particular, the reduction of the time scale of light pulses into the femtosecond range has opened up new experimental possibilities never even foreseen in the preceding literature. The vast literature with countless ideas and applications makes it impossible for a single person to write a comprehensive review. Nine scientists, actively working in the field since its beginning, have decided to join forces to prepare a new book describing the present state of the art. Emphasis is placed on the generation and numerous applications of ultrashort laser pulses. This book covers a wide area of science: physics, engineering, chemistry, and biology. The various chapters and sections are prepared in each case such that the reader is given a brief introduction to the specific subject. Ample references for a more detailed study are given at the end of each chapter.

A wide-ranging review of modern spectroscopic techniques such as X-ray, photoelectron, optical and laser spectroscopy, and radiofrequency and microwave techniques. On the fundamental side the book focuses on physical principles and the impact of spectroscopy on our understanding of the building blocks of matter, while in the area of applications particular attention is given to those in chemical analysis, photochemistry, surface characterisation, environmental and medical diagnostics, remote sensing and astrophyscis. The Fourth Edition also provides the reader with an update on laser cooling and trapping, Bose-Einstein condensation, ultra-fast spectroscopy, high-power laser/matter interaction, satellite-based astronomy and spectroscopic aspects of laser medicine.

Deals with the fundamental properties of photon and light beams, both experimentally and theoretically. It covers the essentials of linear interactions and most of the nonlinear interactions between light and matter in both the transparent and absorbing cases. About 4000 references open access to original literature.

The motivating idea of the first Topical Meeting on Picosecond Phenomena, which took place at Hilton Head Island in 1978, was to bring together scien tists and engineers in a congenial setting who were developing picosecond lasers with those who were applying them to problems in chemistry, physics, electronics, and biology. The field has advanced remarkably in the following six years. This is reflected in the size of the conference which has more than doubled in the past six years and now includes scientists from many countries around the world. As evidenced by the papers in this volume, the appl ication of ultrafast 1 ight pulses continues to grow in new and diverse directions encompassing an increasingly wide range of subject areas. This progress has gone hand-in-hand with the development of new and more precise methods of generating and measuring ultrafast light pulses, which now extend well into the femtosecond time domain. It was this latter advance which was responsible for changing the name of the conference to Ultrafast Phenomena. The 1984 meeting was held at the Monterey Conference Center in Monterey, Cal ifornia from June 11 to 15 under the sponsorship of the Optical Society of America. A total of 320 registered participants, including 65 students, attended the three and one-half day conference. The overall enthusiasm of the participants, the high quality of the research presented, and ambiance of the setting combined to produce a successful and enjoyable conference.

Keeping abreast of the latest techniques and applications, this new edition of the standard reference and graduate text on laser spectroscopy has been completely revised and expanded. While the general concept is unchanged, the new edition features a broad array of new material, e.g., ultrafast lasers (atto- and femto-second lasers), coherent matter waves, Doppler-free Fourier spectroscopy, interference spectroscopy, quantum optics and gravitational waves and still more applications in chemical analysis, medical diagnostics, and engineering.

The chapters of this volume represent the invited papers delivered at the 3rd International Conference on Multiphoton Processes (ICOMP III) held in Iraklion, Crete, Greece, September 5-11, 1984. The invited papers at a conference like ICOMP cannot possibly cover the whole field which has grown to immense proportions in recent years, overlapping with such diverse areas as atomic and molecular spectroscopy, plasma physics, nonlinear optics, quantum optics, etc. We believe these contributions represent that part of the research activity which has been attracting the most interest in the past year or so, as well as reviews of some of the more established topics. Even within this scope, and given the confines imposed by the fi nite duration of a conference, important and timely topics are inevitably left out. But then, there will be ICOMP IV. The collection of articles in this volume, combined with extensive ref erences to related work given by the authors, should provide an introduc tion to the major problems of the field and its state of the art. The chapters have been arranged according to thematic proximity, beginning with atoms, and continuing on with molecules and surfaces. This classi fication, however, would not cover all the subject matter even within the limited scope of the conference and of this volume.