Ultrafast lasers and applications

This short course will provide a self-contained overview of ultrafast optical techniques. After a brief treatment of relevant fundamental linear and nonlinear processes, the generation and propagation of ultrashort light pulses will be covered. Pulse formation in important solid-state and fiber lasers and amplifiers will be described. The achievable performance of each device will be discussed along with the factors that limit the performance. Applications to the generation of electromagnetic pulses in new frequency regimes (terahertz and ultrafast x-rays pulses, e.g.) will be touched on briefly. Techniques for the measurement of short pulses will be described. Example applications will include studies of ultrafast phenomena in solids and molecules, nonlinear microscopy techniques for biological imaging, precision material processing, and generation of frequency combs. Students will gain an overview of the field of ultrafast science.