This book fills the need for a thorough and detailed account of ultrafast optics. Written by one of the most preeminent researchers in the field, it sheds new light on technology that has already had a revolutionary impact on precision frequency metrology, high-speed electrical testing, biomedical imaging, and in revealing the initial steps in chemical reactions.

Ultrafast Optics begins with a summary of ultrashort laser pulses and their practical applications in a range of real-world settings. Next, it reviews important background material, including an introduction to Fourier series and Fourier transforms, and goes on to cover:

• Principles of mode-locking
• Ultrafast pulse measurement methods
• Dispersion and dispersion compensation
• Ultrafast nonlinear optics: second order
• Ultrafast nonlinear optics: third order
• Mode-locking: selected advanced topics
• Manipulation of ultrashort pulses
• Ultrafast time-resolved spectroscopy
• Terahertz time-domain electromagnetics