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Ultrafast Lasers – The Basic Principles of Ultrafast Coherence

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Ultrafast Lasers – The Basic Principles of Ultrafast Coherence

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The concept of atoms was coined by the ancient Greek philosophers Leucippus and Democritus twenty-four centuries ago. However, it wasn’t until the late 20th century that atoms could be observed in motion and manipulated. The temporal resolution required to manipulate atomic-scale dynamics with typical speed, on the order of 10 km/s, over a distance of 1Å, is 10 femtoseconds (10×10-15 s). Hence, the visualization and manipulation of atoms and molecules requires laser pulses with durations on the order of the nuclear motion. Rapid advances in laser technology made it possible to produce pulses ranging between a few femtoseconds to tens of attoseconds (10×10-18 s). Such pulses enable the direct investigation and manipulation of atoms and electrons, and extends the frontiers of science and technology to territories never thought accessible.

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