Ultrafast Femtosecond Lasers: Fundamentals and Applications

Emerging possibilities of exploiting ultrashort femtosecond lasers as new light sources for diverse fields of science and technology are first addressed. Then emphasis is focused on the recent development made in the particular field of optical time/frequency measurement using the frequency comb of a femtosecond laser as the precision frequency ruler stabilized to the standard atomic clock. This enhanced optical frequency measurement then enables the advance in length measurement, which is accomplished by constructing optical frequency generators providing any optical signals on demand for the advanced optical interferometry of absolute distance measurements. Finally, a new method of high harmonic generation using a femtosecond laser is discussed with the intention of extending the operating range of the frequency comb to the EUV and soft X-ray regime.