Preface Contributors 1 Laser Basics C. Hirlimann 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Stimulated Emission 1.2.1 Absorption 1.2.2 Spontaneous Emission 1.2.3 Stimulated Emission 1.3 Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission 1.4 Population Inversion 1.4.1 TWO-Level System 1.4.2 Optical Pumping 1.4.3 Light Amplification 1.5 Amplified Spontaneous Emission (ASE) 1.5.1 Amplifier Decoupling 1.6 The Optical Cavity 1.6.1 The Fabry-Pérot Interferometer 1.6.2 Geometric Point of View 1.6.3 Diffractive-Optics Point of View 1.6.4 Stability of a Two-Mirror Cavity 1.6.5 Longitudinal Modes 1.7 Here Comes the Laser! 1.8 Conclusion 1.9 Problems Further Reading Historical References 2 Pulesd Optics 3 Methods for the Generation of Ultuashcort Laser Pulses:Mode-Locking 4 Further Methods for the Generation of Ultrashort Optical Pulses 5 Pulsed Semiconductor Lasers 6 How to Manipulate and Change the Characteristics of Laser Pulese 7 How to Measure the Characteristics of Laser Pulses 8 Spectroscopic Methods for Analysis of Sample Dynamics 9 Coherent Effects in Femtosecond Spectroscopy:A Simple Picture Using the Bloch Equation 10 Terahertz Femtosecond Pulese 11 Coherent Control in Atoms,Molecules and Solids 12 Attosecond Pulses Index