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Ultrashort phenomena

JUL 01, 1975
Picosecond laser pulses are the key to several new techniques for studying very rapid transient states that are being used by experimentalists in biophysics, plasmas and condensed‐state physics.
Robert R. Alfano
Stanley L. Shapiro

Physicists and chemists have gained an impressive amount of new information on rapid phenomena in materials by using sophisticated new techniques for handling picosecond light pulses. The reason for the great growth of interest is not solely the development of new techniques for probing this time region, but also its importance for understanding the most fundamental processes in materials physics and chemistry. Since particle‐collision rates within materials are rapid, the picosecond time scale is the appropriate gauge for a larger number of energy‐transfer processes in substances.

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References

  1. 1. P. M. Rentzepis, Science 169, 17 (1970).https://doi.org/SCIEAS

  2. 2. A. De Maria, W. Glenn, M. Mack, PHYSICS TODAY, July 1971, page 19.

  3. 3. R. R. Alfano, S. L. Shapiro, Scientific American, June 1973, page 42.

  4. 4. A. Laubereau, W. Kaiser, Opto‐electron. 6, 1 (1974).

  5. 5. N. Bloembergen, IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 10, 375 (1974).https://doi.org/IEJQA7

  6. 6. K. B. Eisenthal, Acc. Chem. Res. 8, 118 (1975).https://doi.org/ACHRE4

More about the Authors

Robert R. Alfano. Associate Professor of Physics, City College of the City University, New York.

Stanley L. Shapiro. Division of Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory.

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This Content Appeared In
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Volume 28, Number 7

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