Product Description
This book represents the first comprehensive treatment of the subject, covering the theoretical principles, present experimental status, and important applications of short-pulse laser-matter interactions. Femtosecond lasers have undergone dramatic technological advances over the last fifteen years, generating a whole host of new research activities under the theme of "ultrafast science". The focused light from these devices is so intense that ordinary matter is torn apart within a few laser cycles. This book takes a close-up look at the exotic physical phenomena, which arise as a result of this new form of "light-matter" interaction, covering a diverse set of topics including multiphoton ionization, rapid heatwaves, fast particle generation and relativistic self-channeling. These processes are central to a number of exciting new applications in other fields, such as microholography, optical particle accelerators, and photonuclear physics.
From the Publisher
SHORT PULSE LASER INTERACTIONS WITH MATTER
An Introduction
by Paul Gibbon (Research Centre Jülich, Germany)
This book represents the first comprehensive treatment of the subject, covering the theoretical principles, present experimental status and important applications of short-pulse laser-matter interactions.
Femtosecond lasers have undergone dramatic technological advances over the last fifteen years, generating a whole host of new research activities under the theme of "ultrafast science". The focused light from these devices is so intense that ordinary matter is torn apart within a few laser cycles. This book takes a close-up look at the exotic physical phenomena which arise as a result of this new form of "light-matter" interaction, covering a diverse set of topics including multiphoton ionization, rapid heatwaves, fast particle generation and relativistic self-channeling. These processes are central to a number of exciting new applications in other fields, such as microholography, optical particle accelerators and photonuclear physics.
Readership: Advanced undergraduates, graduates, researchers and non-specialist scientists using femtosecond lasers in science and industry.