The motivating idea of the first Topical Meeting on Picosecond Phenomena, which took place at Hilton Head Island in 1978, was to bring together scien tists and engineers in a congenial setting who were developing picosecond lasers with those who were applying them to problems in chemistry, physics, electronics, and biology. The field has advanced remarkably in the following six years. This is reflected in the size of the conference which has more than doubled in the past six years and now includes scientists from many countries around the world. As evidenced by the papers in this volume, the appl ication of ultrafast 1 ight pulses continues to grow in new and diverse directions encompassing an increasingly wide range of subject areas. This progress has gone hand-in-hand with the development of new and more precise methods of generating and measuring ultrafast light pulses, which now extend well into the femtosecond time domain. It was this latter advance which was responsible for changing the name of the conference to Ultrafast Phenomena. The 1984 meeting was held at the Monterey Conference Center in Monterey, Cal ifornia from June 11 to 15 under the sponsorship of the Optical Society of America. A total of 320 registered participants, including 65 students, attended the three and one-half day conference. The overall enthusiasm of the participants, the high quality of the research presented, and ambiance of the setting combined to produce a successful and enjoyable conference.

This volume contains papers presented at the Eleventh International Conference on Ultrafast Phenomena held at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, from July 12 to 17, 1998. The biannual Ultrafast Phenomena Conferences provide a forum for dis cussion of the latest advances in ultrafast optics and their applications in science and engineering. The Garmisch conference brought together a multidisciplinary group of 440 participants from 27 countries, including 127 students. The enthu siasm of this large number of Participants, the high quality of the papers they presented and the magnificent conference site resulted in a successful and pleasant conference. Progress was reported in the technology of generating ultrashort pulses, in cluding new techniques for improving laser-pulse duration, tunability over broad wavelength ranges, output power and peak intensity. Ultrafast spectroscopy con tinues to provide new insight into fundamental processes in physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering. In addition to analyzing ultrafast phenomena, control of ultrafast dynamics now represents an important topic. Ultrafast concepts and tech niques are being applied in imaging and microscopy, high speed optoelectronics, mat~rial diagnostics and processing, reflecting the maturing of the field. Acknowledgements. Many people contributed to the success of the conference.

This volume contains papers presented at the Tenth International Conference on Ultrafast Phenomena held at Del Coronado, California, from May 28 to June 1, 1996. The biannual Ultrafast Phenomena Conferences provide a forum for the discussion of the latest advances in ultrafast optics and their applications in science and engineering. The Ultrafast Phenomena Conference maintains a broad international representation with 391 participants from 18 countries, including 94 students attending the conference. The multidisciplinary character of this meeting provides a cross-fertilization of ultrafast concepts and techniques among various scientific and engineering disciplines. The enthusiasm of the paticipants, the originality and quality of the papers that they presented, and the beautiful conference site combined to produce a very successful and enjoyable meeting. Progress was reported in the technology of generating ultrashort pulses, in cluding new techniques for improving laser-pulse duration, output power, wave length range, and compactness. Ultrafast spectroscopy continues to impact on and expand the knowledge base of fundamental processes in physics, chemistry, biol ogy and engineering. In addition ultrafast phenomena now extends to real-world applications in biology, high-speed communication, and material diagnostics. The Tenth Ultrafast Phenomena Conference was highlighted by a 'special event' in which the developments of the previous conferences were reviewed in a panel discussion by G. Mourou, E. Ippen, A. Migus, A. Laubereau and R. Hochstrasser.

This book presents the latest advances in ultrafast science, including ultrafast laser and measurement technology, and studies of ultrafast phenomena. It summarizes the results presented at the 12th Ultrafast Phenomena Conference and reviews the state of the art of this important and rapidly advancing field.

Proceedings of SPIE present the original research papers presented at SPIE conferences and other high-quality conferences in the broad-ranging fields of optics and photonics. These books provide prompt access to the latest innovations in research and technology in their respective fields. Proceedings of SPIE are among the most cited references in patent literature.