Laser-Based Measurements for Time and Frequency Domain Applications: A Handbook

Since its first realization in 1960, the laser has quickly parted from its initial definition of "a solution looking for a problem" to become the solution to many and incredibly different problems, both in our everyday lives and in the most advanced fields of science and technology. Thanks to its unique properties, i.e., the capability to generate intense, highly directional, and highly monochromatic radiation in different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, the laser has found applications in fields as diverse as communications, medicine, fundamental physics, as well as supermarket counters. . . . In particular, thanks to the possibility of producing either ultrashort laser pulses, lasting just a few femtoseconds, or continuous beams with an extremely well-controlled frequency, the two fields of accurate time and frequency measurements have literally boomed in the last decades. Measuring times and delays with femtosecond accuracy has allowed us, for example, to observe the real-time movement of atoms in molecules, and to follow and steer chemical reactions. On the other hand, measuring frequencies with a very high precision has given us unprecedented access to the most intimate structure of matter, is revolutionizing precision metrology of time and space, and is providing new tools for many important applied fields, like environmental monitoring.