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Ultrashort pulse
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<p>In <a href="/facts/Optics/p0vq4S1T">optics</a>, an ultrashort pulse, also known as an ultrafast event, is an <a href="/facts/Electromagnetic_pulse/fBXSm3Hf">electromagnetic pulse</a> whose time duration is of the order of a <a href="/facts/Picosecond/62W8DK3Q">picosecond</a> (10−12 second) or less. Such pulses have a broadband <a href="/facts/Optical_spectrum/frPBh8o5">optical spectrum</a>, and can be created by <a href="/facts/Mode-locking/7p9MjBjT">mode-locked</a> oscillators. Amplification of ultrashort pulses almost always requires the technique of <a href="/facts/Chirped_pulse_amplification/UFvd3Sh9">chirped pulse amplification</a>, in order to avoid damage to the gain medium of the amplifier. </p><p>They are characterized by a high peak <a href="/facts/Intensity_(physics)/KFWkJkJI">intensity</a> (or more correctly, <a href="/facts/Irradiance/fgHwu7uh">irradiance</a>) that usually leads to nonlinear interactions in various materials, including air. These processes are studied in the field of <a href="/facts/Nonlinear_optics/maerngXd">nonlinear optics</a>. </p><p>In the specialized literature, "ultrashort" refers to the <a href="/facts/Femtosecond/vaVXTVyR">femtosecond</a> (fs) and <a href="/facts/Picosecond/62W8DK3Q">picosecond</a> (ps) range, although such pulses no longer hold the record for the shortest pulses artificially generated. Indeed, x-ray pulses with durations on the <a href="/facts/Attosecond/G1ynD8f9">attosecond</a> time scale have been reported. </p><p>The 1999 <a href="/facts/Nobel_Prize_in_Chemistry/8Nb8Ajjy">Nobel Prize in Chemistry</a> was awarded to <a href="/facts/Ahmed_H._Zewail/aKJuw0a7">Ahmed H. Zewail</a>, for the use of ultrashort pulses to observe <a href="/facts/Chemical_reaction/GpqWlKrz">chemical reactions</a> at the timescales on which they occur, opening up the field of <a href="/facts/Femtochemistry/6GHRJ2ns">femtochemistry</a>. A further Nobel prize, the 2023 <a href="/facts/Nobel_Prize_in_Physics/o6w1nCbr">Nobel Prize in Physics</a>, was also awarded for ultrashort pulses. This prize was awarded to <a href="/facts/Pierre_Agostini/Y8w12T82">Pierre Agostini</a>, <a href="/facts/Ferenc_Krausz/g4R645Ev">Ferenc Krausz</a>, and <a href="/facts/Anne_L%2527Huillier/mKHnduoh">Anne L'Huillier</a> for the development of attosecond pulses and their ability to probe electron dynamics. </p>