The book presents the fundamentals of femtosecond lasers, radiation sources that have opened entirely new possibilities in engineering, chemistry, manufacturing, and medicine. In addition to established technological applications, it explores cutting-edge fields such as the time microscope, which enables the direct observation of electron dynamics.
In chemistry and biology, optical transitions induced by light excitation occur on highly specific timescales. Femtosecond lasers make it possible to resolve the fastest phases of these processes with exceptional precision. The book introduces the emerging disciplines of femtochemistry, femtonics, and attoscience, while also discussing specialized applications at the frontier between experimental research and theoretical science.
In 1999, Ahmed Zewail was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his pioneering achievements in the field of femtochemistry. On December 20, 2013, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 2015 the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies. The Year of Light was intended to highlight the importance of light as a fundamental prerequisite for life on Earth and as a central element of science and culture.
Today, femtosecond technology is regarded as a key driver of innovation and economic growth and is expected to help secure numerous high-value industrial jobs. Beyond its applications in dentistry, oncology, and ophthalmology, the femtosecond laser has become indispensable in industrial manufacturing. Using a Ti:Sapphire femtosecond laser, material structures can be fabricated with nanometer-scale precision.The book concludes with an outlook on the next technological era, often described as the Age of Light, complemented by a concise glossary and selected references for further reading.
In combination with Artificial Intelligence, femtosecond laser technology is expected to achieve significantly improved results in both medicine and materials processing.

About the Author 

Dr. phil. nat. Klemens Jesse was born in Karlsruhe in 1964 and studied physics at Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main. In 1991, he earned his doctorate in chemistry at the same institution with a dissertation on “Femtosecond Laser Spectroscopy of Organic Molecules.” As a postdoctoral researcher, he worked in the fields of photovoltaics, FTIR spectroscopy of proteins, climate impact research, and photonics. From April 1999, he was employed by Trust International GmbH. In 2010, he joined Limes Datentechnik GmbH.