An optical frequency comb

Optical physicists manipulate light to produce ultrashort laser pulses and then study these pulses to gain insight into the fundamental properties of light. The investigation of light is intertwined with the development of extreme light sources, the control of the carrier-envelope phase of ultrashort pulses, the precise control of ultrafast pulses, and theoretical quantum optics. Thanks to JILA research, ultrafast lasers can now deliver "designer" light pulses whose applications include the control of dynamical processes in chemistry, biology, materials science, medicine, telecommunications, and nanotechnology. Optics research also impacts signal processing, furthering the development of blind signal separation and precision measurement, particularly with the development of optical frequency standards and optical atomic clocks. In their quest to understand light, physicists are currently looking to answer such questions as:

• What does an electronic wave form look like at optical frequencies?
• Can we implement optical-cavity-based spectroscopy to study molecular dynamics?
• Can we generate "laserlike" beams at ultraviolet, extreme ultraviolet, and soft X-ray wavelengths?
• Can we develop laser pulses that are fast enough to capture the motion of atoms and molecules or observe microelectronic processes?
• How do electromagnetic waves interact with matter at the quantum mechanical level?
• Can we create 'designer' pulses that interact with quantum systems more efficiently than traditional Gaussian-shaped laser pulses?