ULTRAFAST LASER SPECTROSCOPY - A TOOL FOR CHEMISTS AND BIOLOGISTS

Application of ultrafast lasers to chemistry and biology has been an a ctive area of research in the international scene for over a decade fo r physical and biophysical chemists. Perhaps, ultrafast laser spectros copy is one of the most versatile tools available today to experimenta lly study structure and dynamics in the time domain of nanoseconds (10 (-9) sec) to femtoseconds (10(-15) sec). In this article we attempt to highlight some of the recent developments in ultrafast laser spectros copy with particular reference to vibrational spectroscopy, viz. infra red and Raman spectroscopy, in the above time domain.