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Europhysics news

IX-Summer School on Quantum Optics

Günther Werth

Published Jan 1, 1982• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

C o m p o u n d s The Summer School on Quantum Optics, the last of which was organized by J. Held, J. Czub and M. Gil of the Universi ty of Gdansk, at Cetniewo, Poland from 1-8 September 1981 has become a traditional event for young physicists from eastern and western European countries to discuss recent developments in their fields and to keep in contact.At Cetniewo, about 80 students and scientists from seven coun tries met at the well-appointed sports train ing centre on the Baltic sea.Three main subjects had been chosen and there were presented by lectures at sessions covering respectively experimental and theoretical aspects.(1) The quantum theory of electromagnetic fields and their interaction with atoms and molecules were highlighted in a series of lectures which included light-induced collisional energy transfer and changes in ato mic eigenstates by off-resonant monochro matic light.It was shown, that the emis sion spectrum of a resonant-excited two level system contains sidebands at the atomic Rabi-frequency of the laser field.Coherence and saturation phenomena in photoionisation and different aspects of optical bistability were also treated.(2) Recent experimental developments in quantum optics and atomic physics gave special emphasis to the spectroscopy of Rydberg atoms.New results of double resonance experiments on high levels in in dium served as an example to demonstrate the remarkably good agreement between theory and experiment.The use of ther mionic diodes in experiments on lithium have allowed the determination of ground state isotope shifts, which had not been detected in Rydberg D-states.The possibi lity of using sensitive Rydberg-spectroscopy for the detection of infrared photons was discussed.Another interesting subject was trapped-ion spectroscopy.Very high precision experiments in different laborato ries on hyperfine splittings have successful ly demonstrated ion cooling, which was discussed in detail at the school.This ses sion was completed by a lecture about X-ray polarisation in atomic collisions.(3) The third session covered reactive colli sions including the basis and recent results in chemiluminescence, chemical lasers, in vestigations of collisional energy transfer in vibrationally excited molecules, reactive formation of molecules in collisions and molecular beam scattering from solid sur faces.

DOI
10.1051/epn/19821302008

Related papers

Physics of Intercalation Compounds

Hirohiko Kamimura

The Summer School on Quantum Optics, the last of which was organized by J. Held, J. Czub and M. Gil of the Universi ty of Gdansk, at Cetniewo, Poland from 1-8 September 1981 has become a traditional event for young physicists from eastern and western European countries to discuss recent developments in their fields and to keep in contact.At Cetniewo, about 80 students and scientists from seven coun tries met at the well-appointed sports train ing centre on the Baltic sea.Three main subjects had been chosen and there were presented by lectures at sessions covering respectively experimental and theoretical aspects.(1) The quantum theory of electromagnetic fields and their interaction with atoms and molecules were highlighted in a series of lectures which included light-induced collisional energy transfer and changes in ato mic eigenstates by off-resonant monochro matic light.It was shown, that the emis sion spectrum of a resonant-excited two level system contains sidebands at the atomic Rabi-frequency of the laser field.Coherence and saturation phenomena in photoionisation and different aspects of optical bistability were also treated.(2) Recent experimental developments in quantum optics and atomic physics gave special emphasis to the spectroscopy of Rydberg atoms.New results of double resonance experiments on high levels in in dium served as an example to demonstrate the remarkably good agreement between theory and experiment.The use of ther mionic diodes in experiments on lithium have allowed the determination of ground state isotope shifts, which had not been detected in Rydberg D-states.The possibi lity of using sensitive Rydberg-spectroscopy for the detection of infrared photons was discussed.Another interesting subject was trapped-ion spectroscopy.Very high precision experiments in different laborato ries on hyperfine splittings have successful ly demonstrated ion cooling, which was discussed in detail at the school.This ses sion was completed by a lecture about X-ray polarisation in atomic collisions.(3) The third session covered reactive colli sions including the basis and recent results in chemiluminescence, chemical lasers, in vestigations of collisional energy transfer in vibrationally excited molecules, reactive formation of molecules in collisions and molecular beam scattering from solid sur faces.

Europhysics news•Jan 1, 1982•91 citations

XXVIth International Conference on Photonic, Electronic and Atomic Collisions

Ann Orel, Anthony F. Starace, D. Nikolić +4 more

The XXVIth International Conference on Photonic, Electronic and Atomic Collisions was held on the campus of Western Michigan University (WMU) in Kalamazoo during 22–28 July 2009. Kalamazoo, the home of a major state university amid pleasant surroundings, was a delightful place for the conference. The 473 scientific participants, 111 of whom were students, had many fruitful discussions and exchanges that contributed to the success of the conference. Participants from 43 countries made the conference truly international in scope. The 590 abstracts that were presented on the first four days formed the heart of the conference and provided ample opportunity for discussion. This change, allowing the conference to end with invited talks, was a departure from the format used at previous ICPEAC gatherings in which the conferences ended with a poster session. The abstracts were split almost equally between the three main conference areas, i.e., photonic, electronic, and atomic collisions, and the posters were distributed across the days of the conference so that approximately equal numbers of abstracts in the different areas were scheduled for each day. Of the total number of presented abstracts, 517 of these are included in this proceedings volume, the first time that abstracts have been published by ICPEAC. There were 5 plenary lectures covering the different areas of the conference: Paul Corkum (University of Ottawa) talked on attosecond physics with atoms and molecules, Serge Haroche (Collège de France) on non-destructive photon counting, Toshiyuki Azuma (Tokyo Metropolitan University) on resonant coherent excitation of highly-charged ions in crystals, Eva Lindroth (Stockholm University) on atomic structure effects, and Alfred Müller (Justus Liebig University) on resonance phenomena in electron- and photon-ion collisions. Two speakers gave very illuminating public lectures that drew many people from the local area, as well as conference participants: Patricia Dehmer (US DOE) gave a talk on 'Facing Our Energy Challenges in a New Era of Science' and William Phillips (Nobel laureate, NIST) presented a talk on 'Time, Einstein, and the Coolest Stuff in the Universe'. These public talks, held on Thursday and Friday evenings, respectively, were very accessible to a general audience. In addition, there were 61 progress reports on ongoing current research, and 26 special reports selected from the submitted abstracts based on their relevance and importance. These talks covered the full range of the conference topics. Notably, this was the 50th anniversary of ICPEAC and a formal session was held the first day to honor the event as well as those who were instrumental in initiating the conference. Thirteen scientists, representing both those from the early days of ICPEAC as well as chairs of previous ICPEACs, were present and called to the stage, including Benjamin Bederson, Lewis Branscomb, Robert Crompton, Alexander Dalgarno, Gordon Dunn, Werner Eissner, Brian Gilbody, Edward Gerjuoy, Hartmut Hotop, Eugen Merzbacher, Eugene Rudd, Felix Smith, and Aaron Temkin. Steven Manson was the chair of the session and he introduced those present from the early days. Joachim Burgdörfer presented an overview of the history of ICPEAC. This session was followed by a special anniversary reception to honor all of the early 'ICPEACers'. Generous support for the conference was provided by IUPAP, the WMU President's office, and the National Science Foundation. The funds were sizeable, timely, and greatly appreciated, and permitted us to support a significant number of young scientists (postdocs and students) and persons from developing/disadvantaged countries. Nevertheless, the number of requests was far greater than the total support available (by about a factor of five!), and we had to turn down many financial requests. We encourage the organizers of the next ICPEAC to seek a higher level of funding for supporting young scientists and scientists from developing/disadvantaged countries. All in all, the XXVIth ICPEAC in Kalamazoo was very successful. The plenary lectures and the progress and special reports bridged the gap between the different fields of collision physics, making it possible for non-experts in a given area to gain insight into new areas. Also, included among the speakers were several young scientists, namely, postdocs and students, who brought new perspectives to their fields. The next ICPEAC will take place in Belfast in 2011, and the ones after that will be in Lanzhou in 2013 and Madrid in 2015. Given the rapidity with which science is advancing in all of the areas covered by ICPEAC, we expect that these future ICPEAC conferences will be as stimulating as this most recent one was, as indicated by the contributions presented in this proceedings volume. Ann Orel, University of California-Davis Anthony F Starace, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Dragan Nikolić, Western Michigan University Nora Berrah, Western Michigan University Thomas W Gorczyca, Western Michigan University Emanuel Y Kamber, Western Michigan University John A Tanis, Western Michigan University The PDF file contains details of the Sponsors and Exhibitors, Committees and Previous Proceedings.

Journal of Physics Conference Series•Dec 1, 2009•2 citations

Laser spectroscopy : proceedings of the XV Summer School on Quantum Optics, Frombork, Poland, 3-9 September 1987

J. Heldt, Rafal Lawruszczuk, Uniwersytet Gdański. Instytut Fizyki Doświadczalnej

WORLD SCIENTIFIC eBooks•Jan 1, 1988•0 citations

An ultracold gas of bosonic 23Na39K ground-state molecules

Kai K. Voges

Ultracold bialkali polar molecules play a leading part at the frontline of quantum physics. They recently attract a lot of attention in the field of ultracold quantum chemistry, quantum many-body physics and quantum simulations. The key for their success is the rich internal level structure with rotational and vibrational degrees of freedom and their large electric dipole moments. Still, only a handful of molecular species are available at ultracold temperatures until now, although it is highly desirable to produce new molecular species to further expand the range of applications. Besides direct laser cooling methods for molecules, the assembly of heteronuclear ground-state molecules from ultracold atomic mixtures is the most promising approach for the creation of polar molecules. It includes the formation of weakly bound Feshbach molecules from the diatomic mixture and the subsequent two-photon stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) transfer to the rovibrational ground state. This creation strategy has been successfully demonstrated for the first time in the pioneering experiments at JILA with ultracold 40K87Rb molecules. Since then, only a few more molecular species from different alkali atoms have been created, namely 6Li23Na, 23Na40K, 23Na87Rb and 87Rb133Cs. In this thesis, I report the successful creation of a new species of ultracold polar ground-state molecules: 23Na39K. Starting from an ultracold mixture of bosonic 23Na and 39K atoms, weakly bound molecules are created. For this purpose, a Feshbach resonance in a high angular momentum scattering channel is chosen, experimentally identified and characterized. Close to this resonance the weakly bound Feshbach molecules are formed using resonant radio frequency radiation. For the two-photon ground-state transfer, a unique, highly specialized two-color laser system is designed and realized. It is used for one- and two-photon spectroscopy to identify the relevant transitions for the ground-state transfer. Based on the obtained data, a local model of the singlet-triplet mixed excited state manifolds is developed, with which the hyperfine structure and the magnetic field dependence is predicted with high accuracy. According to these findings, a suitable pathway to a single hyperfine ground state is chosen considering selection rules and experimental conditions such as laser polarization and beam alignment. To precisely determine the two-photon resonance condition for STIRAP, electromagnetically induced transparency measurements are performed. The ground-state transfer is then performed using STIRAP. The experimental findings regarding the STIRAP are successfully supported theoretically by a model based on a five-level master equation. The pure molecular gas shows evidence for two-body dominated loss mechanisms, such as sticky four-body collisions. The molecule-atom mixture of 23Na39K+39K reveals an unexpectedly low loss rate coefficient although sticky three-body collisions are assumed to occur. This behavior demands further investigations regarding different hyperfine collisional chan-nels and magnetic field regions.

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XIII Summer School on Quantum Optics : 2-8 September 1985, Frombork, Poland

J. Mizerski, Jan Fiutak, Uniwersytet Gdański

WORLD SCIENTIFIC eBooks•Jan 1, 1986•1 citation

Second Order Nonlinear Optics: from Fundamentals to Applications

This topical issue of Quantum and Semiclassical Optics contains a series of articles presented at the workshop ` Second Order Nonlinear Optics: from Fundamentals to Applications', held in l'Ecole de Physique des Houches (Haute-Savoie, France) from 22 to 26 April 1996. The recent development of new laser sources, such as diode-pumped solid-state lasers, and the availability of new highly nonlinear materials (including artificial materials based on quasi-phase-matched techniques) has induced a revival of the field of second order nonlinear optics. This research covers a broad spectrum, ranging from fundamentals (generation of nonclassical states of light, amplification without added noise, frequency division chain, etc.) to applications (spectroscopy, teledetection, metrology, communications, etc.), through the development of new light sources (coherent and tunable, pulsed or continuous wave) and of new optronic devices. The purpose of this workshop was to gather together researchers from different cultures and horizons (fundamental and applied research, industry) who contribute to the dissemination of advanced knowledge and the formation of contacts among scientists from different countries. A significant effort was made by the lecturers to give talks that could be easily understood by nonspecialists of the domain and to cover in a synthetic way the different aspects of second order nonlinear optics. The topics cover both physics and engineering aspects of the field and present an up-to-date survey of current research in second order nonlinear optics. The 72 participants from 13 countries attended 29 lectures presented by 27 lecturers over five extensive working days in an informal and fruitful way. Participants were given a chance to present their own work through 24 poster papers in two very lively sessions. The Editors would like to thank the authors for their excellent contributions to this volume. The organisers are grateful for the help of many organisations in the success of the school. The principal sponsors were CNRS, CEA, DRET, Ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche, the European Community (EC) and THOMSON-CSF. We also wish to express our deepest gratitude to the local organising team for their unstinting efforts. Guest Editors Claude Fabre and Jean-Paul Pocholle The abstracts for the poster papers appear in the PostScript and PDF files.

Quantum and Semiclassical Optics Journal of the European Optical Society Part B•Apr 1, 1997•0 citations
C o m p o u n d s The Summer School on Quantum Optics, the last of which was organized by J. Held, J. Czub and M. Gil of the Universi ty of Gdansk, at Cetniewo, Poland from 1-8 September 1981 has become a traditional event for young physicists from eastern and western European countries to discuss recent developments in their fields and to keep in contact.At Cetniewo, about 80 students and scientists from seven coun tries met at the well-appointed sports train ing centre on the Baltic sea.Three main subjects had been chosen and there were presented by lectures at sessions covering respectively experimental and theoretical aspects.(1) The quantum theory of electromagnetic fields and their interaction with atoms and molecules were highlighted in a series of lectures which included light-induced collisional energy transfer and changes in ato mic eigenstates by off-resonant monochro matic light.It was shown, that the emis sion spectrum of a resonant-excited two level system contains sidebands at the atomic Rabi-frequency of the laser field.Coherence and saturation phenomena in photoionisation and different aspects of optical bistability were also treated.(2) Recent experimental developments in quantum optics and atomic physics gave special emphasis to the spectroscopy of Rydberg atoms.New results of double resonance experiments on high levels in in dium served as an example to demonstrate the remarkably good agreement between theory and experiment.The use of ther mionic diodes in experiments on lithium have allowed the determination of ground state isotope shifts, which had not been detected in Rydberg D-states.The possibi lity of using sensitive Rydberg-spectroscopy for the detection of infrared photons was discussed.Another interesting subject was trapped-ion spectroscopy.Very high precision experiments in different laborato ries on hyperfine splittings have successful ly demonstrated ion cooling, which was discussed in detail at the school.This ses sion was completed by a lecture about X-ray polarisation in atomic collisions.(3) The third session covered reactive colli sions including the basis and recent results in chemiluminescence, chemical lasers, in vestigations of collisional energy transfer in vibrationally excited molecules, reactive formation of molecules in collisions and molecular beam scattering from solid sur faces.
The Summer School on Quantum Optics, the last of which was organized by J. Held, J. Czub and M. Gil of the Universi ty of Gdansk, at Cetniewo, Poland from 1-8 September 1981 has become a traditional event for young physicists from eastern and western European countries to discuss recent developments in their fields and to keep in contact.At Cetniewo, about 80 students and scientists from seven coun tries met at the well-appointed sports train ing centre on the Baltic sea.Three main subjects had been chosen and there were presented by lectures at sessions covering respectively experimental and theoretical aspects.(1) The quantum theory of electromagnetic fields and their interaction with atoms and molecules were highlighted in a series of lectures which included light-induced collisional energy transfer and changes in ato mic eigenstates by off-resonant monochro matic light.It was shown, that the emis sion spectrum of a resonant-excited two level system contains sidebands at the atomic Rabi-frequency of the laser field.Coherence and saturation phenomena in photoionisation and different aspects of optical bistability were also treated.(2) Recent experimental developments in quantum optics and atomic physics gave special emphasis to the spectroscopy of Rydberg atoms.New results of double resonance experiments on high levels in in dium served as an example to demonstrate the remarkably good agreement between theory and experiment.The use of ther mionic diodes in experiments on lithium have allowed the determination of ground state isotope shifts, which had not been detected in Rydberg D-states.The possibi lity of using sensitive Rydberg-spectroscopy for the detection of infrared photons was discussed.Another interesting subject was trapped-ion spectroscopy.Very high precision experiments in different laborato ries on hyperfine splittings have successful ly demonstrated ion cooling, which was discussed in detail at the school.This ses sion was completed by a lecture about X-ray polarisation in atomic collisions.(3) The third session covered reactive colli sions including the basis and recent results in chemiluminescence, chemical lasers, in vestigations of collisional energy transfer in vibrationally excited molecules, reactive formation of molecules in collisions and molecular beam scattering from solid sur faces.
The XXVIth International Conference on Photonic, Electronic and Atomic Collisions was held on the campus of Western Michigan University (WMU) in Kalamazoo during 22–28 July 2009. Kalamazoo, the home of a major state university amid pleasant surroundings, was a delightful place for the conference. The 473 scientific participants, 111 of whom were students, had many fruitful discussions and exchanges that contributed to the success of the conference. Participants from 43 countries made the conference truly international in scope. The 590 abstracts that were presented on the first four days formed the heart of the conference and provided ample opportunity for discussion. This change, allowing the conference to end with invited talks, was a departure from the format used at previous ICPEAC gatherings in which the conferences ended with a poster session. The abstracts were split almost equally between the three main conference areas, i.e., photonic, electronic, and atomic collisions, and the posters were distributed across the days of the conference so that approximately equal numbers of abstracts in the different areas were scheduled for each day. Of the total number of presented abstracts, 517 of these are included in this proceedings volume, the first time that abstracts have been published by ICPEAC. There were 5 plenary lectures covering the different areas of the conference: Paul Corkum (University of Ottawa) talked on attosecond physics with atoms and molecules, Serge Haroche (Collège de France) on non-destructive photon counting, Toshiyuki Azuma (Tokyo Metropolitan University) on resonant coherent excitation of highly-charged ions in crystals, Eva Lindroth (Stockholm University) on atomic structure effects, and Alfred Müller (Justus Liebig University) on resonance phenomena in electron- and photon-ion collisions. Two speakers gave very illuminating public lectures that drew many people from the local area, as well as conference participants: Patricia Dehmer (US DOE) gave a talk on 'Facing Our Energy Challenges in a New Era of Science' and William Phillips (Nobel laureate, NIST) presented a talk on 'Time, Einstein, and the Coolest Stuff in the Universe'. These public talks, held on Thursday and Friday evenings, respectively, were very accessible to a general audience. In addition, there were 61 progress reports on ongoing current research, and 26 special reports selected from the submitted abstracts based on their relevance and importance. These talks covered the full range of the conference topics. Notably, this was the 50th anniversary of ICPEAC and a formal session was held the first day to honor the event as well as those who were instrumental in initiating the conference. Thirteen scientists, representing both those from the early days of ICPEAC as well as chairs of previous ICPEACs, were present and called to the stage, including Benjamin Bederson, Lewis Branscomb, Robert Crompton, Alexander Dalgarno, Gordon Dunn, Werner Eissner, Brian Gilbody, Edward Gerjuoy, Hartmut Hotop, Eugen Merzbacher, Eugene Rudd, Felix Smith, and Aaron Temkin. Steven Manson was the chair of the session and he introduced those present from the early days. Joachim Burgdörfer presented an overview of the history of ICPEAC. This session was followed by a special anniversary reception to honor all of the early 'ICPEACers'. Generous support for the conference was provided by IUPAP, the WMU President's office, and the National Science Foundation. The funds were sizeable, timely, and greatly appreciated, and permitted us to support a significant number of young scientists (postdocs and students) and persons from developing/disadvantaged countries. Nevertheless, the number of requests was far greater than the total support available (by about a factor of five!), and we had to turn down many financial requests. We encourage the organizers of the next ICPEAC to seek a higher level of funding for supporting young scientists and scientists from developing/disadvantaged countries. All in all, the XXVIth ICPEAC in Kalamazoo was very successful. The plenary lectures and the progress and special reports bridged the gap between the different fields of collision physics, making it possible for non-experts in a given area to gain insight into new areas. Also, included among the speakers were several young scientists, namely, postdocs and students, who brought new perspectives to their fields. The next ICPEAC will take place in Belfast in 2011, and the ones after that will be in Lanzhou in 2013 and Madrid in 2015. Given the rapidity with which science is advancing in all of the areas covered by ICPEAC, we expect that these future ICPEAC conferences will be as stimulating as this most recent one was, as indicated by the contributions presented in this proceedings volume. Ann Orel, University of California-Davis Anthony F Starace, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Dragan Nikolić, Western Michigan University Nora Berrah, Western Michigan University Thomas W Gorczyca, Western Michigan University Emanuel Y Kamber, Western Michigan University John A Tanis, Western Michigan University The PDF file contains details of the Sponsors and Exhibitors, Committees and Previous Proceedings.
Ultracold bialkali polar molecules play a leading part at the frontline of quantum physics. They recently attract a lot of attention in the field of ultracold quantum chemistry, quantum many-body physics and quantum simulations. The key for their success is the rich internal level structure with rotational and vibrational degrees of freedom and their large electric dipole moments. Still, only a handful of molecular species are available at ultracold temperatures until now, although it is highly desirable to produce new molecular species to further expand the range of applications. Besides direct laser cooling methods for molecules, the assembly of heteronuclear ground-state molecules from ultracold atomic mixtures is the most promising approach for the creation of polar molecules. It includes the formation of weakly bound Feshbach molecules from the diatomic mixture and the subsequent two-photon stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) transfer to the rovibrational ground state. This creation strategy has been successfully demonstrated for the first time in the pioneering experiments at JILA with ultracold 40K87Rb molecules. Since then, only a few more molecular species from different alkali atoms have been created, namely 6Li23Na, 23Na40K, 23Na87Rb and 87Rb133Cs. In this thesis, I report the successful creation of a new species of ultracold polar ground-state molecules: 23Na39K. Starting from an ultracold mixture of bosonic 23Na and 39K atoms, weakly bound molecules are created. For this purpose, a Feshbach resonance in a high angular momentum scattering channel is chosen, experimentally identified and characterized. Close to this resonance the weakly bound Feshbach molecules are formed using resonant radio frequency radiation. For the two-photon ground-state transfer, a unique, highly specialized two-color laser system is designed and realized. It is used for one- and two-photon spectroscopy to identify the relevant transitions for the ground-state transfer. Based on the obtained data, a local model of the singlet-triplet mixed excited state manifolds is developed, with which the hyperfine structure and the magnetic field dependence is predicted with high accuracy. According to these findings, a suitable pathway to a single hyperfine ground state is chosen considering selection rules and experimental conditions such as laser polarization and beam alignment. To precisely determine the two-photon resonance condition for STIRAP, electromagnetically induced transparency measurements are performed. The ground-state transfer is then performed using STIRAP. The experimental findings regarding the STIRAP are successfully supported theoretically by a model based on a five-level master equation. The pure molecular gas shows evidence for two-body dominated loss mechanisms, such as sticky four-body collisions. The molecule-atom mixture of 23Na39K+39K reveals an unexpectedly low loss rate coefficient although sticky three-body collisions are assumed to occur. This behavior demands further investigations regarding different hyperfine collisional chan-nels and magnetic field regions.
This topical issue of Quantum and Semiclassical Optics contains a series of articles presented at the workshop ` Second Order Nonlinear Optics: from Fundamentals to Applications', held in l'Ecole de Physique des Houches (Haute-Savoie, France) from 22 to 26 April 1996. The recent development of new laser sources, such as diode-pumped solid-state lasers, and the availability of new highly nonlinear materials (including artificial materials based on quasi-phase-matched techniques) has induced a revival of the field of second order nonlinear optics. This research covers a broad spectrum, ranging from fundamentals (generation of nonclassical states of light, amplification without added noise, frequency division chain, etc.) to applications (spectroscopy, teledetection, metrology, communications, etc.), through the development of new light sources (coherent and tunable, pulsed or continuous wave) and of new optronic devices. The purpose of this workshop was to gather together researchers from different cultures and horizons (fundamental and applied research, industry) who contribute to the dissemination of advanced knowledge and the formation of contacts among scientists from different countries. A significant effort was made by the lecturers to give talks that could be easily understood by nonspecialists of the domain and to cover in a synthetic way the different aspects of second order nonlinear optics. The topics cover both physics and engineering aspects of the field and present an up-to-date survey of current research in second order nonlinear optics. The 72 participants from 13 countries attended 29 lectures presented by 27 lecturers over five extensive working days in an informal and fruitful way. Participants were given a chance to present their own work through 24 poster papers in two very lively sessions. The Editors would like to thank the authors for their excellent contributions to this volume. The organisers are grateful for the help of many organisations in the success of the school. The principal sponsors were CNRS, CEA, DRET, Ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche, the European Community (EC) and THOMSON-CSF. We also wish to express our deepest gratitude to the local organising team for their unstinting efforts. Guest Editors Claude Fabre and Jean-Paul Pocholle The abstracts for the poster papers appear in the PostScript and PDF files.