This book gives an overview of the various techniques developed to generate
few-cycle laser pulses, their full characterization with respect to amplitude
and phase, as well as their use in applications. Part I of the book
is devoted to source development, and the first chapter therein specifically
gives an overview of the solid-state materials available for the construction of
few-cycle lasers covering the visible to the infrared wavelength range. Some
of these materials can be pumped directly with semiconductor diodes, which
is important for wide dissemination of ultrafast sources. The second to fourth
chapters describe various techniques for generating few-cycle lasers based on
these materials either directly from the laser by external compression or by
employing parametric processes. Each of these techniques has its strengths
and weaknesses, depending on the intended application. Part II of this volume
is devoted to the two major pulse characterization techniques enabling the
complete reconstruction of the complex pulse envelope of even single-cycle
pulses; frequency resolved optical gating (FROG) and spectral interferometry
for direct electric field reconstruction (SPIDER). Part III covers some of
the key applications of few-cycle sources that use either the temporal or the
spectral coherence properties of the emitted pulse train from a mode-locked
laser.