
Femtosecond pulses allow the unprecedented opportunity to probe matter on a timescale that is faster than atomic motion. The Dantus Research develops ultrashort pulsed sources to probe and control laser-matter interactions. This work touches on pulse characterization and compression, as well as measuring the dispersion of optical materials. The specific scientific challenges that will be addressed in this talk are (a) the coherent photophysical behavior of large molecules in solution; (b) nanoplasmonic dephasing in single, pairs, and chains of nanoparticles; and (c) strong field ionization and fragmentation of polyatomic molecules.