Ultrafast Optics
A graduate-level MIT course on the physics and engineering of ultrashort laser pulses, spanning nanosecond down to attosecond timescales. Lectures cover pulse generation and propagation, linear and nonlinear pulse shaping, optical solitons, and pulse compression, alongside laser principles such as single- and multi-mode dynamics, Q-switching, and active and passive mode-locking. Students study pulse characterization methods including autocorrelation, FROG, and SPIDER, plus noise limitations in mode-locked lasers, laser amplifiers, and optical parametric amplifiers and oscillators. The course closes on applications: pump-probe spectroscopy, optical imaging, frequency metrology, laser ablation, and high harmonic generation. Materials come from MIT OpenCourseWare and include lecture notes and course readings under a Creative Commons license, free to access with no certificate offered. The course assumes prior graduate-level background in optics and lasers.