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IMAGE: Artistic impression of the spectrum of a mid-infrared pulse broadening in the background with the electric field of the generated pulse. view more
Credit: ICFO/L.Maidment, U. Elu & J. Biegert
Analytical optical methods are vital to our modern society as they permit the fast and secure identification of substances within solids, liquids or gases. These methods rely on light interacting with each of these substances differently at different parts of the optical spectrum. For instance, the ultraviolet range of the spectrum can directly access electronic transitions inside a substance while the terahertz is very sensitive to molecular vibrations.