Ultrafast epiphany: the rise of ultrafast science and technology in the real world

Summary form only given. The field of ultrafast science has historically concerned itself with spectroscopy and dynamical studies in physics, optoelectronics, nonlinear optics, chemistry, biology, and materials sciences. Recently, a number of potential applications areas have emerged in which the use of ultrashort pulses can result in significant added value. Examples of such applications areas include communications, medical, environment, materials processing, metrology, counter-terrorism, and industrial process control. For those who have considered ultrafast science to be a field of purely academic or fundamental research of only long-term interest, this realization is an epiphany. We discuss these potential applications from a viewpoint of the fundamental benefits of ultrafast science and technology.