Femtosecond technology: a new industrial technology platform

Summary form only given. Increased processing speed in electronics has given birth to new industries. Current computers and high-speed communication systems largely use technologies handling signals of a few 100 MHz up to the GHz range. Development of technologies handling very fast phenomena with precision of a few tens of femtoseconds and with a repetition rate in the THz range by simple and compact means could produce revolutionary change in systems, and surely will lead to a new industrial platform. To promote the research and develop such technologies handling ultra-fast phenomena, "The Femtosecond Technology Research Project" was started in 1995, sponsored by NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization in Japan) as a ten-year project. This project set two major targets. One was to develop ultra-fast optical devices, which enable 1 Tb/s OTDM (optical time division multiplexed) transmission. The other is to develop compact ultra-short X-ray pulse sources for various diagnosis applications. The generation and control of ultra-short optical pulses are key issues in both targets.