Focus on multidimensional optical spectroscopy and imaging

Abstract

Optical spectroscopy using ultrafast light pulses has undergone a revolution in the last decade due to the introduction and development of multidimensional coherent techniques. These methods build on established coherent spectroscopic techniques, such as photon echoes, but go beyond them by correlating the coherent dynamics during two time periods. The resulting multidimensional spectra have a number of advantages including disentangling congested spectra, revealing coupling between resonances, and removing the effects of inhomogeneous broadening. Similar ideas are currently being used for imaging. The papers in this 'focus on' collection document some of the current areas of activity in these fields. © 2014 IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.