Nonlinear, or multiphoton, interaction of intense laser radiation with matter has been a key research subject for about four decades. Every three years, the International Conference on Multiphoton Processes (ICOMP) covers the latest advances in the field. Intense-field physics has seen phenomenal progress over the last decade. What looked like dreams in the mid-nineties have become routine today. Major theoretical, experimental and technological advances in fundamental science and applications of multiphoton processes cover such diverse areas as precision measurements, femtosecond and now attosecond metrology, quantum control of atomic and molecular dynamics, laser machining of solid state materials, laser acceleration of electrons and protons, and medical applications.
This special issue of Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics (J. Phys. B) contains a collection of articles originating from the Tenth International Conference on Multiphoton Processes (ICOMP 2005) held on 9–14 October 2005 in Orford, Quebec, Canada (general chair Lou DiMauro, Ohio State University, program co-chairs Paul Corkum and Misha Ivanov, National Research Council of Canada). The conference focused on atoms and molecules in strong fields, femtosecond and attosecond processes, propagation of intense pulses, and of course multiphoton processes which lie at the foundation of all these subjects. Articles presented in this issue cover several key areas of intense-field physics. These include strong field ionization of atoms, molecules and inside transparent dielectric materials, methods of generation and characterization of attosecond XUV pulses and pulse trains, and new approaches to using intense laser fields and/or attosecond pulses for studying entangled systems and imaging electronic and nuclear dynamics with sub-Ångstrom spatial and sub-femtosecond temporal resolution. We have tried to group the papers according to these general areas.
We would like to use this opportunity to thank all the participants of ICOMP-X, and in particular the contributors to this issue, for the high quality of science presented at the conference and in this journal. The success of the conference would not have been possible without the program committee which included D Charalambidis, L Cocke, R Freeman, Y Fujimura, S Goreslavsky, A L'Huillier, F Krausz, R Levis, S H Lin, A Maquet, J Marangos, K Midorikawa, G Mourou, P Salieres, W Sandner, K Schafer, A Scrinzi, A M Sergeev, H Stapelfeldt, A Starace, J Ullrich, M Vrakking, and K Yamanouchi. A particularly lively atmosphere in the discussions was ensured by many students who were able to participate in the conference, in part due to generous support of the Canadian Institute for Photonic Innovations (CIPI) to the Canadian, and of the US Department of Energy Office of Basic Energy Sciences to the American students. Additional support to the conference was provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), Pfeiffer Vacuum, Femtolasers Produktions GmbH, Roentdek Handels GmbH, Coherent Laser Products, and Amplitude Technologies.
Last but not least, the guest editors of this special issue would like to acknowledge the tremendous amount of work done by the staff of J. Phys. B in handling all aspects of the publication process. In particular, we would like to thank Isabelle Auffret-Babak, Alice Malhador and Joanna Dingley from the editorial team, Katie Gerrard in production and the Editor-in-Chief, Professor J-M Rost.