This volume is a collection of papers presented at the Ninth International Symposium on "Ultrafast Processes in Spectroscopy" (UPS '95) held at the International Centre for Theo retical Physics (ICTP), Trieste (Italy), October 30 -November 3, 1995. These meetings have become recognized as the major forum in Europe for discussion of new work in this rapidly moving field. The UPS'95 Conference in Trieste brought together a multidisciplinary group of researchers sharing common interests in the generation of ultrashort optical pulses and their application to studies of ultrafast phenomena in physics, chemistry, material science, electronics, and biology. It was attended by approximately 250 participants from 20 countries and the five-day program comprises more than 200 papers. The progress of both technology and applications in the field of ultrafast processes during these last years is truly remarkable. The advent of all solid state femtosecond lasers and the extension of laser wavelengths by frequency conversion techniques provide a large variety of high-performance light sources for ultrashort pulses. With these sources ultrafast phenomena in physical, chemical and biological systems and in electronic de vi(:es are now studied extensively. Ultrafast technology is becoming one of the basic and common tools presently entering a wide variety of scientific fields not only for basic re search but also for promoting new applications in various areas. We feel that these pro ceedings vividly reflect the present status of the field.

Ultrashort Pulse Lasers. All Solid-State Tunable Ultrafast Laser Oscillators and Amplifiers for Real-World Applications Including Medical Imaging; N.P. Barry, et al. Ultrafast Spectroscopy of Atoms and Molecules. Vibrational Coherence in Photoisomerization Reaction of Cis-stilbene in Solution; D.K. Palit, et al. Ultrafast Non-Linear Optical Phenomena. Ultrafast Temporal Dynamics in an Optical Microscopic Cavity; P. Mataloni, et al. Ultrafast Spectroscopy of Semiconductors. Optical Cross-talk between Quantum Wells; D. Weber, et al. Generation and Applications of Intense Ultrashort Pulse. High-Brightness Excimer Lasers; S. Szatmari, et al. Frequency Conversion. Femtosecond Pulse Compression by Sum-Frequency Generation in BBO; A. Varanavicius, et al. Ultrafast Non-Linear Optics in Organics. Femtosecond Dynamics in Conjugated Polymers; T. Kobayashi. Applications of Ultrafast Lasers in Medicine and Ultrafast Processes in Biophysics. Imaging Through Diffusing Media with Time Resolved Transmittance; R. Cubeddu, et al. Ultrafast Spectroscopy of Metals, Insulators and Confined Systems. New Ultrafast Measurement Techniques. Superconductors and the Terahertz Spectroscopy. Ultrafast Optoelectronics. 139 Additional Articles. Index.