Measurement of ultrafast material dynamics using sub-5 fs pulses

Femtosecond pulses shorter than 10 fs have become easily available and enabled the study of real-time dynamics of various material systems. Especially, femtosecond wavepacket dynamics has been recently studied to realize the possibility of controlling molecular dynamics using tailored ultrashort pulses. Information about the dynamic coupling among vibrational modes in molecules in the condensed phase is needed for the realization of such selective chemistry. Several examples of sub-5 fs spectroscopy of molecular systems are described including polydiacetylene, cresyl violet and J-aggregates.