I. Advances in the Generation of Picosecond Pulses.- Repetitive Mode-Locking in Thermally Compensated Phosphate Glasses at 5 Hz and Above.- Fluorescence and Laser Action of "Old" (No.9860) and New Mode-Locking Dyes.- Stabilization of Sol id-State Lasers for Picosecond Transient Spectroscopy.- Excited Singlet State Absorption in Laser Dyes.- Picosecond Pulse Generation with Diode Lasers.- Bandwidth-Limited Picosecond Pulse Generation in an Actively Mode-Locked GaAlAs Diode Laser.- A Simple Picosecond Pulse Generation Scheme for Injection Lasers.- Q-Switching of Semiconductor Lasers with Picosecond Light Pulses.- Picosecond Pulses from an Optically Pumped GaAs laser.- Generation of Coherent Pulses of 60 Optical Cycles Through Synchronization of the Relaxation Oscillations of a Mode-Locked Dye Laser.- Synchronization of an Active-Passive Mode-Locked Nd:YAG Laser and a Mode-Locked Argon Ion Laser.- Pulse-Width Stabilization of a Synchronously Pumped Dye Laser.- Simultaneous Active AM Plus Passive FM with Q-Controlling Mode-Locked High Power Pulsed Laser.- A Model of Ultra-Short Pulse Amplification.- Picosecond Interferomatric Studies of CO2 Laser Produced Plasmas.- II. Advanoes in Optoelectronics.- Recent Advances in Picosecond Optoelectronics.- Optoelectronic Switching in the Picosecond Time Domain and Its Applications.- Novel Picosecond Optical Pulse Sampling Technique for Measuring the Response of High-Speed Optical Modulators.- Ultrafast Magnetophotoconductivity of Semiinsulating Gallium Arsenide.- Optoelectronic Modulation of Millimeter-Waves by Picosecond Pulses.- Measurements of Ultrashort Light Pulses with a Multichannel Two-Photon Photoconductivity Detector.- III. Picosecond Studies of Molecular Motion.- Anisotropic Absorption Studies of Orientational Motion.- Molecular Motions and Solvent Stabilization of Charges.- Picosecond Polarization Kinetics of Photoluminescence of Semiconductors and Dyes.- Molecular Orientation Dynamics in Gels and Critical Mixtures.- Measurement of Excited State Absorption Cross Sections in Dye Solutions with Picosecond Light Pulses.- Slow and Fast Response of the Optical Kerr Effect.- IV. Picosecond Relaxation Phenomena.- Picosecond Measurements of Radiative and Radiationless Relaxation Processes in Aromatic Molecules.- Vibrational Relaxation in Doped and Pure Molecular Crystals: A Picosecond Photon Echo and CARS Study.- New Results on the Rapid Dynamics of Vibrational Modes of Organic Molecules in Liquid and Solid Solutions.- The Dynamics and Structure of Liquids Revealed by the Homogeneous and Inhomogeneous Broadening of Liquid Vibrational Transitions.- Emission Risetimes in Picosecond Spectroscopy.- Vibrational Relaxation in the Lowest Excited Singlet State of Anthracene in the Condensed Phase.- Picosecond Studies of Electronic Relaxation in Triphenylmethane Dyes by Fluorescence-Upconversion.- Application of a Picosecond Dye Laser to the Study of Relaxation Processes in S-Tetrazine Vapour.- Dynamics of Reaction and Intramolecular Decay of Excited 3,5-Dinitroanisole: A Model for Ultrafast Radiationless Deactivation of Excited Nitroaromatics.- Study of the Intersystem Crossing in Ir and Rh Complexes with the Use of Subpicosecond Laser Pulse.- Vibrational Energy Transfer in Pure Liquid Hydrogen Chloride.- Investigation of Subpicosecond Dephasing Processes by Transient Spatial Parametric Effect in Resonant Media.- Optical Properties of Coherent Transients which are Stimulated by Picosecond Pulses at Three Frequencies.- V. Picosecond Chemical Processes.- Picosecond Electron Relaxation and Photochemical Dynamics.- Picosecond Laser Photoionization in Polar Liquids and the Study of the Electron Solvation Process.- Dynamical Evidence for Preferential Structure in Electron Photoejection from Arylaminonaphthalene Sulfonates.- Photodissociation, Short-Lived Intermediates, and Charge Transfer Phenomena in Liquids.- Excited-State Proton-Transfer Kinetics in 1-Naphthol, 1-Naphthol Sulfonates, and Organometal1ic Complexes.- Excited-State Absorption Spectra and Decay Mechanisms in Organic Photostabilizers.- Picosecond Studies of Temperature and Solvent Effects on the Fluorescence from Coumarin 102 and Acridine.- Picosecond Proton Transfer.- Molecular Dynamics and Picosecond Vibrational Spectra.- Viscosity Dependence of Iodine Recombination.- High-Power Picosecond Molecular Fragmentation and Rapid C-X Radical Formation.- Photoinduced Isomerism of Stilbenes: Picosecond Timescale Results.- Study on Fast Processes in Radiation Chemistry by Means of Picosecond Pulse Radiolysis.- VI. Applications in Solid State Physics.- Picosecond Nonlinear Spectroscopy of Electrons and Phonons in Semiconductors.- Picosecond Spectroscopy of Semiconductor Microstructures.- Picosecond Photoconductivity in Amorphous Silicon.- Picosecond, 1.06 Micron Laser-Induced Amorphous Phases in Thin, Single Crystal Silicon Membranes.- Picosecond Time-Resolved Resonant Two-Photon Absorption in CU2O.- Determination of Dispersion Curves on Excitonic Polaritons by Picosecond Time-of-Flight Method.- Picosecond Infrared Spectroscopy in Narrow-Gap Semiconductors.- Observation of Picosecond Photon Echoes in GaP:N.- Pulsewidth Dependence of Picosecond Laser-Induced Breakdown.- VII. Ultrashort Processes/Biology.- Electron Transfer from Photoexcited Bacteriopheophytin to p-Benzoquinone in Cationic Micelles.- A Report on Picosecond Studies of Electron Transfer in Photosynthetic Models.- Picosecond Studies on Bile Pigments.- Picosecond Torsional Dynamics of DNA.- High-Power UV Ultrashort Laser Action on DNA and Its Components.- VIII. Speotroscopic Techniques.- Surface Picosecond Raman Gain Spectra of a Molecular Monolayer and Ultra thin Films.- Pulse Sequenced CARS: Background Suppression and Nonlinear Interferences.- Raman Scattering from Excited States with Picosecond Lifetimes.- Picosecond Backward Echo in Sodium Vapor - Relaxation and Quantum Beat Modulation.- The Spatial Growth Rate of Stimulated Raman Scattering: A New Technique for Measuring Picosecond Laser Pulse Intensities.- Correction of Excite-and-Probe Spectra with Respect to Variations of Pump Pulse Energy.- Picosecond Phase-Conjugation Reflection and Gain in Saturable Absorbers by Degenerate Four-Wave Mixing.- Picosecond Resonance Raman Spectroscopy: The Initial Photolytic Event in Rhodopsin and Isorhodopsin.- Index of Contributors.

The second international conference on the subject of Picosecond Phenomena was held June 18-20, 1980, in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Scientists from a broad range of disciplines were brought together to discuss their common interest in ultrafast processes. This meeting was organized as a Topical Meeting of the Optical Society of America and was attended by 250 partici­ pants. The conference reviewed the latest advances in the experimental and theo­ retical understanding of phenomena that occur on a picosecond timescale. New discoveries in electronics, chemical dynamics, solid state physics, and pico­ second optics highlighted the interactions between chemists, physicists, biologists,and engineers who attended the conference. The enthusia~m gener­ ated by the rapid progress in the last two years and the pleasant Cape Cod weather resulted in a successful and enjoyable conference. The conference owes a special thanks to Dr. Jarus Quinn, Joan Connon, and their colleagues at the Optical Society of America for doing a superb job in implementing the meeting arrangements and to the program committee for the selection and organization of the technical presentations. We gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the National Science Foundation, Office of Naval Research, the u.S. Army Research Office, and the AFOSR.