We have realized total electromagnetic mode confinement in a microscopic optical, Casimir-type, cavity and detected the resonant change of the molecular fluorescence time under short-pulse excitation due to a spontaneous-atomic-decay enhancement-inhibition process (Purcell effect). This corresponds to the first realization in optics of the resonant coupling of atoms with a single mode of the radiation field.

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We have realized total electromagnetic mode confinement in a microscopic optical, Casimir-type, cavity and detected the resonant change of the molecular fluorescence time under short-pulse excitation due to a spontaneous-atomic-decay enhancement-inhibition process (Purcell effect). This corresponds to the first realization in optics of the resonant coupling of atoms with a single mode of the radiation field.

We present a calculation of the chirp generated in laser pulses shorter than 100 fsec on propagation through a saturable absorber (DODCI in ethylene glycol). The calculation takes into account the absorber saturation and the solvent nonlinear refractive index. At pulse energies greater than 10 nJ the chirp tends to be predominantly positive, and it increases rapidly as the pulse duration becomes shorter than 50 fsec. At pulse energies in the 1-7-nJ range the chirp is mostly negative for pulses longer than 30 fsec.