title: The development and application of femtosecond laser systems.
abstract: Some background as well as recent progress in the development of femtosecond lasers are discussed together with a brief outline of a few representative emergent applications in biology and medicine that are underpinned by access to such sources. We also provide a short summary of other contributions in this focus issue.
authors.affiliation: SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9SS, UK. ws@st-andrews.ac.uk
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sibbett
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Lagatsky
authors.forename: C T A
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D007834:Lasers; D008027:Light; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012542:Scattering, Radiation