1. Forthcoming papers

   Announcement Pages: A5 - A5

2. Editorial

   • F. Träger
   • H. K. V. Lotsch

   EditorialNotes Pages: 1 - 1

3. Ultrafast dynamics of carrier-induced absorption changes in highly-excited CdSe nanocrystals

   • S. Hunsche
   • T. Dekorsy
   • H. Kurz

   Regular Papers Pages: 3 - 10

4. Spectral investigation of cw rf-pumped atomic Xe laser with a slab geometry

   • S. N. Tskhai
   • Yu. B. Udalov
   • V. N. Ochkin

   Regular Papers Pages: 11 - 14

5. Tunable picosecond infrared pulses generated by stimulated electronic Raman scattering of a mode-locked Ti:Sapphire laser in potassium vapor

   • H. Ohde
   • S. Lin
   • T. Suzuki

   Regular Papers Pages: 15 - 19

6. Linewise Raman-Stokes/anti-Stokes temperature measurements in flames using an unintensified charge-coupled device

   • J. A. Wehrmeyer
   • S. Yeralan
   • K. S. Tecu

   Regular Papers Pages: 21 - 27

7. Oxygen concentration and temperature measurements in N₂–O₂ mixtures using rotational coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy

   • L. Martinsson
   • P. -E. Bengtsson
   • M. Aldén

   Regular Papers Pages: 29 - 37

8. Thermometry of an oxy-acetylene flame using multiplex degenerate four-wave mixing of C₂

   • C. F. Kaminski
   • I. G. Hughes
   • P. Ewart

   Regular Papers Pages: 39 - 44

9. Experimental evaluation of entropy for transmission holographic optical elements

   • L. Carretero
   • A. Beléndez
   • A. Fimia

   Regular Papers Pages: 45 - 50

10. Comparative study of spectral narrowing of a pulsed Ti:Sapphire laser using pulsed and CW injection seeding

    • N. J. Vasa
    • M. Tanaka
    • O. Uchino

    Regular Papers Pages: 51 - 57

11. Relation of pump-beam quality and conversion efficiency in the Raman downward conversion

    • T. T. Lay
    • S. Wada
    • K. Toyoda

    Regular Papers Pages: 59 - 64

12. Imaging of the reaction zone in a 100 kW oil-burning furnace by use of a broad-band excimer laser

    • P. P. Radi
    • B. Mischler
    • M. Ochs

    Regular Papers Pages: 65 - 69

13. Thermometry of gas layers in thermal plasma CVD by pulsed-laser Rayleigh scattering

    • J. Larjo
    • J. Vattulainen
    • R. Hernberg

    Regular Papers Pages: 71 - 75

14. Contrast ratio and separation factor in multiphoton dissociation of supercooled UF₆ irradiated with multifrequency 16 μm Raman-laser radiation

    • Y. Okada
    • S. Kato
    • K. Takeuchi

    Regular Papers Pages: 77 - 81

15. Theoretical treatment of relaxation oscillations in quasi-three-level systems

    • J. R. Salcedo
    • J. M. Sousa
    • V. V. Kuzmin

    Regular Papers Pages: 83 - 85

16. Heat-pipe oven for large column densities with a well-defined optical path length

    • B. Steffes
    • X. Li
    • C. R. Vidal

    Regular Papers Pages: 87 - 90

17. Frequency control of a dual-pulse-pumped dye laser by combination of external injection and intracavity self-injection of radiation

    • Z. Y. Peshev
    • A. D. Deleva
    • Y. A. Velkovska

    Regular Papers Pages: 91 - 95

18. Combined lidar system for stratospheric and tropospheric ozone measurements

    • V. S. Bucreev
    • S. K. Vartapetov
    • S. S. Khmelevtsov

    Regular Papers Pages: 97 - 101

19. Sound-velocity measurements in gases by laser-induced electrostrictive gratings

    • W. Hubschmid
    • R. Bombach
    • A. Stampanoni-Panariello

    Regular Papers Pages: 103 - 107

20. High-efficiency continuous-wave diode-pumped Tm:Ho:LuAG laser at 2.1 μm

    • V. Kushawaha
    • Y. Chen
    • L. Major

    Rapid Communication Pages: 109 - 111