In view of the rapid growth in both experimental and theoretical studies of multiphoton processes and multiphoton spectroscopy of atoms, ions and molecules in many interdisciplinary fields, an Advanced Series that contains review papers readable not only to active researchers in these areas but also to those who are not experts in the field but intend to enter the field is very necessary. This series attempts to serve this purpose. Each review article is written in a self-contained manner by the experts in the area so that the readers can grasp the knowledge in the area without too much preparation. The collection of topics in this volume will prove useful, valuable and stimulating not only to active researchers but also to other scientists in the areas of biology, chemistry, materials science and physics.

In view of the rapid growth in both experimental and theoretical studies of multiphoton processes and multiphoton spectroscopy of atoms, ions and molecules in many interdisciplinary fields, an Advanced Series that contains review papers readable not only to active researchers in these areas but also to those who are not experts in the field but intend to enter the field is very necessary. This series attempts to serve this purpose. Each review article is written in a self-contained manner by the experts in the area so that the readers can grasp the knowledge in the area without too much preparation. The collection of topics in this volume will prove useful, valuable and stimulating not only to active researchers but also to other scientists in the areas of biology, chemistry, materials science and physics.