Quantum coherent control of ultrashort laser pulses

The effective photonic control is one of the key issues in photo-physics. Significant advancement in photonic crystals, quantum optics, ultrafast optics as well as micro-nano-optics gives rise to new op- portunities to manipulate the emission and propagation in optical fields, leading to a number of new and interesting discoveries, e.g., ultrashort light pulse storage and efficient energy conversion. This paper reviews the latest research progress in storage, release and energy conversion for ultrashort laser pulses in periodical arrays of absorbing medium. Techniques to fabricate such devices are also presented.