Quantum optics

The various topics covered in this article are: processes involved in the generation of photons, the properties of laser light and possible exploitation of its extreme coherence and brightness; quantum properties of light and radiative processes, non linear optics, multiphoton processes, phase conjugation, ultrashort optical pulses, non linearities in optics and chaos, prospectives (squeezed states of light...). 34 figs., 4 refs