Elucidating Structure and Dynamics under Optically and Thermally manipulated conditions: Perspectives of a Femtosecond Spectroscopist

	Matter under the influence of optical and/or thermal perturbation can behave quite differently, more so when such perturbations are abrupt and extreme. Using femtosecond lasers that are tailored to our needs, we can generate either of the conditions.  Such light-matter interaction can be of large benefit in unravelling many hitherto unseen phenomena, of which I present a few examples from our recent work that encompass optical microscopy, nanomaterial manipulation under optical field, coherent oscillations from micro-heterogeneity as well as demonstrating the molecular nature of thermal lens spectroscopy.  Each of the examples would demonstrate the uniqueness of the femtosecond laser pulses in their study.