sance of an almost forgotten alternative interpretation of diffraction by the notion of the “boundary wave;” and the recent possibility of ultrashort pulsed illumi

By making use of a new technique for measuring the complete spatiotemporal electric field of light with micrometer spatial and femtosecond temporal resolution, we directly demonstrate the formation of the so called boundary diffraction wave and Arago’s spot, as well as the superluminal propagation of a “diffrac tion free” pulse. We believe that such spatiotemporally resolved measurements and the time domain treat ment of diffracting waves not only turn out to be useful for modern physical optics, especially in micro and meso optics, but also significantly aid in the understanding of diffraction phenomena in general. DOI: 10.1134/S1054660X10090021 MODERN TRENDS IN LASER PHYSICS