This book gathers the latest research from around the globe on the subject of lasers and optics research. Topics discussed include polarisation dependent effects in optical wave-guides containing bragg grating structures; bacterial cell interactions with optical fibre surfaces; passively mode-locked fibre lasers with non-linear optical loop mirrors; optical breakdown in gases induced by high-power ir co2 laser pulses and towards shaping of pulsed plane waves in the time domain via chiral sculptured thin films.