Raman induced polarization spectroscopy (RIPS) is developed as a new technique for the analysis of reactive flow systems such as combustion. RIPS is a time-domain spectroscopy that may be used to measure temperature and concentration of chemical species with sub-picosecond resolution. After a brief overview of the RIPS process, an analytical expression for the signal is derived in the semi-classical limit to determine its temperature dependence. Spectra for nitrogen are presented that were recorded using an oven at temperatures up to 1320 K. Theoretical fits to the spectra are produced and used to extract rotational temperatures. The observed RIPS temperatures agree to within about 5% of values recorded by a thermocouple. Improvements to the current scheme are proposed for increasing the accuracy of the temperature measurements. A homebuilt femtosecond (fs) Ti:sapphire laser system is used to conduct the experiments and its design is discussed in detail. The laser produces 1.4 W of 800 nm output at 3.3 kHz. Pulse durations of 50 fs are obtained routinely. Femtosecond pulses are produced in a self-mode-locked oscillator and amplified using the chirped-pulse amplification technique. A regenerative amplifier is pumped by a homebuilt, intra-cavity doubled Nd:YAG laser that produces 20 W of 532 nm output at 3.3 kHz. Drawings and specifications of the oscillator, pulse stretcher, amplifier, pump laser, and pulse compressor are provided, in addition to the procedure followed to build and operate each of these units.