June 3, 2013

Laser with "rainbow" buffer could make new applications practical



A path to compact, robust sources for ultrashort laser pulses

Laser researchers in Munich are challenging a basic assumption of engineering: "You can't have it all." They have shown that for certain kinds of laser applications in biomedical imaging, material processing, and communications, a new approach could deliver the desired capabilities with no problematic tradeoffs:  in compact, inexpensive, efficient and long-lived devices that produce ultrashort, high-energy light pulses. This research is a close collaboration between members of the Electrical Engineering and Information Technology Department at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) and the Physics Department of LMU Munich.