Class 5 Photonics - Ultrafast, high-power laser technology (2024)

FAQs

What are ultrafast lasers used for? ›

Ultrafast laser spectroscopy is a category of spectroscopic techniques using ultrashort pulse lasers for the study of dynamics on extremely short time scales (attoseconds to nanoseconds). Different methods are used to examine the dynamics of charge carriers, atoms, and molecules.

Photonics is the technology of the future, the application of powerful beams of light through sources like lasers and LEDs to generate electronic and digital signals that can power complex devices quickly and efficiently.

OPA and OPCPA are techniques used for generating ultrafast femtosecond laser pulses. OPA utilizes a nonlinear crystal to produce tunable wavelengths and high energy, while OPCPA combines OPA with chirped pulse amplification for increased peak power.

The highest-power lasers can heat, vaporize, melt, and burn through many different materials and are used in industrial processes for welding and cutting. In addition to the power level of the laser, the ability to deliver these various effects is determined by the distance between the laser and its target.

Dispersion and Pulse Spreading: Group Delay Dispersion

While an ultrafast laser may emit pulses with a 50fs duration, relaying this pulse to a target position using mirrors and lenses, or even just transmitting the pulse through air, has the potential to broaden the pulse temporally.

Photonic devices are components for creating, manipulating or detecting light. This can include laser diodes, light-emitting diodes, solar and photovoltaic cells, displays and optical amplifiers.

FIMMWAVE/FIMMPROP is probably the most widely used propagation tool for the modelling of silicon photonics: rigorous (no slowly varying approximation), fully vectorial, offering wide angle capability and very high design flexibility.

Photonic sensors convert light into electrical signals. This technology is used extensively in the energy sector. Most commonly, solar power and the monitoring of wind, oil, and geothermal energy use photonic sensing.

The use of ultrafast spectroscopy to gain a detailed knowledge of chemical reactions (including their TSs) is a revolutionary way not only to understand the reaction mechanism but also to increase reaction efficiencies and to enhance the reaction products.

In ultrafast laser manufacturing, optical energy of tightly focused femtosecond or picosecond laser pulses can be delivered to precisely defined positions in the bulk of materials via two-/multi-photon excitation on a timescale much faster than thermal energy exchange between photoexcited electrons and lattice ions.

What are the applications of femtosecond laser? ›

Because of their ultrashort and ultralong pulses, ease in usage, and precision, femtosecond lasers are widely used in molecular structure manipulation and localization. They are also used in ophthalmic surgery to correct human vision.