Any advance in laser technology has enormous potential in a wide range of fields, from space communications to fusion power, and we’ve just achieved a major breakthrough: ultrashort laser pulses of up to 100 megawatts, the most powerful ever produced in human-created systems. .
These pulses last less than a picosecond (one-millionth of a second), and a maximum power of 100 megawatts would be enough to briefly power 100,000 vacuum cleaners with a single pulse. Even the average output power of 550 W is 50 percent higher than previously observed in experiments.
The new technology can be widely used in high-precision measurements, monitoring and processing of other materials, according to researchers from the Swiss Technical University Zurich (ETH Zurich).
“This record is the result of a long and exciting journey involving a lot of interesting laser physics,” says physicist Ursula Keller from ETH Zurich.
Here we are dealing with so-called short-pulse disk lasers, which are based on ultra-thin disks containing a crystal containing ytterbium atoms. This disk creates a laser beam when these atoms are excited. Two innovations are at work here: First, a special mirror arrangement to create an improved “reproduction cavity” that can reflect and amplify laser light to higher levels without losing its instability.
Second, the laser uses a semiconductor mirror called a semiconductor saturation mirror, or SESAM. This helps convert laser light into short, intense pulses. The team improved this in several ways, including adding a thin sapphire window.
This type of laser light amplification previously generally required more power and larger instruments beyond the laser. On the contrary, the technology used here is more compact and efficient.
“Pulses with power comparable to what we have achieved so far could only be achieved by sending weaker laser pulses through several separate amplifiers outside the laser,” says physicist Moritz Seidel from ETH Zurich.
The researchers behind the laser recorder have many ideas for how it could be used. One potential application is frequency combs used in ultra-precise clocks; This could mean greater accuracy in measuring time and natural events.
Such lasers can also be used to test materials without cutting: for example, to look for defects in objects or to scan the human body. This new record setting is just the beginning of advanced laser technology. And it’s another great example of the detailed and dedicated work scientists are doing to develop lasers that go beyond what we’ve seen before in the laboratory and use them to explore the universe around us.
“When it finally worked and we watched the laser create pulses, it was really cool,” says Seidel. The study was published on: Optical.
Source: Port Altele
