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Solid State Lasers
Ultrafast laser development has been a core component of the group's research programme for 24 years and has included the development of ultrafast dye and solid-state laser systems which, together with ultrafast detector technology, have been applied to nonlinear optics. Paul French and Roy Taylor have worked on tunable c.w. femtosecond dye lasers and solid-state lasers since 1983 with a strong emphasis on exploiting novel laser media and developing versatile ultrafast laser systems with broad spectral coverage for scientific and technological applications. Highlights from more than 50 international journal publications include the demonstration of the first femtosecond Ti:sapphire, Cr:YAG, Cr:Forsterite, Cr:LiSAF and Pr:YLF lasers in the UK. Many of these achievements have been "world firsts". Recent work has focused on the development of compact diode-pumped tunable microchip lasers and tunable/ultrafast all-solid-state lasers for real-world applications including biomedical imaging.
Current projects include:
For further information on solid-state laser work within the group, please contact Dr J. R. Taylor.