Ultrafast 2.1µm Holmium Lasers for GHz ablation

Femtosecond lasers are ubiquitous tools in science and industry, their widespread applications aided by their increasingly wide commercial availability. However, most femtosecond lasers operate at a wavelength of around 1µm, which hinders many potential new uses.

In the last years, there is an increased interest in longer wavelengths, in particular the wavelength region between 2-3 µm, however only very few laser systems exist in the laser market at these wavelengths.

This wavelength region has large potential for many fields in material processing, laser surgery, gas sensing; as well as in a variety of scientific applications, such as spectroscopy.

In this project, we propose to explore the market potential of a femtosecond laser system based on a new laser gain material demonstrated in the context of our ERC St.G Project, that operates in this wavelength region with record high average power and short pulse durations.

The unique parameter set this laser offers at this wavelength has the potential to disrupt material processing applications; and this project aims at validating the potential of the laser for this market.