Advances in Yb:Fiber Frequency Comb Technology

Axel Ruehl
Vol. 23, Issue 5, pp. 30-35

Femtosecond-laser frequency combs revolutionized the field of precision metrology after their introduction in 1999. Today, they are commonly used in atomic clock calibration, low-noise frequency synthesis, astronomical spectrograph calibration and precision spectroscopy. Scientists are now pushing to extend frequency combs into the mid-infrared and extreme ultraviolet spectral region with Yb:fiber technology.

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Computers at Work on Ultrafast Laser Design

Catalin V. Filip
Vol. 23, Issue 5, pp. 24-29

Ultrafast lasers have evolved so quickly in the last decade that engineers have only recently incorporated computer technology into their design. Today, new computer programs could provide increased precision and performance for ultrafast lasers used in medical applications, micromachining and scientific research.

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Light, Atoms and Nuclei: The Optical Discovery of Deuterium

Charles W. Clark and Joseph Reader
Vol. 23, Issue 5, pp. 36-41

Eighty years have passed since atomic spectroscopy was used to discover deuterium, or “heavy hydrogen.” The element has played a transformational role in the development of nuclear energy and isotope chemistry. Currently, it is helping astronomers to understand the very origins of our universe.

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Remembering the Million-Hour Laser

R.W. Dixon
Vol. 23, Issue 5, pp. 42-48

On the 50th anniversary of the diode laser, Richard Dixon reminisces about the program that took the device from laboratory curiosity to the applied technology that forms the backbone for terrestrial and undersea communications.

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