Nobel prize for pioneers in ultrashort pulsed laser technology

Ditzingen, October 5, 2018 - On October 2, the Nobel prize for physics was awarded to Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland in Stockholm for their work on a method for generating very intense, ultrashort laser impulses. CPA (chirped pulse amplification) technology, which is already in widespread use, makes it possible to gently process a diverse range of materials using ultrashort, extremely powerful laser impulses. By deploying ultrashort pulsed (USP) technology in its laser systems for processing very fine or sensitive materials, TRUMPF has demonstrated that the process is groundbreaking from an industrial standpoint as well.

USP lasers prevent the material from heating up during processing, allowing the quality of existing industrial-scale applications to be enhanced. In addition, USP lasers make possible entirely new industrial machining processes, such as the efficient, high-precision cutting of glass. In this process, bursts of ultrashort laser light in the femtosecond range force the transparent glass to absorb several photons at once. Termed multi-photon absorption, this method considerably improves absorption of the incident laser light. The glass absorbs the energy of the laser in trillionths of a second, the moderate energy making only localized changes to the processed material. TRUMPF developed the TOP Cleave process, a method that harnesses these precisely measured laser impulses to make exact cuts in glass materials.

The USP lasers of TRUMPF's TruMicro 2000 and TruMicro 5000 Femto Edition series operate on the principle developed by Mourou and Strickland. In recent years, TRUMPF has marketed a four-digit number of USP laser systems internationally. The high-tech company's USP lasers are deployed mainly in microprocessing applications, in the manufacture of electronic components, and in glass welding.

More than anyone else, Gérard Mourou is synonymous with the concept of extreme light. He was the driving force behind the establishment of high-performance laser centers around the world, he recently launched ELI, a major European project focusing on extreme light infrastructure, and he has built up an international community of scientists in this field. Mourou has received numerous prizes for his work, including the renowned Berthold Leibinger Research Award for applied laser technology in 2016. TRUMPF sincerely congratulates the Nobel prizewinners for physics.