The ability to observe events on such timescales is important for basic physics — to understand how atoms move within molecules — as well as for engineering semiconductor devices, and for understanding basic biological processes at the molecular level. Today, researchers can easily reach into the realm of femtoseconds — quadrillionths (or millionths of a billionth) of a second, the timescale of motions within molecules. Femtosecond laser research led to the development, in 2000, of a system that revolutionized the measurement of optical frequencies and enabled optical clocks. Continuing the progress, today’s top-shelf technologies are beginning to make it possible to observe events that last less than 100 attoseconds, or quintillionths of a second.
Defense applications, such as geo-location, navigation, communication, coherent imaging and radar, depend on the generation and transmission of stable, agile electromagnetic radiation. The Program in Ultrafast Laser Science and Engineering (PULSE) seeks to enable efficient and agile use of the entire electromagnetic spectrum by linking it to the output of an ultrafast laser. The expected outcome of the program is to develop novel sources of radiation that improve upon existing state-of-the-art performance, size, weight, and power.
The broad laser spectrum is a consequence of the Fourier-transform relationship between time and frequency, and each pulse results from the coherent superposition of many frequencies. The high-peak power results from temporal confinement of the laser energy. A laser operating with a 50-femtosecond pulse and a 100-megahertz pulse rate will have a peak power that is 200,000 times higher than a continuous-wave laser operating at the same average power.
PULSE program is developing the technological means for engineering improved spectral sources, such as ultra-fast optical lasers—advances that in turn could facilitate more efficient and agile use of the entire electromagnetic spectrum and generate improvements in existing capabilities such as geolocation, navigation, communication, coherent imaging and radar, and perhaps give rise to entirely new spectrum-dependent capabilities.
Improved radiation sources—for example, lower noise microwaves or higher flux x-rays—could enhance existing capabilities and enable entirely new technologies. Advances in ultrafast pulsed lasers operating at optical wavelengths could benefit biomedical imaging, threat detection and more: The technology could coherently link radar on Navy ships at sea, improving the systems’ range and resolution, allowing them to identify more distant objects and characterize them with greater reliability; it also could be used in a tabletop x-ray imager that could image not only single cells but also the structures within, providing invaluable 3-D information to test responses to drugs and discover new treatments.
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