SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND-A consortium led by fiber laser manufacturer Fianium received a $2.7 million dollar award from the U.K. Department of Trade and Industry to develop next-generation fiber lasers for industrial and imaging applications. The project includes Lairdside Laser Engineering Centre (LLEC) at the University of Liverpool and the Centre for Photonics and Photonic Materials (CPPM) of the University of Bath.
The LLEC will take delivery of a new picosecond fiber laser system from Fianium in January 2007 for materials processing characterization trials as part of the ULTRAFAST project. The laser is a member of the FemtoPower series operating at a wavelength of 1064nm with a maximum pulse energy of 4 µJ. The CPPM will develop new types of photonic crystal fibers tailored for use within ultrafast fiber lasers to enable the delivery of femtosecond pulses with high peak powers.
John Clowes, VP of Research and Development at Fianium and project coordinator, said, “The collaboration with Lairdside and Bath University will be a great benefit in developing revolutionary new fibre lasers for materials processing and imaging applications.”