Superlaser to safeguard Australia

A world-leading study led by Professor Richard Mildren, former ARC Future Fellow based at Macquarie University, has developed a ‘superlaser’ using an ultra-pure diamond that concentrates the energy of multiple laser beams into one.

The power of multiple laser beams is harnessed in the diamond through a co-operative effect of the crystal that causes intense light beams to transfer their power into a selected direction. The wavelength of the laser beam is also changed, conferring other advantages to the technology.

Being able to do this in a compact solid, and at very high power, has real-world and high-stakes applications, such as management of space debris or defence, as well as remote sensing, bio imaging, medicine and quantum science.

In 2017, Professor Richard Mildren received the Defence Science and Technology Eureka Prize for Outstanding Science in Safeguarding Australia for the development of the diamond-based high power lasers and ‘superlaser’ technology.

	The high power lasers could be used to combat threats to security from the increased proliferation of low-cost drones and missile technology. They also have an application in de-orbiting space junk using ground-based lasers, and in powering space vehicles.

 

Image: Diamond beam combining amplifier: Three input beams intersect in the diamond efficiently transfer their power to a fourth input ‘seed’ beam. Image credit: Ondrej Kitzler.