Thales, ICFO Partner on mid-IR Lasers

The Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO) will collaborate with the Thales Group of France to develop ultrafast mid-infrared lasers with high energies and repetition rates.

Targeted applications for the lasers include IR spectroscopy and biomedical imaging, as well as particle acceleration, attoscience, and tabletop coherent x-ray imaging and spectroscopy.

From left to right, Christophe Simon-Boisson, Dr. Olivier Chalus and Denis Levaillant of Thales, and Dr. Jens Biegert, Dr. Silvia Carrasco, Dr. Denis Guilhot and doctoral student Daniel Sanchez Peacham from ICFO. Courtesy of IFCO.

An ICFO team led by professor Dr. Jens Biegert will develop lasers in the 3- to 6-µm wavelength domain based on optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA) and related pump lasers.

Thales develops petawatt-class intense laser systems for research institutions. The company was recently awarded a contract by the European Extreme Light Infrastructure for Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP) program, established to produce two intense lasers with 10-PW output.

For more information, visit www.icfo.eu and www.thalesgroup.com.