Eye-safe laser research

A Strathclyde University researcher has won the Thales Scottish Technology Prize for laser technology and applications for his work on rendering cheap industrial lasers eye-safe.

Dr Walter Lubeigt, from Strathclyde’s Institute of Photonics, won an individual prize of £2,500 plus £40,000 for the university for his work on eye-safe neodymium (Nd) diamond Raman lasers.

It was presented by David Lockwood, managing director of Thales’s optronics facility in Glasgow.

Lubeigt is researching a technique for changing the wavelength of inexpensive industrial Nd lasers from one micron to the eye-safe wavelength of 1.5 microns.

At this wavelength, lasers cannot penetrate the cornea, thus protecting the retina from damage by the laser light.

Erbium lasers are currently used to generate laser light in the eye-safe range, but the technology is not as well established as Nd lasers.

Lubeigt is working on a project to develop continuous wave (CW) Raman diamond lasers.