Question: How will lasers help us in the future?????

Mariastefania De Vido answered on 15 Mar 2015:

Hi there, nice question!

Lasers already have a huge number of applications in many different fields and are ubiquitous: you can find them in doctor surgeries, inside your CD and DVD players and barcode readers at the supermarket…

However, I believe we have much more ahead. Here are just a few examples:

– Lasers might one day be used to build “quantum computers” , which will perform calculations much faster than traditional computers. This research field is very recent and an increasing number of theoretical and experimental groups is now working to make quantum computing real.

– Use of lasers in chemistry and biomedical labs will further increase, allowing to analyse molecules and detecting diseases with unprecedented accuracy. Furthermore, lasers can be used to fabricate “lab-on-chips”, which incorporate all the functionalities of a whole laboratory onto a small glass substrate. This will help reducing processing costs and increasing analysis speed and reliability.

– Lasers could one day provide near-limitless clean energy by facilitating nuclear fusion, which is the process that makes the Sun shine and produce all the energy that makes life on earth possible. It is called “fusion” because hydrogen atoms are fused together at extremely high temperatures and pressures, which are found at the centre of the Sun.

Cheers 🙂

Stef