Abstract

Fibre-laser technology is enabling the creation of new types of compact light sources with unique ultrabroad or ultranarrow spectral characteristics. These lasers are now finding applications in diverse fields ranging from biotechnology to test and measurement apparatus. The adoption of fibre-laser technology by the commercial sector has seen rapid growth over the past five years. The lower price of fibre-laser systems, the reduction of maintenance costs, good beam quality and high wall-plug efficiency make this technology attractive for the replacement of conventional lasers in many industrial and medical applications.