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Femtosecond science is the field of research and technology utilising state of the art laser systems delivering extremely short pulses with high peak intensities, in particular pulses in the femtosecond regime.
The CSIR conducts applied research using femtosecond lasers and related technologies, aimed at solving real-world problems while working at the cutting edge of this new technology. The major focus of this work is coherent control and all activities are directed towards this goal.
Given that one femtosecond is equal to one millionth of a billionth of a second; these short pulses can be used to measure extremely fast processes, down to the femtosecond regime where no other time-resolved technique exists. The characteristic of femtosecond lasers are used to measure very fast biological and chemical processes.
Femtosecond science research topics at the CSIR:
Coherent control
Coherent control principles are being developed in an attempt to actually control chemical and biological reactions. All research efforts are focused on this goal, as can be seen in the descriptions below.
Femto-chemistry
Femtosecond laser pulses are used to study the activation, dissociation and ionisation of various molecules in the gas phase. Studies are currently focused on observing ionisation fragments and attempting to change these fragmentation ratios. The eventual goal is to control specific chemical reactions.
Femto-biology
Femtosecond laser pulses are used to study fast biological processes. Current research is focused on the measurement of ultrafast energy transfer events in light harvesting complexes.
Industrial applications
Femtosecond laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy is used as a diagnostic tool to study the concentration and distribution of various elements in thin layers of solid materials. A femtosecond micromachining station is under development for the machining of small holes and feature sizes of the order of a few microns.
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