Ways to a brighter future, with lasers

Brightness is a key figure of merit for laser performance and suitability for applications. Scaling up the brightness of lasers continues, even after 45 years, to be a major preoccupation of laser development. Here the recent advent of the high power fibre lasers has given a major boost. But this is not the only player. Thin disc lasers, cryogenically-cooled bulk lasers, hybrids combining fibre lasers and bulk lasers, and even parametric amplifiers are all serious contenders. This talk will survey the relative merits of these available options, with the conclusion that significant further increases in laser brightness can be expected in the near future