The Future of Lasers and Laser Applications

Lasers are increasingly used in· an astounding variety of scientific, engineering, medical and commercial applications. Here the prospective improvements in lasers will first be addressed, e.g., improvements in wavelength range, tunability, pulse duration, efficiency, cost, etc. Laser applications will then be briefly surveyed, including selected topics involving basic research, materials processing, analytical and diagnostic applications, information transmission and storage, measurement and alignment and photochemical and biomedical application