New laser shows what objects are made of

A new laser developed at Michigan Engineering can show what objects are made of. The system, which is made of off-the-shelf telecommunications technology, emits a broadband beam of infrared light. While most lasers emit light of one wavelength, or color, broadband lasers like this one give off a tight beam packed with columns of light covering a range of wavelengths -- a blend of colors. The beam the new laser emits is invisible, but it can illuminate deep information. By shining it on a target and analyzing the reflected light, researchers can tell the chemical composition of the target. The laser could potentially help military aircraft identify hidden dangers such as weapons arsenals far below. It could also have applications in medicine and environmental studies. ABOUT THE PROFESSOR: Mohammed Islam (http://www.eecs.umich.edu/eecs/etc/fac/facsearchform.cgi?mni+) is a professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (http://www.eecs.umich.edu/) at the University of Michigan. His current research interests include mid-infrared laser sources and their applications in fiber-to-the-home, advanced semiconductor process control, combustion monitoring, infrared counter-measures, chemical sensing and bio-medical selective laser ablation. Another area of this current work relates to ultra-high resolution imaging of automobile parts, such as transmissions. He also has on-going work in modulators and new architectures for fiber to the home systems. He works in the Optics and Photonics Lab (https://www.eecs.umich.edu/optics/).