By Peter Weiss
Typically, lasers emit light of one pure color, or wavelength. A new little laser breaks that mold by generating a beam containing all the wavelengths in a swath of the electromagnetic spectrum.
This new broadband laser operates in the infrared spectrum, which is invisible to the human eye. The multiwavelength emission makes the laser more suitable for many applications than conventional single-wavelength lasers are, its inventors say. These uses include monitoring air pollution and observing ultrafast reactions in combustion and other chemical processes.