University of Nebraska-Lincoln houses first-of-its-kind laser in the U.S.

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is home to a first-of-its-kind laser in the United States.

The Center for Electro-Optics and Functionalized Surfaces got the laser through a grant and said it will aid researchers in new developments.

Professor Craig Zuhlke, co-director of the lab, said the laser can change the texture and features of an object.

“As we scan the surface with the laser, it creates very fine surface features, so texture on the surface at the micro and nano scales, and that texture gives the surface certain properties,” he said.

UNL is working with NASA and other aerospace companies on anti-icing surfaces for aircraft.

“Another application is making anti-bacterial surfaces,” Zuhlke said. “So, we can laser scan a metal and make it anti-bacterial.”

Professor George Gogos, co-founder of the center, said the new laser can work on larger surfaces.

Previous lasers used by the lab didn’t have that capability.

“Now we can have many applications that require to work with large surfaces so that we can introduce that texture that will give them different properties,” Gogos said.

Gogos credited scientific developments like the laser to legislation – passed in 1987 – that grants millions of dollars in funding to research at UNL.