UNL laser research can change technology for hospitals, military

UNL’s Extreme Light Laboratory studies intense light and how it interacts with matter.

And their department doesn’t have just any laser system.  Director Dr. Donald Umstadter said they have the Diocles laser.

“With the invention of the laser, we can make much more intense light than we could ever before,” Dr. Umstadter said.  “And so the way light interacts with matter changes fundamentally when the intensity of light is increased.”

How concentrated can they get it?  He said they can make it so the light is a billion times brighter than the sun.

He said they can also make x–rays with the light.

“That allows you to take a picture much more efficiently so you don’t deposit so much dose in the patient,” Dr. Umstadter said.  “Or if you’re looking through a cargo container, you can actually examine a cargo container that’s coming into the U.S.”

He said they’re even working on using this x–ray laser technology so troops can scan for hidden IEDs from a safe distance.

“So we can look through earth where it’s buried and actually see it at a hundred yards away.”

Which is why he said they have several federal grants funding their research, along with training student researchers to become the next generation to contribute to this science, like Colton Fruhling of Gretna.

“You would never expect to have this opportunity in the middle of Nebraska, but it is,” Fruhling said.  “It’s great and it’s here.”

Dr. Umstadter said he thinks this laser technology will become commercial within the next five to 10 years.