The biggest impact for a practical use of lasers was the invention of a technology that brought pulsed operation of lasers out of the lab into the real world: University professor Ursula Keller invented the semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) in the early 1990s while at AT&T Bell Laboratories. A device that made it possible for the first time to create ultrafast laser pulses in solid-state lasers in a practical manner. The main advantage of ultrafast lasers is the delivery of precise amounts of energy to a precisely localized spot. This high level of energy control is certainly a unique feature of laser technology that will bring further advances in existing and new applications of lasers in the coming years.
NSTL
