Development of Laser Technology in Poland – 2016 Zdzisław Jankiewicz1, Jan K. Jabczyński1, Ryszard S. Romaniuk2 1Institute of Optoelectronics, Military University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland 2Institute of Electronic Systems, Warsaw University of Technology, Poland ABSTRACT The paper is an introduction to the volume of proceedings and a concise digest of works presented during the XIth National Symposium on Laser Technology (SLT2016) [1]. The Symposium is organized since 1984 every three years [2-8]. SLT2016 was organized by the Institute of Optoelectronics, Military University of Technology (IO, WAT) [9], Warsaw, with cooperation of Warsaw University of Technology (WUT) [10], in Jastarnia on 27-30 September 2016. Symposium Proceedings are traditionally published by SPIE [11-19]. The meeting has gathered around 150 participants who presented around 120 research and technical papers. The Symposium, organized every 3 years is a good portrait of laser technology and laser applications development in Poland at university laboratories, governmental institutes, company R&D laboratories, etc. The SLT also presents the current technical projects under realization by the national research, development and industrial teams. Topical tracks of the Symposium, traditionally divided to two large areas – sources and applications, were: laser sources in near and medium infrared, picosecond and femtosecond lasers, optical fiber lasers and amplifiers, semiconductor lasers, high power and high energy lasers and their applications, new materials and components for laser technology, applications of laser technology in measurements, metrology and science, military applications of laser technology, laser applications in environment protection and remote detection of trace substances, laser applications in medicine and biomedical engineering, laser applications in industry, technologies and material engineering. Keywords: lasers, laser technology, laser science, semiconductor lasers, optical fiber lasers, femtosecond lasers, pulse and CW lasers, high power lasers, high energy lasers, laser photonics, laser optics, laser components, optoelectronics, photonics, free electron lasers, research lasers, laser metrology, industrial lasers 1. INTRODUCTION The National Symposium on Laser Technology: Progress in Lasers, Applications of Lasers is a cyclic scientific and technical meeting organized since 1984 every three years. The first Symposium was organized by the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. The following nine symposia were organized by the West Pomeranian University of Technology (previously Technical University of Szczecin) in Szczecin and Świnoujście. The Eleventh Symposium on Laser Technology was organized by the Institute of Optoelectronics, Military University of Technology in Warsaw, the University, in which, the first Polish lasers were launched in 1963. The main aim of the SLT Symposium is exchange of the information and outreach of the research and technical knowledge in the area of lasers and optoelectronics. The SLT meeting is traditionally attended by the representatives of the key academic centers, research institutes, and a broad range of manufacturers, vendors, and users of laser technologies. The SLT2016 Symposium summarizes the research and technical achievements accomplished during the period of 2013-2016. The main research activities have been focused in such areas like: quantum cascade lasers, optical fibre lasers, semiconductor lasers and light sources, solid state lasers, optical and photonic assemblies for lasers, laser equipment for environment monitoring and protection, medical lasers, material micro-processing lasers, as well as laser infrastructures for safety and security. Subject area of the National Symposium on Laser Technology is divided into two main branches, and traditionally includes: Progress in Lasers: Laser sources in near and medium infrared, Picosecond and femtosecond lasers, Optical fibre lasers and amplifiers, Semiconductor lasers, High power and high Energy lasers and their applications, New materials and laser technology components, Applications of Lasers: Application of laser technology in measurements, metrology and science, Military applications of laser technology, Applications of lasers in environment protection and remote sensing of trace substances, Applications of lasers in medicine and biomedical engineering, Applications of lasers in industry, technologies and material engineering. The following research and technical sessions were organized during the 11th Symposium on Laser Technology 2016: Lasers – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow Optical Fibre Lasers Laser Applications in Research New Types of Lasers Applications of Lasers in material Engineering and nanotechnology Industrial Applications of Lasers Applications of Lasers in Medicine and Biomedical Engineering Application of Lasers in Safety and Defense Systems New Laser materials, Components and Assemblies Optical and Laser Measurements Laser Spectroscopy The SLT2016 Symposium has gathered around 150 participants. There were presented around 120 papers, over 50 oral, and around 70 posters. Twelve invited papers concerned the key issues of contemporary laser technology development and applications. All key academic and research centers from Poland active in laser technology development and applications have participated in the SLT2016, including among others: Technical Universities from Wrocław (PWr), Kielce, Warsaw (WUT), Białystok BUT), Łódź (LUT), WAT, Silesina, UMK, UAM, research institutes ITME Warsaw, ITE Warsaw, IChF PAN, IFPiLM, IMP PAN, INTiBS PAN, and industry partners IPG-Poland, Solaris Laser, Solaris Optics, PCO, VIGO, Telesystem, and other ones. Papers of the SLT Symposium are traditionally published in the editorial series Proc. SPIE. Till now the SLT has published in Proc. SPIE over 10 volumes. Below, we are presenting very concisely the main research and technical subjects ordered in some of these particular sessions, and delivered during plenary speeches. A short digest of poster presentations is also included. Main topics were presented on the Symposium during oral plenary sessions, and contributed papers were presented during topical poster sessions. Polish laser research teams are extensively cooperating with partners from abroad and are participating in numerable domestic and international laser oriented projects, and among them: HIPER, ELI, FLASH, E-XFEL, COST Action, EUREKA, ModPolEUV, LAserLab Europe, Optolab, EXTATIC, and other ones. 2. LASERS: YESTERDAY, TODAY, TOMORROW The first lasers were launched in Poland in 1963 nearly simultaneously in Military University of Technology - WAT (Z. Puzewicz, K. Dzięciołowski) and at WUT (W. Woliński). The first WAT He-Ne laser radiated a 1,15 µm beam and was activated on 20.07.1963. Slightly earlier a microwave maser was launched at WAT. Not much later afterwards a laser research center was formed also at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań (AMU), under prof. A. Piekara and prof. F. Kaczmarek. The SLT2016 opening session featured a keynote paper by the pioneers of laser technology in Poland. After the first twenty years of continuous development, mainly in these three research centers WAT, PW and AMU, the national laser research community got ready to launch in 1984 a big national periodic meeting devoted solely to the laser technology progress and applications. Since 1987 the Symposium is somehow related friendly with the SPIE by publishing its works with the SPIE Proceedings editorial series. Looking back in history, one may say that the time was ripe enough because these research and technological meetings have been kept regularly since then for more than three decades. Today, the tradition of the national Symposium on Laser Technology periodic meeting is very strong and it gathers reliably every three years around 120-150 key people, and key institute representatives. During the laser pioneering period in Poland, the work results were published at such national and international conferences, then very active as: Quantum Electronics and Nonlinear Optics EKON organized in Poznań, URSI Symposia on Radio Science, Optical Fibers and Their Applications since 1976, Electron Technology ELTE, and several others. 3. OPTICAL FIBRE LASERS Optical fibre lasers are widely used nowadays in industry and research applications, with such operational parameters like high average power reaching even hundred kW, generation of fs pulses, high stability and reliability, etc. A team from Institute of Experimental Physics Warsaw University (UW) and Institute of Physical Chemistry Polish Academy of Science is working on an optimized construction of fibre optic amplifier of fs pulses of high average power. Two techniques were applied to reduce the degradation effect of nonlinear phase accumulation and material dispersion on the generated and amplified pulses. These are chirped pulse amplification with pulse broadening, amplification and compression, and application of large modal area singlemode fibre. The following parameters were obtained in iterbium doped fibre amplifier: 65 W of average power, 900 kHz repetition frequency, pulse duration 0,5 ps, with spatial beam quality M2 around 1,3. Thulium doped optical fibre lasers, frequently used today in medicine, like dermatology, and appropriate for tele detection of warming gases, generate IR beam in the area of 1,9-2 µm. A team from Wrocław University of Technology (PWr) researches such lasers with application of nano-material based saturable