Scientists discover ultra powerful laser is in fact portable

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Scientists have discovered that an ultra powerful laser can be used outside of a laboratory setting, having previously thought it was impossible. The device, called a quantum cascade laser, provides highly-advanced imaging capabilities that can have an “immediate impact” in a wide range of applications, from detecting cancer cells, to identifying explosives, according to researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Waterloo. “With a high operating temperature, we can finally put this in a compact portable system and take this breakthrough technology out of the laboratory,” said Qing Hu, a professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences at MIT. “This will enable portable terahertz imaging and spectral systems that will have an immediate impact on wide-ranging applications in medicine, biochemistry, security, and other areas.” The lasers measure only a few millimetres in length and are thinner than a human hair.