Official launch of the Femtoshape project

We are pleased to announce the official launch of the Femtoshape project (“Advanced temporal shaping of ultrashort laser pulses for processing of bandgap materials”). The kick-off meeting took place on July 28, 2025, in Warsaw, gathering engineering and scientific teams from Fluence Technology and the Bern University of Applied Sciences (BFH). This event was crucial for establishing communication protocols and a detailed schedule for work on a new generation of femtosecond lasers.

The main goal of the first phase of the project is to develop a unique laser source capable of generating pairs of pulses: a leading femtosecond pulse and a following picosecond pulse (approx. 50 ps) with a precisely adjustable delay. During the meeting, preliminary simulations were presented, which set the direction for work on optimal temporal pulse profiles. These will allow for unprecedented control over energy deposition in wide-bandgap materials, minimizing unwanted nonlinear effects such as filamentation.