- A method of laser amplification in the mid-1980s has enabled a new generation of tabletop lasers that produce very brief pulses of extremely intense lights.
- Lights of such high intensity interacts with matter in new ways, directly propelling electrons to nearly the speed of light in femtoseconds. The lasers can accelerate particles at 10,000 times the rate of standard accelerators.
- Potential applications include high-resolution medical imaging, inexpensive precision radiation therapy, nuclear fusion, and research in numerous subfields of physics.