近未来社会における光技術の役割

抄録

The rapid growth of research on laser techniques and applications has been considerable during the past 33 years. The 21st century is the golden age of optical technology with laser. For example, Optical communication networks plan to construct around the world by the optical submarine cables with fiber and laser. The medical application of lasers have rapidly expanded to great propotions, and it has become a important division of the laser application fields. Though synchrotron radiation (SR) light is not laser, it will be a useful light source for diagnosis in medicine. The ready-made laser instruments made not sufficiently use the characteristics of wavelength in laser medicine. The living tissues have various absorbabilities with light wavelength at internal organs and parts. So the tunable laser is intensively needed to effective laser therapy. The laser medicine fields are in great hopes of the practical application of the free electron laser (FEL). As is well known, the concept of FEL is different from the ordinary laser.