Scientists at Southampton University have landed over £400,000 in grants to help in research at the cutting-edge of laser technology.

A team, led by Dr David Shepherd, was awarded the cash from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to be used over the next three years.

It is hoped that the funding will allow the team to make significant advances in developing waveguide lasers, which will be small and cheap to manufacture.

Dr Shepherd said: "There are quite a lot of lasers around which give out a lot of light which is rather poor and difficult to use, which is one of the main problems.

"These lasers will be much smaller and will have no complicated optics." He added: "The University of Southampton is renowned for its work. It is one of the best laboratories in the world."

Funding has been vital for the project. It has allowed Dr Shepherd to employ two scientists to assist him in this area of study, and to buy the necessary equipment. With American company Onyx Optics now collaborating with the laser team, there could be many future commercial spin-offs.

These might range from drilling and marking industrial materials to surgery and dentistry.

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