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Supercontinuum lasers in pursuit of a cleaner world

In the EU, exhaust particle emission from vehicles is regulated for the benefit of the environment. However, with evolving engine technologies such as Gasoline Direct Injection, a large portion of the emitted particles are extremely small.

With a size below 23 nm, they are simply too small to be detected with existing technologies. We need to invent new measurement technologies.

Citylights

The SUREAL-23 project is run by a consortium of European organizations and companies working together to understand more about sub-23 nm particles to better measure and regulate emissions.

Characterization of sub-23 nm particles is done by hitting the particles with light from a supercontinuum laser – across the 400 to 850 nm spectrum – and then measuring the resulting acoustic response. This part of the project made use of a white light supercontinuum laser and a tunable filter from NKT Photonics.

We are thrilled that our products are used in an unconventional way to contribute to making this world a cleaner place. However, this is only a small part of the efforts.

Get the full picture in the SUREAL-23 video.