site.btaInstitute of Solid State Physics to Mark 50 Years Since Invention of Bulgarian Copper Bromide Vapour Laser

The Institute of Solid State Physics (ISSP) will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the invention of the copper bromide vapour laser (CuBr laser) on April 24 at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS). 

The programme of the event will include presentations by the scientists involved in the creation of the prototype, on the application of the copper bromide vapour laser, on the development and prospects of laser technologies. There will also be an exhibition presenting both the entire cycle of physical research and development, as well as exhibits of lasers manufactured currently.

For 50 years now, the Bulgarian copper bromide vapour laser has been used in medicine, astronomy, the study of the atmosphere and the sea, said in a BTA interview the creator of the invention, Academician Nikola Sabotinov.

Sabotinov specialized in radiophysics and electronics at Sofia University and has worked in the field of quantum radiophysics, and more specifically in the physics of metal vapour lasers. He was the president of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences from 2008 to 2012.

Sabotinov's idea to create a low-temperature copper laser in Bulgaria was realized in 1974, when under his leadership at the Institute of Solid State Physics, a copper bromide vapour laser was put into operation, recognized as the invention of the year in 1979. 

In order to improve its characteristics, a number of theoretical and experimental studies were conducted, and the effect of hydrogen was discovered. The CuBr laser has been patented in Bulgaria, France, USA, Great Britain, Germany, Japan and Australia. The obtained scientific results have been highly appreciated by the international scientific community and have found a place in world science and in university educational programmes, such as Oxford University in Great Britain and Ibaraki University in Japan, Sabotinov explained.

The CuBr laser began commercial development in Bulgaria. Today it is produced by the Bulgarian company Pulselight and by Norseld in Australia, and by Bison in the Republic of Korea. It is used in medicine, in the precision material processing industry, in laser location and navigation, for laser displays, for seawater research, and for other research.

The CuBr laser is not only an example of good innovation practice, but is also a ray of hope, especially among young people, that ideas can become reality in Bulgaria, and inventions can be made at the level of highly developed in science and technology countries, noted ISSP at BAS.