A microplasma is created by focusing intense laser pulses in ambient air with a microscope objective in the lab of University of Rochester Institute of Optics Ph.D. student Fabrizio Buccheri and his advisor, professor Xi-Cheng Zhang April 21, 2015 . Besides visible light, the microplasma emits electromagnetic pulses at terahertz frequencies that can be used to detect complex molecules, such as explosives and drugs.// photo by J. Adam Fenster / University of Rochester

laser micro plasma lab Ph.D. student Fabrizio Buccheri XiCheng Zhang