Ti:sapphire or titanium sapphire crystal lasers are widely used in femtosecond pulse lasers, which emit very short pulses of laser light. The tips of these lasers are built of sapphire crystals to which titanium ions have been added. This provides the laser with the heat and durability of the sapphire crystal while the titanium empowers it with a very wide tunable range over the blue-green area of the visible spectrum.
Companies that design lasers are using the Ti:sapphire lasers to develop new, sensitive tools for industry. The laser's ability to deliver very short pulses of light allows it to be used on very delicate glass and other metals. Defects can also be repaired since the laser can be aimed at very specific spots without disturbing the neighboring areas. It is even being used for diagnoses in medicine.
A jet of light is focused via the sapphire crystal tip of the laser on whatever part of the body it is being used on. The tip of the laser absorbs the radiant energy and becomes hot. When the heated tip touches diseased tissue it vaporizes or destroys the targeted cells. The laser light itself is not hot. Instead, heat develops after the laser's radiant energy is absorbed by the sapphire tip.
The sapphire tips that are attached to lasers are synthetically grown as boules. The word boule means "ball" in French although the sapphire boule is not quite ball-shaped. It is more elongated. Synthetic sapphires are identical to the natural sapphire except that the artificial ones have no flaws.