Laser Science and Technology Centre

This page is part of the Facilities Collection.

The Laser Science and Technology Centre (LASTEC) is the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO)’s oldest laboratory. LASTEC grew out of the Defense Science Laboratory (DSL), which was established in Delhi in 1950. The DSL was founded as a “nucleus laboratory” to conduct research in “frontier areas of physics, chemistry, and mathematics with a special focus on lasers and opto-electronics.” In 1960, DSL was shifted from the campus of the National Physical Laboratory to Metcalfe House. In 1980, the DSL was once again moved to a new building within the Metcalfe House complex and renamed as the Defence Science Centre. In 2020, LASTEC was shut down by DRDO as part of its restructuring process.

LASTEC has developed:

• Critical technologies for an “engineered version of a ring laser gyro” for use in aircraft and missiles.
• “Thin film coating technology for hard-coated mirrors, low-scattering mirrors, IR coatings, metallic coatings required for carbon-dioxide gas dynamic laser, ring laser gyros, and other applications.”
• “Miniature cooling system” for the DRDO’s Integrated Guided Missile Development Program.