The device was originally created for etching the surfaces of mirrors and lenses, with hopes to improve telescopes and other measuring equipment, but the technology also has many other uses. With it, you can mark syringes and medication capsules as they are manufactured, as well as keep track of them. It can also be used as a protection against counterfeiting.

The ‘femtosecond laser’ functions in a similar way to those used in eye surgery. It directs energy through the surface of the eye in order to make incisions far beneath it.