With light (i mean, light waves that human eye can see) its possible to create laser beams, ie, light "concentrated". Lasers are rays of light that go in the same direction (paralel lines) instead of randam directions. So, if we can do that with "light" waves, can we do the same with UV rays? Or infrared? or gamma, microwaves, etc? Such ray would be VERY mortal i guess, and invisible, i suppose
UV rays ARE light rays, just light of different frequency. I suspect that there are already UV lasers. X-ray lasers were a dream of Star Wars (the gov. program, not the movies) scientists. In principle, I think X-ray lasers ARE possible---it's just an engineering problem. Maybe someone here knows more of the technical side of these things.
Yes. Infrared, you've got one in your cd/dvd drive, or cd player. Microwave lasers are calles masers, and date way back, iirc developed before optical lasers. Pretty sure uv are used for industrial purposes. Gamma and xray have been the subject of research, largely as part of the SDI (star wars missile defense). Don't know how far they've gone with those. Probably a secret/classified. Gamma ray are called grasers I believe. I do know that the idea for xray lasers was to arrange the 'resonant cavities' (bundles of metalic fibers and multilayer metal film mirrors if memory serves) around a nuclear weapon and pump with the xray flash from the detonation. I'm less clear on how grasers are supposed to work. Something about long halflife gamma emitting isotopes being stimulated into a massive coherent emmision. But that comes from a pbs thing about sdi that I saw years ago so I won't swear to it.
Ben, i know that UV rays are like light rays, just in a different frequency. Maybe my english was not good Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Anyway, i am not surprised about "grasers" or xray-asers ... i alwasy tought that such rays would be secret. US gov...well, no comment. about infraredasers: what we use in tv remote control are normal infrared or infraredasers?? And about maseres i didnt understand: are they still being developed or already beaing used on any stuff?
No, your remote is an infrared led, not a laser. But what reads the surface of cd's and dvd's is a solid state infrared laser. The solid state laser is an adaptation of the led though. Maser were (still are?) used in atomic clocks and radar equipment, mostly as very precise oscillators/frequency standards I think.
X-ray lasers (FELs), have actually been around since the 80s...:bugeye: There's been a free-electron laser at Berkeley, for instance, since 1984. These things use superconducting magnets (and a lot of power), to make "ballistic" electrons wiggle or undulate in a zigzag path, as they're accelerated through the magnetic regions. The magnets are pulsed sequentially to create an undulating magnetic field, so the electrons are accelerated sideways as well, and emit radiation (X-rays). Check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_electron_laser
My post was meant in response to dragon's last post (immediately above). I thought perhaps he was confusing a titanium plasma laser with fel's. I may have been mistaken. Anyway, thanks to both of you. Xray laser developement is more advanced than I realized. The links were interesting reading.
