Many scientific, military, medical and commercial laser applications have been developed since the invention of the laser in the 1958. The coherency, high monochromaticity, and ability to reach extremely high powers are all properties which allow for these specialized applications.
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In science, lasers are used in many ways, including:
Lasers may also be indirectly used in spectroscopy as a micro-sampling system, a technique termed Laser ablation (LA), which is typically applied to ICP-MS apparatus resulting in the powerful LA-ICP-MS.
The principles of laser spectroscopy are discussed by Demtröder[1] and the use of tunable lasers in spectroscopy are described in Tunable Laser Applications.[2] ).
Most types of laser are an inherently pure source of light; they emit near-monochromatic light with a very well defined range of wavelengths. By careful design of the laser components, the purity of the laser light (measured as the "linewidth") can be improved more than the purity of any other light source. This makes the laser a very useful source for spectroscopy. The high intensity of light that can be achieved in a small, well collimated beam can also be used to induce a nonlinear optical effect in a sample, which makes techniques such as Raman spectroscopy possible. Other spectroscopic techniques based on lasers can be used to make extremely sensitive detectors of various molecules, able to measure molecular concentrations in the parts-per-1012 (ppt) level. Due to the high power densities achievable by lasers, beam-induced atomic emission is possible: this technique is termed Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS).
When the Apollo astronauts visited the moon, they planted retroreflector arrays to make possible the Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment. Laser beams are focused through large telescopes on Earth aimed toward the arrays, and the time taken for the beam to be reflected back to Earth measured to determine the distance between the Earth and Moon with high accuracy.
Laser cutting, laser welding, laser brazing, laser bending, laser engraving or marking, laser cleaning, weapons etc. When the material is exposed to laser it produces intense heat, thus the material is heated and melted.
Some laser systems, through the process of modelocking, can produce extremely brief pulses of light - as short as picoseconds or femtoseconds (10−12 - 10−15 seconds). Such pulses can be used to initiate and analyse chemical reactions, a technique known as photochemistry. The short pulses can be used to probe the process of the reaction at a very high temporal resolution, allowing the detection of short-lived intermediate molecules. This method is particularly useful in biochemistry, where it is used to analyse details of protein folding and function.
Also, it has the binary functions to seal anything it has in the human eye of each atomic particle in its system.
A technique that has recent success is laser cooling. This involves atom trapping, a method where a number of atoms are confined in a specially shaped arrangement of electric and magnetic fields. Shining particular wavelengths of laser light at the ions or atoms slows them down, thus cooling them. As this process is continued, they all are slowed and have the same energy level, forming an unusual arrangement of matter known as a Bose-Einstein condensate.
Some of the world's most powerful and complex arrangements of multiple lasers and optical amplifiers are used to produce extremely high intensity pulses of light of extremely short duration. These pulses are arranged such that they impact pellets of tritium-deuterium simultaneously from all directions, hoping that the squeezing effect of the impacts will induce atomic fusion in the pellets. This technique, known as "inertial confinement fusion", so far has not been able to achieve "breakeven", that is, so far the fusion reaction generates less power than is used to power the lasers, but research continues.
Confocal laser scanning microscopy and Two-photon excitation microscopy make use of lasers to obtain blur-free images of thick specimens at various depths. Laser capture microdissection use lasers to procure specific cell populations from a tissue section under microscopic visualization.
Additional laser microscopy techniques include harmonic microscopy, four-wave mixing microscopy[3] and interferometric microscopy.[4]
Military uses of lasers include applications such as target designation and ranging, defensive countermeasures, communications and directed energy weapons.
Directed energy weapons are being developed, such as Boeing’s Airborne Laser which was constructed inside a Boeing 747. Designated the YAL-1, it is intended to kill short- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in their boost phase.[5]
Defensive countermeasure applications can range from compact, low power infrared countermeasures to high power, airborne laser systems. IR countermeasure systems use lasers to confuse the seeker heads on heat-seeking anti-aircraft missiles. High power boost-phase intercept laser systems use a complex system of lasers to find, track and destroy intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM). In this type of system a chemical laser, one in which the laser operation is powered by an energetic chemical reaction, is used as the main weapon beam (see Airborne Laser). The Mobile Tactical High-Energy Laser (MTHEL) is another defensive laser system under development; this is envisioned as a field-deployable weapon system able to track incoming artillery projectiles and cruise missiles by radar and destroy them with a powerful deuterium fluoride laser.
Another example of direct use of a laser as a defensive weapon was researched for the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI, nicknamed "Star Wars"), and its successor programs. This project would use ground-based or space-based laser systems to destroy incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). The practical problems of using and aiming these systems were many; particularly the problem of destroying ICBMs at the most opportune moment, the boost phase just after launch. This would involve directing a laser through a large distance in the atmosphere, which, due to optical scattering and refraction, would bend and distort the laser beam, complicating the aiming of the laser and reducing its efficiency.
Another idea from the SDI project was the nuclear-pumped X-ray laser. This was essentially an orbiting atomic bomb, surrounded by laser media in the form of glass rods; when the bomb exploded, the rods would be bombarded with highly-energetic gamma-ray photons, causing spontaneous and stimulated emission of X-ray photons in the atoms making up the rods. This would lead to optical amplification of the X-ray photons, producing an X-ray laser beam that would be minimally affected by atmospheric distortion and capable of destroying ICBMs in flight. The X-ray laser would be a strictly one-shot device, destroying itself on activation. Some initial tests of this concept were performed with underground nuclear testing; however, the results were not encouraging. Research into this approach to missile defense was discontinued after the SDI program was cancelled.
Some weapons simply use a laser to disorient a person. One such weapon is the Thales Green Laser Optical Warner.[16]
Another military use of lasers is as a laser target designator. This is a low-power laser pointer used to indicate a target for a precision-guided munition, typically launched from an aircraft. The guided munition adjusts its flight-path to home in to the laser light reflected by the target, enabling a great precision in aiming. The beam of the laser target designator is set to a pulse rate that matches that set on the guided munition to ensure munitions strike their designated targets and do not follow other laser beams which may be in use in the area. The laser designator can be shined onto the target by an aircraft or nearby infantry. Lasers used for this purpose are usually infrared lasers, so the enemy cannot easily detect the guiding laser light.
The laser has in most firearms applications been used as a tool to enhance the targeting of other weapon systems. For example, a laser sight is a small, usually visible-light laser placed on a handgun or a rifle and aligned to emit a beam parallel to the barrel. Since a laser beam has low divergence, the laser light appears as a small spot even at long distances; the user places the spot on the desired target and the barrel of the gun is aligned (but not necessarily allowing for bullet drop, windage, distance between the direction of the beam & the axis of the barrel and the target mobility while the bullet travels).
Most laser sights use a red laser diode. Others use an infrared diode to produce a dot invisible to the naked human eye but detectable with night vision devices. The firearms adaptive target acquisition module LLM01 laser light module combines visible and infrared laser diodes. In the late 1990s, green diode pumped solid state laser (DPSS) laser sights (532 nm) became available. Modern laser sights are small and light enough for attachment to the firearms.
In 2007, LaserMax, a company specializing in manufacturing lasers for military and police firearms, introduced the first mass-production green laser available for small arms.[17] This laser mounts to the underside of a handgun or long arm on the accessory rail. The green laser is supposed to be more visible than the red laser in bright lighting conditions because, for the same wattage, green light appears brighter than red light.
A non-lethal laser weapon was developed by the U.S. Air Force to temporarily impair an adversary’s ability to fire a weapon or to otherwise threaten enemy forces. This unit illuminates an opponent with harmless low-power laser light and can have the effect of dazzling or disorienting the subject or causing him to flee. Several types of dazzlers are now available, and some have been used in combat.
There remains the possibility of using lasers to blind, since this requires much lower power levels, and is easily achievable in a man-portable unit. However, most nations regard the deliberate permanent blinding of the enemy as forbidden by the rules of war (see Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons). Although several nations have developed blinding laser weapons, such as China's ZM-87, none of these are believed to have made it past the prototype stage.
In addition to the applications that crossover with military applications, a widely known law enforcement use of lasers is for lidar to measure the speed of vehicles.
In consumer electronics, telecommunications, and data communications, lasers are used as the transmitters in optical communications over optical fiber and free space.
