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Mid-infrared 100-watt-level laser created
Evanston, Ill. (UPI) Dec 2, 2009 U.S. scientists say they have achieved a breakthrough in quantum cascade laser output power, delivering 120 watts from a single device at room temperature. The Northwestern University researchers, led by Professor Manijeh Razeghi, said their accomplishment is particularly attractive for infrared countermeasures -- a way of misguiding incoming missiles to protect commercial and military aircraft. Unlike conventional interband semiconductor lasers, the scientists said their quantum cascade laser is an intersubband device requiring only electrons to operate. Razeghi's team demonstrated the ridge width of a broad-area quantum cascade laser can be increased up to 400 microns, without suffering from filiamentation -- a phenomenon that limits the ridge width of conventional broad-area semiconductor lasers. As a result, the scientists said room temperature peak output power as high as 120 watts was obtained from a single device, which is up from 34 watts only a year ago. The complex research appears in the journal Applied Physics Letters. Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Learn about laser weapon technology at SpaceWar.com
New laser weapon can safely destroy IEDsHuntsville, Ala. (UPI) Dec 1, 2009 A new laser weapon mounted on an Avenger combat vehicle has gone through successful tests to enable the armed forces to destroy improvised explosive devices from a safe distance. The Boeing Co., which is developing the weapon, said Tuesday Boeing and the U.S. Army successfully completed a test in which the mounted laser system destroyed 50 IEDs similar to the makeshift bombs used by ... read more |
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