If you’re like me then you spent many hours as a youngster pretending to be Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader running around with those ultra-cool lasers. Back then, we would never have imagined that something like those could ever be made and that it truly was a work of science fiction. However, today, that idea doesn’t sound quite so far-fetched as it did back then.
Scientists have now developed a technique that uses diamonds to merge multiple laser beams together to make one really powerful one. The way they did this was by putting an exceptionally pure diamond at the point where the beams converge. This makes use of the crystal’s ability to send the light’s energy in a specific direction. It’s also very good at losing excess heat which is useful when channeling a lot of laser power through a relatively small space.
It’s early days in terms of these lasers, and as of yet, we’re unsure where they will be deployed first. The military could definitely benefit from this type of technology as very powerful lasers could be used to destroy drones and missiles quickly. Spacecraft could also use these lasers to exterminate any oncoming space debris they encounter. They won’t have to worry about overheating issues that single laser technology suffers from either.
Related Links;
- The Star Wars ‘superlaser’ may no longer be sci-fi / New Australian research
- Boeing’s portable drone-destroying laser uses an Xbox controller / Engadget
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