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2006-04-12 Science & Technology

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Posted by Steve 2006-04-12 13:33|| || Front Page|| [2 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 But after 10 years and half a billion dollars of investment, the free-electron laser in TRWs lab peaked out at a meager 11 wattsa tenth of what a lightbulb generates.

*cough*bullsh!t*cough*. DO NOT compare incoherent light output (as with incandescent lightbulbs) with coherent laser output. The apparent brightness of a laser can be orders of magnitude greater than a similar wattage of incoherent light. Witness how your measley 5mW laser pointer appears to be as bright as your mini MagLite.

I dare the author to stare into that "meager 11 watts" worth of FEL beam. As the old optics laboratory sign says:

CAUTION: DO NOT STARE INTO LASER BEAM WITH REMAINING EYE

I contributed work for the original round of SDI. FELs (Free Electron Lasers) are a robust technology useful in many areas of subatomic research and defense. They represent one of the few DEWs (Directed Energy Weapons) with practical applications. E beams defocus too readily in atmospheric transmission and masers or other exotic beam types exhibit idiosyncrasies that are equally prohibitive.

If you want to see the sort of "slab" laser diodes mentioned in the article wiggling their little photonic booties, scroll down at the "Beyond NIF" page linked below. We're talking major lumens on the order of driving fusion reactions (i.e., inertial confinement, like Shiva Nova).

http://www.llnl.gov/str/Payne.html

Posted by Zenster 2006-04-12 22:13|| 2006-04-12 22:13|| Front Page Top

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