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Thinking of some new uses for my Tesla coil now...
Snip: "...The team used an ultrashort-pulse laser of modest energy to make the laser beam intense enough that it could focus on itself in air and stay focused in a filament, he said.
“If a laser beam is intense enough, its electromagnetic field is strong enough to rip electrons off of air molecules, creating plasma,” Fischer said. “This plasma is located along the path of the laser beam, so we can direct it wherever we want by moving a mirror.”
Although the engineers working on the weapon’s development expressed confidence in the physics behind their work, Fischer cautioned about the technical challenges still ahead...."
Army?s New Weapon: Laser-Guided Lightning (photonics.com | Jun 2012 | Research & Technology)
T.
Snip: "...The team used an ultrashort-pulse laser of modest energy to make the laser beam intense enough that it could focus on itself in air and stay focused in a filament, he said.
“If a laser beam is intense enough, its electromagnetic field is strong enough to rip electrons off of air molecules, creating plasma,” Fischer said. “This plasma is located along the path of the laser beam, so we can direct it wherever we want by moving a mirror.”
Although the engineers working on the weapon’s development expressed confidence in the physics behind their work, Fischer cautioned about the technical challenges still ahead...."
Army?s New Weapon: Laser-Guided Lightning (photonics.com | Jun 2012 | Research & Technology)
T.
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