Question about UVC light.

[upaa27]

The wavelengths that will tear your DNA up real bad are 1nm>. And yes it is very possible to create a gamma ray laser as they work pretty similarly to our typical lasers. Good luck on finding something to get that wl though... Not to mention the lens coating.

 

[DrSid]

Well for gamma rays (and x-rays, see above) the optics are totally different. It pass through glass without interacting with it's electrons .. so it does not refrect the rays in common way. It's quite interesting topic:

X-ray optics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[zyxwv99]

X-ray lasers are easy.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...asterix_laser_system-interaction_chamber.jpeg

It's gamma-ray lasers that nobody has figured out yet.

 

[DrSid]

Wasn't there some nuclear bomb pumped gamma laser for star wars program ? Or was it just a idea ?

 

[Shadowsix]

Wasn't there some nuclear bomb pumped gamma laser for star wars program ? Or was it just a idea ?

Actually it was a nuclear bomb pumped x-ray laser satallite (single use), and they also proposed a ground based gamma ray laser for SDI.


A little white paper on both types: http://mragheb.com/NPRE 402 ME 405 Nuclear Power Engineering/X Ray and Gamma Ray Lasers.pdf

 

[zyxwv99]

I think it was Ian Fleming who proposed the idea in 1956. Or Sean Connery in 1971, I forget, but the movie was called "Diamonds are Forever." The evil Dr. Blofeld has his minions steal diamonds, which mysteriously never turn up on the black market. Instead, they are used in an x-ray laser satellite. That's because only diamonds can reflect and focus x-rays.

The Reagan era have us the GRACER, gamma-ray something-or-other, a Dr. Blofeld style gamma-ray laser powered by a nuclear bomb. I think. But I'm not sure.