Photonic Products laser blog

High-powered laser pointers are to be banned in the ACT (Australian Capital Territories).

The ACT Government will make amendments to existing legislation, classing the devices as prohibited weapons, making it illegal to sell or possess them.

Anyone found in possession of one could face a fine of $50,000 or five years in jail.

The Government’s decision follows a spate of incidents where lasers have been shone into aircraft cockpits, distracting - and in some cases temporarily blinding - pilots.

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In a cloudless sky, above the market towns and green and pleasant fields of Warwickshire, it is hard to believe that it is worth the effort of the Environment Agency to map in painstaking detail every bump and dip of the terrain down below.

But the project - to plot the topography of England and Wales to within six inches of accuracy - is seen as a vital first step in preparing the country to face the emerging threat of flash flooding from tropical-style downpours.

Fitted to the floor of a leased aircraft is a Lidar unit which fires a laser beam downwards 100,000 times every second, scanning a swathe of land up to 600m wide.

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Rolls-Royce is using an increasing number of lasers in a number of different ways within its factories to bring down costs and up productivity.

Speaking at a conference for AILU, Clive Grafton-Reed, from Rolls-Royce UK, said lasers are the third most used technology within Rolls Royce now and most of its laser-based activity is within the drilling of turbines and combustors within its engines.

The lasers  have to drill a diverse range of shaped cooling holes for the company’s engine parts and it is now getting to the stage where the lasers need to keep up with the company’s designers. ‘The design guys draw nice smooth lines and we have to try to reproduce that,’ said Grafton-Reed. ‘Previously it was the motion system that held us up, but now it’s the lasers and they need to be improved to keep up with our designs.’

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There is some new cutting edge treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome, without the surgery.

“There’s no pain at all involved,” said Debbie Vallone who has chosen a lighter treatment for her carpal tunnel pain.

“What we’re doing is using light rays here,” said laser therapist Dwayne Claud.

Vallone can see the light, but she can’t feel it. This is very different from the pain she’s dealt with from carpal tunnel syndrome. “You feel like your hands are going to sleep. You get the numbness in your fingers,” Vallone said.

Vallone wanted to give a new treatment a try because her pain is still manageable.

While medical lasers are hot so they can cut and burn, these low- level lasers are also known as cold lasers.

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Scientists say they have triggered early stages of lightning by shooting lasers into clouds over New Mexico.The apparent breakthrough brings the decades-old goal of causing lightning with lasers closer, according to a new study.

“This was an important first step,” said Jérôme Kasparian of the University of Geneva, lead author of the study.

“What we observed were kind of precursors of lightning.”

If achieved, lightning control could eventually make airports, power plants, and other sites safer, scientists say.

If bolts could be conveniently triggered, the controlled strikes might deplete storm clouds of charged particles that naturally initiate the bolts, possibly preventing uncontrolled and dangerous lightning around sensitive areas.

Affordable and reliable laser-triggered lightning would also be a boon to scientists who study the still largely mysterious phenomenon (lightning facts).

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You may have seen them in “Star Wars,” “ ,” and other science fiction films and shows. The X-wing fighters, the Death Star, the Millennium Falcon and the Enterprise used laser weapons in great fictional battles to conquer and/or defend the universe. And starships aren’t the only ones packing laser heat. Han Solo and others carried the blaster in “Star Wars.” And Captain Kirk and other Starfleet personnel used phasers in “Star Trek.”

All of these weapons used directed energy, in the form of a laser beam, to disable or kill an opponent.But what are the advantages of using a laser as a weapon? Is it even possible? Could you use such a weapon to stun an opponent?

These questions are being addressed by the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Directed Energy Directorate. This program is developing high-energy lasers, microwave technologies and other futuristic weapons systems, such as the Airborne Laser and the PHaSR.

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… achieving Solid-State Laser Milestone

Boeing fired its new thin-disk laser system repeatedly in recent tests, achieving the highest known simultaneous power, beam quality and run time for any solid-state laser to date.

In each laser firing at Boeing’s facility in West Hills, Calif., the high-energy laser  achieved power levels of over 25 kilowatts for multi-second durations, with a measured beam quality suitable for a tactical weapon system.

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When the going gets rough, you can trust Photonic Products’ tough new industrial laser modules to keep right on going.

Constructed to withstand the harshest conditions and satisfy rigorous industrial demands, the laser modules are encapsulated in a hard-coat anodised case with a scratch-resistant sapphire window to protect the lens and offer rugged, durable performance at an extremely economical price.

They are designed and built for ease of use in tough industrial environments: any time the laser needs to be changed, the industrial connectors; either 2.5mm DC jack or industrial screw-on, make child’s play of installation and replacement, and their compact size allows for easy and efficient integration into existing production systems.

Photonic Products’ range of industrial laser diode modules is designed to be a complete OEM laser solution for heavy duty industrial manufacturing processes such as micro-machining, marking, cutting, drilling, welding, forming, soldering and many other industrial laser uses where superior quality, durability and performance are critical.

The industrial laser modules are available in a variety of wavelengths from 635nm to 830nm with either a standard elliptical output beam or line or cross generating optics. Line generating optics generate a 45°, 60°, or 90° full fan angle line, cross generating optics generate an accurate 70° full angle cross with Gaussian intensity, both of which offer straight line precision without bowing. The beam is aligned to <0.25° to the mechanical axis of the laser.

With optical output powers from 0.95mW to 30mW, operating voltage of 5V DC regulated ± 10% and operating temperature from -10°C to +50°C, the modules are also static, surge and reverse polarity protected and RoHS compliant.

Laser source, beam delivery, optical system - OEMs get a complete laser system with Photonic Products’ industrial laser modules which can be individually tailored to their application.

Industrial and academic bodies unveiled the innovative ways they are using lasers within micro and nano processing at a recent conference for the Association for Industrial Laser Users (AILU).

Some of the applications included: producing a range of nano-sized components and particles, drilling and cutting parts that go into aeroplane engines and producing solar cells. The speakers also had very different views on what sort of pulsed laser beam is best.

The Industrial and research opportunities in laser micro and nano processing conference’s speakers also highlighted a few trends in the laser business. Speaking at the conference, Dr Nadeem Rizvi, general manager at Laser Micromachining, has noticed an increasing range of industries are starting to use lasers to manufacture devices, as he said: ‘Older industries are now taking up laser-based processing [and] we are working with a wide range of industries and subsequently materials for these industries.’

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The YouTube Challenge!! Win a Spyder III laser now!!

The videos are in!

Wicked Lasers’ staff have selected what we feel are the 10 best video entries for the YouTube Challenge.

Here is your chance to vote for your favorite Wicked Lasers video produced by your very own Laser Community members.

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