Improved efficiency of diode lasers and the growing photovoltaic market have accelerated interest in power beaming (wireless power transfer). The NASA-sponsored Space Elevator competition is currently the most popular application of power beaming.
Power beaming - the wireless transmission of energy from one location to another - has come a long way since Nikola Tesla’s experiments on couple-tuned-circuit oscillators. Although wireless power beaming is less efficient than using a conductor, it is the only way to power remote locations when laying power lines is not feasible, such as when a vehicle climbs 100,000 km into space from the Earth’s surface, also called the space elevator.
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For many drivers, it is their last best hope. The crash-warning systems that are increasingly common in higher-end cars sound an alarm if a collision is imminent, providing a few precious seconds for the operator to slam on the brakes or quickly change course to avoid an accident.
The reliability of these systems is crucial, so the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Md., wants to find out whether there is room for improvement.
The government agency devised a laser-based independent measurement system and is helping the US Department of Transportation to assess the performance of the collision-warning systems. Researchers in the automotive industry will be able to use the data to make improvements to warning systems currently under development.
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An experimental helmet is being tested by scientists as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.
It delivers low levels of infra-red light which researchers at the University of Sunderland believe may stimulate the growth of brain cells.
Tests in mice showed it improved learning ability and a study in humans is due to begin in the summer.
Current treatments for Alzheimer’s delay progression of the disease but cannot reverse memory loss.
The infra-red therapy was first developed to treat cold sores.
But when researchers studied how it worked, they found it stimulated growth of cells and may have applications in other conditions.
In tests in people with dementia using infra-red lasers, eight out of nine people showed some improvement, said Dr Gordon Dougal, a GP and director of Virulite, a medical research company based in County Durham.
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The US Department of Homeland Security has confirmed that it will mount testbed anti-missile defence kit on three airliners this year, in order to assess how it affects performance in the commercial aviation environment.
Aerospace Daily & Defense Report reports that the DHS will pay defence/aerospace giant BAE Systems $29m to install its “JetEye” equipment on a trio of American Airlines planes.
JetEye detects the exhaust plume of incoming missiles using electro-optic sensors. It is designed to counter infrared-seeking weapons which home on the aircraft’s own hot jet exhausts, which it does by focusing a suitable laser on the missile. This dazzles the missile seeker head, causing it to lose lock on the aeroplane.
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MUMBAI: He is a pioneer in the field of lasers and despite having invented the carbon dioxide (CO2) laser more than 40 years ago, Chandra Kumar Patel’s quest for innovation goes on and on.
Patel, who received the prestigious National Science Medal from President Bill Clinton in 1996, has now embarked upon developing a laser technique that would enable law enforcement agencies to detect explosive substances and chemical warfare agents more effectively.
Patel presented the latest explosive detection technique during a colloquium at Tata Institute of Fundamenal Research (TIFR) on Wednesday.
During his talk, the 69-year-old Baramati-born Patel, who is visiting India under the Sarojini Damodaran International Fellowship Programme, said that the existing explosive detection techniques lacked high sensitivity, specificity, speed of detection and ruggedness. “As a result, the false alarm rates are pretty high and so is the inconvenience caused to the travellers.”
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An ultrasound scanner that provides more detailed 3D images of the deformed blood vessels within a tumour could help doctors determine the boundary between cancerous and healthy tissue during surgery.
The scanner uses a novel form of non-invasive imaging called photoacoustic tomography. This uses laser light to “twang” cells so they emit an ultrasound wave, which is then detected and used to form a 3D image.
Existing ultrasound scanners capture images by aiming high-frequency sound waves at the body. These waves reflect whenever the density of tissue changes, for example at the boundary between muscle and bone. The resulting “echoes” are then used to create a picture.
Such scanners are good at capturing images of high-contrast subjects like antenatal scans, but produce only low-contrast images of the inside of a tumour, because the density of blood vessels is similar to that of the surrounding tissue.
Paul Beard and colleagues at University College London, UK, have now developed a high-resolution photoacoustic tomography scanner that offers a solution.
This shoots very short pulses of non-harmful near-infrared laser light at a tumour. As the light is absorbed by tissue, the cells heat up and expand very slightly, creating an ultrasound wave that can then be detected by a sensor.
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A customized laser scanning system produces an accurate 3D analysis of wrinkles in laminated plastics.
Wrinkles can be a serious problem for manufacturers of laminated plastics and textiles. Different schemes for measuring and characterizing surface wrinkles in these materials have been developed, but don’t provide true 3D data on the wrinkle’s size and shape.
Now, however, a team at the University of Texas, Austin, has developed a laser-based system that enables 3D analysis of wrinkles in laminated plastics.
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Ondax has appointed Photonic Products, the UK laser assembly manufacturer and laser diode specialist, as the authorised European distributor for its range of wavelength stabilised laser diodes which are low cost, miniature lasers in a standard TO package.
Stabilisation is achieved using the Ondax Volume Holographic Grating (VHG) PowerLocker™. The PowerLocker™ increases the spectral brightness of laser diodes, ensuring a precise centre wavelength over the locked region and improving temperature stability and yield, which enhances performance and enables many applications including storage, metrology, bio-instrumentation, analytical instrumentation, sensing, flow cytometry and graphic arts.
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Available now from Photonic Products, the Sanyo DL-8142-201 830nm high-power infra-red laser diode has an optical output power of 150mW. This diode is supplied in a 5.6mm package that is easier to manufacture than the 9mm package diode which it replaces, resulting in a lower cost laser diode.
The Sanyo DL-8142-201 laser diode has the additional benefit of a lower aspect ratio than its predecessor, which gives improved typical beam divergence of 16 degrees, making the diode ideal for use in night vision, distance measurement and printing.
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