List of laser applications
The high intensity of light that can be achieved in a small, well collimated beam can also be used to induce a nonlinear optical effect in a sample, which makes techniques such as Raman spectroscopy possible.
Other spectroscopic techniques based on lasers can be used to make extremely sensitive detectors of various molecules, able to measure molecular concentrations in the parts-per-1012 (ppt) level.
One consideration crucial to the success of a heat treatment operation is control of the laser beam irradiance on the part surface.
Research shows that scientists may one day be able to induce rain and lightning storms (as well as micro-manipulating some other weather phenomena) using high energy lasers.
[4][5] When the Apollo astronauts visited the Moon, they planted retroreflector arrays to make possible the Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment.
Some laser systems, through the process of mode locking, can produce extremely brief pulses of light - as short as picoseconds or femtoseconds (10−12 - 10−15 seconds).
The short pulses can be used to probe the process of the reaction at a very high temporal resolution, allowing the detection of short-lived intermediate molecules.
Laser barcode scanners are ideal for applications that require high speed reading of linear codes or stacked symbols.
The guided munition adjusts its flight-path to home in to the laser light reflected by the target, enabling a great precision in aiming.
Since a laser beam has low divergence, the laser light appears as a small spot even at long distances; the user places the spot on the desired target and the barrel of the gun is aligned (but not necessarily allowing for bullet drop, windage, distance between the direction of the beam and the axis of the barrel, and the target mobility while the bullet travels).
Others use an infrared diode to produce a dot invisible to the naked human eye but detectable with night vision devices.
This unit illuminates an opponent with harmless low-power laser light and can have the effect of dazzling or disorienting the subject or causing them to flee.
There remains the possibility of using lasers to blind, since this requires relatively low power levels and is easily achievable in a man-portable unit.
The required brightness (as measured in by the beam parameter product) is higher for cutting applications than for brazing and thin metal welding.
[13] The use of lasers in Micro Materials Processing has found broad application in the development and manufacturing of screens for smartphones, tablet computers, and LED TVs.
