Thin-disk laser-pumping of ytterbium-doped fiber laser http://t.co/jk2nQHH1
BMW to Replace LED Headlights with Lasers
BMW made headlines last week when it announced that it would incorporate lasers into its headlights for the first time, starting with its new plug-in hybrid, the i8 Concept. The lasers, which are 1000 times more intense than conventional LEDs, are safe, the company said, and could result in significant fuel savings.
via photonics.com
Single-cell biological lasers
Since their invention some 50 years ago1, lasers have made a tremendous impact on modern science and technology. Nevertheless, lasing has so far relied on artificial or engineered optical gain materials, such as doped crystals, semiconductors, synthetic dyes and purified gases2, 3. Here, we show that fluorescent proteins4, 5 in cells are a viable gain medium for optical amplification, and report the first successful realization of biological cell lasers based on green fluorescent protein GFP. We demonstrate in vitro protein lasers using recombinant GFP solutions and introduce a laser based on single live cells expressing GFP. On optical pumping with nanojoule/nanosecond pulses, individual cells in a high-Q microcavity produce bright, directional and narrowband laser emission, with characteristic longitudinal and transverse modes. Lasing cells remained alive even after prolonged lasing action. Light amplification and lasing from and within biological systems pave the way to new forms of intracellular sensing, cytometry and imaging.
Scientists hit record-breaking 26Tbps by laser
Researchers have used a single laser to transmit data at a 26 terabits per second over an optical fibre cable, a data-transmission breakthrough that promises to come in useful for cloud computing and 3D TV transmissions.Read thisMemristorHP figures out how memristors work, predicts robot useRead moreThe transmission is biggest volume of data ever carried by a laser beam, according to the group of scientists, led by Germany’s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. With the demonstration, which sent the equivalent of 200,000 high-resolution images across 50km in one second, the researchers said they had broken their own record of 10Tbps, set in 2010.
via ZDNet UK.
Laser beam could nudge space junk away
Satellites in orbit around the Earth are at risk of collision with space-based objects, which have either been discarded by space missions or created in satellite collisions. But now a team of researchers at NASA believes it may have found a relatively cheap solution for dealing with this “space junk” – aim a medium-powered laser into space and nudge any objects on a collision course out of harm’s way.
via physicsworld.com.
Laser heats up fusion quest
Physicists at the $3.5bn National Ignition Facility NIF say they have taken an important step in the bid to generate fusion energy using ultra-powerful lasers. By focusing NIF’s 192 laser beams onto a tiny gold container, researchers have achieved the temperature and compression conditions that are needed for a self-sustaining fusion reaction – a milestone that they hope to pass next year.
via physicsworld.com.
Novel use of volume-Bragg grating in high-power fiber lasers
Volume-Bragg gratings provide more flexibility in spectral control and wavelength tuning of high-power fiber-laser sources than either conventional fiber-Bragg or replica diffraction gratings.
via SPIE Newsroom: SPIE.
Europe’s Earthcare space laser mission gets go ahead
Europe is to press ahead with its Earthcare space laser mission, despite a 30% rise in its probable final cost.
The satellite will study the role clouds and atmospheric particles play in a changing climate.
But the difficulty in finding a workable design for the spacecraft’s lidar instrument means its total budget will now top 590m euros (£500m).
Member states of the European Space Agency are convinced though that Earthcare will deliver invaluable data.
Delegates to the 18-nation alliance this week accepted the findings of a review that assessed the technical risks of proceeding.
They also heard a clear message from the scientific community that Earthcare would do pioneering research.
via BBC News – Europe’s Earthcare space laser mission gets go ahead.
Mitsubishi Electric Develops ‘Laser Backlight LCD TV’
Mitsubishi Electric Corp developed the “Laser Backlight LCD TV,” which uses laser diodes for part of its backlight source, and prototyped a 46-inch TV.
Its backlight unit includes two types of light sources: red laser diode and cyan LED. Compared with Mitsubishi Electric’s existing LCD TVs, which use white LEDs for backlight, the color gamut of the new TV is about 1.3 times wider. It is a 126% color gamut on NTSC standards.
“Especially, the vividness of red color has drastically improved,” the company said.
Mitsubishi Electric has already commercialized a rear projection TV using RGB color lasers (See related article). This time, the company used only the red color laser.
“We took costs into consideration for commercialization,” it said. “And we found that the red color laser is more effective than the other lasers.”
via Mitsubishi Electric Develops ‘Laser Backlight LCD TV’ — Tech-On!.
Lockheed Martin Receives $34.5 Million Contract for paveway
Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) has been awarded a $34.5 million contract from the U.S. Air Force for production of paveway II Plus Laser Guided Bomb (LGB) GBU-12 kits. The majority share contract includes deliveries to both the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy and is scheduled to begin the second quarter of 2011.
Paveway II Plus LGB guidance kits significantly improve weapon accuracy and reduce risk to U.S. and allied ground forces when compared to legacy paveway LGBs through implementation of a newly integrated combined hardware and software solution.
“Lockheed Martin proven paveway II Plus LGB provides warfighters a reliable precision capability to help them achieve their mission in today’s complex battlefield environments,” said Joe Serra, senior manager for Precision Guided Systems at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “This latest contract will provide for delivery of the first full-rate production quantities of the improved paveway II Plus LGB, a major milestone on the program.”
In October 2010, the U.S. Air Force completed a Force Development Evaluation Program at Eglin Air Force Base, FL, for paveway II Plus LGB that included GBU-10 and GBU-12 weapons released from F-15 Eagle and F-16D Viper aircraft. Operational test scenarios evaluated system performance compared to legacy paveway II LGB weapons. The paveway II Plus LGB is supported through the U.S. Air Force 53rd Test Wing fielding recommendation for full/unrestricted operational employment of both GBU-10 and GBU-12 configurations incorporating the MAU-209C/B paveway II Plus system.
The new system does not require upgrades or modifications to aircraft, ground handling equipment or logistics support, and continues the same basic paveway II concept of operation for employment by converting conventional gravity weapons into precision-guided munitions. Each kit consists of a MAU-209C/B computer control group containing the electronics guidance system and an air foil group, which provides lift and stability.
Lockheed Martin’s LGB kits can be carried on U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and most international aircraft platforms currently authorized to carry and release LGBs. Paveway II and paveway II Plus kits are compatible and interoperable with existing inventory paveway II equipment, handling procedures and aircrew operations.
Lockheed Martin is a qualified provider of all three variants of paveway II and paveway II Plus MK-80 series LGBs, and is the sole provider of the paveway II Enhanced Laser Guided Training Round and Dual Mode Laser Guided Bomb. Lockheed Martin has delivered more than 55,000 LGB kits to the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and international customers. Laser guided bombs have been used successfully in Operation Iraqi Freedom and current overseas contingency operations.
Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 132,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation’s 2010 sales from continuing operations were $45.8 billion.
via PRNewswire.
