lasers tagged posts

A film deflects from a magnetic field when exposed to light.
Credit: SilkLab, Tufts University

Elastomeric composites can flex, grip, release, or rotate when exposed to lasers, diffuse light or sunlight. Researchers at Tufts University School of Engineering have developed magnetic elastomeric composites that move in different ways when exposed to light, raising the possibility that these materials could enable a wide range of products that perform simple to complex movements, from tiny engines and valves to solar arrays that bend toward the sunlight. The research is described in an article published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In biology, there are many examples where light induces movement or change – think of flowers and leaves turning toward sunlight...

Lasers could Heat materials to Temps hotter than the Center of the Sun in only 20 quadrillionths of a second

Theoretical physicists from Imperial College London have devised an extremely rapid heating mechanism that they believe could heat certain materials to degrees in much less than a million millionth of a second. The method could be relevant to thermonuclear fusion energy, where scientists are seeking to replicate the Sun’s ability to produce clean energy.

The heating would be ~100X faster than rates currently seen in fusion experiments using the world’s most energetic laser system at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, CA. Researchers have been using high-power lasers to heat material as part of the effort to create fusion energy for many years...