A New Ultrafast Laser

-
Marina W
11-8-18


Most modern ultrafast lasers emit pulses of light 300 million times a second. But in the age of new technology constantly being invented, a new ultrafast laser can now emit pulses of light 30 billion times per second, which is 100 times faster than the other lasers. How exactly does this work? Well, first understanding what an ultrafast laser is is important. An ultrafast laser emits short, rapidly fired pulses of light that usually last about tens of millionths of a billionth of a second. Scientists usually use a technique called mode locking, in which light waves bounce back and forth in a mirrored space in such a way that the waves build on each other and as a result produce rapid flashes of light.

But the new method used to create the new ultrafast laser uses a more forceful approach by cutting up a continuous laser beam into different pulses. Ultrafast lasers can typically produce something known as a frequency comb, which is light made up of individual colors. The evenly distributed hues, when plotted, look like the teeth on a comb. To make this work, scientists had to remove electronic “jitter” that would blur out the combs sharp teeth. This new approach is actually very useful for measuring the frequency of light precisely.

After this new invention, I would say the next steps are to figure out how to put this new method to its full potential. Scientists should figure out how to incorporate this new high tech laser into our daily lives while benefiting the human race. Some possible uses for this laser would be precisely observing stars and other planets outside our solar system and also a way to transmit information, in which bits of information could be stored in each separate color and then the beam could be sourced through a fiber-optic cable.


Electro-Optic Laser Pulses
Image result for laser beam






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chemically termolecular reactions: The fourth class of chemical reactions

-
Image
Chemically termolecular reactions: The fourth class of chemical reactions Maisy Chase Up until now only three classes of chemical reactions were known. Unimolecular reactions occur when one reactant undergoes bond breaking or forming to create different products. Bimolecular reactions are where two reactants collide and then undergo bond breaking or forming. Termolecular association reactions, where two reactants collide to form a whole with a new chemical bond between the two reactants. A third molecule, known as the bath gas, then removes some of the internal kinetic energy of that molecule to stabilize it. Researchers from Columbia University , led by Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering Michael P. Burke, have discovered a fourth class of chemical reaction known as “chemically termolecular reactions.” This involves the breaking and bonding of three molecules. The team showed that these chemically termolecular reactions not only are major chemical pathways but also ...
Read more

Mahar-ullah Shahminah- Molecular Gastronomy

-
Image
Molecular Gastronomy   By: Shahminah Mahar-ullah Date:3/22/19 Molecular Gastronomy is both a fusion of science and cooking. The scientific discipline gives the chef complete control of what the texture, taste, and physical appearance of the dish. Molecular Gastronomy is a modern unique style of cooking that some would say it could be considered art. There are three aspects of Molecular Gastronomy, as i said before it is texture,taste,and physical appearance. Molecular Gastronomy can have a very simple and familiar taste or a new and unique taste. Taste is often a aspect that is forgotten about in Molecular Gastronomy. Mostly because people who don't know much about the style of cooking kinda forget that its actually cooking ,not just some form a science. Taste is the main focus with cooking in general and with molecular cooking taste can be brought to a whole new level since you have complete control over each part of the dish. Same goes for physical appearance and ...
Read more

Force and Motion

-
Image
Zach Fluck Science blog Force and Motion Blog Sir Isaac Newton was an English astronomer, physicist, and mathematician, born on December 25, 1642. He died on March 20, 1727, most likely from mercury poisoning or old age. However, during his life, he made several contributions to modern science and advanced our understanding of physics tremendously. Arguably his most famous discovery was gravity. However, he had to use his 3 laws of motion to make this accomplishment. Newton understood that an object at rest will stay at rest, unless acted on by unbalanced forces. Therefore, if an object such as an apple is in a resting position there must be a force to make the apple fall to the ground. He discovered this invisible force to be gravity. At a young age Newton was removed from school to be a farmhand. Despite returning to school the turning point in his live was he left his hometown to attend Cambridge University. After attending Cambridge he returned to his hometown where his observat...
Read more