Saru Posted February 18, 2011 #1 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Scientists have developed a device that can absorb the light from a laser rather than emitting it. A laser shines by producing a cascade of photons that bounce around inside a light-amplifying material before exiting from one or both ends. In 2010, Douglas Stone at Yale University and colleagues devised a way to reverse the process, with a material that absorbs rather than amplifies light. Read more... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taun Posted February 18, 2011 #2 Share Posted February 18, 2011 So.... It's a light sucker?.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
:PsYKoTiC:BeHAvIoR: Posted February 18, 2011 #3 Share Posted February 18, 2011 So.... It's a light sucker?.... It's a Sith's secret weapon to disable a lightsaber. Beware Jedi scum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarMountainKid Posted February 18, 2011 #4 Share Posted February 18, 2011 If they could devise an anti-laser type of technology that would absorb all wavelengths of light, that could be used as an invisibility shield. Similar technology is used to cancel unwanted acoustic noise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowSot Posted February 18, 2011 #5 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Hm... only in the sense that you'd end up with a black hole (absence of light), which would probably be noticeable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taun Posted February 18, 2011 #6 Share Posted February 18, 2011 It would be cool to have it in flashlight form.. so you could shoot a beam of darkness... Of course... I know that's not how it would work... but it would be cool... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prab Posted February 18, 2011 #7 Share Posted February 18, 2011 It's a Sith's secret weapon to disable a lightsaber. Beware Jedi scum. ya ya, LOL! It would be cool to have it in flashlight form.. so you could shoot a beam of darkness... Of course... I know that's not how it would work... but it would be cool... Ya, but it would then be called Flash-dark and not flashlight,LOL! and yes it would be way too cool,, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slapshot Posted February 18, 2011 #8 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Hey im a little new and im trying to learn more so bear with me if i ask alot of dumb questions lol. Nice to meet you all. Now then, what do you mean by black hole in the absence of light? If that was so then shouldn't the scientists who tested the anti-laser have faced a similar event? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Silver Thong Posted February 18, 2011 #9 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Hey im a little new and im trying to learn more so bear with me if i ask alot of dumb questions lol. Nice to meet you all. Now then, what do you mean by black hole in the absence of light? If that was so then shouldn't the scientists who tested the anti-laser have faced a similar event? Welcome to UM newbie He didn't mean a gravitational black hole. Just a space absent of light as this devise would absorb the light in the area. Doesn't work like that though, it was more or less a joke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowSot Posted February 18, 2011 #10 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Hey im a little new and im trying to learn more so bear with me if i ask alot of dumb questions lol. Nice to meet you all. Now then, what do you mean by black hole in the absence of light? If that was so then shouldn't the scientists who tested the anti-laser have faced a similar event? A black hole isn't the absences of light. A actual black hole would be a point of intense gravity formed from the collapse of stars, where the gravity well is so strong even light particles can not escape it. With this, they found a way to cancel it out using silicon which apparently absorbs photons. Aside from how that works, I'm not sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlazzedAzz Posted February 18, 2011 #11 Share Posted February 18, 2011 very usefull Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarMountainKid Posted February 19, 2011 #12 Share Posted February 19, 2011 Didn't think of that, ShadowSot. Lots of my ideas get shot down by more perceptive members around here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowSot Posted February 19, 2011 #13 Share Posted February 19, 2011 Didn't think of that, ShadowSot. Lots of my ideas get shot down by more perceptive members around here. No worries, I've just been around for a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sepulchrave Posted February 19, 2011 #14 Share Posted February 19, 2011 With this, they found a way to cancel it out using silicon which apparently absorbs photons. Aside from how that works, I'm not sure. As I understand it, from the actual article in Science, they have done basically what the article says: reversed the laser. A laser is basically the following: Excited State + Photon --> 2 Coherent Photons With their set-up, they have achieved the following: 2 Coherent Photons --> Excited State + Photon This is important for two reasons: Laser emission is an electromagnetic process, this experiment helps verify that time-reversal symmetry applies to electroweak phenomena. This experiment helps show how pure light may be used to increase the energy internal to a crystal; this energy in turn might be converted to an electrical signal or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHaYap Posted February 19, 2011 #15 Share Posted February 19, 2011 that should also mean faster computers and even wider broadband for the internet yay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fandango Posted February 19, 2011 #16 Share Posted February 19, 2011 (edited) This should come in handy for when "they" invade with their laser guns Edited February 19, 2011 by fandango Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgessel Posted February 20, 2011 #17 Share Posted February 20, 2011 cloaking devices would have to bend light to work or like the Japanese (I think it was the Japanese)came up with a stealth suit that uses cameras to project the image of what is on the other side of you to make you invisible (well somewhat) you could still see the outlines tho will post a link if i can find it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgessel Posted February 20, 2011 #18 Share Posted February 20, 2011 here is one link that i found http://science.howstuffworks.com/invisibility-cloak.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowSot Posted February 20, 2011 #19 Share Posted February 20, 2011 As I understand it, from the actual article in Science, they have done basically what the article says: reversed the laser. So... The silicon captures the photo and absorbs the energy, releasing it as heat, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oen Anderson Posted February 21, 2011 #20 Share Posted February 21, 2011 It seems to me this could be used as a shield against a laser being shot at you or your missile. The only question I have is how much heat can it absorb before it blows up? And as a cloaking device you might not be able to see what is behind the shield because it is absorbing light, but the heat it produces would show up on thermal imaging. Very interesting though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sepulchrave Posted February 21, 2011 #21 Share Posted February 21, 2011 So... The silicon captures the photo and absorbs the energy, releasing it as heat, right? At the moment, yes. Since the absorbed photon creates a conventional electronic ``excited state'', it is possible that with a few modifications to the device, the absorbed energy could be efficiently used in some other manner (electrical signal, for example). It seems to me this could be used as a shield against a laser being shot at you or your missile. The only question I have is how much heat can it absorb before it blows up? I don't think this would be a very good shield. A good shield would reflect or redirect the laser energy, this device absorbs it. If this device converts the laser energy directly into heat (without reflecting any of the light), then this is the worst possible shield, and would blow up sooner then a similar type of material. If this device converts the laser energy into an electrical signal then it is possible that the attacking laser could be used to power something (a counter-attack weapon?), but since laser weapons dump a huge amount of energy extremely quickly into a very small area it is unlikely that your electronics would be able to handle the load (think about trying to harness lightning to charge a battery). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xpeople Posted February 25, 2011 #22 Share Posted February 25, 2011 I wonder if this is the start of a quantum computer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHaYap Posted February 25, 2011 #23 Share Posted February 25, 2011 I wonder if this is the start of a quantum computer. OMG ! its the genesis of the matrix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.Tx.Rocker Posted February 25, 2011 #24 Share Posted February 25, 2011 very usefull Etremely useful, especially if they would create for use against radar guns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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