A team of engineers came up with a laser that can detect the composition of objects. Experts from the University of Michigan sees practical applications ranging from military warning systems and airport security for the supercontinuum laser.
The new laser makes use of a broadband beam infrared with varying frequencies. Echoes of the beam are used by the system to interpret vibrations from a substance and provide a deep information about it.
The molecules of different objects react differently to the infrared beam and provide a spectral fingerprinting range that can tell one of the composition of an object, depending on which waves are reflected and absorbed.
"For the defense and intelligence communities, this could add a new set of eyes," said Mohamad Islam, an electrical engineer and co-author of the research, in an interview with RedOrbit.
Islam shared that their team had to build a powerful laser with a broadband beam. They opted to start small and begun with a 5-watt laser and then later tried 25.7 watt version. At the moment, the laser prototype has an output of 50 watts and is due for real-world testing before the end of 2013.
The team was able to test their smallest prototype at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base where they used the laser atop a 12-story building and pointed it to a target roughly one mile away.
According to the engineers who worked on the laser, the technology can help improve how airport screening is done with the laser solving the issues on offensive and intrusive methods.
"Those are imaging devices looking for bumps where there shouldn't be bumps," Islam said. "They're looking for shapes that are odd or different. But they can't see the chemicals in the shapes. That's why you have to take your shoes off. But our laser can detect the chemical composition," Islam explained.
The said laser can also help illuminate an area for military aircrafts so the crew will see as if operating in broad daylight.
The United States armed forces are already using a technology similar to spectral fingerprinting but they need sunlight to be effective, making the operation ineffective on cloudy days or at night. Their technology can also detect composition but need to operate close to the object.
The research about the laser system was published on the journal Optics Letters.
