Mar 2 2011
Scientists, in collaboration with the Office of Naval Research (ONR), have blasted a 500 kV of power into a sample accelerator.
The blast in turn generated a supercharged electron ray, which can burn a 20 ft of steel in a single second. The experiment set a new record standard since the current limit is only 320 kV.
Study showed that the Free Electron Laser (FEL) is capable of shooting cruise missiles from the sky with a precision that is not available in the army’s arsenal.
FEL program’s Director of the electron gun and injector systems, Carlos Hernandez-Garcia stated that the significant achievement was the result of a six-year study.
ONR’s Program Manager, Quentin Saulter stated that the breakthrough offers potential to upgrade the quality of the laser power beam and the FEL could ultimately operate at a megawatt class. The sample accelerator at the Jefferson Lab is currently operating at only 14 kW.
Boeing received about $163 million from the Navy to use the technology and design a 100 kW weapon device, which can be utilized for defense, detecting, tracking and on-ship communications applications. Saulter expects to achieve that target by 2015.
The military is currently utilizing chemical lasers that use hazardous liquid materials. It also utilizes solid-state lasers that use glass and crystals. The FEL however needs only electrons that can be produced from the matter present in the injector using energy. This means, that FEL utilizes minimum shipboard power than the existing weapon equipment and will not slow down the vessel. It can also operate at diverse wavelengths and can function at both low and high levels to suit varied applications. FEL is resistant to atmospheric conditions.
Source: http://www.onr.navy.mil/