Since coherent light is something new, we can do things to matter that have not been done before, and see how it reacts. The laser is being used to investigate many problem areas in biology, chemistry, and physics. For example, sound waves of extremely high frequency can be generated in matter by subjecting it to laser light. These intense vibrations may have profound effects on materials.
Figure 21 Subterranean view of Stanford accelerator housing. Alignment optics (laser systems) are housed in the large tube, which also acts as support for the smaller accelerator tube above it.
Figure 22 Laser beam spot as observed at the end of the accelerator.
In the chemical field the sharp beam and monochromatic energy of the laser hold great promise in the exploration of molecular structure and the nature of chemical reactions. Chemical reactions usually are set off by heat, agitation, electricity, or other broadly applied means. None of these energizers allow the fine control that the laser beam does. Its extremely fine beam can be focused to a tiny spot, thus allowing chemical activity to be pinpointed. But there is a second advantage: The monochromaticity of coherent light also makes it possible to control the energy (in addition to the intensity) of the beam accurately by simply varying the wavelength. Thus it may be possible, for instance, to cause a reaction in one group of molecules and not in another.
One application in chemistry that holds great promise is the use of laser energy for causing specific chemical reactions such as those involved in the making of plastics. Bell Telephone Laboratory scientists have changed the styrene monomer (a “raw” plastic material) to its final state, polystyrene, in this way. The success of these and similar experiments elsewhere opens for exploration a vast area of molecular phenomena.
In another scientific application, the laser is being used more and more as a teaching tool. Coherence is a concept that formerly had to be demonstrated by diagrams, formulas, and inference from experiments. The laser makes it possible to see coherence “in action”, along with many of the physical effects that result from it. Such phenomena as diffraction, interference, the so-called Airy disc patterns, and spatial harmonics, always difficult to demonstrate to students in the abstract, can now be seen quite concretely.
Other interesting things can also be seen more plainly now. At the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, laser light is being used to “look” at plasmas; the result of one such look is shown in [Figure 23]. Plasmas are ionized gaseous mixtures. Their study lies at the heart of a constant search by atomic scientists for a self-sustained, controlled fusion reaction that can be used to provide useful thermonuclear power. This kind of reaction provides the almost unlimited energy in the sun and other stars. It is more efficient and releases less radioactivity than the other principal nuclear process, fission, which is used in atomic-electric power plants.[15]
