homeWelcome, sign in or click here to subscribe.login
     


 

 

Weekend


Subscriber content preview

May 14, 2010

Strange But True!

Q. Let's play the X-Games of LASERS. Can you name the briefest, longest, shortest and “baddest” lasers?

A. The “shortest laser pulse” was less than 1 femtosecond, or 0.000000000000001 second, created at the Max Planck Institute of Germany, says Michael Raymer in “The Silicon Web: Physics for the Internet Age.” The duration of this pulse is to 10 seconds as 10 seconds is to the age of the Earth! To do this, researchers have to generate a multi-colored light unlike most single-colored lasers.


 
. . .


To read this story in full login or purchase a subscription.



Previous columns:



Email or user name:
Password:
 
Forgot password? Click here.