Record-setting Laser May Aid Searches for Earthlike Planets

User rating: 4.6 / 5 after 45 vote(s)

Experimental data from a NIST gap-toothed frequency comb that are false colored to indicate the range from low power (red) to high power (blue). The comb is specially designed for astronomy. Each tooth is a precisely known frequency and the teeth are ...
Experimental data from a NIST "gap-toothed" frequency comb that are false colored to indicate the range from low power (red) to high power (blue). The comb is specially designed for astronomy. Each "tooth" is a precisely known frequency, and the teeth are widely separated (by 20 gigahertz) in comparison to a standard comb. Credit: M. Kirchner & S. Diddams/NIST

Scientists at the University of Konstanz in Germany and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated an ultrafast laser that offers a record combination of high speed, short pulses and high average power. The same NIST group also has shown that this type of laser, when used as a frequency comb—an ultraprecise technique for measuring different colors of light—could boost the sensitivity of astronomical tools searching for other Earthlike planets as much as 100 fold.


Full story »
All News summaries from Physics news
All News summaries for May 05, 2008
Goto Archive PhysOrg Forum Goto Archive Video Goto Archive Editorials Goto Archive Free Magazines Goto Archive Newsletter

News Archive