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CTD - Laser Principles


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Okay, here's the draft of the Laser Weapons text. This was mostly written by Decklan several weeks ago, and I've editted it to be more in line with the official laser concept.

All comments welcome. It also needs fluff text for anyone feeling inspired.

-The Captain

ps: It's pronounced car-bon-ol-die-imid-a-zol. Yes, It's real. :D
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Cpt Boxershorts and me have been puting our heads together :argue: , and have come up with the following. Please read through it and give us your comments.

(edit) Hope Cpt Boxershorts doesn't kill me for butchering his work :D . Fixed a few typos. Edited by tzuchan
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Damn! I just finished my own! Well, here's a combination of both edits. I admit I hit it pretty hard. Also, I changed capacity capacitors to "magnitude" instead of "volume". [i]Technically[/i], it's not a volume. :P

Anyway, I tore it to he||, so read it, and if Tzuchan or the Cap'n think it's too much, totally revert to laser3.

Oh, and every edit comes with a complimentary bag of fluff. As always, it's fun to write, and I'm not attached to it, so axe it if it's dumb. I wrote a happy one this time. :happybanana: Maybe you'll all go "bleh, that's stupid, I want a cool laser quote" :laser: so make one and use mine for toilet paper. S'up to you.

[EDIT]

OI! I'm a moron. Thanks for the heads-up. Hehe...nice quotes. Edited by Fred the Goat
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:blink: You might want to try attach the file so that we can see it...
Any sort of fluff text is welcomed, can't be worst than mine :D

(edit)
Feeling some what funky, here's a weird fluff text I came up with:

"You know, plugging that new carbowhacamacallit into the old Starwars anti ICBM laser sounded like a good idea at that time..."
"Yea, I know..."
"......"
"So who's going to tell the base commander about the new skylight we installed for him?"
"...I'm smart, THAT means I'm definately not suicidal!"
-two unknown scientists Edited by tzuchan
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I've added some of Fred's changes to the CTD, as well as his fluff text.

One thing that bugs me about his fluff text is this:

[quote]And then he told us the lab had finally figured out lasers, and they were powerful enough to be useful in the war.[/quote]

I think maybe we should change this line, cause we already have figured out lasers, just not how to built them small, yet deadly... Maybe if we changed it to the lab managed to built a prototype?

[EDIT]

Jeez! I forgot to attach the file as well! Edited by tzuchan
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Hmm...well, I was specifically trying to steer away from soldiers (which I don't have to do) since it's more of a theoretical discovery. I figured I'd be talking about the discovery of the carbo-whatsit, rather than any actual pistol. I also thought it would be the lab that would come up with the theory, and the techies that would implement it in a prototype, but I don't know. This area is kinda fuzzy to me. Before I write anything, do you think I should write a soldier quote or a scientist quote, and if the latter, then what's the scientist/technician relationship, as far as implementing new technology? On the other hand, if you know what you want, you can always just write it up, I [i]won't[/i] be offended if my five minutes of work is tossed in the can.
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[quote]his area is kinda fuzzy to me. Before I write anything, do you think I should write a soldier quote or a scientist quote, and if the latter, then what's the scientist/technician relationship, as far as implementing new technology?[/quote]
I think its safe to go either way, whichever fits in with the entry best. I'm sure eventually we will have a good spread of who the quotes are from. So if you want it from the soldiers view, go for it. Same for any other view. Also, anyone is free to post a sugested amended quote if they feel it works best. We can always change them easily enough.

Gold
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Hmmm...well, ok. I'm gonna redo an Iglesias quote, because scientists are cool. Anyone can say anything they want about my quotes...or...er...anything at all, as long as they're not in a court of law...yeah, or intentionally and misleadingly damaging someone else's reputation...because that's slander...and it's against the law for God's sake. So don't slander. Or...uh, libel.

Here's the quote!

"I knew something must have gone right, because James was trying to dance with me. He opened a bottle of red wine - he doesn't like champagne - he opened the bottle, and he yelled to everybody, 'Hey, Marshall, Noushin, get over here you greasemonkeys, I have great news.' And then he told us the lab had finally worked out the physics of a combat-grade laser, and they were ready for the prototype stage. He pointed at the pile of scrap metal he'd been using as a table for the wine, and he said this new silica laser could go through it like butter. We were so excited, we had a working model constructed by the end of the day."
- Maria Iglesias, Ph.D, Senior Technician
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:LOL: yeah, it's not like we're paying attention.

Seriously, though, posting to the CTD just means a rough draft is complete. Critique away!
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Well, I know we're kinda feeling done with this one, so this is just a pain in the arse, but just so you know, Fritz came up with another laser idea in Plasma Weapons/Laser Weapons in the Technology workshop (I honestly don't know why these two workshops are separated). Might be worth a look.
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  • 1 year later...
Nothing more than a bump to see if there's anything that needs fixing... If not, Azzy?

Several decades of science and technology, concept development, and engineering development have provided the underpinnings for a significant contribution by high-energy lasers (HELs) to recent planetary security needs. Current LASER, or Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission or Radiation technology works by having a substance electrically stimulated by a flash tube. This excites the atoms in the substance, causing them to release photons. The
lasing substance is housed in a tube capped with a fully reflecting mirror at one end and a partial mirror at the other. When the photons are released, they rebound from one mirror to the other, exciting more and more atoms in the lasing substance, thereby resulting in an exponential growth of photons of the appropriate wavelength. Once a sufficient quantity of photons exist, they can pass through the partially mirrored end of the barrel in a highly focused beam. Due to the difficulties involved with generating enough power in a compact enough form, portable laser weapons that do more than blind the target have been a pipedream until recently.

Our research has uncovered a lasing substance significantly more productive and efficient than previous ruby or carbon dioxide based devices. The development of carbonyldiimidazol activated silica gives us the core of a potentially devastating weapon. This has been combined with recent advances in material science that allowed the development of capacitors efficient enough to energize a laser powerful enough to be of use in the field, yet small enough to be portable.

Previous laser designs originally planned for national defense have been released to our scientists to combat the ongoing alien threat. The fact that laser weapons have less moving parts result in a weapon that is not only easier to maintain, but also due to the fact that there is little to no recoil involved, highly accurate yet more damaging than conventional weapons. There is also the fact that with the new high volume capacitors, it is quite possible that the laser weapons developed can eliminate the need to reload in the field, yet be able to outlast the ammo supply of conventional weapons. All of these are attributes that may very well tip the balance of the war against the alien invaders.

The beam delivers its energy to a relatively small spot on the target, typically over an area approximately one centimeter in diameter. The incident intensity is sufficient to melt steel. Typical melt-through times previous to amended studies for missile bodies are about 10 seconds. However, the recent improvements of the lasing component plus the fact that the capacitors used dump all of the stored energy in less than a fraction of second resulted in a laser beam that can vaporize a hole through a 10cm thick a steel plate despite the short duration of the beam. However, an unfortunate side effect of such an intense beam is its tendency to ionize the air along the path of the beam, rendering the path of the beam quite visible and consequently revealing the location of the shooter.

It extremely important to realize the extent of this potential within the X-Corps. Directed-energy weapons can add a new dimension to a wide range of missions and various battle situations. Appropriately developed and applied, high-energy laser systems will become key contributors to the defense of our world. Complete and successful development for directed energy weapons will require extensive testing, both in the laboratory and in the field to mature the technologies, develop operational systems, and apply the growing capabilities most efficiently.

"I knew something must have gone right, because James was trying to dance with me. He opened a bottle of red wine - he doesn't like champagne - he opened the bottle, and he yelled to everybody,'Hey, Marshall, Noushin, get over here you greasemonkeys, I have great news.' And then he told us the lab had finally worked out the physics of a combat-grade laser, and they were ready for the prototype stage. He pointed at the pile of scrap metal he'd been using as a table for the wine, and he said this new silica laser could go through it like butter. We were so excited, we had a working model constructed by the end of the day."
- Maria Iglesias, Ph.D, Senior Technician
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A few simple grammatical flaws:

"The fact that laser weapons have [color="orange"]less[/color] (fewer) moving parts result(s) in a weapon that is not only easier to maintain, but also(,) due to the fact that there is little to no recoil involved, [color="orange"]highly[/color] (more) accurate [color="orange"]yet more damaging[/color] (and more powerful) than conventional weapons."

"There is also the fact that with the new high volume capacitors, it is quite possible that the laser weapons developed can eliminate the need to reload in the field, yet be able to outlast the ammo supply of conventional weapons."

This sentence seems to be double repetition. You're also over-using the term "conventional weapons" which is poor writing and lessens the literary value of it. It might be better to change "yet be able to outlast the ammo supply of conventional weapons." to "well able to outlast all other infantry weapons", or something similar - since laser cannons do have an ammo limit, I'd wager something different occurring with larger scale variants.

Other than that, it reads very nicely. =b
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  • 1 month later...
Here's how it works (at least what I know about this)
[quote]Several decades of science and technology, concept development, and engineering  development have provided the underpinnings for a significant contribution by high-energy lasers (HELs) to recent planetary security needs. Current LASER, or Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation technology works by having a substance optically stimulated by a flash tube. This excites the atoms in the substance, and the ratio between excited atoms and normal atoms increases from zero until an equilibrium is established, usually above one. The lasing substance is housed in a tube capped with a fully reflecting mirror at one end and a partial mirror at the other. When the photons are released, some will be exactly on a direction perpendicular on the two mirrors. While they rebound from one mirror to the other, they cross around excited atoms, causing them to emit other photons in the exact same direction and with the same phase as the initial one. More and more atoms in the lasing substance lose energy, thereby resulting in an exponential growth of photons of the appropriate wavelength, phase and direction. Some photons can pass through the partially mirrored end of the barrel in a highly focused beam, while others maintain the emission process. Due to the difficulties involved with generating enough power in a compact enough form, portable laser weapons that do more than blind the target have been a pipedream until recently.[/quote]
Also, I was never happy about the organic compound carbonyldiimidazol, that will decompose fast. You can choose a lantanide with a fancy name instead. Edited by dan2
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  • 1 month later...
Moriarty pointed out in a PM that laser weapons CTs don't clearly mention a power source. In this CT, the power source is only mentioned in passing. Imho, the capacitor is an important enough part of laser weapons to merit a little more attention.

[quote]There is also the fact that with the new high volume capacitors, it is quite possible that the laser weapons developed can eliminate the need to reload in the field, yet be able to outlast the ammo supply of conventional weapons.[/quote]This suggests that the capacitors are charged prior to battle and last the entire duration of the engagement. If this is truly the case, perhaps a sentence or two could be added to describe how and when the capacitors are (re-)charged, how long it takes, and/or how much energy they store?
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Guest Azrael
True, capacitors can only store energy, not produce, so the only way is to charge them before the battle, either on the base or on the craft. Maybe it's unnecessary to write [i]how[/i] they are recharged or how long it takes, since that would mean we getting into the matter of how much energy the laser rifle uses and how long it takes to store the apparently "infinite" energy. I don't think we should get into "how much" energy it has cause it's kinda hard to explain that a certain amount of energy can last so much being spent in highly-charged laser blasts, was I clear there?, the laser shots use a lot of energy in order to be destructive, that amount of energy spent multiplied by the numerous shots fired in battle can be a huge amount, so getting into exact figures... I don't know, if anyone can come up with a plausible explanation of how can the laser weapons store that much energy, good then, but again, physics and more specifically electricity has never been my strong point, so feel free to ignore me if there is an easy way to explain this :)

[i]ps: yes, I'm alive :P[/i]
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[b]He's ALIVE!![/b] :blink:

Anyway, you're probably right about some aspects being "too much detail".

Hmmm... maybe just mention they are charged before each mission and leave it at that?

Or maybe you could add something silly like "self-charging" capacitors? ^_^

Edit: to simul-post, or not to simul-post... I see that Az is posting at the moment and I could annoy him by posting first. Nah, I'll just edit this previous post of mine. ^_^ Edited by Astyanax
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Guest Azrael
[quote name='Astyanax' date='May 3 2005, 03:39 PM']Hmmm... maybe just mention they are charged before each mission and leave it at that?
[right][post="118715"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]
Sounds good :)
[quote]Or maybe you could add something silly like "self-charging" capacitors? ^_^[/quote]
You still need an external powersource, so let's just leave it at they are charged with the base powersources :)
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How this for a version of paragraph 2? I changed the first sentence so the paragraph could talk about the lasing material advancement as well as the capacitor advancement, then expanded on the capacitor section. It might be a bit too wordy at the moment, though.
[quote]Our research uncovered multiple advances that can effectively take laser weapons from the realm of science fiction into that of reality. The development of a carbonyldiimidazol-activated silica lasing matrix has resulted in lasers that are significantly more powerful and efficient than previous ruby- or carbon dioxide-based devices, and the development of high-performance capacitors has freed laser weapons from one of their traditional limitations: their power supply.  Although the size and inefficiency of older power supplies were prohibitive, these new, highly efficient and lightweight capacitors can easily be pre-charged from our bases with enough energy to power a laser for the duration of a field mission. By combining these advancements in lasing materials and capacitors, a feasible laser weapon design can finally be created.[/quote] Edited by Astyanax
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While talking about a passage about the laser core in the laser rifle text, I come to the idea of proposing a change in the laser core technology.
While I was watching a TV repair guy fixing our TV long time ago (I think maybe 15 years ago) he showed me that a powerful diode able to be efficient at more than 10000V, was assembled from many (maybe 30) stacked diodes, each able to withstand just a few hudred volts.
Now I know diamond in its pure state is an electrical insulator, but when doped with various elements like berillium, boron, nitrogen and oxygen, it becomes semiconductive (positive or negative, depending on element).
A diode in itself is composed of two layers, one positive and one negative (have an excess of electrons in its lattice, while the positive lattice needs more electrons).
A light emitting diode is a special diode that have a difference of potential between layers in such a way that when a charge goes from one layer to the other it is able to emit light.
It's advantages are that it transforms electricity to light directly. Unfortunately, since the crystalls are very small, the amount of light is really small.
So if X-Corps engineers discover a process to deposit semiconductive layers of diamond in an alternative fashion, but inequal in doping density, to make stacked light emitting diodes, they can get huge Laser emmiting cores based on diamond, a material that gets cool fast (it conducts heat better that copper), it is lightweight and have a high transparency.
The laser core technology will start with relatively small crystals, suitable for laser pistols, but gets improved for heavier weapons.
Optics, like lenses, made of diamond can be also very useful, since its refraction index is extremely high (2.45), which allows miniaturization.
The texts shouldn't be very affected by this, just a few sentences should be changed, but I guess Tzuchan has the choice here :)
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A few changes, to fit the new technology in. Most (95%) of the text is untouched.
[quote][Laser Weapons]
X-Net://Pegasus.Net/Alien/Weapons/[Laser Weapons]

Several decades of science and technology, concept development, and engineering  development have provided the underpinnings for a significant contribution by high-energy lasers (HELs) to recent planetary security needs. Current LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission or Radiation) technology works by passing a strong current through stacked laser emitting diodes. This excites the atoms in their crystals, causing them to release photons. The lasing crystal is housed in a tube filled with a highly transparent and heat transmisive liquid and it is capped with a fully reflecting mirror at one end and a partial mirror at the other. When the photons are released, they rebound from one mirror to the other, exciting more and more atoms in the lasing substance, thereby resulting in an exponential growth of coherent photons of the appropriate wavelength and phase. Once a sufficient quantity of photons exist, they can pass through the partially mirrored end of the barrel in a highly focused beam. Due to the difficulties involved with generating enough power in a compact enough form, portable laser weapons that do more than blind the target have been a pipedream until recently.

Our research has uncovered a way to manufacture a lasing substance significantly more productive and efficient than previous ruby or carbon dioxide based devices. The development of diamond based semiconductors provided us with the core of a potentially devastating weapon. A new technique of growing layers of synthetic diamond that is doped alternatively with berilium and boron for p-semiconductors and nitrogen and oxygen for n-semiconductors, allowed us to greatly exceed the size of the crystals used previously for laser emitting diodes, thus hugely increasing the laser power. This has been combined with recent advances in material science that allowed the development of capacitors efficient enough to energize a laser powerful enough to be of use in the field, yet small enough to be portable.

Previous laser designs originally planned for national defense have been released to our scientists to combat the ongoing alien threat. The fact that laser weapons have fewer moving parts result in a weapon that is not only easier to maintain, but also due to the fact that there is little to no recoil involved, accurate and more powerful than conventional weapons. There is also the fact that with the new high volume capacitors, it is quite possible that the laser weapons developed can eliminate the need to reload in the field, yet be able to outlast the ammo supply of conventional weapons. All of these are attributes that may very well tip the balance of the war against the alien invaders.

The beam delivers its energy to a relatively small spot on the target, typically over an area approximately one centimeter in diameter. The incident intensity is sufficient to melt steel. Typical melt-through times previous to amended studies for missile bodies are about 10 seconds. However, the recent improvements of the lasing component plus the fact that the capacitors used dump all of the stored energy in less than a fraction of second resulted in a laser beam that can vaporize a hole through a 10cm thick a steel plate despite the short duration of the beam. However, an unfortunate side effect of such an intense beam is its tendency to ionize the air along the path of the beam, rendering the path of the beam quite visible and consequently revealing the location of the shooter.

It is extremely important to realize the extent of this potential within the X-Corps. Directed-energy weapons can add a new dimension to a wide range of missions and various battle situations. Appropriately developed and applied, high-energy laser systems will become key contributors to the defense of our world. Complete and successful development for directed energy weapons will require extensive testing, both in the laboratory and in the field to mature the technologies, develop operational systems, and apply the growing capabilities most efficiently.

"I knew something must have gone right, because James was trying to dance with me. He opened a bottle of red wine - he doesn't like champagne - he opened the bottle, and he yelled to everybody,'Hey, Marshall, Noushin, get over here you greasemonkeys, I have great news.' And then he told us the lab had finally worked out the physics of a combat-grade laser, and they were ready for the prototype stage. He pointed at the pile of scrap metal he'd been using as a table for the wine, and he said this new diamond laser could go through it like butter. We were so excited, we had a working model constructed by the end of the day."
- Maria Iglesias, Ph.D, Senior Technician[/quote] Edited by dan2
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Hey dan2, great job with the text. Getting this text done will help us prevent inconsistencies and allow us to complete our final proofreadings for the other laser CTs.

Because I'll be seeing you in the proofreading forum, I'm going to comment strictly on the ideas. There are some small errors and places where the text can be polished, but the important thing right now is to solidify the ideas so we can progress on the derived texts, imho.

I don't have too much to comment on; the ideas, for the most part, don't contradict anything. The exceptions I've noticed are below.

[quote name='Paragraph 3']...but also due to the fact that there is little to no recoil involved, accurate and more powerful than conventional weapons.[/quote]
Actually, laser weapons are consistently more powerful than conventional weapons, but their accuracy is not so consistent.
[quote name='Accuracy']Pistol: Auto 60%, Snap 60%, Aimed 78%
Laser Pistol: Auto 28%, Snap 40%, Aimed 68%

Rifle: Auto 35%, Snap 60%, Aimed 110%
Laser Rifle: Auto 46%, Snap 65%, Aimed 100%

Heavy Cannon: Snap 60%, Aimed 90%
Heavy Laser: Snap 75%, Aimed 110%[/quote]

[quote name='Paragraph 5']Appropriately developed and applied, high-energy laser systems will become key contributors to the defense of our world.[/quote]
Minor nitpick, but the use of "can" instead of "will" would make this statement more accurate.

I think paragraphs 2 and 4 can use some rewording; the text is a little cumbersome at certain points, but the ideas are sound, and that's the most important part. We can work on that more in the proofreading forum, though. Good job! =b

p.s. The header should be Pegasus.net; Perseus.net was the old version. :) By the way, there's a thread in the proofreading forum ("Standardisation of headings", iirc) that details the standard header. Edited by Astyanax
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Well, Azrael asked me not to change too much in this text because it belongs to Tzuchan, and unfortunately he wasn't around to give any blessing to those changes.
I had to do it because I wanted consistency in all Laser texts.
If it is ready for proofreading, then we can reword some of the paragraphs and eliminate inaccuracies there, what do you think?
Anyway, the text was untouched for a long time, that's why was still "Perseus" instead of "Pegasus".
But if you agree with the changes and you think now all laser tech is consistent, then I'm really happy :D
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[quote][Laser Weapons]
X-Net://Pegasus.Net/Alien/Weapons/[Laser Weapons]

Several decades of new discoveries in science, technology, and engineering development have provided the underpinnings for a significant contribution by high-energy lasers (HELs) to recently increased security needs.
Due to the difficulties involved with generating enough power in a compact form, portable laser weapons that do more than blind the target have been a pipedream until recently.

Current LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) technology works by passing a strong current through stacked laser emitting diodes. This excites the atoms in their crystals, causing them to release photons. The lasing crystal is housed in a tube filled with a highly transparent and heat transmisive liquid and it is capped with a fully reflecting mirror at one end and a partial mirror at the other. When the photons are released, they rebound from one mirror to the other, allowing more and more excited atoms in the lasing substance to emit photons. They will have the same direction with the incident photons, thereby resulting in an exponential growth of coherent photons of the appropriate wavelength and phase. Once the light intensity reaches a threshold, it can pass through the partially mirrored end of the barrel in a highly focused beam.

Our research has uncovered a way to manufacture a lasing substance significantly more productive and efficient than previous ruby or carbon dioxide based devices. The development of diamond based semiconductors provided us with the core of a potentially devastating weapon. A new technique of growing layers of synthetic diamond that is doped alternatively negative and positive, with berilium and boron for p-semiconductors and nitrogen and oxygen for n-semiconductors, allowed us to greatly exceed the size of the crystals used previously for laser emitting diodes, thus hugely increasing the laser power.

This has been combined with recent advances in material science that allowed the development of power capacitors based on high temperature superconductors. Once charged, they're efficient enough to energize for many times a laser powerful enough to be of use in the field, yet small enough to be portable. This capacitors are conected in series allowing a gradual transfer of power to the lasing core, greatly improving the safety of the user by preventing accidental discharges.

The beam delivers its energy to a relatively small spot on the target, proportional with the size of the lasing crystal, on an area about one centimeter in diameter. Typical melt-through times previous to amended studies for missile bodies are about 10 seconds. However, the recent improvements of the lasing core, plus the fact that the improved capacitors dump the stored energy in less than a fraction of second, resulted in a laser beam that can vaporize a hole through a 10 centimeters thick a steel plate, despite the short duration of the beam.

The fact that laser weapons have almost no moving parts result in a weapon that is not only easier to maintain, but also more reliable than conventional weapons. The loss of accuracy due to the time delay required for charge transfer is compensated by the lack of recoil, making all of these attributes the factors that may very well tip the balance of the war against the alien invaders.

It is extremely important to realize the extent of this potential within the X-Corps. Directed-energy weapons can add a new dimension to a wide range of missions and various battle situations. Appropriately developed and applied, high-energy laser systems can become key contributors to the defense of our world. Complete and successful development for directed energy weapons will require extensive testing, both in the laboratory and in the field to mature all the technologies involved, to develop the operational systems, and to apply the growing capabilities in the most efficient way.

"I knew something must have gone right, because James was trying to dance with me. He opened a bottle of red wine - he doesn't like champagne - he opened the bottle, and he yelled to everybody,'Hey, Marshall, Noushin, get over here you greasemonkeys, I have great news.' And then he told us the lab had finally worked out the physics of a combat-grade laser, and they were ready for the prototype stage. He pointed at the pile of scrap metal he'd been using as a table for the wine, and he said this new diamond laser could go through it like butter. We were so excited, we had a working model constructed by the end of the day."
- Maria Iglesias, Ph.D, Senior Technician[/quote] Edited by dan2
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[quote name='mikker' date='May 28 2005, 03:37 PM']That's because we're still speachless over your perfect additions to the text :P
[right][post="120855"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]
Well, thank you for your kindness, but I know nothing can be perfect. So, if you have the time, please, can you tell me what do you see odd in the text?
I'm always happy to have somebody else take a look at the work, because sometimes I'm "unable to see the forest because of the trees"
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ok.

green for comments, yellow for deletions that arn't replaced by something red, and red for additions.

[Laser Weapons]
X-Net://Pegasus.Net/Alien/Weapons/[Laser Weapons]

Several decades of new discoveries in science, technology, and engineering development have provided the underpinnings for a significant contribution by high-energy lasers (HELs) to recently increased security needs. [color="green"][I'm not so sure about this, it seems overly cramped with unneccecery big words. Simplifying this would be in order, IMO. You hav to read it a few times to get what it says.] [/color]
Due to the difficulties involved with generating enough power in a compact form, portable laser weapons that do more than blind the target have been a pipedream [color="green"][eh, pipedream?][/color] until [color="red"]now[/color].

Current LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) technology works by passing a strong current through stacked laser emitting diodes. This excites the atoms in their crystals, causing them to release photons. [color="green"][Pr0n on a molacular level? Might need a rewrite...][/color] The lasing [color="green"][lasing?][/color] crystal is housed in a tube filled with a highly transparent and heat transmisive liquid[color="red"],[/color] and [color="orange"]it[/color] is capped with a fully reflecting mirror at one end[color="red"],[/color] and a partial mirror at the other. When the photons are released, they rebound from one mirror to the other, allowing more and more excited atoms in the lasing substance to emit photons. [color="green"][more pr0n][/color] They will have the same direction with the incident photons, thereby resulting in an exponential growth of coherent photons of the appropriate wavelength and phase. Once the light intensity reaches a threshold, it can pass through the partially mirrored end of the barrel in a highly focused beam.

[color="green"][hmm... seems a bit too simple to me. Whatever.][/color]

Our research has uncovered a way to manufacture a lasing [color="green"][?][/color] substance [color="green"][is substance te right word to use with minerals?][/color] significantly more productive and efficient [color="green"] [they mean the same. Sounds a bit stupid.][/color] than previous ruby or carbon dioxide based devices. [color="red"]Our[/color] development of diamond based semiconductors provided us with the core of a potentially devastating weapon [color="green"][hmm... but couldn't it be used for other things? Scientists would focus on other things as well, IMO][/color]. [color="red"]We have developed a[/color] new technique of growing layers of synthetic diamond [color="green"][?][/color], [color="red"]made by berilium, boron, nitrogen and oxygen semiconductors. This allows[/color] us to greatly exceed the size of the crystals used previously for laser emitting diodes, thus hugely increasing the [color="red"]power of the laser[/color].

[color="green"][The last sentence was way too long for comfort. I didn't understand ANY of it, so tell me if I destroyed something.][/color]

This has been combined with recent advances in material science [color="red"],[/color] that allowed the development of power capacitors based on high temperature superconductors. Once charged, they're efficient enough to [color="red"]contineusly (spl?)[/color] energize a laser powerful enough, yet small enough, to be of use in the field[/color]. [color="red"]These[/color] capacitors are conected in series[color="red"],[/color] allowing a gradual transfer of power to the lasing [color="green"][again][/color] core, greatly improving the safety of the user by preventing accidental discharges.

The beam delivers its energy to a relatively small spot on the target, proportional with the size of the lasing crystal, on an area about one centimeter in diameter. Typical melt-through times previous to amended studies for missile bodies are about 10 seconds [color="green"][I'm sorry, what?][/color]. However, the recent improvements of the lasing core, plus the fact that the improved capacitors dump the stored energy in less than a fraction of second, resulted in a laser beam that can vaporize a hole through a 10 centimeters thick [color="orange"]a[/color] steel plate, despite the short duration of the beam. [color="green"][is this correct to in-game?][/color]

[color="green"][could you combine these two paragrafs? They seem to talk about the same][/color]

The fact that laser weapons have almost no moving parts[color="red"],[/color] result in a weapon that is not only easier to maintain, but also more reliable than conventional weapons. The loss of accuracy due to the time [color="orange"]delay[/color] required for charge transfer[color="red"],[/color] [color="green"][charge transfer doesn't sound right][/color] is compensated by the lack of recoil, making all of these attributes [color="green"](spl?)[/color] the factors that may very well tip the balance of the war against the alien invaders.

[color="green"][this last sentence can be deleted without any impact on the text][/color]

It is extremely important to realize the extent of this [color="red"]technology[/color] within the X-Corps. [color="orange"]Directed-energy weapons can add a new dimension to a wide range of missions and various battle situations.[/color] [color="green"][ehm, yeah.][/color] Appropriately developed and applied, high-energy laser systems can become [color="red"]an important[/color] key [color="orange"]contributors[/color] to the defense of our world. Complete and successful development for directed [color="green"](spl?)[/color] energy weapons will require extensive testing, [color="orange"]both in the laboratory and in the field to mature all the technologies involved,[/color] to develop the operational systems, and to apply the growing capabilities in the most efficient way.

"I knew something must have gone right, because James was trying to dance with me. He opened a bottle of red wine - he doesn't like champagne - he opened the bottle, and he yelled to everybody,'Hey, Marshall, Noushin, get over here you greasemonkeys, I have great news.' And then he told us the lab had finally worked out the physics of a combat-grade laser, and they were ready for the prototype stage. He pointed at the pile of scrap metal he'd been using as a table for the wine, and he said this new diamond laser could go through it like butter. We were so excited, we had a working model constructed by the end of the day."
- Maria Iglesias, Ph.D, Senior Technician

[color="green"][new fluff may be needed][/color] Edited by mikker
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[quote][Laser Weapons]
X-Net://Pegasus.Net/Alien/Weapons/[Laser Weapons]

Several decades of new discoveries in science, technology, and engineering development have provided the tools for the creation of high-energy lasers (HELs), a significant contribution toward our recently increased security needs. Due to the difficulties involved in generating enough light intensity with a portable device, lasers that do more than blinding the target have been just a science-fiction dream until now.

Current LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) technology works by passing a strong current through stacked laser emitting diodes. The laser crystal is housed in a tube filled with a highly transparent and heat transmisive liquid, and is capped with a fully reflecting mirror on one end and a partial mirror on the other.

At atomic level, the difference of potential in the crystal helps some electrons to get promoted to higher energy levels, but in time they return to their initial energy, the excess being released as photons. Those photons that don't have their direction perpendicular to the mirrors are quickly lost as heat, but those that do rebound from one mirror to the other and allow more and more energized atoms to lose their energy as photons having the same direction with the incident photons. The result is an exponential growth in the number of photons of the same wavelength, phase and direction. Once the light intensity reaches a threshold, it can pass through the partially mirrored end of the barrel in a highly focused beam.

Our research has uncovered a way to manufacture a laser crystal significantly more efficient and durable than previous ruby or carbon dioxide based devices. The development of diamond based semiconductors provided us with the core of a potentially devastating weapon. A new technique of growing layers of synthetic diamond that is doped alternatively negative and positive, with berilium and boron for p-semiconductors and nitrogen and oxygen for n-semiconductors. This  allows us to greatly exceed the size of the crystals used previously for laser emitting diodes, thus increasing the laser power accordingly.

This has been combined with recent advances in material science that allowed the development of power capacitors based on high temperature superconductors. Once charged, they have enough electricity to energize for many times a powerful portable laser. These capacitors are conected in series, allowing a gradual transfer of electricity to the laser core, greatly improving the safety of the user by preventing accidental discharges.

The beam delivers its energy to a relatively small spot on the target, proportional with the size of the laser crystal, on an area about one centimeter in diameter. Previuosly, the typical melt-through times for thick metallic objects were about 10 seconds. However, the improved capacitors dump the stored energy in less than a fraction of second, making the laser beam able to vaporize a hole through a 10 centimeters thick steel plate within miliseconds.

The fact that laser weapons have almost no moving parts result in a weapon that is not only easier to maintain, but also more reliable than conventional weapons. The loss of accuracy due to the time delay required by the electricity transfer through capacitors is compensated by the lack of recoil and improving the accuracy of laser weapons is just a matter of improving the technology involved in the rate of transfer.

It is extremely important to realize the extent of this technology within the X-Corps. Appropriately developed and applied, high-energy laser systems can become an important contributor to the defense of our world. Complete and successful development for directed energy weapons will require extensive testing, both in the laboratory and in the field to mature all the technologies involved, and to apply the growing capabilities in the most efficient way.

"I knew something must have gone right, because James was trying to dance with me. He opened a bottle of red wine - he doesn't like champagne - he opened the bottle, and he yelled to everybody,'Hey, Marshall, Noushin, get over here you greasemonkeys, I have great news.' And then he told us the lab had finally worked out the physics of a combat-grade laser, and they were ready for the prototype stage. He pointed at the pile of scrap metal he'd been using as a table for the wine, and he said this new diamond laser could go through it like butter. We were so excited, we had a working model constructed by the end of the day."
- Maria Iglesias, Ph.D, Senior Technician[/quote] Edited by dan2
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"You have to tell me what 'prOn' and 'mls' are."

pr0n, as in porn (I didn't know if it was word filtered), as i found them to have seksual appearences. "This excites the atoms in their crystals, causing them to release photons." See what I mean? :P

SPL? is a shorting of spell? or spelling? or Spelled right?, eg. I wasn't sure it was the correct way to write the word. Sorry for not clearifying.

I took away delay because I felt that it gave the same effect without it :)

Okay, sorry, didn't see the development.

"Once charged, they're efficient enough to energize for many times a laser powerful enough to be of use in the field, yet small enough to be portable" still sounds bad in my ears.

"It makes a big beam many, many times!" :banana:
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[quote name='mikker' date='May 29 2005, 05:04 AM']"You have to tell me what 'prOn' and 'mls' are."
pr0n, as in porn (I didn't know if it was word filtered), as i found them to have seksual appearences. "This excites the atoms in their crystals, causing them to release photons." See what I mean?  :P
SPL? is a shorting of spell? or spelling? or Spelled right?, eg. I wasn't sure it was the correct way to write the word. Sorry for not clearifying.
"Once charged, they're efficient enough to energize for many times a laser powerful enough to be of use in the field, yet small enough to be portable" still sounds bad in my ears.
"It makes a big beam many, many times!" :banana:
[right][post="120900"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]
So if I'm saying "I'm excited to see you" you'll think I want to have sex? Come on, this word is used for so many things, and is the corect word for this phenomenon.
It means electrons in atoms are promoted to higher energy orbitals. I'll think of a rewrite, if you insist...
"It makes a big beam many, many times" doesn't say also it is powerful or portable. But I can rephrase this.
What about those spells? What do you mean?
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[quote name='dan2' date='May 29 2005, 05:00 PM'][quote name='mikker' date='May 29 2005, 05:04 AM']"You have to tell me what 'prOn' and 'mls' are."
pr0n, as in porn (I didn't know if it was word filtered), as i found them to have seksual appearences. "This excites the atoms in their crystals, causing them to release photons." See what I mean?  :P
SPL? is a shorting of spell? or spelling? or Spelled right?, eg. I wasn't sure it was the correct way to write the word. Sorry for not clearifying.
"Once charged, they're efficient enough to energize for many times a laser powerful enough to be of use in the field, yet small enough to be portable" still sounds bad in my ears.
"It makes a big beam many, many times!"   :banana:
[right][post="120900"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]
So if I'm saying "I'm excited to see you" you'll think I want to have sex? Come on, this word is used for so many things, and is the corect word for this phenomenon.
It means electrons in atoms are promoted to higher energy orbitals. I'll think of a rewrite, if you insist...
"It makes a big beam many, many times" doesn't say also it is powerful or portable. But I can rephrase this.
What about those spells? What do you mean?
[right][post="120915"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right]
[/quote]

okay, it was more that 'get excited and release photons' that cracked me up :)

I didn't talk about any spells, I talked about spelling. Where I put (spl?), I didn't know if the word was correctly written.
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[quote][Laser Weapons]
X-Net://Pegasus.Net/Alien/Weapons/[Laser Weapons]

Several decades of new discoveries in science, technology, and engineering have provided the tools for the creation of high-energy lasers (HELs), a significant contribution toward the improvement of our security. Due to the difficulties involved in generating enough light intensity with a portable device, lasers that do more than blinding the target have been just a science-fiction dream until now.

Current LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) technology works by passing a strong electrical current through stacked laser emitting diodes. The laser crystal is housed in a tube filled with a highly transparent and heat transmisive liquid, and is capped with a fully reflecting mirror on one end and a partial mirror on the other.

At atomic level, the difference of potential in the crystal helps electrons to get promoted to higher energy levels, in a metastable state, but return gradually to their initial energy, the excess being released as photons. Those photons that don't have their direction perpendicular to the mirrors are quickly lost as heat, but those that do, rebound from one mirror to the other allowing more and more metastable atoms to lose their energy as photons having the same direction with the incident photons. The result is an exponential growth in the number of photons of the same wavelength, phase and direction. Once the light intensity reaches a threshold, it can pass through the partially mirrored end in a highly focused beam.

Our research has uncovered a way to manufacture a laser crystal significantly more efficient and durable than previous ruby or carbon dioxide based devices. The development of diamond based semiconductors provided us with the core of a potentially devastating weapon. A new technique of growing layers of synthetic diamond that is doped alternatively negative and positive, with berilium and boron for p-semiconductors and nitrogen and oxygen for n-semiconductors. This  allows us to greatly exceed the size of the crystals used previously for laser emitting diodes, thus increasing the laser power tremendously.

This has been combined with recent advances in the material science that allowed the development of power capacitors based on high temperature superconductors. Once charged, they have enough stored electricity to energize many times a powerful portable laser. These capacitors are conected in series, allowing a gradual transfer of electricity to the laser core, greatly improving the safety of the user by preventing accidental discharges.

The beam delivers its energy on a relatively small spot, proportional with the size of the laser crystal, about one centimeter in diameter. In the past the typical melt-through times for thick metallic objects were about 10 seconds, however, the improved capacitors dump the stored energy in less than a fraction of second, making the laser beam able to vaporize a hole through a 10 centimeters thick steel plate within miliseconds.

The fact that laser weapons have almost no moving parts result in a weapon that is not only easier to maintain, but also more reliable than conventional weapons. The loss of accuracy due to the time delay required by the electricity transfer through capacitors is compensated by the lack of recoil. Improving the accuracy of laser weapons is just a matter of perfecting the technology involved in this rate of transfer.

It is extremely important to realize the extent of this technology within the X-Corps. Appropriately developed and applied, high-energy laser systems can become an important contributor to the defense of our world. Complete and successful development for directed energy weapons will require extensive testing, both in the laboratory and in the field to mature all the technologies involved, and to apply the growing capabilities in the most efficient way.

"Opening cans using any laser weapons may result in extensive food carbonization"- warning found inside the "X-Corps Manual for Rookies"[/quote] Edited by dan2
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So I thought I would stop by and see what this looks like. In short, it looks quite good. I do have a couple quick comments, mostly minor stuff. I will say in advance that I'm at work, so I didn't have time to read through the whole thread to see if some of these questions are already answered. If they have been, just reply that they have and I'll look back when I have time.
[quote name='dan2' date='May 30 2005, 01:12 PM']Current LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) technology works by passing a strong electrical current through stacked laser emitting diodes. The laser crystal is housed in a tube filled with a highly transparent and heat transmisive liquid, and is capped with a fully reflecting mirror on one end and a partial mirror on the other.[/quote] Just two very minor questions here - when you say current, are you saying 2005 or when the game is set? This sounds pretty similar to how we do things now... And second, is transmisive spelled currently? I would say transmitting or conducting...
[quote]At atomic level, the difference of potential in the crystal helps electrons to get promoted to higher energy levels, in a metastable state, but return gradually to their initial energy, the excess being released as photons. Those photons that don't have their direction perpendicular to the mirrors are quickly lost as heat, but those that do, rebound from one mirror to the other allowing more and more metastable atoms to lose their energy as photons having the same direction with the incident photons. The result is an exponential growth in the number of photons of the same wavelength, phase and direction. Once the light intensity reaches a threshold, it can pass through the partially mirrored end in a highly focused beam.[/quote] You might spend a bit of time on that first sentence. I think it should start with "at atomic level[color="blue"]s[/color]," or "at [color="blue"]the[/color] atomic level," and it might be possible to restructure it as "helps electrons get promoted to metastable higher energy levels, but return gradually to their initial energy by releasing photons."
[quote]Our research has uncovered a way to manufacture a laser crystal significantly more efficient and durable than previous ruby or carbon dioxide based devices. The development of diamond based semiconductors provided us with the core of a potentially devastating weapon. A new technique of growing layers of synthetic diamond that is doped alternatively negative and positive, with berilium and boron for p-semiconductors and nitrogen and oxygen for n-semiconductors. This  allows us to greatly exceed the size of the crystals used previously for laser emitting diodes, thus increasing the laser power tremendously.[/quote]Sounds good. Just a quick (for me, not the text) question - did you just pick the traditional family 3 & 5 dopants or are these the elements specifically being thought of for diamond? I know in my materials class the guy was going on and on about how neat it would be if they could make diamond work...can't remember what he thought they should dope it with. Main barrier, as I recall, was cost...you might mention that the new method is much cheaper than previous-or that only X-Corps is willing to pay the absurd prices.
[quote]This has been combined with recent advances in the material science that allowed the development of power capacitors based on high temperature superconductors. Once charged, they have enough stored electricity to energize many times a powerful portable laser. These capacitors are conected in series, allowing a gradual transfer of electricity to the laser core, greatly improving the safety of the user by preventing accidental discharges.[/quote] Second sentence - move "many times" to the end. Also...in series? Connecting 2 equal caps in series effectively gives you a capacitor with only 1/2 of the original capacitance, 3 gives 1/3, etc. Whereas parallel combinations allow you to use "banks" of capacitors to increase your capacitance. I can see a couple reasons to use series - basically, if you need a higher peak voltage than your cap can stand, and you're willing to take the hit in stored energy...or if you want to reduce the time constant in the circuit, but you should just build smaller caps...perhaps were you looking to say that there are several different capacitors, and only one is in use at a time?
[quote]The fact that laser weapons have almost no moving parts result in a weapon that is not only easier to maintain, but also more reliable than conventional weapons. The loss of accuracy due to the time delay required by the electricity transfer through capacitors is compensated by the lack of recoil. Improving the accuracy of laser weapons is just a matter of perfecting the technology involved in this rate of transfer.[/quote] (silly comment) I guess the device is hermetically sealed and the lens is self-cleaning...bah on dirt and grime. (note number two to recruits - never, under any circumstances, place your finger on the lens)
[quote]It is extremely important to realize the extent of this technology within the X-Corps. Appropriately developed and applied, high-energy laser systems can become an important contributor to the defense of our world. Complete and successful development for directed energy weapons will require extensive testing, both in the laboratory and in the field to mature all the technologies involved, and to apply the growing capabilities in the most efficient way.[/quote] Only comments - "extent?" Do you mean possible impact or...hrm...or are you trying to show that it will be used everywhere... Anyway, "our world" might be changed to "Earth" to avoid first person...maybe a comma after "in the field." And that last clause (apply the growing...) might be removed or made into its own sentence. Development does not necessarily require application...but then, the only field testing will be done on the battlefield, so maybe you should just leave it.

Anyway, lunch break over and this is longer than planned. Looks pretty darn good, dan, just figured that you, like me, appreciate even picky little stuff (most of the time :)) Edited by Kikanaide
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Guest Azrael
Please use the old fluff, no reason to change it.
New name for Laser Weapons is "Laser Principles".
Please highlight your changes with a color, I'm finding it a bit difficult to find.

Edit: this was for dan2, did as requested with your post, Kikanaide :) Edited by Azrael
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[quote name='Kikanaide' date='Jun 3 2005, 01:52 PM']1)Just two very minor questions here - when you say current, are you saying 2005 or when the game is set?  This sounds pretty similar to how we do things now... And second, is transmisive spelled currently?  I would say transmitting or conducting...
2)You might spend a bit of time on that first sentence.  I think it should start with "at atomic levels," or "at the atomic level," and it might be possible to restructure it as "helps electrons get promoted to metastable higher energy levels, but return gradually to their initial energy by releasing photons."
3)Sounds good.  Just a quick (for me, not the text) question - did you just pick the traditional family 3 & 5 dopants or are these the elements specifically being thought of for diamond?  I know in my materials class the guy was going on and on about how neat it would be if they could make diamond work...can't remember what he thought they should dope it with.  Main barrier, as I recall, was cost...you might mention that the new method is much cheaper than previous-or that only X-Corps is willing to pay the absurd prices.
4)Second sentence - move "many times" to the end.  Also...in series?  Connecting 2 equal caps in series effectively gives you a capacitor with only 1/2 of the original capacitance, 3 gives 1/3, etc.  Whereas parallel combinations allow you to use "banks" of capacitors to increase your capacitance.  I can see a couple reasons to use series - basically, if you need a higher peak voltage than your cap can stand, and you're willing to take the hit in stored energy...or if you want to reduce the time constant in the circuit, but you should just build smaller caps...perhaps were you looking to say that there are several different capacitors, and only one is in use at a time? 
5)(silly comment) I guess the device is hermetically sealed and the lens is self-cleaning...bah on dirt and grime. (note number two to recruits - never, under any circumstances, place your finger on the lens)
6)Only comments - "extent?"  Do you mean possible impact or...hrm...or are you trying to show that it will be used everywhere... Anyway, "our world" might be changed to "Earth" to avoid first person...maybe a comma after "in the field."  And that last clause (apply the growing...) might be removed or made into its own sentence.  Development does not necessarily require application...but then, the only field testing will be done on the battlefield, so maybe you should just leave it.[/quote]
Sorry guys, Pardus is way more exciting than I thought and it took me a week to read all that information about it (manuals, maps, etc.).
But to answer the questions.
1)Both technologies are already used, but not together, nobody bothers to cool down laser LEDs, because they don't generate enough power. Some scientist is required still to find out what liquid is the best coolant for these laser cores. I'm fine with conductive
2)Yes, sure, it's much better than what I wrote, I'll include it in the next draft
3)Carbon, like silicon and germanium is in group 4, so you need some lateral neighbours to make it n or p, depending on element, for the difference of potential required for the specific laser wavelength. I could choose at least another 10 dopants, but they must have low atomic radius to fit well in diamond latice. About expensive diamond, yes, they already invented technologies to grow them larger, but only a war would supply enough money for grants :)
4)Maybe "in series" wasn't the right word. What I meant was: temporary conection between primary capacitor and the secondary capacitor, charge transfer, conection severed, if another capacitor present the transfer starts again toward the second one, until all secondary capacitors are fully loaded, then they're dumping together the power in various parts of the laser core, not all in the same part.
5)I guess they have rotative self cleaning external glass, I don't know
6)I'll include them in the text, of course Edited by dan2
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[quote name='dan2' date='Jun 8 2005, 12:22 PM']Sorry guys, Pardus is way more exciting than I thought and it took me a week to read all that information about it (manuals, maps, etc.).
But to answer the questions.
1)Both technologies are already used, but not together, nobody bothers to cool down laser LEDs, because they don't generate enough power. Some scientist is required still to find out what liquid is the best coolant for these laser cores. I'm fine with conductive
2)Yes, sure, it's much better than what I wrote, I'll include it in the next draft
3)Carbon, like silicon and germanium is in group 4, so you need some lateral neighbours to make it n or p, depending on element, for the difference of potential required for the specific laser wavelength. I could choose at least another 10 dopants, but they must have low atomic radius to fit well in diamond latice. About expensive diamond, yes, they already invented technologies to grow them larger, but only a war would supply enough money for grants :)
4)Maybe "in series" wasn't the right word. What I meant was: temporary conection between primary capacitor and the secondary capacitor, charge transfer, conection severed, if another capacitor present the transfer starts again toward the second one, until all secondary capacitors are fully loaded, then they're dumping together the power in various parts of the laser core, not all in the same part.
5)I guess they have rotative self cleaning external glass, I don't know
6)I'll include them in the text, of course
[right][post="122004"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]
Just three remaining comments.
1) Which reminds me...now, we never discussed laser LED's in the classroom, but normal LED's produce zero heat. Not an amount so little it can be neglected, but zero. The only reason they aren't 100% efficient (it was claimed) is that they sometimes produce light outside of the visible wavelength, and sometimes the light is internally reflected. Hopefully laser LED's don't share that characteristic? I assume not because it sounds like the phenomena is quite different, what with the reflective-caps and such. Oh and the reason I asked about "current" is because it has to mean when the game is set, otherwise it should be replaced by "2005" or some appropriate year.
3) Cool. Just curious.
4) Yeah, series is not the right word. Series, parallel, tandem, cascade and cascode are all "reserved words" :) that have specific electrical meanings and in fact allow a person to simply draw a circuit when they hear them. Let me see if I can come up with a base sentence (don't use this directly, I'm not sure I entirely understood... how many secondary caps are there?)... "The secondary capacitors are charged in sequence from the main capacitor, and are individually connected to regions of the laser core during the firing cycle. Since the main capacitor is never directly connected to the laser core, it can be charged to incredibly high voltage without the risk of accidental discharge. This both improves user safety and the weapon's firing capacity." The downside is it doesn't explicitly say "temporary connection," but I think it is implied pretty heavily. I trust you can make it say what you want from there, or write your own and use that for ideas.

Lookin' good, dan2.
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  • 2 weeks later...
[quote]Laser Principles
X-Net://Pegasus.Net/Alien/Weapons/Laser Principles

Several decades of new discoveries in science, technology, and engineering have provided the tools for the creation of high-energy lasers (HELs), a significant contribution toward the improvement of our security. Due to the difficulties involved in generating enough light intensity with a portable device, lasers that do more than blinding the target have been just a science-fiction dream until now.

Current LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) technology works by passing a strong electrical current through stacked laser emitting diodes. The laser crystal is housed in a tube filled with a highly transparent and heat conductive liquid, and is capped with a fully reflecting mirror on one end and a partial mirror on the other.

At the atomic level, the difference of potential in the crystal helps electrons to get promoted to higher energy levels, in a metastable state, but return gradually to their initial energy, the excess being released as photons. Those photons that don't have their direction perpendicular to the mirrors are quickly lost as heat, but those that do, rebound from one mirror to the other allowing more and more metastable atoms to lose their energy as photons having the same direction with the incident photons. The result is an exponential growth in the number of photons of the same wavelength, phase and direction. Once the light intensity reaches a threshold, it can pass through the partially mirrored end in a highly focused beam.

Our research has uncovered a way to manufacture a laser crystal significantly more efficient and durable than previous ruby or carbon dioxide based devices. The development of diamond based semiconductors provided us with the core of a potentially devastating weapon. A new technique of growing layers of synthetic diamond that is doped alternatively negative and positive, with berilium and boron for p-semiconductors and nitrogen and oxygen for n-semiconductors. This  allows us to greatly exceed the size of the crystals used previously for laser emitting diodes, thus increasing the laser power tremendously.

This has been combined with recent advances in the material science that allowed the development of power capacitors based on high temperature superconductors. Once charged, they have enough stored electricity to energize many times a powerful portable laser. These capacitors are conected in cascade, allowing a gradual transfer of electricity to the laser core, greatly improving the safety of the user by preventing accidental discharges.

The beam delivers its energy on a relatively small spot, proportional with the size of the laser crystal, about one centimeter in diameter. In the past the typical melt-through times for thick metallic objects were about 10 seconds, however, the improved capacitors dump the stored energy in less than a fraction of second, making the laser beam able to vaporize a hole through a 10 centimeters thick steel plate within miliseconds.

The fact that laser weapons have almost no moving parts result in a weapon that is not only easier to maintain, but also more reliable than conventional weapons. The loss of accuracy due to the time delay required by the electricity transfer through capacitors is compensated by the lack of recoil. Improving the accuracy of laser weapons is just a matter of perfecting the technology involved in this rate of transfer.

It is extremely important to realize the extent of this technology within the X-Corps. Appropriately developed and applied, high-energy laser systems can become an important contributor to the defense of our world. Complete and successful development for directed energy weapons will require extensive testing, both in the laboratory and in the field to mature all the technologies involved, and to apply the growing capabilities in the most efficient way.

"I knew something must have gone right, because James was trying to dance with me. He opened a bottle of red wine - he doesn't like champagne - he opened the bottle, and he yelled to everybody,'Hey, Marshall, Noushin, get over here you greasemonkeys, I have great news.' And then he told us the lab had finally worked out the physics of a combat-grade laser, and they were ready for the prototype stage. He pointed at the pile of scrap metal he'd been using as a table for the wine, and he said this new diamond laser could go through it like butter. We were so excited, we had a working model constructed by the end of the day."
- Maria Iglesias, Ph.D, Senior Technician[/quote]
I put back the old fluff, as Azrael requested. The only reason it was replaced in the first place was because some people didn't like it. Not too many changes, so no colors here. Edited by dan2
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