Laser technology is used in everything from automatic doors, barcode readers, and medical devices to high-definition media playback and advanced weaponry. Lasers have revolutionized our lives with their high degree of straightness and energy focusing, and will continue to do so in a variety of fields.
This morning, as I walked out the front door of my apartment, the automatic door opened smoothly. I put on my sunglasses and headed to school, knowing that I had undergone LASIK a few months ago. A thought occurred to me. How pervasive is this laser technology used to treat our eyes? From sensors in automatic doors to LASIK machines in ophthalmologists’ offices, you’re never far from a laser in action. When I stopped at a convenience store to buy a soda, the barcode reader used a laser to quickly process my payment.
When I arrived at school, my professor used a laser pointer to explain the lesson during lecture, and after class, I was able to watch a high-definition movie on a Blu-ray disc in the library’s multimedia room. Lasers are behind all of these everyday technologies that we take for granted. But lasers aren’t just used in everyday life. From laser weapons used by superheroes in movies like Iron Man to industrial lasers and even precision medical devices that utilize lasers, the list of applications is endless.
So what is a laser? LASER stands for “Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation,” which literally translates to “light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. To understand how this phenomenon works, you need to know the structure of an atom and its electron shell. An atom consists of a nucleus and electrons orbiting around it, which only exist in shells with a certain energy. When light is shone on them from the outside, the electrons move to a higher energy level, but their state is unstable, so they eventually return to their original position and release energy. The energy released is light, which is the basic principle behind lasers.
Light with a specific wavelength becomes increasingly intense as it bounces off a space surrounded by mirrors, and a laser made up of only one wavelength of light is very straight and can emit energy concentrated in a small area. Thanks to these properties, lasers are used in a wide variety of applications, from small, everyday devices to industrial cutting machines to sophisticated medical equipment. For example, the high precision of lasers is essential when performing LASIK or LASIK surgery in ophthalmology, or when removing tattoos or moles in dermatology. In industry as well as medicine, lasers are used for cutting steel, welding, precision measurement, and much more.
But the applications don’t stop there. In recent years, lasers have also played an important role in the field of weaponry. Boeing has developed a laser weapon called Silent Strike that can shoot down a drone in flight in a matter of seconds. This technology is bringing laser weapons out of the movies and into the real world, and there’s plenty more to come. While these lasers don’t have the blinding light and loud sound of Iron Man, they are effective at silently taking out targets.
Aside from these scary uses, lasers are being used more for the benefit of humans. In the medical field, treatments that only attack cancer cells or treat specific areas with powerful lasers have already saved many people’s health. Lasers also play an important role in data storage media. For example, Blu-ray discs can hold more data than traditional DVDs, thanks to the shorter wavelength of blue lasers. Thanks to this technology, we can watch high-definition movies and materials faster and more accurately.
As you can see, lasers are deeply embedded in every aspect of our lives, and their applications are only expanding. In addition to everyday technology, lasers are one of the key technologies driving innovation in science, medicine, industry, and the military. In the future, laser technology will be used in more and more fields, making our lives more convenient and safer. Lasers are no longer the stuff of science fiction, but a key technology that is driving innovation in our daily lives.
