Chinese scientists unveil high-powered laser that can ‘write’ in the air
- The device uses extremely short, powerful bursts to turn molecules into light and can create any pattern desired
- The team, based in a lab in Wuhan, hope that one day their device can be used in fields such as precision manufacturing or brain imaging
Chinese scientists have shown off a laser that can create ghostly Chinese characters out of thin air.
Lasers have already been used to create a range of optical illusions, but previously they needed dust or clouds as a medium.
But the researchers behind the new device say it can draw patterns anywhere by using ultra-short laser pulses to strip the electrons off air molecules and turn them into light, creating a ghostly image floating in mid air.
In one demonstration earlier this week at the Hongtuo Joint Laboratory of Ultra-Fast Laser in Wuhan’s optics valley, researchers created characters that were visible from any angle and which researchers could “touch” with their hands.
“With the brand new device, we can draw in the air without using paper and ink”, Cao Xiangdong, lead scientist at the laboratory, told Science and Technology Daily in an interview published on Tuesday.
The device works by focusing high-intensity laser pulses in the air to create plasma, or ionised gas, which emits energy in light form.
The team said they had used a 3D scanner to arrange the pixel dots and form the characters precisely in the air, but did not explain how this works.