UMR physicist Alexey Yamilov is part of a team researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and UMR that has developed an ultrasound version of the laser. Called the uaser (pronounced WAY-zer), the instrument produces ultrasonic waves that are coherent and of one frequency, and could be used to study laser dynamics and detect subtle changes, such as phase changes, in modern materials.
"We have demonstrated that the essential nature of a laser can be mimicked by classical mechanics - not quantum mechanics - in sound instead of light," said Richard Weaver, a professor of theoretical and applied mechanics at the University of Illinois. Weaverwill present the findings today at the annual Acoustical Society of America meeting. Yamilov plans to present the research to the Optical Society of America in the fall.
Technorati tags: physics, acoustics, science, lasers, ultrasound, materials science
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