We know lasers can slice through thick materials or track information when presenting via a projector. For some, they use it to tease their cats. In a recent study, scientists' theories have stepped into other possibilities.
For the first time, a laser can refrigerate water. Historically, we know that lasers are a heated type of source because they are just mostly highly concentrated beams of light. So how is it possible to use lasers for freezing or cooling in real world conditions?
A team from the University of Washington has achieved this latest breakthrough by aiming a high-heated laser at a crystal suspended in liquid.
How is this possible? Usually, when aiming lasers through water or other types of liquid, the result for it, is to get heated or warmed up, with this it instead gets cooled to the point of freezing. The secret is using a nanocrystal and a different type of laser. A blue-shifted infrared laser is being used in this case. This is a step further into understanding the various changes in molecular and atomic functions.
Currently, crystal is not cheap. However, researches are underway to produce crystals affordably. A low priced hydrothermal process can be used instead to manufacture the crystal.
Moving a few inches forward, the laser has possibilities in biological applications. Visible light can damage cells, so using this new technique can be beneficial and ideal. The monochromatic light cools the cell along with the saline solution that's common in genetic and biological research.
What about for other types of applications? The team is still looking into making the laser viable for commercial uses.
Can you start to imagine refrigerating your food with lasers? The potential cooling and freezing applications for this new breakthrough can be limitless. Well, that's a step further and better than using lasers to tease cats.
You can view the whole output from University of Washington here.
