1. Laser Pointer Plane IncidentAs I was browsing a news website I read a story about someone who was arrested for interfering with a commercial plane's flight path by shining a green laser up in the sky. The news story claimed that the laser used was a simple laser pointer, and I was wondering how intense would the light be at that altitude. Since the laser light does spread out over a long distance, and even at a short distance the light from a small hand laser is not intense enough to completely blind someone, I am interested in finding out a value for the intensity at that distance. 2. Blu-ray DiscsBlu-ray discs are the next generation of disc storage. They are about the same size as dvds but can store about 5 times the amount of data. This is because blue lasers (versus the conventional red lasers) are used. Blue lasers have a shorter wavelength and can therefore store and read information with a higher precision. I am interested in exactly how precise these lasers can be focused to see if this ultimately is the best data storage per unit area that can be achieved. Horizons For Optical Data Storage 3. Fiber OpticsFiber optic fibers transport information over long distances using light signals. In order for the light to travel down the fiber, it has to reflect off the sides at an angle greater than the critical angle. I am interested to find out more about this critical angle and how one determines what angle the light is entering the fiber with. Home |