A GUN that fires intense pulses of laser light instead of bullets could
disable cameras and optical electronic equipment, according to Lasermax, a
company in Rochester, New York (WO 96/8060).
Although it is already possible to produce powerful pulses of laser light,
these lasers need a very bulky electrical power supply. Lasermax has devised a
hand-held gun that uses a cartridge of flash powder like that used in the early
days of photography or for stage effects.
The intense pulse of light falls on a lasing material, such as a rod of ruby,
housed in a reflective chamber. The flash optically pumps the laser so that it
briefly generates a high power pulse of monochromatic light, focused into a
pencil beam. The gases released by the flash powder detonation work the
mechanism of the gun, to move a chamber around by a notch so that another
cartridge is ready to fire.
