Laser-activated switch.One of the latest developments out of Los Alamos Los Alamos (lôs ăl`əmōs', lŏs), uninc. town (1990 pop. 11,455), seat of Los Alamos co., N central N.Mex. It is on a long mesa extending from the Jemez Mts. The U.S. (N.M.) National Laboratory is the super-fast, high-power electrical switch. A pulse of laser light activates the device, turning electricity on in less than a billionth of a second. The principle behind the photoconductive pho·to·con·duc·tiv·i·ty n. pl. pho·to·con·duc·tiv·i·ties Electrical conductivity affected by exposure to light. pho switch is similar, at a much more powerful level, to that of the familiar "electric eye" that operates mechanical doors. William Nunnally (above), the switch's developer, says the new switch is at least 10 times faster and more precise than any existing high-power switch. It is also safer than conventional switches since the operator is not in direct contact with the high voltage The term high voltage characterizes electrical circuits, in which the voltage used is the cause of particular safety concerns and insulation requirements. High voltage is used in electrical power distribution, in cathode ray tubes, to generate X-rays and particle beams, to . Los Alamos plans to use the switch for particle accelerators particle accelerator, apparatus used in nuclear physics to produce beams of energetic charged particles and to direct them against various targets. Such machines, popularly called atom smashers, are needed to observe objects as small as the atomic nucleus in studies , laser applications and "Star Wars" research. |
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