SPIE DCS 2021: Nuburu suggests blue benefits for directed energy weapons
15 Apr 2021
CEO Mark Zediker outlines rapid progress in blue emitters and models indicating faster âkill timeâ at the shorter wavelength.
Blue lasers have some key advantages over high-power infrared sources currently under development for high-energy laser (HEL) weapons, and warrant further investigation and investment.
Thatâs according to Mark Zediker, CEO of the blue industrial laser specialist Nuburu, who outlined models showing that good eye safety and atmospheric propagation were possible with a 468Â nm laser - contrary to what might be expected.
Presenting during the SPIE Defense and Commercial Sensing (DCS) Digital Forum this week, Zediker also highlighted that although the shorter-wavelength technology is at a much earlier stage of development, it is catching up with infrared equivalents and could end up as a better option - potentially reducing target destruction times by half.