Blasting the brain with lasers is an emerging technology in neuroscience. For medical research, a postdoctoral researcher has been firing lasers into the brains of mice throughout the day. But he was also well aware that the continued presence of high-power lasers could cause severe brain damage. In between harmless laser pointers and laser weapons are powerful high power laser pointer, commonly used in astronomy, thermal experiments, and remote lighting. While strong laser pointers are too weak to be considered weapons, many are capable of popping balloons and burning through cardboard or thick plastic. If you're looking for information on how to choose a strong laser pointer, read on to find out how to choose it. Unfortunately, the European experience is that the labels on many laser pointers are wrong, especially the cheap ones. Laser pointers advertised as having less than 1 mW of power are often found to be more powerful. People who sell such mislabeled products not only risk being prosecuted under Department of Health regulations, but are also in breach of the Fair Trading Act and the Consumer Protection Act.
What is the output power of the laser pointer?
The output power of a blue laser pointer depends on what you want to do with it. For pointing objects, the brighter the better. If you want a clear beam in the night sky - at least 35mW for lighting matches - 150mW for lighting fireworks fuse - at least 300mW for burning through cardboard or thick plastic - - 400mW is required. Maybe you took a physics class in high school and remember that the word "laser" isn't just a word, it's also an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission." A bit of a mouthful, right? I'm going to stick with acronyms for now, but keep this little gift in your pocket and impress your friends the next time you're out for a beer. Thus, the light is amplified by the stimulated emission of radiation, aka laser, with only a few photons and a beam of light all moving in the same direction.
