'Water-Wave Laser' Invented For The First Time, Could Be Used For Cell Biology, Test New Drug Therapies

The researchers from Israel discovered a "water-wave laser" wherein the laser emissions can be generated through the interaction of light and water waves. This invention could be used to study cell biology and to test new drug therapies.

The description of the invention was printed in Nature Photonics last week. The research was conducted by Technion-Israel Institute of Technology students, Leopoldo Martin, Shmuel Kaminski and Shai Maayani, under the supervision of Professor Tal Carmon, the head of the Optomechanics Center at the Mechanical Engineering Faculty at Technion. The water-wave lasers could aid the scientists in studying the interaction of light and fluid at a scale smaller than the width of a human hair, according to Phys.org.

Researchers create first 'water-wave laser' https://t.co/Cr2u35XxMH pic.twitter.com/6B9uaKAbGM

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In the study, the researchers could show that water wave oscillations within a liquid device can also generate laser radiation. Typically, a laser can generate radiation in the form of laser light.

The team found that that there is the low efficiency of the energy transfer between light and water waves, which is required to generate the laser emission. So, to make up for this low efficiency, the team made a device wherein the optical fiber provides light into a tiny droplet of octane and water. The light waves and water waves pass through one another many times, about 1 million times, inside the droplet. This produces energy that leaves the droplet as the emission of the water-wave laser.

They also used highly transparent, runny liquids to encourage light and droplet interactions into their device. Technion scientists explained that a drop of water is a million times softer than the materials used in current laser technology. They further explained that minute pressure applied by light could cause droplet deformation that is a million times greater than in typical optomechanical device that may offer greater control of the laser's emissions and capabilities, according to Technion Israel Institute of Technology.