chrisl777...
The short answer is yes, but with considerable limitations.
I was an electronics technician with a radar specialty in
the US Navy. Normal microwaves, which are used in radar
systems, are made to travel in straight lines, curves, and
around corners, in order to arrive at the radar reflector,
by the use of waveguides. These are necessary because the
nature of microwaves is such that they are not as coherent
as light, and tend to disperse. Waveguides are essentially
tubes, often rectangular, with openings sized and shaped
according to the frequency of the microwave being guided.
You can see some examples of waveguides on this page from
Flann Microwave:
http://www.flann.com/Products_Home/Components/components.html
Microwave lasers, or masers, actually preceeded the
development of lasers, but were found to have limited
uses in contrast to the coherent laser, which could be
more easily focused and travel much greater distances.
A very good page on the history and nature of masers is
available on this page from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maser
A good discussion from SciFi Forums specifically
addresses your question. One member correctly notes:
"...you can focus microwavs [sic], but because you are
doing it from a point source, with waves radiating out,
you have to do it like you do a large searchlight or a
torch. Whereas with a laser, the light waves come out in
a coherent manner, they are all parrallel to each other,
something that isnt possible with many of the ways of
producing microwaves. On the other hand, you can also
generate microwaves in the same way as lasers, thus
getting the same kind of parallel waves so that they
will burn something from a far greater distance."
http://www.sciforums.com/showthread.php?t=48227
Such a device as he discusses has recently been disclosed
by the Marine Corps. Named Vehicle-Mounted Active Denial
System, or VMADS, it is called the People Zapper in this
article from Global Security:
"The weapon, named the Vehicle-Mounted Active Denial System,
focuses energy into a beam of micromillimeter waves designed
to stop an individual in his tracks..."
"The energy, which falls near microwaves on the electromagnetic
spectrum, causes the moisture in a person?s skin to heat up
rapidly, creating a burning sensation similar to a hot light
bulb pressed against one?s flesh."
[...]
"...project officials expect it will exceed 750 meters, putting
Marines operating the weapon beyond the reach of traditional
small-arms fire."
[...]
"By utilizing certain portions of the electromagnetic
spectrum, the VMADS weapon penetrates the victim?s skin
? but only to a depth of about one-sixty-fourth of an
inch, Fenton said."
"The waves, whose exact length, frequency and amplitude
are classified, cause water molecules in the skin cells
to vibrate. That rapidly produces heat and causes
discomfort."
"The invisible waves can pass through clothing but somehow
do not penetrate beneath the skin layer, Fenton said. The
result is that the heat irritates nerve sensors in the
skin but does not damage internal or reproductive organs."
Much more on the page:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2001/010227zapper.htm
Obviously, the effective distance is considerably more
limited than that of lasers, which have been bounced off
the moon and reflected back to earth.
A concept image of the VMADS can be found on this page from
the Air Force Research Laboratory's website, in Figure 3:
http://www.afrlhorizons.com/Briefs/Dec03/SpecialReport1203.html
As you can see, it looks pretty much like a portable radar
dish, with an onboard generator for powering the device.
Please do not rate this answer until you are satisfied that
the answer cannot be improved upon by way of a dialog
established through the "Request for Clarification" process.
sublime1-ga
Additional information may be found from an exploration of
the links resulting from the Google searches outlined below.
Searches done, via Google:
waveguide microwave
://www.google.com/search?q=waveguide+microwave
maser
://www.google.com/search?q=maser
"focused microwaves"
://www.google.com/search?q=%22focused+microwaves%22 |
