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To: Jhoffa_ ; Radio Astronomer
Well, a concave mirror would mean the reflected light would no longer be 'coherent.' In other words, reflected light wouldn't have the properties of laser light, which is coherent. Maybe if they used a massive fiber-optic U-shaped thing to take in the laser beam and turn it back towards the shooter... that would keep the light coherent instead of dispersing it or having to 'focus' like a magnifying glass. Coherent light doesn't scatter and get weak. Of course, making a chunk of fiber optic the right size is a tall order... and 'catching' a laser beam won't be easy unless the aircraft targets one end of the fiber optic in such a way that the laser goes in perpendicular to the optical surface.

To keep the light coherent and useful, a mirror would have to be flat- perfectly so, since even the slightest imperfections in the reflective surface would scatter light, including the glass itself if the mirror is made of silvered glass, since laser light would pass through the glass and be altered according to the properties and impurities of the glass, hit the silvering, which would also alter or scatter the light, and be reflected back through glass, further altering the light. How much 'power' the beam would retain through that I don't know, but it would be diminished considerably, I would think. A concave or convex surface would be able to focus the light but for the most part it would be scattered and useless, except perhaps at the focus point. It might be hard to get the plane to fly where the focus point is...

Interesting question though. Maybe the laser would burn through the imperfections in the silvering and glass and fry everything behind it. More likely, someone in another plane would spot that big glistening mirror and take it out conventionally.

Maybe Radio Astronomer's closer to the technology than I've been, or knows someone who is. I've only taken one course and that was back when people were still giggling whenever someone mentioned lasers, much less asked about what effect mirrors have on them.

88 posted on 02/16/2002 8:27:36 PM PST by piasa
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To: piasa
"which is almost coherent," I mean.
91 posted on 02/16/2002 8:31:58 PM PST by piasa
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To: piasa; Jhoffa_; Sabertooth; jwh_Denver
Many laser mirrors are front coated mirrors that do not cause distortion of the beam by the glass or quartz material that the coating is applied to.
116 posted on 02/16/2002 10:21:22 PM PST by RadioAstronomer
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