Newswise — The ongoing research conducted by University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) physics professor Sergey Mirov, Ph.D., is a kind of fingerprinting program for the 21st century. But rather than using fingers and ink to identify one person from another, Mirov is using molecules and laser light to identify one substance or material from another.
With the help of UAB's research foundation, Mirov has patented groundbreaking crystal technology that lets his lasers operate unmolested in the middle infrared range of the optical spectrum. Mirov has combined his crystals-supported middle infrared lasers with other components to create the so-called "Optical Nose." The Nose allows him to detect one kind of molecule from another based on the amount of light that is absorbed by a molecule placed in the laser's path. The unique amount of laser light that a particular molecule absorbs gives off specific signatures which set that molecule apart from all others.
The ability to distinguish specific molecules from one another could allow soldiers to detect bombs from safe distances or doctors to see diseases before their symptoms visibly manifest.
See Mirov's lasers at work and learn about the promise his technology holds at http://main.uab.edu/Sites/MediaRelations/articles/58277/
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