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Applications
might not be able to dominate the movie-rcnting market because downloading via the Web might tum out to be cheaper. A final word about the method of storage. We have mentioned scorching pits, but there is a more modern technique that relies on a phase change. The principle is again very simple. The discs contain a layer of crystalline material which can be switched by heat between two states, crystalline and amorphous, having different refl ectivities.

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12.13.13 Medical applications

Medical applications are grorving fast, particularly in the United
States,

where the medical profession is much less conservative than in Europe. The essential propeffv of lasers that comes useful is that the radiated energy can be concentrated on a small spot and that diflerent tissues have different absorptions. A uniquely useful application is, for exan-rpie. the reattachment of tl"re human retina by providing thc right amount ol lieat at the right place. Surgeons may use higher laser energy to vaporize tissue (a useful way to get rid of malignant tumours) or lou,er laser energy to coagulate tissue. that is stop bleeding. It is actually possible to make bloodless cuts u'ithout causing pain. The number of various medical applications is high (l understand in ophthalmoiogy alone. as many as forly different probierns are treated by lasers) but not verv rvidespread

as yet.

want to finish the list by mentioning one more. rather bizarre.

application practised by some gynaecologrsts: to open up the Fallopian rube.

12.13.14 Machining
A laser beam can of course be lbcused not only' upon human tissue but upon inanimate matter as rvell, making possible laser machining and x.elding. The same technique may also be useful for rvriting paltems on high-resolution photographic plates (possibly to be further reduced) used in integrated circuit
technology.

12.13.15 Sensors
An interesting application. rvhich has recently been introduced to service, is for navigation, which necessitates the measurement of rotation. Lasers can detect rotational movement as low as a thousandth degree per hour. The basic principles may be understood from Fig. 12.26. This is a so-calied ring laser, in which resonance is achieved by a ray biting its own tail. The
condition of resonance is now that the total length around the ring should be an integral multiple of the wavelength. When the system is at rest (or mo'"ing with uniform velocity) the clockwise and anticlockwise paths are equal, and
consequently the resonant wavelengths are equal too. However, angular rotation of the whole system makes one path shorter than the other one. leading to different frequencies of oscillation. The two beams are then incident upon a photodetector, which produces a current at the difference frequency. The rate of rotation may be deduced by measuring this difference frequency. A simpler variant, aiming to do the same thing, uses a cylinder upon which hundreds of metres of optical fibres are wound. If the cylinder rotates,

then the light path going clockwise is different from the light path going