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In-depth analysis is University of Hawaii scientists are developing laser sensing technology with potentially wide applications for remote sensing, surgery and analysis of complex biological molecules.
goal of UH laser lab
One objective of the research
program is nuclear test detectionPotential medical help touted for lasers
Madey took path to laser via shortwaveBy Helen Altonn
haltonn@starbulletin.com
Detection of clandestine nuclear testing is one of the primary goals, with portable laser units planned for the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands, Kauai, and Haleakala, Maui.
"This is a lot like making a cellular telephone call," said principal investigator John Madey, physics and astronomy professor, pointing out each cell phone has a specific code.
"In the case of the atoms and molecules we're looking for, it's a specific sequence of wavelengths to which they respond. And, just as in the case of the cell phone system, we broadcast that sequence of wavelengths, that code, and look for a response back, and when we see the response, we'll know we have the connection."
Madey's team has submitted a five-year proposal to the Nuclear Treaty Office for $49 million to build and operate a sensing system. Co-investigators are researchers Shiv Sharma and Paul Lucey of the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology and Eric Szarmes, associate professor of physics and astronomy.
A Free Electron Laser Lab is being completed behind Watanabe Hall, which houses the Physics & Astronomy Department on the Manoa campus.
Research will be done there to define specifications for design and construction of a Free Electron Laser Lab for the project at the Pacific Missile Range, Madey said. The second laser and some of the hardware developed will be transported in containers and assembled at Barking Sands and Haleakala.
"Those two sites will give us an opportunity to evaluate capabilities both at sea level and at 10,000 feet, and what can be done with the technology," Madey said.
He invented the free electron laser (a light source capable of generating intense infrared and ultraviolet radiation) when he was a graduate student at the California Institute of Technology.
The Defense Department became intrigued by the possibilities for a very high-powered laser, but had no interest in smaller systems that could be used for laboratory or medical research, Madey said.
So he said he used $150,000 he received in royalty payments from AT&T Bell Laboratory in 1984 to develop a simple, relatively inexpensive and practical free electron laser for research for remote sensing, materials and medical application.
"Had I not done that, much of what has happened in the field might not have taken place," he said. "It was the most powerful laser in operation for nearly 15 years."
He took the laser from Stanford to Duke University, where he was on the faculty until coming here in August 1998. Now he is trying to get the equipment transferred to Hawaii.
While at Duke he began collaborating with Sharma, Lucey and Chuck Helsley, former Institute of Geophysics director. He learned of their work on remote sensing through Bob Burke of Rockdyne, a Boeing division formerly owned by Rockwell.
"We had been working on technologies that had been applicable to laser spectroscopy, which is the method for determining the presence of atoms and molecules of interest in remote sensing," Madey said.
"So when the connection was made with the group here in Hawaii, it seemed natural to pursue that as an important initiative in the field."
Rockdyne, meanwhile, gave UH a free electron laser system it developed.
After joining UH, Madey and his colleagues were interested in using their expertise for environmental issues, but there was little research support in that field, he said.
"So we ended up looking at a problem of defined national interest: detection of clandestine nuclear testing by detection of transient isotopes that are released in the tests."
The program began two years ago with $5.4 million from the Nuclear Treaty Program administered by the Army Space and Missile Command at Huntsville.
"We understand that the first installment of the $49 million is in the pipeline, and we expect to receive it by summer," Madey said.
At Watanabe Hall a machine shop has been transformed into a steel-and-concrete cave to shield gamma rays from two powerful free electron lasers.
About 800 tons of concrete and 650 tons of steel create a small tunnel to contain the lasers, said Bill Richert, consultant on the project from UMA Management Services, Vancouver, Canada.
"At times it's like building a ship in a bottle," he said.
"The science is amazing enough. ... For us it was a challenge of logistics, just to get this thing built. It went together lickety-do, but it took months of planning. It was done predominantly by UH people. ...
"I think the potential is for UH to have one of the best laser programs in the country," Richert added. "The facility is top notch."
Madey said: "It is probably the largest vault of its kind in the world, and for good reason. It is not for a single device, but to support a range of development projects."
Intensive laboratory research will be done in the coming year, he said, explaining design and development of hardware for the Pacific Missile Range must be done by 2004 to have a system there by the end of 2006 or early 2007.
Aside from economic benefits, Madey said the long-range impact will be improved capabilities, particularly in educational and vocational areas, for UH students and faculty as well as technical and military personnel at the two sites.
"If we can leave that as part of our legacy, I think we will have done something very constructive for the state."
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Free electron lasers could have significant medical benefits because of use for painless removal of bone or tissue in surgery, says University of Hawaii physicist John Madey. Potential medical help
touted for lasersBy Helen Altonn
haltonn@starbulletin.comThe very high peak power and short pulse length of the lasers make it possible to remove or vaporize biological materials, bone or tissue without affecting underlying or adjoining tissues, he said.
The effect is the same as putting a finger on a red-hot object for a short time, he said. "The surface of the finger may be charred and you see the dust of the fingerprint, but no blister or sensation of that."
The same mechanism with the lasers permits carefully controlled and effective surgical incisions, removal of materials or drilling in case of ceramics or hard metal without heating the underlying material, he said.
"The capability for painless ablation, whether in the broad area of removal or surgical incisions, is probably one of the most important areas for application for free electron lasers," Madey said.
He noted the terrible trauma burn victims endure during removal of the abnormal flesh. If that could be done with laser, he said, "it would be an enormous contribution to trauma care."
Madey said he has talked to Tripler Army Medical Center about possible uses of laser for orthopedic surgery, "and when it's up and running, we're looking at some of the ways of reducing pain of surgical procedures, either for trauma victims or children."
The lasers also can be effective in analyzing the structure of DNAs, proteins and other molecules that govern genetic traits, metabolism and disease processes linked to defective molecules, he said.
"And we can do that at a very small fraction of cost that is now incurred by researchers studying these structures."
It has only been in the last five to 10 years that enough information, materials and components have become available to look at specific applications of lasers for remote sensing, surgery and analysis of protein structure, Madey said.
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A map of Antarctica shows a geographical feature named Madey Ridge. Madey took path to
laser via shortwave
By Helen Altonn
haltonn@starbulletin.comUniversity of Hawaii physicist John Madey says it is named primarily for his brother. But both were involved in a venture leading to the designation.
In the middle and late 1950s, he and his brother, then teenagers, became involved with amateur radio, he said.
They ended up providing the primary means of personal communications for enlisted men and scientists in Operation Deep Freeze in the Antarctic with families and business associates in the United States.
"Due in large part to the generosity of Mom and Dad, we were able to put together one of the better radio amateur stations by 1955 and 1956," Madey said.
Operation Deep Freeze was just starting, and there weren't any satellites or cable communications.
"Everything had to be done by shortwave radio, and official government links were unable to handle anything beyond military communications for logistics and planning," Madey said.
"It left thousands of people down there without any links to families and business associates."
Madey said he got his amateur license when he was 11; his brother was two years older.
"I was just fascinated, not only by the science done in Deep Freeze, but the technology and radio communications being used.
"In some sense, that was the golden era of shortwave radio and vacuum tube electronics. The transistor tube was invented a few years before, but it was not yet doing anything useful. Radio and vacuum tube technology captured my imagination."
By 1960 the laser was invented, and semiconductor electronics was replacing vacuum tube technology.
At Caltech in the 1960s, Madey said he began to wonder if the old electron, vacuum tube technology could be combined with laser physics "into new regions being explored with infrared and optical laser."
He said he thought it was possible technically, and received encouragement from some people at Caltech who had been involved with laser development at Bell Labs in New Jersey.
He had been a frequent visitor at Bell Labs when he was a youth because he and his brother's radio station was about five miles from there, he said.
By 1965, when he got his master's degree from Caltech, he said he "had a pretty good idea how it might be done." Going on to Stanford, he demonstrated the first operational free electron laser in 1973, based largely on old-time vacuum tube technology, and received a patent for it.
His brother trained in bioelectronic research at Caltech and did the engineering for an automated system that replaced toll collection for the New York Freeway Authority.
University of Hawaii
