Spinoff story

Laser Systems

A real-world story of NASA technology finding a life beyond the mission.

About this technology

Overview

Tunable diode lasers are employed as radiation sources in high resolution infrared spectroscopy to determine spectral characteristics of gaseous compounds. With other laser systems, they are produced by Spectra-Physics, and used to monitor chemical processes, monitor production of quantity halogen lamps, etc. The Laser Analytics Division of Spectra-Physics credits the system's reliability to a program funded by Langley in the 1970s. * Company no longer U.S.-owned. 5/22/97