Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 20 March 1998:
Vol. 279. no. 5358, pp. 1847 - 1848
DOI: 10.1126/science.279.5358.1847
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Research News

CHEMISTRY:
Training Lasers to Be Chemists

Robert F. Service

Chemical reactions often produce desired valuable compounds in only minute quantities, but the technique known as coherent control--coaxing molecules into reacting in specific ways by delivering precisely tuned, precisely timed laser pulses--could persuade such reactions to make much more of the product of choice. The hard part is finding out what sort of laser pulse to apply, and chemists are now having some success using computer-controlled feedback to find the best means of persuasion. The technique could be used in areas such as cancer therapy, where tailored light pulses would prompt optically active molecules to generate cell-killing reactive oxygen, and electronics manufacturing, where pulses would make precise changes in the molecular structure of the polymers used to create circuit patterns.

Read the Full Text

To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)