Assessment of research needs for laser technologies applied to advanced spectroscopic methods

Technical Report · Mon Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1990

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/7020153· OSTI ID:7020153

Hurst, G S

The Department of Energy (DOE) recognizes that new developments in laser technology and laser spectroscopy can substantially improve the ability to carry out the mission of its Office of Health and Environmental Research (OHER). In brief, the mission of OHER is to support programs of research which allow DOE to understand and anticipate long term effects upon human health and the environment from the production and utilization of alternate forms of energy, and to apply the department's unique capabilities to solve numerous problems in biology and medicine. A DOE study was managed by Consultec Scientific, Inc. who furnished from its staff the Principal Investigator who, in turn, coordinated the enthusiastic efforts of a group of consultants consisting of some of the world's best scientists in the world. The panel made six specific recommendations which dealt with three important areas. First the panel recommends that OHER closely monitor and be prepared to use the advances now being made in solid-state laser technology. These advances, comparable in nature to the revolution which began during the 1950's in solid-state electronics, will radically improve present-day laser technology. Secondly, the panel addressed the use of this advanced technology to maintain the preeminent position which OHER has already created for itself in the development of selective and sensitive instruments for the analysis of atomic and molecular substances and to extend the use of these to measure chemical pollutants in air, soil, and water. Finally, another area of the recommendations dealt with the use of lasers to determine structural and dynamical features of macromolecules and especially to develop x-ray lasers and other imaging techniques, including holographic ones, for sequencing DNA and the human genome. 208 refs., 2 figs., 2 tabs.

• Research Organization: Consultec Scientific, Inc., Knoxville, TN (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/ER
• DOE Contract Number: AC01-88ER30131
• OSTI ID: 7020153
• Report Number(s): DOE/ER/30131-T9; ON: DE90007402
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
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42 ENGINEERING
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47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION
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59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
ATOMIZATION
BIOCHEMISTRY
CHEMISTRY
CRYSTALS
DETECTION
DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES
DOCUMENT TYPES
DOSIMETRY
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
FLUORESCENCE
FREE ELECTRON LASERS
FREQUENCY ANALYSIS
GAS LASERS
GENETIC MAPPING
HYDROCARBONS
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
LASER SPECTROSCOPY
LASERS
LIQUID LASERS
LUMINESCENCE
MAPPING
MEDICINE
MONITORING
NUCLEAR MEDICINE
OPTICAL PUMPING
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
POLLUTANTS
PROGRESS REPORT
PUMPING
RECOMMENDATIONS
REMOTE SENSING
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
SOLID STATE LASERS
SPECTROSCOPY
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
TOMOGRAPHY
X-RAY LASERS