Pulsed High-Intensity Laser (PHIL) systems, colloquially referred to as "Phils", use extremely short pulses to deliver high instantaneous power while not having practically infeasible overall power and cooling requirements.
Principles
PHIL systems typically consist of 4 primary components:
A
power supply or
energy cell provides the power for the system. The overall power output determines the firing rate and instantaneous power output the system can achieve.
The most critical component is the
charge bank, which must have extreme power output capability and high energy density. The charge bank is charged to a set level, after which the firing cycle can begin.
The
laser emitter must be designed for high instantaneous power emission. Infrared and visual wavelengths are most commonly used, but in some cases UV is also seen.
Finally, a
cooling system is required to remove the large amounts of waste heat generated by the high intensity laser emitter. Cooling systems can range anywhere from a high thermal capacity main structure for low overall power systems to cryogenic supercooling systems in high power units. In some cases, particularly in weapon systems, cryogenic coolants are used as a consumable, evaporated and vented to simplify the system while still achieving high cooling performance. In even more extreme cases, cooling is limited and the laser emitter assembly is treated as consumable ammunition, allowed to burn out after each shot.
Applications
PHIL systems have applications in many fields including fusion reactors,
Universal Solid Fabricators, and weapon systems.
In fusion reactors, PHILs are used to compress and ignite pellets of fusion fuel. Compact inertial fusion reactors were one of the driving forces behind the early development of PHIL-related technologies.
In many USF designs, highly focused PHILs are used to instantly and precisely vaporize material stock to then be deposited on the fabricated object.
As weapons, PHILs are generally categorized as non-lethal, however dependig on impacted areas they can cause severe and permanent injuries. They are however often preferred for shipboard combat as unlike projectile weapons they do not easily pierce hull panels. PHIL weapons are also widely used as point defense weapons, since unlike projectile-based point defense systems they do not run out of ammunition and do not produce significant recoil.
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