One component of the US Strategic Defense Initiative is the nuclear-explosion-pumped X-ray laser. Although there are many obstacles to its development, such a weapon is technically feasible.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
1. Robinson, C. Jr Aviat. Week, 23 February, 25 (1981). 2. Report of the Study Group on the Science and Technology of Directed Energy Weapons (American Institute of Physics, New York, 1987). 3. Carter, A. B. "Directed Energy Missile Defense in Spaceá€" A Background Paper" OTA–BP–ISC–26 Office of Technology Assessment, Washington, DC, 1984). 4. Bethe, H. & Garwin, R. L. Daedalus 114, 53–71 (1985). 5. Glasstone, S. & Dolan, P. The Effects of Nuclear Weapons, 3rd Edn (US Department of Defense and the US Department of Energy, Washington, DC, 1977). 6. Slater, J. C. Quantum Theory of Atomic Structure (McGraw Hill, New York, 1960). 7. Chapline, G. & Wood, L. "Conditions for X–ray Laser Action" Nat. Tech. Inf. Serv. UCRL–75184–Rev II (US Department of Commerce, Washington, DC). 8. Wood, L. & Chapline, G. Physics Today 6, 40 (1975). 9. Bunkin, F., Derzhiev, V. & Yakovlenko, S. Sov. J. Quant. Electron. 11,971 (1981). 10. Boiko, V. A., Bunkin, F. V., Derzhiever, V. I. & Yakovlenko, S. IEEEJ. Quant. Electron. 3, QE 20 (1984). 11. Feynman, R. et al. Lectures on Physics (Addison–Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts, 1963–1965). 12. Walbridge, E. Nature 310, 180 (1984). 13. Jeffrey–Smith, R. Science 230, 646 (1985).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ritson, D. A weapon for the twenty-first century. Nature 328, 487–490 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1038/328487a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/328487a0
This article is cited by
-
A stable narrow-band X-ray laser
Nature (2015)
-
Even harder X-rays
Nature (2012)
