Post by treptoplax on Jul 19, 2018 15:07:23 GMT
Nice G+ post by Ian Mallett here on orbital bombardment of Earth's surface with lasers:
Optimal Wavelengths for Laser Weapons in Atmospheres
TL;DR: lower wavelengths (with some exceptions) penetrate better, but don't focus well at such ranges. Near-UV is probably the sweet spot, with about 60%ish atmosphere loss if I read the graph correctly, but cyan and green are plausible alternatives.
Optimal Wavelengths for Laser Weapons in Atmospheres
TL;DR: lower wavelengths (with some exceptions) penetrate better, but don't focus well at such ranges. Near-UV is probably the sweet spot, with about 60%ish atmosphere loss if I read the graph correctly, but cyan and green are plausible alternatives.