Is it possible to have a radio laser?

Question

Since radio waves and light waves are on the same spectrum. Could you create a laser or beam of radio waves? Would this be able to broadcast more information or transport more power?

Answer 1

A laser is focused light traveling in just one direction, the actual spectrum used would depend on the type of light(color/frequency/band). It only travels along a very narrow path and in a straight line.

Radio waves spread out from the source like the ripples in a pond, where lasers travel in one direction like a bullet.

With a laser you'll have signal loss, even in a straight line of sight, due to rain or objects moving between the transmitter and receiver (trucks, birds, snow...).

Lasers have been used in the past to transmit data between buildings but with the advent of the Internet such private and very expensive/unreliable types of network connections are not used very often. Even in the old days before the Internet it was much easier to just run fiber optic cable between the buildings rather than try to maintain a clear line of sight or have the connection go down when there is a heavy rain.

Answer 2

i suppose so if you can find something that vibrates at the right wavelength. but maybe you'd call it a raser - the l in laser stands for light, the same thing with microwaves is called a maser.

apparently there are naturally ocurring radio masers:
"Maser-like stimulated emission also occurs in nature in interstellar space. Water molecules in star-forming regions can undergo a population inversion and emit radiation at 22 GHz, creating the brightest spectral line in the radio universe. Some water masers also emit radiation from a vibrational mode at 96 GHz."

it would transport far less power since the energy of photons is inversely proportional to wavelength. i'm not sure about signal strength.

Answer 3

A laser is capable of sending information and even conversations over short distances. They must be "line-of-sight", or in a straight line which is visible from start to end point.

In college Electronics we sent a radio "beam" around the campus but needed to add gain, or strength to the laser beam.

We had several mirrors and bounced the beam all around corners and such! It was great fun. But as I said, we had to boost the strength of the signal and use filters to clean up the degradation, (signal loss).