Scientists In China Create Most Powerful "Sound Laser" Ever Made

Unlike optical lasers, these devices emit particle-like chunks called phonons in a narrow beam.

Scientists in China have created an unprecedentedly bright laser that shoots particles of sound instead of light. According to New Scientist, this is the most powerful "sound laser" yet. At the core of the device is a one-micrometre-long silica bead. Researchers from Hunan Normal University in China used two beams of light to levitate the bead and surround it with a reflective cavity. Unlike regular lasers, that emit light particles called photons, these machines release particle-like chunks of sounds called phonons.

The output is similar - the particles are released in a narrow beam, like optical lasers emit photons.

Any vibration in the bead in "sound laser" creates phonons that are them amplified in the cavity before being released.