IEEE news: ULTRASOUND "LASER" A RESEARCH TOOL FOR CONVENTIONAL LASERS

The essential qualities of a laser can be mimicked by classical mechanics -- as opposed to quantum mechanics -- using sound instead of light, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Missouri at Rolla, who have built an ultrasound analogue of the laser. The device, called a uaser (pronounced WAY-zer), for "ultrasound amplification by stimulated emission of radiation," produces ultrasonic waves that are coherent and of one frequency, and could be used to study laser dynamics and detect subtle changes, such as phase changes, in modern materials, researchers say. Read more: the link