Abstract: A method and apparatus for forming a seam on a thermoplastic coated container, which container has been formed from a single blank or a continuous by bending the substrate member from which container was formed and overlapping opposite edges thereof to form the seam. According to the practice of this invention, the edges of the substrate member which are to be overlapped and joined to form the seam are each heated, prior to their overlapping, by energy from a laser to thereby render the thermoplastic coatings on the overlapped portions of the substrate member soft and tacky so that they will adhere to each other when pressed together and allowed to cool. The laser energy is applied by directing an unfocused laser beam of 10.6 .mu.m wavelength over a zone about one-half inch in width to each of the two edges, the web or blanks being fed along a conveyor past the stationary laser sources.

Abstract: An improved method and an apparatus for altering properties in a solid target by using the radiation emitted by a high power pulsed laser to generate a short duration, high amplitude pressure pulse is directed at the front side of solid target to alter material properties. The front side of the solid target is covered with an overlay material that is transparent to laser light, and the back side is placed in direct contact with a trapping material having substantially the same acoustical impedance as the metal substrate. When the solid target is processed by the pulsed laser, the microstructure and the stress state of the target are altered in a predictable manner.

Abstract: Methods (and apparatus) for nondestructively testing a body of material having a surface in contact with a gaseous environment (e.g. air, nitrogen, or inert gas), that comprise (A) the step of (and means for) directing to a region at the surface of the body a pulse of laser radiation having sufficient energy density and sufficiently long wavelength to initiate in the adjacent gas a blast wave that impinges on the surface and provides an ultrasonic wave in the body, and (B) the further step of (and means for) detecting a portion of the ultrasonic wave that has been affected by the body. The radiation directing means typically comprises a laser that provides a pulse having a duration of about 0.01 to 10 microseconds, and means for focusing the pulse to provide an energy density of at least about 5 Joules per square centimeter. The detecting means typically comprises an electromagnetic or capacitive transducer.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for applying radiation by producing X-rays of a selected spectrum and intensity and directing them to a desired location. Radiant energy is directed from a laser onto a target to produce such X-rays at the target, which is so positioned adjacent to the desired location as to emit the X-rays toward the desired location; or such X-rays are produced in a region away from the desired location, and are channeled to the desired location.The radiant energy directing means may be shaped (as with bends; adjustable, if desired) to circumvent any obstruction between the laser and the target. Similarly, the X-ray channeling means may be shaped (as with fixed or adjustable bends) to circumvent any obstruction between the region where the X-rays are produced and the desired location.For producing a radiograph in a living organism the X-rays are provided in a short pulse to avoid any blurring of the radiograph from movement of or in the organism.

Abstract: A method of producing X-rays by directing radiant energy from a laser onto a target. Conversion efficiency of at least about 3 percent is obtained by providing the radiant energy in a low-power precursor pulse of approximately uniform effective intensity focused onto the surface of the target for about 1 to 30 nanoseconds so as to generate an expanding unconfined coronal plasma having less than normal solid density throughout and comprising a low-density (underdense) region wherein the plasma frequency is less than the laser radiation frequency and a higher-density (overdense) region wherein the plasma frequency is greater than the laser radiation frequency and, about 1 to 30 nanoseconds after the precursor pulse strikes the target, a higher-power main pulse focused onto the plasma for about 10.sup.

Abstract: A process for producing high purity metal powders in which a metal or metal alloy of the desired composition is molten and introduced into a chamber in the form of a stream of a controlled cross sectional area which is fragmentized into a plurality of molten droplets by the impingement of a transversely excited laser having a preselected power to achieve the desired magnitude of fragmentation. The resultant droplets are cooled during their free-fall through the chamber and the solidified metal powder is subsequently recovered from the bottom of the chamber.