Gamma ray Gamma-induced molecular changes can also be used to alter the properties of semi-precious stones, and is often

used to change white topaz into blue topaz. In the US, gamma ray detectors are beginning to be used as part of the Container Security Initiative (CSI). These US$5 million machines are advertised to scan 30 containers per hour. The objective of this technique is to screen merchant ship containers before they enter US ports. Gamma radiation is often used to kill living organisms, in a process called irradiation. Applications of this include sterilizing medical equipment (as an alternative to autoclaves or chemical means), removing decay-causing bacteria from many foods or preventing fruit and vegetables from sprouting to maintain freshness and flavor. Despite their cancer-causing properties, gamma rays are also used to treat some types of cancer, since the rays kill cancer cells also. In the procedure called gamma-knife surgery, multiple concentrated beams of gamma rays are directed on the growth in order to kill the cancerous cells. The beams are aimed from different angles to concentrate the radiation on the growth while minimizing damage to surrounding tissues. Gamma rays are also used for diagnostic purposes in nuclear medicine in imaging techniques. A number of different gamma-emittingradioisotopes are used. For example, in a PET scan a radiolabled sugar called fludeoxyglucose emits positrons that are converted to pairs of gamma rays that localize cancer (which often takes up more sugar than other surrounding tissues). The most common gamma emitter used in medical applications is the nuclear isomer technetium-99m which emits gamma rays in the same energy range as diagnostic X-rays. When this radionuclide tracer is administered to a patient, a gamma camera can be used to form an image of the radioisotope's distribution by detecting the gamma radiation emitted (see also SPECT). Depending on what molecule has been labeled with the tracer, such techniques can be employed to diagnose a wide range of conditions (for example, the spread of cancer to the bones in a bone scan).

Xray

Plain X-rays
X-rays are useful in the detection of pathology of the skeletal system as well as for detecting some disease processes in soft tissue. Some notable examples are the very common chest X-ray, which can be used to identify lung diseases such as pneumonia, lung cancer or pulmonary edema, and the abdominal X-ray, which can detect intestinal obstruction, free air (from visceral perforations) and free fluid (in ascites). X-rays may also be used to detect pathology such asgallstones (which are rarely radiopaque) or kidney stones which are often (but not always) visible. Traditional plain X-rays are less useful in the imaging of soft tissues such as the brain or muscle. X-rays are also commonly

used in dentistry, as X-ray imaging is useful in the diagnoses of common oral problems, such as cavities.

Computer tomography
Imaging alternatives for soft tissues are computed axial tomography (CAT or CT scanning).

Fluoroscopy
Fluoroscopy is another X-ray test methodology. This method may use a contrast material. Examples include cardiac catheterization (to examine for coronary artery blockages) and Barium swallow (to examine for esophageal disorders).

Radiotherapy
The use of X-rays as a treatment is known as radiation therapy and is largely used for the management (including palliation) of cancer; it requires higher radiation energies than for imaging alone.

Ultraviolet

Security

A bird appears on many Visa credit cards when held under a UV light source

To help prevent counterfeiters, sensitive documents (e.g., credit cards, driver's licenses,passports) may also include a UV watermark that is visible only under a UV-emitting light. Passports issued by most countries usually contain UV sensitive inks and security threads. Visastamps and stickers on passports of visitors contain large detailed seals invisible under normal light, but strongly visible under UV illumination. Passports issued by many nations have UV sensitive watermarks on all pages. Currencies of various countries' banknotes have an image, as well as many multicolored fibers, that are visible only under ultraviolet light. Some brands of pepper spray will leave an invisible chemical (UV dye) that is not easily washed off on a pepper sprayed attacker, which would help police identify them later.
[31]

Forensics
UV is an investigative tool at the crime scene helpful in locating and identifying bodily fluids (semen, blood
[citation needed]

, bile etc.). E.g., ejaculated fluids or saliva are detected by high-power UV,
[32]

irrespective of the structure or colour of the surface the fluid is deposited upon.

Fluorescent lamps
Fluorescent lamps produce UV radiation by ionising low-pressure mercury vapour. A phosphorescent coating on the inside of the tubes absorbs the UV and converts it to visible light. The main mercury emission wavelength is in the UVC range. Unshielded exposure of the skin or eyes to mercury arc lamps that do not have a conversion phosphor is quite dangerous. The light from a mercury lamp is predominantly at discrete wavelengths. Other practical UV sources with more continuous emission spectra include xenon arc lamps (commonly used as sunlight simulators), deuterium arc lamps, mercury-xenon arc lamps, metal-halide arc lamps, and tungstenhalogen incandescent lamps.

Sterilization
Main article: Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation

A low pressure mercury vapor discharge tube floods the inside of a hood with shortwave UV light when not in use,sterilizing microbiological contaminants from irradiated surfaces.

Ultraviolet lamps are used to sterilize workspaces and tools used in biology laboratories and medical facilities. Commercially available low-pressure mercury-vapor lamps emit about 86% of their light at 254 nanometers (nm), which coincides very well with one of the two peaks of the germicidal effectiveness curve (i.e., effectiveness for UV absorption by DNA). One of these peaks is at about 265 nm and the other is at about 185 nm. Although 185 nm is better absorbed by DNA, the quartz glass used in commercially available lamps, as well as environmental media such as water, are more opaque to 185 nm than 254 nm (C. von Sonntag et al., 1992). UV light at these germicidal wavelengths causes adjacent thymine molecules on DNA to dimerize; if enough of these defects accumulate on a microorganism's DNA, its replication is inhibited, thereby rendering it harmless (even though the organism may not be killed outright). However, since microorganisms can be shielded from ultraviolet light in small cracks and other shaded areas, these lamps are used only as a supplement to other sterilization techniques.

Infrared

Night vision

Main article: Night vision

Active-infrared night vision : the camera illuminates the scene at infrared wavelengths invisible to the human eye. Despite a dark back-lit scene, active-infrared night vision delivers identifying details, as seen on the display monitor.

Infrared is used in night vision equipment when there is insufficient visible light to see.

[13]

Night vision

devices operate through a process involving the conversion of ambient light photons into electrons which are then amplified by a chemical and electrical process and then converted back into visible light.
[13]

Infrared light sources can be used to augment the available ambient light for conversion by
[13]

night vision devices, increasing in-the-dark visibility without actually using a visible light source.

The use of infrared light and night vision devices should not be confused with thermal imagingwhich creates images based on differences in surface temperature by detecting infrared radiation (heat) that emanates from objects and their surrounding environment.
[14]

Thermography
Main article: Thermography

A thermographic image of a dog

Infrared radiation can be used to remotely determine the temperature of objects (if the emissivity is known). This is termed thermography, or in the case of very hot objects in the NIR or visible it is termed pyrometry. Thermography (thermal imaging) is mainly used in military and industrial applications but the technology is reaching the public market in the form of infrared cameras on cars due to the massively reduced production costs. Thermographic cameras detect radiation in the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum (roughly 90014,000 nanometers or 0.914 m) and produce images of that radiation. Since infrared radiation is emitted by all objects based on their temperatures, according to the black body radiation law, thermography makes it possible to "see" one's environment with or without visible illumination. The amount of radiation emitted by an object increases with temperature, therefore thermography allows one to see variations in temperature (hence the name).

Other imaging

Infrared light from the LED of an Xbox 360 remote control as seen by a digital camera.

In infrared photography, infrared filters are used to capture the near-infrared spectrum. Digital cameras often use infrared blockers. Cheaper digital cameras and camera phones have less effective filters and can "see" intense near-infrared, appearing as a bright purple-white color. This is especially pronounced when taking pictures of subjects near IR-bright areas (such as near a lamp), where the resulting infrared interference can wash out the image. There is also a technique called 'T-ray' imaging, which is imaging using far infrared or terahertz radiation. Lack of bright sources makes terahertz photography technically more challenging than most other infrared imaging techniques. Recently T-ray imaging has been of considerable interest due to a number of new developments such as terahertz time-domain spectroscopy.

Communications
IR data transmission is also employed in short-range communication among computer peripherals and personal digital assistants. These devices usually conform to standards published by IrDA, the Infrared Data Association. Remote controls and IrDA devices use infrared light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to emit infrared radiation which is focused by a plastic lens into a narrow beam. The beam is modulated, i.e. switched on and off, to encode the data. The receiver uses a silicon photodiode to convert the infrared radiation to an electric current. It responds only to the rapidly pulsing signal

created by the transmitter, and filters out slowly changing infrared radiation from ambient light. Infrared communications are useful for indoor use in areas of high population density. IR does not penetrate walls and so does not interfere with other devices in adjoining rooms. Infrared is the most common way for remote controls to command appliances. Infrared remote control protocols like RC5, SIRC, are used to communicate with infrared. Free space optical communication using infrared lasers can be a relatively inexpensive way to install a communications link in an urban area operating at up to 4 gigabit/s, compared to the cost of burying fiber optic cable. Infrared lasers are used to provide the light for optical fiber communications systems. Infrared light with a wavelength around 1,330 nm (leastdispersion) or 1,550 nm (best transmission) are the best choices for standard silica fibers. IR data transmission of encoded audio versions of printed signs is being researched as an aid for visually impaired people through the RIAS (Remote Infrared Audible Signage) project.

Microwave

Radar
Radar uses microwave radiation to detect the range, speed, and other characteristics of remote objects. Development of radar was accelerated during World War II due to its great military utility. Now radar is widely used for applications such as air traffic control, weather forecasting, navigation of ships, and speed limit enforcement. A Gunn diode oscillator and waveguide are used as a motion detector for automatic door openers.

Radio astronomy
Most radio astronomy uses microwaves. Usually the naturally-occurring microwave radiation is observed, but active radar experiments have also been done with objects in the solar system, such as determining the distance to the Moon or mapping the invisible surface of Venusthrough cloud cover.

Power
A microwave oven passes (non-ionizing) microwave radiation (at a frequency near 2.45 GHz) through food, causing dielectric heating by absorption of energy in the water, fats, and sugar contained in the food. Microwave ovens became common kitchen appliances in Western countries in the late 1970s, following development of inexpensive cavity magnetrons. Water in the liquid state possesses many molecular interactions which broaden the absorption peak. In the vapor phase, isolated water molecules absorb at around 22 GHz, almost ten times the frequency of the microwave oven. Microwave heating is used in industrial processes for drying and curing products. Many semiconductor processing techniques use microwaves to generate plasma for such purposes as reactive ion etching and plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD).

Microwave frequencies typically ranging from 110 140 GHz are used in stellarators and more notably in tokamak experimental fusion reactors to help heat the fuel into a plasma state. The upcoming ITER Thermonuclear Reactor
[5]

is expected to range from 110170 GHz and will employ

[6]

Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ECRH).

Microwaves can be used to transmit power over long distances, and post-World War II research was done to examine possibilities. NASAworked in the 1970s and early 1980s to research the possibilities of using solar power satellite (SPS) systems with large solar arrays that would beam power down to the Earth's surface via microwaves. Less-than-lethal weaponry exists that uses millimeter waves to heat a thin layer of human skin to an intolerable temperature so as to make the targeted person move away. A two-second burst of the 95 GHz focused beam heats the skin to a temperature of 130 F (54 C) at a depth of 1/64th of an inch (0.4 mm). The United States Air Force and Marines are currently using this type of active denial system.
radio [7]

In medicine
Radio frequency (RF) energy has been used in medical treatments for over 75 years,
[4] [3]

generally for

minimally invasive surgeries, usingradiofrequency ablation and coagulation, including the treatment of sleep apnea. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) uses radio frequency waves to generate images

of the human body.

Radio communication
In order to receive radio signals an antenna must be used. However, since the antenna will pick up thousands of radio signals at a time, aradio tuner is necessary to tune in to a particular frequency (or frequency range).
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This is typically done via a resonator in its simplest form, a circuit with

a capacitor and an inductor forming a tuned circuit. The resonator amplifies oscillations within a particular frequency band, while reducing oscillations at other frequencies outside the band.