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THE
USES OF GOLD
- LASERS
AND OPTICS
ASTRONOMY
The
world's largest telescope, located at the Keck Observatory,
uses gold in its internal workings. Located atop
the 13,796-foot-high Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii,
the observatory is composed of twin telescopes,
Keck I and Keck II, and each is equipped with a
2l-inch secondary mirror that is coated with 99.9-percent
pure gold. Keck I, in operation since 1993, has
opened the door to astronomers with its light-gathering
ability to see and measure very faint light sources
-- mainly from the infrared spectrum -- on the outer
edge on the universe. Keck II began astronomical
observations in 1996. The telescopes are so powerful
that they could detect a single burning candle on
the surface of the moon.
Gold
is used to coat the telescope's secondary mirrors
because of its high reflectivity of infrared light.
Developed by Epner Technology, the gold coating
process is known as "Laser Gold" (so
named because of its frequent use in the pump
cavities of lasers). Laser Gold has been accepted
as a Standard Reference Material (SRM) by the
National Institute for Standards and Technology.
Astronomers using the twin Keck telescopes, with
their gold-coated mirrors, announced in October
2000 that they have produced the most detailed,
precise images of Neptune and Uranus ever captured.
Scientists are currently poring over the images,
learning facts about the plants' surfaces and
atmospheres that were previously unknown.
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COPY
MACHINES
Copy machines use very high temperatures to affix
the copy image onto the paper. These machines use
gold-coated mirrors to reflect the heat efficiently,
and produce copies for millions of businesses every
day.
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PHOTO
CDS
Eastman Kodak Company has developed a Photo CD System
that uses gold as the reflective surface. Photofinishers
can transfer, in a digitized format, 35mm negatives
or slides to compact discs holding up to 100 images
on a disc. Once on disc, images can be viewed on
television or computer screens. An interesting example
of how this system can be used is demonstrated in
a project for the National Park Service in which
all items left at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
are photographed, catalogued, and compiled onto
gold-coated photo CDs.
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SATELLITES
Military and commercial communications satellites
circling the Earth use gold in many important ways.
Circuitry and chemically clean gold wires provide
permanently static-free signals in rebroadcasting
signals back to Earth.
- Electronic
circuitry boxes are gold coated to protect the
electronic devices from cosmic ray degradation
and solar bursts.
- Gold-coated
Mylar sheets are wrapped around the main body
of satellites to reflect away the intense solar
heat that would otherwise degrade the satellites'
performance.
Gold is essential in satellites because of its
reflectivity, conductivity, and resistance to
corrosion.
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SECURITY
SYSTEMS
Security systems require long-term unattended reliability.
The infrared reflective properties of gold are used
in infrared viewing equipment for home and office
security systems. These nighttime security cameras
can view areas at night without the need for visible
light.
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