years for fabricating microfluidic devices from it, with channel widths of a few hundred micrometers. Because the atmosphere is quite transparent to infrared light, CO2 lasers are also used for military rangefinding using LIDAR techniques. CO2 lasers are used in spectroscopy and the Silex process to enrich uranium. In semiconductor manufacturing, CO2 lasers are used for extreme ultraviolet generation. The Soviet Polyus was designed to use a megawatt carbon-dioxide laser as an in-orbit weapon to destroy SDI satellites. See also Beam homogenizer Laser beam profiler TEA laser Notes References External links Home-built Carbon dioxide laser American inventions Gas lasers Dental lasers Applications of carbon dioxide