The Gamma laser at Northrop Grumman

One of the goals of the Firestrike program is to put a solid-state laser in a smaller package. The Gamma demonstrator, seen here, weighs 500 pounds and measures 23 inches by 40 inches by 12 inches -- "about the size of two countertop microwave ovens," as Northrop Grumman described it -- which means it met the design goals for size and weight reduction. Gamma's "gain medium" (the source of atoms that emit light) is a tiny slab about the size of a microscope slide, so it falls into the category of "slab laser."