Laser Cannons

Early laser cannon prototype on Orceron.

Most lasers use a form of crystal or gas in which the electrons have been raised to an excited state. Mirrors are then used to reflect stray photons back and forth through this medium, provoking a cascade reaction which releases a burst of light. The beam emitted from a laser is monochromatic, coherent, and has a very high intensity. High energy lasers are thus able to focus large amounts of energy onto very small areas, which can result in considerable physical damage.

Laser-based weapon technologies are mostly considered old-fashioned or obsolete in modern space combat, although with sufficient power output they can still prove to be formidable weapons.