A Proposal for Laser De-Icing and Anti-icing
LINK-1
and a 1.2mb download zipfile at:
LINK-2
The technology would seem to be feasible but laser energy spraying the exterior surfaces of an airplane for de-icing might present some safety issues (particularly if used for de-icing on the ground before flight).
However, for inflight use, I'd have thought that an application would be discrete enough to "treat" precise areas of wings and engines/props/empennage without constituting a hazard to passengers....... and therefore without needing the laser itself to be enclosed.
Any laser experts out there with a view?
OverTALK