Young Writers Society

I know weapons-grade, hand-held lasers (probably) haven't been invented yet, but I'd like some theoretical data on the subject for my sci-fi novel "Rush".

Something you should know is that this is an anthropomorphic tale- the characters would be about average size for a human, probably more in the case of badgers.

In the story, the titular character is hit by a beam that's partially reflected by her armor. What I'd like to know is, what material would make a wearable armor that can reflect laserfire?

I know it's not the same as the blaster bolts in Star Wars- you would need to keep a long, thin beam on target for (at a guess) more than a second. What I don't know is the numbers- temperature, possible size of the gun itself, etc.

Actually the numbers probably won't matter that much- this story is more about war and its realities than it is about science. Still it's nice to have some credibility.

I just thought of something. Is it possible to make armor from ceramic, or some kind of ceramic-metal composite?

Something with a high melt point.

Lasers vary in temperature, but they can go up to the point of cutting steel— which means they can reach over 1,550 degrees celsius. Your best bet is to go through a chart like this and see which metals have a higher melting point than what a laser can cut.

Some lasers could indeed cut hotter than steel, but they might be impractical for weapons. You'd have to determine the capacity of lasers in your universe. You'd also have to research the individual metals to see if they're practical for armour in general, or if you're working with an alloy that maybe hasn't even been invented yet.

Thank you very much.