or raygun, although most self-respecting weapons
designers and
sf books and films refuse to use the term, inventing a whole load of
technical jargon to explain their own word for the concept.
The idea of a directed energy weapon is that some form of energy-carrying
beam (like a
laser or
maser) is used to
transport destructive amounts of energy to the target. The
energy must be able to be absorbed by the target or it is
ineffective. Defences against directed energy weapons include
reflecting or re-directing the energy away from the target, or spreading the energy
throughout a large
area like a
heat sink.