Are you think about this? : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_Denial_System
They’re probably not a good idea to use on crowds, because not all body parts are as resilient as skin to microwave damage. Like the rods and cones in eyeballs.
If not, I do not see how this process would “stun” a person without obliterating or grievously wounding them. The large gapping holes these weapons inflict on people are not going to be cauterized. The explosion is just an immensely rapid and violent version of matter trying to redistribute/react to heat energy like a nuclear explosion. Its holes are ripped apart more so than it is through vaporization (which would require an insane amount of energy).
Technically it’s that lasers of insufficient intensity cause explosions. You shoot laser at a human. The laser heats up the water in the skin of the human. The water becomes gaseous inside the human’s flesh. The gas must escape. BOOOOM! The human has a fist sized hole in his stomach.
Lasers of sufficient intensity will just burn through a human, and his friend behind him. And his friend behind him. And the wall. And the dog behind the wall. And the tree behind the wall and the dog.[/quote]
Yeah, I think we’re reading stuff that’s near each other :D. I’ve always wondered if this can be achieve with any substance, and not just water if you pump enough energy fast enough.
Don’t think you’re going to get lasers that can cut through stuff through vaporization though without making the emitter a giant bomb.