Figure 5

Diagrams showing how the M13 bacteriophage is inactivated by an USP laser. (A) The electric field from a femtosecond laser produces an impulsive force through the induced charge polarization on the virus; (B) The resultant mechanical impact coherently excites Raman-active vibrational modes on the capsid of the virus; (C) If the pulse width/spectral width and intensity of the USP laser are appropriately chosen, the vibrational modes can be excited to such high energy states as to break off the weak links between proteins in the capsid of the virus, damaging/disintegrating the capsid and leading to the inactivation of the virus.