A particle beam weapon is a type of directed energy weapon. It includes phasers and disruptors.
Relational tree[]
- See also: Gun
The particle beam weapon, was a type of directed energy weapon, which were in turn employed as a sub-type of firearms or artillery, which were in turn a type of gun. It included most weapons of the 23rd century and 24th century.
- Gun
- Firearm or Artillery
- Projectile weapon
- Bow and arrow (roughly 70,000 BC to roughly 1,900 AD on Earth)
- Gunpowder weapon (roughly 1,100 AD to unknown on Earth)
- Railgun weapon (1,918 AD to unknown on Earth)
- Directed energy weapon
- Plasma weapon
- Laser weapon
- Particle beam weapon
- Projectile weapon
- Firearm or Artillery
The most famous particle beam weapon was the phaser, which used 'PHASed Energy Rectification' to convert energy from a power source into another form of energy. The rapid nadion effect was the process used to convert energy into a particle beam. Nadions were short-lived subatomic particles which could interact with atomic nuclei. (TNG reference: Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual)
History[]
A particle beam weapon, was a ranged weapon that uses an application of particle beam technology, to fire beams of atomic or subatomic particles as a directed-energy weapon. (ENT episode: "The Xindi"; ST reference: Spaceflight Chronology)
It was distinguished from the earlier laser, as lasers specifically referred to weapons firing light-frequency radiation, although light photons could be seen as a particle. (TNG reference: Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual)
See also[]
- subatomic particle
- particle beam
- particle beam cannon
- Xindi superweapon
- particle beam