Colouring fabrics with excimer lasers to simulate encoded images: the case of the Shroud of Turin

The faint body image embedded into the Turin Shroud has not yet explained by traditional science. We present experimental results of excimer laser irradiation (wavelengths 308 nm and 193 nm) of a raw linen fabric and of a linen cloth, seeking for a possible mechanism of image formation. The permanent coloration of both linens is a threshold effect on the laser beam intensity and it can be achieved only in a surprisingly narrow range of irradiation parameters: the shorter the wavelength, the narrower the range. We also obtained the first direct evidence of latent images impressed on linen that appear in a relatively long period (one year) after a laser irradiation that at first did not generate a clear image. The results are compared to the characteristics of the Turin Shroud, commenting the possibility that a burst of directional ultraviolet radiation may have played a role in the formation of the Shroud image.