Friday, January 22, 2010

50 Years of Laser

2010 will mark the 50th anniversary of the invention of the laser.

By the mid-1950s, scientists had identified several excellent materials and had recognized that putting a mirror on each side of the laser medium would drastically increase the output, reflecting the photons back and forth, and producing more stimulus and more emissions on each transit. If one of the mirrors was partially transparent, a stream of photons would emerge from that end -- the now familiar laser beam. Finally in May 1960, Theodore Maiman, a physicist at Hughes Research Laboratories, constructed the first laser that emitted light in the visible range.


Of course, the the World Year of Physics, and World Year of Astronomy, there is a website that celebrates this anniversary for the laser:

http://www.laserfest.org/

Enjoy!

Zz.

1 comment:

Kyle said...

Thanks for all the articles. I really enjoy this physics blog and am surprised there are not more comments. Thanks ZapperZ.

Also, strange to think that lasers have been around for 50 years and how important they have become.