The laser is one of the most significat inventions of the 20th century. In this paper I plan on describing the details surronding its creation, how this device improved the lives of the people when it was invented as well, and how different our world would be had the laser not been invented.
The word laser is an acronym for Light Amplified by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. The theory of stimulated emission was proposed in 1917 by Albert Einstein but it was not until the 1950's that this theory was applied to produce the laser. In 1954, Charles Townes and Arthur Schawlow invented the maser or microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation, using ammonia gas and microwave radiation. The maser was used to amplify radio signals and as an ultrasensitive detector for space research. The maser is very close to the laser, but the maser does not use a visible light. .
The first practicle laser was created out of pink synthetic ruby, in the 1960s by a man by the name of Theodore Maimam at the Hughes Research Laboratories. Soon after Ali Javan, William Bennet, and Donald Herriot made the first gas laser using helium and neon. This type of laser, called the He-Ne Laser was used for reading UPC product codes and surveying equipment. Lasers before the He-Ne laser were only able to discharge large 'blasts', this was the first laser able to produce a continuous stream. .
The U.S. Military involvement in Veitnam led to the development of laser radar, targeting, and reconnaissance systems. In the 1970s, the Excimer laser, was used for etching silicone computer chips for IBM and in the 1980's it was used for vision correction. This laser also had the capibilities of removeing tissue without causing any heat damage to the neighboring material.
Today we have many uses for the laser. We are capable of heating, melting or vaporising metal very percisly. They are the most effective detectors of certain types of air pollution.
