Lasers :: essays research papers

L A S E R S   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Did you know that some laser beams are small enough and powerful enough to drill two hundred holes on a spot as tiny as the head of a pin?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first major advancement in laser development came in 1954. This was the year that Charles H. Townes, an American physicist, created a device that amplified microwaves. This device was actually called a maser at first, which was short for Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation Masers. It produced microwaves of just one frequency. Then the laser was developed from the maser.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Several people have been accredited for the development of the laser’s basic design. These people are as follows: American Arthur L. Shcawlow, the Russians Alexander M. Prokhorov and Nikolai G. Basov, and the American Gordon Gould. But the first laser was constructed in 1960 by American physicist T.H. Maiman and it is still one of the most powerful lasers available. This laser used a ruby rod for its active medium, which is its way of producing light. Ali Javan then created the first gas laser later in 1960. Three separate teams of American scientists operated the first semiconductor laser in 1962. Then in 1966, the American physicist Peter Sorokin built the first dye laser.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To begin with, I will explain the definition of a laser: It is a device that produces a very narrow powerful beam of light. A laser light is a narrow beam of light, in which all the waves are traveling exactly at the same length and moving together as one. A laser light is made up of only one wavelength and it is a single pure color, while a normal light has many different wavelengths or colors.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The most common laser has three parts to it. They are energy source, an active medium, and optical cavity. An energy source can be anything that can give energy to the active medium through a process called “pumping.'; Lasers often use electricity; usually a device called a flash lamp, as the energy source. An active medium is any material that can be used to create a laser light. The optical cavity is the structure that encloses the active medium. Most cavities have mirrors on both ends, one that fully reflects light and another that partially reflects light. The laser beam actually exits through the mirror that is partially reflecting.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The central process of the laser is called stimulated emission.