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Max Plank published work in 1900 that provided the understanding that light is a form of electromagnetic radiation. Without this understanding the laser would not have been invented.
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This is a timeline on the history of lasers for my QUEST program.
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Albert Einstein first theorized about the process which makes lasers possible called "Stimulated Emission."
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Rudolph W Landenburg confirmed existence of stimulated emission and negative absorption.
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Several different engineers were working towards the harnessing of energy using the principal of stimulated emission.
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Charles Townes and Arthur Schawlow invented the maser (Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation), using ammonia gas and microwave radiation - the maser was invented before the (optical) laser. The technology is very close but does not use a visible light.
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Gordon Gould, a doctoral student under Townes, uses the term ‘laser’, theorising tht light could be used to excite atoms into making a coherent light beam.
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Charles Townes and Arthur Schawlow was granted a patent for the maser. The maser was used to amplify radio signals and as an ultra-sensitive detector for space research.
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Theodore Maiman invented the ruby laser considered to be the first successful optical laser or light laser.
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Laser used for first time in surgery to destroy retinal tumor.
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Robert Hall created a revolutionary type of laser, the semiconductor laser, that still used in many electrical appliances and communication systems today.
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The carbon dioxide laser was invented by Kumar Patel.
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First supermarket barcode scanner developed by Bernard Silver
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IBM creates the first laser printer: the IBM 3800
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First laser disc player made by Phillips. But hight cost is barrier to success.
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John D Myers created the first commercial laser eye surgery device and method
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First laser surgery to correct short-sightedness.
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Alferov and Kroemer were given the prize for their development within the field of semiconductor physics, where they had studied the type of substances that was first used to build semiconductor lasers, that is, the kind of miniature lasers that today have become the cheapest, lightest and smallest.
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French neurosurgeons use fibre-optic laser and keyhole surgery to destroy brain cancer.
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The CD player, laser writer, laser pointer and the bar code reader the cashier at the supermarket uses, are all based on the discovery of lasers. And yes guys, no laser shooting.
