The Laser

1917 - Albert Einstein proposes a theory that a photon or light article induces an atom to emit an identical photon.

Nov 3, 1917

http://www.photonics.com/EDU/Handbook.aspx?AID=42279

1960 - The first laser is made by Theodore Maiman in California

Nov 3, 1960

http://laserfest.org/lasers/history/early.cfm

1962 - Semi-conducting diode laser is invented (produces coherent radiation)

Nov 3, 1962

http://www.explainthatstuff.com/semiconductorlaserdiodes.html

1974 - First ever supermarket bar code scanner

Nov 3, 1974

It detects the reflected light from the illumination system and generates an analog signal that is sent to the decoder. The decoder interprets that signal, validates the barcode using the check digit, and coverts it into text.
http://www.independent.co.uk/property/house-and-home/laser-a-timeline-1973907.html

1975 - IBM introduces the first commercial laser printer Laser beams scan back and forth across a drum inside the printer, building up a pattern of static electricity. The static electricity attracts onto the page a kind of powdered ink called toner.

Nov 3, 1975

Laser beams scan back and forth across a drum inside the printer, building up a pattern of static electricity. The static electricity attracts onto the page a kind of powdered ink called toner.
http://www.independent.co.uk/property/house-and-home/laser-a-timeline-1973907.html

1978 - Phillips makes first laser disc player

Nov 3, 1978

Below the CD optical disc is a laser mounted to a moving sled. The sled can move back and forth along the CD as it spins. In close proximity to the laser beam is a photo receptor that converts the reflected laser light into an electric current. http://www.independent.co.uk/property/house-and-home/laser-a-timeline-1973907.html

1982 - First compact disc player

Nov 3, 1982

Inside your CD player, there is a miniature laser beam (semiconductor diode laser) and a small photoelectric cell (an electronic light detector) The laser flashes up onto the shiny under side of the CD, bouncing off the patterns on the disc. http://www.independent.co.uk/property/house-and-home/laser-a-timeline-1973907.html

1988 - North America and Europe are linked together through fibre optic cable which uses lasers to transport data.

Nov 3, 1988

http://www.independent.co.uk/property/house-and-home/laser-a-timeline-1973907.html

2008 - French neurosurgeons use fibre optic lasers and keyhole surgery to destroy brain cancer

Nov 3, 2008

http://www.independent.co.uk/property/house-and-home/laser-a-timeline-1973907.html

2010 - Quest for nuclear fusion clears key hurdle with the use of 192 laser beams to compress tiny balls of fuel made of deuterium and tritium.

Nov 3, 2010

http://www.independent.co.uk/property/house-and-home/laser-a-timeline-1973907.html