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When and by whom was the world's first laser developed? What is its significance?
2024-06-13
Laser is another major invention of mankind since the 20th century, following nuclear energy, computers, and semiconductors. It is known as the "fastest knife", "most accurate ruler", and "brightest light". It’s full name “Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation” has fully expresses the main process of how it comes.
The invention of the laser was a major scientific and technological breakthrough in the 20th century. In 1960, American physicist Maiman conducted the world's first experiment at the University of Washington and successfully developed the world's first ruby laser. Maiman used a flash tube to generate light oscillations and used a rotating lens to reflect the light beam onto a ruby rod, eventually producing the world's first laser beam. This invention is widely regarded as the beginning of laser technology, and has since opened the door to laser applications.
The invention was made public on July 8, 1960. The emergence of this laser marked that humans had obtained a light source with properties similar to electromagnetic waves and frequency stability. The word of “Laser” which stands for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation." This laser produces a beam that is different from ordinary light, and its frequency is stable at about 100 terahertz, which makes the frequency of laser light much higher than the widely used microwaves (frequency of about 10 MHz). In theory, the transmission capacity of laser communication can reach 10,000 times that of microwave communication. However, the initial laser needed to work at room temperature and could not achieve continuous and stable output, so it was not actually used in the communication field in the early days.
The emergence of lasers has provided new tools for scientific research and promoted the development of physics, chemistry, biology and other disciplines. Secondly, laser technology is widely used in industrial production, improving production efficiency and product quality. In addition, laser technology has also played an important role in communications, military, medicine and other fields. For example, the light source used in fiber-optic communication is laser, and laser can be used in medicine to treat various diseases and perform non-invasive surgery.
At present, the most commonly used is laser cutting machine, cutting glass, reducing material loss, laser marking to mark lenses or prisms, there are too many laser application fields, including laser marking, laser welding, laser cutting, fiber-optic communication, laser ranging, laser radar, laser weapons, laser discs, laser correction, laser beauty, laser scanning, laser mosquito repellent, LIF non-destructive testing technology, etc. Laser systems can be divided into continuous wave lasers and pulsed lasers.
The laser lights we use for entertainment use YAG solid lasers, krypton lamps and Nd: YAG crystal rods to generate laser beams, and through frequency conversion, visible green light is formed.
Computers are used to control the high-speed deflection of the galvanometer, and the laser light is directed to water curtains, buildings or walls, etc., thus forming beautiful text or graphics for viewing. Alternatively, laser lights can be placed on high-rise buildings or mountaintop scenic spots, and the light beam is directed into the distance, and a bright green light appears in the air, which is very dazzling. The light beam can swing up and down, left and right, and its magical and gorgeous appearance can be appreciated within a radius of several kilometers.
