Maiman, Theodore Harold

▪ 2008

      American physicist

born July 11, 1927 , Los Angeles, Calif.

died May 5, 2007, Vancouver, B.C.

constructed the first laser, a device that produces monochromatic coherent light, or light in which the rays are all of the same wavelength and phase. The laser found numerous practical uses, ranging from delicate surgery to measurement of the distance between the Earth and the Moon. After receiving a Ph.D. (1955) from Stanford University, Maiman accepted a position with the Hughes Research Laboratories (now HRL Laboratories, LLC), where he became interested in a device developed and built by Charles H. Townes and colleagues and known as a maser (acronym for “microwave [or molecular] amplification by stimulated emission of radiation”). Maiman made design innovations that greatly increased the practicability of the solid-state maser. He then set out to develop an optical maser, or laser, which is based on the maser principle but produces visible light rather than microwaves. He operated the first successful laser in 1960 and two years later established Korad Corp. for research, development, and manufacture of lasers. Maiman later sold Korad and worked as a consultant at TRW, a technology corporation. His autobiography, The Laser Odyssey, was published in 2000.

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