A report on Laser, Maser and Light

Red (660 & 635 nm), green (532 & 520 nm) and blue-violet (445 & 405 nm) lasers

First prototype ammonia maser and inventor Charles H. Townes. The ammonia nozzle is at left in the box, the four brass rods at center are the quadrupole state selector, and the resonant cavity is at right. The 24 GHz microwaves exit through the vertical waveguide Townes is adjusting. At bottom are the vacuum pumps.

A triangular prism dispersing a beam of white light. The longer wavelengths (red) and the shorter wavelengths (blue) are separated.

A hydrogen radio frequency discharge, the first element inside a hydrogen maser (see description below)

The electromagnetic spectrum, with the visible portion highlighted

A helium–neon laser demonstration. The glow running through the center of the tube is an electric discharge. This glowing plasma is the gain medium for the laser. The laser produces a tiny, intense spot on the screen to the right. The center of the spot appears white because the image is overexposed there.

Beam of sun light inside the cavity of Rocca ill'Abissu at Fondachelli-Fantina, Sicily

Spectrum of a helium–neon laser. The actual bandwidth is much narrower than shown; the spectrum is limited by the measuring apparatus.

$Due to refraction, the straw dipped in water appears bent and the ruler scale compressed when viewed from a shallow angle.$

Lidar measurements of lunar topography made by Clementine mission.

Hong Kong illuminated by colourful artificial lighting.

Laserlink point to point optical wireless network

Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA) of the MESSENGER spacecraft

$Thomas Young's sketch of a double-slit experiment showing diffraction. Young's experiments supported the theory that light consists of waves.$

LASER notebook: First page of the notebook wherein Gordon Gould coined the acronym LASER, and described the elements required to construct one. Manuscript text: "Some rough calculations on the feasibility / of a LASER: Light Amplification by Stimulated / Emission of Radiation. /
Conceive a tube terminated by optically flat / [Sketch of a tube] / partially reflecting parallel mirrors..."

Graph showing the history of maximum laser pulse intensity throughout the past 40 years.

Wavelengths of commercially available lasers. Laser types with distinct laser lines are shown above the wavelength bar, while below are shown lasers that can emit in a wavelength range. The color codifies the type of laser material (see the figure description for more details).

A 50 W FASOR, based on a Nd:YAG laser, used at the Starfire Optical Range

A 5.6 mm 'closed can' commercial laser diode, such as those used in a CD or DVD player

Close-up of a table-top dye laser based on Rhodamine 6G

The free-electron laser FELIX at the FOM Institute for Plasma Physics Rijnhuizen, Nieuwegein

Lasers range in size from microscopic diode lasers (top) with numerous applications, to football field sized neodymium glass lasers (bottom) used for inertial confinement fusion, nuclear weapons research and other high energy density physics experiments.

The US–Israeli Tactical High Energy weapon has been used to shoot down rockets and artillery shells.

A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation.

- Laser

The laser works by the same principle as the maser but produces higher frequency coherent radiation at visible wavelengths.

- Maser

The first device using amplification by stimulated emission operated at microwave frequencies, and was named "maser", an acronym for "microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation".

- Laser

Gould originally proposed distinct names for devices that emit in each portion of the spectrum, including grasers (gamma ray lasers), xasers (x-ray lasers), uvasers (ultraviolet lasers), lasers (visible lasers), irasers (infrared lasers), masers (microwave masers), and rasers (RF masers).

- Maser

Emission can also be stimulated, as in a laser or a microwave maser.

- Light

1 related topic with Alpha

Stimulated emission

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Process by which an incoming photon of a specific frequency can interact with an excited atomic electron , causing it to drop to a lower energy level.

Such a gain medium, along with an optical resonator, is at the heart of a laser or maser.

When an electron absorbs energy either from light (photons) or heat (phonons), it receives that incident quantum of energy.