theodore h. maiman, 79: builder of first laser - laser area measuring device

When Theodore H.
47 years ago, Maiman launched the world's first working laser. S.
Headline writers are caught in an exaggerated craze. "L. A.
"Human beings invented the death ray," one wrote . ".
In fact, like the US at the time, Maiman's device was a bad death ray. S.
When President Reagan proposed a space programbased laser-defence system.
But it turns out that it has so many other uses, from supermarket scanners to eye surgery and precise measuring equipment, that Myman was nominated for the Nobel Prize and entered the Inventor's Hall of Fame.
Meiman died in Vancouver in May 5. C.
His wife Catherine was treated in hospital after a long illness. He was 79.
Born on July 11, 1927 in Los Angeles, California.
Son of an electrical engineer and amateur inventor.
He works at the University of Colorado and receives a bachelor's degree in electrical repair.
In 1955, he studied physics at Stanford University and received a master's degree. Soon after, physicist Charles downs built the first device to concentrate and enhance the induction energy-maser, which shocked science.
Pulse Ze represents the excitation of radiation and microwave amplification.
While maser uses microwave energy, Townes suggests that another device that works under the same principle may use visible light.
This has sparked competition for a variety of science labs, including the famous Bell Lab where Thomas works and the Hughes Research Lab where Meiman works.
Maiman spent only $50,000. U. S. ), won the race.
"It was a moment.
"You see a bright red spot on the wall," he told The Washington Post a few years later.
"This is the first job," Maiman told The Vancouver Sun on 2000 . ".
"I'm excited. . . .
Wow, I think, it's working!
But to be honest, I was a little numb at the time. . . .
I don't understand the seriousness of what I do.
"The laser uses an energy source, such as a powerful beam, to stimulate atoms in the medium-in the laser of Maiman, a synthetic ruby.
Maiman puts reflective silver at each end of the Ruby tube so that the beam bounces back and forth and the intensity increases until a single pulse of highly concentrated light is emitted.
Einstein first speculated in 1917 about the possibility of this radiation enhancement.
He believes that a photon-a mass-free particle of light-can be at a high
The energy state of emitting two photons.
Ma Man's laser is powerful because photons are virtual replicas of each other.
In the post-publication publicity of Maiman's invention, he sometimes finds himself defending his work.
When actress Bette Davis asked him at a cocktail party if he felt guilty about the chaos caused by his device, he replied that no one had ever been killed by a laser.
Many people have been cured by one, he said. She apologized.
Ironically, given how many uses the laser has today, some scientists do not see it.
They said it was a solution without problems.
Malan is not one of them.
He quickly left Hughes and set up his own company, Korad Corporation, to develop increasingly powerful laser devices.
Korad was acquired in 1968 by United calcium carbide.
1972, Mayman
Set up a large laser video development-screen, laser-
Drive video display.
Although he has never won the Nobel Prize, he has also won many other awards, including the Japan Award in 1987 and the Wolf physics award from the Israel Wolf Foundation. And the Barkley solid physics award from the American Physics Society.