Today, in this article, we are going to
discuss the history of laser technology. In the early 20th century, the famous
physicist Albert Einstein tried to look closely at the
phenomenon of light in his study. One of his examinations orbited around the
problem of whether light could probably comprise individual “energy packages” -
the quantum hypothesis by Planck was already known. Now, with the “principle of
stimulated emission” arising from these examinations, Albert Einstein
established the foundation for the growth of a technology that we recognize in
today's world as laser technology. Nevertheless, it was even more than forty
years before the physicist Charles Townes put into action Einstein's
theoretical establishments into the process in terms of stimulated emission.
Stimulated emission can be defined as a laser-active medium that can
temporarily conserve energy, for example, by irradiation with light. This
energy which is conserved can be “forcefully” obtained, thus making the laser
beam more amplified.
Moving on to the late 1940s, Townes researched
& experimented with microwaves, and in 1951 he designed a device that could
produce and intensify these microwaves. Now, based on Einstein’s theory, Townes
gave his finding the name “Maser”, which is an acronym for “microwave
amplification by stimulated emission of radiation”. What was feasible with
microwaves was the amplification by stimulated emission of radiation, which
should also be possible for infrared or traditional light, realizing that as
the wavelength reduces, the expense of designing a laser largely rises.
Still, it was a few additional years before a
“light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation”, or laser, in short,
was actually designed from this theory. All the elements which are needed to
build a laser were known by everyone by then and available as well.
In 1960, physicist Theodore Maiman developed the first laser by using a flash lamp, a synthetically produced ruby doped with chromium and a metal sleeve. However, specialists did not pay much interest & attention to this finding right away. It's quite the opposite that when Maiman preferred to have his outcomes published in a journal, the correspondents declined to acknowledge the text, the likelihood of incorporating coherent light beams with high colour purity looked too irrelevant as well as meaningless to them.
Only in these years has it become crystal
clear what are the things that are possible with laser technology. Presently, a
broad spectrum of laser systems is available , and all are established on the
principle that Einstein foresaw in 1917 and Theodore Maiman experimentally
illustrated in 1960.
In the 1960s, the principle of laser
technology was identified, and that's why everything unexpectedly went faster
in terms of growth. As early as 1961, a ruby laser was utilized in ophthalmology
in the United States. Especially in the medical industry, the innovation soon
became an all-rounder and broadcasted the age of minimally interfering surgery.
Just a year later, in 1962, the semiconductor laser was also being studied in
the United States of America. This ultra-compact laser can be utilized in
consecutive undertakings and is so simple to incorporate into electronic
elements.
For a high beam power and that too for
industrial usage, the first CO2 laser was developed in the year 1964, by
Kumar Patel. From that time, the metals have been drilled, cut, welded or
marked by using this type of laser. Actually, today if you look around closely,
CO2 lasers are a crucial part of contemporary production, and that also after
more than 50 years of their discovery. Plus, from the year 1966, laser physics
came to be colourful and with the advancement of the dye laser, the wavelength
of laser light along a range of fluorescent dyes is voluntarily selectable.
Since then, dye lasers have largely been utilized in the field of spectroscopy.
Next, the laser became a commodity, and the now nearly vanished CDs and CD-ROMs were possible from 1972 onwards. But with the invention of the semiconductor laser, laser physics finally penetrated the complete market. Since the 1980s, the new technology of photonics, a mixture of laser diodes and glass fibre transmission, has been favourable for complete production and today makes sure of high data speeds on the Internet. Eventually, in the year 1998, the laser diodes came to be smaller than the wavelength of light that they radiate. Therefore, that's why nanolasers have been utilized in data processing, optical signal transmission or medicine.
Applications Of Laser Technology In Today's Time
Today, lasers are being used in so many
industrial sectors. Just like in the medical industry, laser beams are used to
eliminate tumour tissue in the area of laser-induced thermotherapy and are
utilized to attach/ detach the retina or deal with varicose veins. In a
complete opposite industry which is the cosmetics industry, lasers are used to
erase former, undesirable tattoos or are used for permanent hair removal
through epilation. Also, because of really high heat radiation and the reaction
that can happen next, makes the use of lasers in eliminating tattoos is very
risky. However, this particular technique has primarily been accepted all over
the world. Besides, in tunnel construction, laser machines are used to provide
a directional beam that is useful in making exceptionally detailed tunnelling
of tunnelling machines possible.
Furthermore, the applications of laser
machines today have become omnipresent in our day to day lives. The laser light
beam burns CDs, prints paper or scans our purchases at the time of checkout in
places like supermarkets. Lasers assist presentations as laser pointers or are
utilized to instantly and effortlessly measure distances. In the industrial
sector, lasers are used to cut, drill, weld or make a mark on the metals.
Lasers are remarkably accurate even with the most complicated geometries, where
conventional processing techniques such as turning or milling would cease to
function.
In the field of research, lasers are utilized
in complete spectrometry to energize higher atomic or molecular states or are
utilized to examine the atmosphere. The notion of energy generation through
lasers is still in its beginning stage. In the space of nuclear fusion,
high-power lasers generate incredibly dense plasmas of high particle thickness
and temperatures up to 1 million degrees. Nonetheless, it is still not apparent
when a stable, exothermic nuclear fusion can be ascertained.
