Long Live Lasers!

1961 Long Live LASERS! Peter A. Franken", who taught at Stanford in the "50s, discovers nonlinear optics when he focuses a ruby laser onto a quartz crystal and generates ultraviolet light. 1986 Robert S. Reis, MS '83, MS '84, Engr '87, and Robert E. A Stanford-centric look at 50 years of innovation. In 1960, a young Stanford graduate named Theodore Maiman designed and built the world's first working laser. The real- Stoddard, MS '84, debut the first laser ization of a concept introduced four years earlier by Arthur turntable (based on Reis's Stanford Schawlow and Charles Townes of Bell Labs, it used pulses master's thesis) from a photographer's flash lamp to excite atoms in a finger- at the Consumer WRIGLEY'S E DOUBLEMINT 109 tip-sized ruby crystal, producing a deep red beam. Some might Electronics Show. even call it Cardinal. University faculty, students and alumni 1962 EWING G UM have made significant contributions to the field ever since, Doctors at Columbia- Presbyterian Medical Center use a ruby laser to destroy a retinal tumor-the first advancing the fundamental science (and earning three Nobel 1969 1982 ШИПЕ 456 789011 Prizes-booyah!), as well as developing applications in indus- The first audio The first public laser show, created by Lowell Cross and Carson D. Jeffries*, PhD '51, is performed at Mills College in Oakland. They are commissioned to design a laser and sound show for the Expo '70 World's Fair in Japan. tries as diverse as medicine, electronics, telecommunications, 1964 2009 medical use of a laser. CD to be released SLAC's linear accelerator Richard H. Johnson*, MS '53, is instrumental in developing the entertainment and the military. Hail, Stanford, hail. commercially is Billy Joel's 1978 drives a new kind of aeronautical solutions for the first laser to create the first BY GRETA LORGE album 52nd Street. coherent X-ray beam, powerful enough to make movies of single laser-guided bomb, the BOLT 117. INFOGRAPHIC BY MCKIBILLO 1960 1963 1981 2005 2006 C. Kumar N. Patel. MS Arthur Schawlow shares the Nobel Prize in Physics for At Bell Labs, Ali Javan Theodor Hänsch shares John Bowers, MS '78, 1965 1969 1988 The first transatlantic fiber optic cable, capable of handling 40,000 international telephone calls simultaneously, is laid. invents the helium the Nobel Prize in "59, PhD '61, develops the carbon dioxide laser, PhD '81, at UC-Santa atoms in motion. Stanford engineering professor Anthony E. Siegman, PhD '57, introduces the concept of unstable optical Donald J. Spencer*, "56, neon laser, the first continuous-beam gas laser, used in holography and Physics for the development of laser-based precision spectroscopy, including the optical frequency comb technique. Barbara invents the 1974 leads the team that widely employed in industrial applications, first silicon laser, a key step toward optical computing. The first UPC barcode his contributions to develops the the development of laser spectroscopy. scanner, developed by Alfred P. Hildebrand*, '63, MBA '66, at Spectra-Physics, rings up a 10-pack of Wrigley's gum at a supermarket in Troy, Ohio. continuous-wave at Bell Labs. chemical laser at the 1971 1977 barcode scanners Gary Starkweather develops the first The first live telephone traffic through fiber optics sent from Long Beach to Artesia, Calif. resonators for laser Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, Calif. among other things. applications, an important contribution to the field of functional laser quantum electronics. printer at Xerox PARC. 1980 2010 1997 The U.S. Army begins using a “Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System"-a precursor to laser tag-for training exercises. The National Ignition Stanford professor 1976 Facility in Livermore, 1967 1970 Steven Chu shares Theodor Hänsch, then a postdoc who had recently joined the Stanford physics department, and Arthur Schawlow", who was at the time its chair, make the first edible laser-out of Jell-0! A group at Stanford led by John M. J. Madey, PhD '71, demonstrates the first free-electron laser-a Calif., delivers a historic level of laser energy- more than 1 megajoule (approximately 500 times the energy the Nobel Prize in Stephen E. Harris, MS '61, PhD '64, and Robert L. Byer, MS '67, PhD '69, demonstrate Physics for his role in developing methods to cool 1963 beam of electrons accelerated to 1992 Stanford School of Medicine May 16, 1960 While working at Hughes Research Laboratories in near light speed-that led to precision instruments especially useful in brain surgery. Olav Solgaard, MS '87, PhD '92, invents the grating light valve, which uses an array of tiny, and trap atoms with laser light, a method dubbed doctors Milton Flocks* and H. a tunable laser beam, consumed by the U.S. at any given time). i.e. one whose wavelength can be controlled, an important advance in the development of spectroscopy. Christian Zweng*, "45, MD ’49, 1998 The first laser is approved for LASIK surgery by the FDA. in collaboration with Narinder movable ribbons to diffract Malibu, Calif., Theodore Maiman", MS '51, PhD '55, creates the first working laser, using a synthetic ruby crystal as the medium. "optical molasses." Kapany, a visiting scholar in physics, adapt a ruby laser to treat diabetic retinopathy. laser light, and is used in high-resolution displays. 2008 Blu-ray beats out competing blue-laser-based technology 1972 HD DVD as the format of choice Hewlett-Packard introduces the world's for high definition media. first scientific pocket calculator, the HP-35, with a 15-digit LED display. 1964 Richard G. Smith*, '58, MS '59, PhD '63, is part of the Bell Labs AREAS OF INNOVATION 1961 team that creates the first working Nd: YAG laser, whose Herbert M. Dwight r., "53, MS '59, Robert C. Rempel", MS '50, PhD "56, and others found the first commercial laser company, Fundamental advances uses include cosmetic surgery and treatment of skin cancer. Applications by Industry E Electronics Spectra-Physics, in Mountain View. C Telecommunications Military 1965 Matt Lehmann Jr.*, '31, MS '54, Engr '55, Joseph Goodman, MS *60, PhD '63, and David Jackson, 1962 Medicine Nick Holonyak Jr. at GE invents a visible semiconductor laser Entertainment diode, paving the way for LEDS and laser pointers. MS '65, demonstrate the first holographic movie at Stanford. DECEASED MAIMAN: WAL LY FONG/AP PHOTO; LASER LIGHT SHOW: COURTESY LOWELLCROSS.COM; COORTESY ROE