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Article: Laser: the wonder light: two great advances in science and technology marked the second half of the 20th century: computers and lasers, Both of these influenced our lives directly and indirectly due to multitudes of applications they created in later years.
- Article from:
- Paint & Coatings Industry
- Article date:
- December 1, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 BNP Media. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Lasers were nicknamed as "solutions seeking problems" when the concept was first demonstrated. Nobody was sure about their potential and projected use, as is the case with the novel results of any basic research, it may be decades before the significance of a discovery finds fruitful commercial application that contributes to our economic health and prosperity. But once lasers were launched from a laboratory curiosity into the commercial orbit, they proved to be an essential component of many appliances and processes.
Masers preceded lasers. In essence, a maser is an amplification process for electromagnetic radiation. The process was first demonstrated by Townes ...