Maser

A maser is any amplifier that produces coherent electromagnetic waves due to stimulated emission.

History

Theoretically, the principle of the maser was described by Nikolay Basov and Alexander Prokhorov from Lebedev Institute of Physics at an All-Union Conference on Radio-Spectroscopy held by USSR Academy of Sciences in May 1952. They subsequently published their results in October 1954. Independently, Charles H. Townes, J. P. Gordon, and H. J. Zeiger built the first maser at Columbia University in 1953. The device used stimulated emission in a stream of energised ammonia molecules to produce amplification of microwaves at a frequency of 24 gigahertz. For their research in this field Townes, Basov and Prokhorov were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1964.

Related Topics:
Nikolay Basov - Alexander Prokhorov - Lebedev Institute of Physics - USSR Academy of Sciences - 1952 - 1954 - Charles H. Townes - J. P. Gordon - H. J. Zeiger - Columbia University - 1953 - Stimulated emission - Ammonia - Microwaves - Gigahertz - Nobel Prize in Physics - 1964

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Townes later worked with Arthur L. Schawlow to describe the principle of the optical maser, or laser, which Theodore H. Maiman first demonstrated in 1960.

Related Topics:
Arthur L. Schawlow - Theodore H. Maiman - 1960

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