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The Wild West and Soviets—Laser Applications from Eyes to Cars

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  • First Online:
Nico Bloembergen

Part of the book series: Springer Biographies ((SPRINGERBIOGS))

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Abstract

In 1951 Purcell, Pound, and Ramsey were able to demonstrate stimulated emission at a frequency of 50 kHz (a wavelength of about 6 km).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    WLAN is the abbreviation for Wireless Local Area Network, used for the wireless connection of computers, printers, and modems.

  2. 2.

    Spectroscopy is a general term for all physical and physical-chemical techniques used to investigate the light interaction properties of composite molecular, atomic, or subatomic systems. Spectrometry is the technique of measuring the distribution of light across some part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

  3. 3.

    A Fabry-Perot interferometer is an optical instrument used to measure and control the wavelength of electromagnetic radiation. It consists of two reflecting plates mounted parallel to each other.

  4. 4.

    Hughes Research Laboratories was founded in 1960 by Howard Hughes (1905–1976). He was known as a film producer, playboy, pilot, and owner of Hughes Aircraft Company, of which Hughes Research Laboratories was part. Hughes was the richest person in the world for some time.

  5. 5.

    Dry ice or carbon dioxide snow is the solid form of carbon dioxide, CO2. It has a temperature of 194 K (−78 ℃).

  6. 6.

    Plasma is a gas phase, in which the atoms have lost their electrons due to the high temperature. That temperature can be as high as 8000 K.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Rob Herber

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  1. Rob Herber
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Correspondence to Rob Herber .

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Herber, R. (2019). The Wild West and Soviets—Laser Applications from Eyes to Cars. In: Nico Bloembergen. Springer Biographies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25737-8_12

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