Abstract
Historically, the development of the laser concept should be considered as the natural progression of the research studies conducted in the early 1950’s involving microwave amplifiers. That the lasers derive their basis from maser theory is reflected by the fact that they were for sometime commonly referred to as “optical masers.” The word “laser” is an acronym for “Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation,” and describes the emission process by which this intense beam of electromagnetic radiation is generated.
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Goldman, L. (1967). Laser History and Theory. In: Biomedical Aspects of the Laser. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-85797-3_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-85797-3_1
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