Birth of the Laser Diode: It All Started in the U.S.

Shimizu, Hiroshi

doi:10.1007/978-981-13-3714-7_5

Birth of the Laser Diode: It All Started in the U.S.

Hiroshi Shimizu³

Chapter
First Online: 18 May 2019

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Part of the book series: Advances in Japanese Business and Economics ((AJBE,volume 21))

Abstract

The first laser oscillation in the world was achieved by Theodore Maiman at Hughes Research Laboratories in California in 1960. Two years after that, in 1962, four American organizations almost simultaneously succeeded in oscillating the first laser diode. How exactly were these laser diodes first developed? This chapter explores the process and history of the laser diode’s development.

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Notes

1.
Regarding American physics in World War II, see Kevles, D. J. (1978): The Physicists: The History of a Scientific Community in Modern America. New York: Knopf: distributed by Randon House, Kragh, H. (1999): Quantum Generations: A History of Physics in the Twentieth Century. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
2.
Regarding maser and laser research and development in the United States, see Townes, C. H. (1999): How the Laser Happened: Adventures of a Scientist. New York: Oxford University Press.
3.
Ibid., p.42.
4.
Ibid., p.49.
5.
Ibid., pp. 62–63.
6.
Townes, as well as Nilolya Basov and Alexander Prokhorov who were conducting similar studies at the Lebedev Physical Institute were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1964.
7.
Regarding the development of laser and the dispute over patents, see Taylor, N. (2000): Laser: The Inventor, the Nobel Laureate, and the Thirty-Year Patent War. New York: Simon & Schuster.
8.
Ibid., pp.74–90.
9.
Ibid., pp.92–96.
10.
Regarding the interaction between Townes and Schawlow, see Gertner, J. (2012): The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation. New York: Penguin Press., pp. 254–255. Regarding Schawlow, see Riess, S. B., A. L. Schawlow, and B. P. Stoicheff (2012): Optics and Laser Spectroscopy, Bell Telephone Laboratories, 1951–1961, and Stanford University since 1961: Oral History Transcript/199. Ulan Press.
11.
As mentioned earlier, Schawlow along with Bloembergen were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1981 for making a contribution to the field of laser spectroscopy.
12.
Schawlow, A. L., and C. H. Townes (1958): “Infrared and Optical Maser,” Physical Review, 112, 1940–1949.
13.
For details, see Taylor, N. (2000): Laser: The Inventor, the Nobel Laureate, and the Thirty-Year Patent War. New York: Simon & Schuster., p.284.
14.
Refer to Garwin, L., and T. Lincoln (2003): A Century of Nature: Twenty-One Discoveries That Changed Science and the World. Chicago: University of Chicago Press., pp.107–112.
15.
Maiman, T. H. (1960): “Stimulated Optical Radiation in Ruby,” Nature, 187, 493–494.
16.
Korad was acquired by Union Carbide in 1968. Maiman left Union Carbide and founded Laser Video Corporation in 1971. For the detail on Maiman, see Bertolotti, M. (2005): The History of the Laser. Bristol; Philadelphia: Institute of Physics Pub, Bromberg, J. L. (1991): The Laser in America, 1950–1970. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
17.
Ali Javan earned a doctorate under Townes at Columbia University. Javan, A. (1959): “Possibility of Production of Negative Temperature in Gas Discharges,” Physical Review Letters, 3. An interview of William R. Bennet conducted on Oct 26, 1987 in New Haven, Connecticut but Joan Bromberg (Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics、College Park、MD USA). In addition, Javan’s He-Ne research was the closest in materializing laser oscillation, before Maiman’s ruby laser oscillation came into fruition.Shimoda, K. (2010): “The Impact of the Laser,” Oyo Butsuri, 79, 487–495.
18.
Patel, C. K. N. (1964): “Continuous-Wave Laser Action on Vibrational-Rotational Transitions of CO₂,” Physical Review, 136, 1187–1193.
19.
Bridges, W. B. (1964): “Laser Oscillation in Singly Ionized Argon in the Visible Spectrum,” Applied Physics Letter, 4, 128–130.
20.
Kragh, H. (1999): Quantum Generations: A History of Physics in the Twentieth Century. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press., p.390
21.
Regarding the history and process of the birth of laser diode, see Dupuis, R. D. (2004): “The Diode Laser: The First 30 Days, 40 Years Ago,” Optics & Photonics News, 27, 30–35, Holonyak, N. (1997): “The Semiconductor Laser: A Thrity-Five-Year Perspective,” Proceeding of the IEEE, 85, 1678–1693.
22.
Grundmann, M. (2002): Nano-Optoelectronics: Concepts, Physics, and Devices. Berlin; New York: Springer., p.3.
23.
Yasushi Watanabe, Junichi Nishizawa, Patent Gazette, 1960–13,787
24.
Mizushima, Y. (1985): New Edition, Pioneers of Electronics (Kaitei Electronikusu no Kaitakushatachi). Tokyo: Denshi Tsushin Gakkai., p. 218
25.
Hall, R. N., G. E. Fenner, J. Kingsley, T. J. Soltys, and R. O. Carlson (1962): “Coherent Light Emission from GaAs Junctions,” Physical Review Letters, 9, 366–368.
26.
Holonyak, N. J., and S. S. F. Bevacqua (1962): “Coherent (Visible) Light Emission from Ga(As_{1 − X}p_x) Junctions,” Applied Physics Letters, 1, 82–83. Regarding the history of R&D of laser diodes at Holonyak’s laboratory, see Holonyak, N. (1997): “The Semiconductor Laser: A Thrity-Five-Year Perspective,” Proceeding of the IEEE, 85, 1678–1693.
27.
Nathan, M. I., W. P. Dumke, G. Burns, F. H. J. Dill, and G. Lasher (1962): “Stimulated Emission of Radiation from GaAs P-N Junctions,” Applied Physics Letters, 1, 62–64. Regarding the beginning of laser diode research at IBM, see Nathan, M. I. (1987): “Invention of the Injection Laser at Ibm,” IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, QE-23, 679–683. On IBM’s laser research in the 1960s and 1970s, see Sorokin, P. P. (1979): “Contributions of Ibm to Laser Science- 1960 to the Present,” IBM Journal of Research and Development, 28, 476–489.
28.
Quist, T. M., R. H. Rediker, R. J. Keyes, W. E. Krag, B. Lax, A. L. McWhorter, and H. J. Zeigler (1962): “Semiconductor Maser of GaAs,” Applied Physics Letters, 1, 91–92. Regarding laser research at Lincoln Laboratories, see Melngailis, I. (1990): “Laser Development at Lincoln Laboratory,” Lincoln Laboratory Journal, 3, 347–360.
29.
Okada, J., T. Nakagawa, T. Kushida, and S. Iida (1963): “GaAs Diode Laser,” Oyo Butsuri, 32, 461–465.
30.
Kroemer was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for these achievements in 2000 with Alfarov, who achieved continuous wave operation at room temperature in 1970.
31.
Interview [32]
32.
Chinone, N. (2005): “Development of Laser Diodes for Telecommunication,” Bulletin of Aichi University of Technology, 3, 133–141.
33.
Interview [7]. However, Toshiba had resumed their research on laser diodes around 1968. What lay behind this re-initialization was the idea of collaborating with Toyota to construct a collision prevention system using infrared laser diode. Interview [41].

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Faculty of Commerce, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
Hiroshi Shimizu

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Shimizu, H. (2019). Birth of the Laser Diode: It All Started in the U.S.. In: General Purpose Technology, Spin-Out, and Innovation. Advances in Japanese Business and Economics, vol 21. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3714-7_5

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3714-7_5
Published: 18 May 2019
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-13-3713-0
Online ISBN: 978-981-13-3714-7
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