Laser science awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2018 for groundbreaking inventions in the field of laser physics. The first working laser (a pulsed ruby laser) was demonstrated on May 16, 1960, by Theodore Maiman at the Hughes Research Laboratories. Laser science Laser science or laser physics is a branch of optics that describes the theory and practice of lasers. Laser science is principally concerned with quantum electronics, laser construction, optical cavity design, the physics of producing a population inversion in laser media, and the temporal evolution of the light field in the laser. It is also concerned with the physics
Laser pumping is common in gas lasers. For example, in the helium–neon laser the electrons from the discharge collide with the helium atoms, exciting them. The excited helium atoms then collide with neon atoms, transferring energy. This allows an inverse population of neon atoms to build up. Electric current is typically used to pump laser diodes and semiconductor crystal lasers (for example germanium) Electron beams pump free electron lasers and some excimer lasers. Gas dynamic lasers are constructed using the supersonic flow of gases, such as carbon dioxide, to excite the molecules past threshold. The gas is pressurized and then heated to