Helium-neon gas laser
Láser de gas de helio-neón
- Date
- 12 de diciembre de 1960 · confidence high
- Place
- Bell Labs, Murray Hill, New Jersey, United States
- Credited to
- Ali Javan, William Bennett and Donald Herriott
- People
- 👤 Ali Javan1926–2016👤 Donald R. Herriott1928–2007👤 William Bennett1943–
- Field
- Communication
What it is
The first gas laser and the first continuous-wave laser, which excited neon through collisions with helium in an electrical discharge. It was the most common laser for decades, used in barcode scanners, alignment and interferometry.
Ali Javan was born in Tehran to Iranian Azerbaijani parents and trained there before emigrating; the work itself was done in the United States. It is included as the contribution of a researcher from the region.
What it led to
- barcode scanners
- laser interferometry and metrology
- experimental optical communications