Theodore Maiman
Theodore Maiman | |
---|---|
Born | Theodore Harold Maiman July 11, 1927 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Died | May 5, 2007 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | (aged 79)
Alma mater | |
Known for | Inventing the laser |
Awards |
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Scientific career | |
Fields | Physics, electrical engineering |
Institutions |
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Thesis | Microwave-optical investigation of the 3³P fine structure in helium (1955) |
Doctoral advisor | Willis Lamb |
Theodore Harold Maiman (July 11, 1927 – May 5, 2007) was an American engineer and physicist who is widely credited with the invention of the laser.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Maiman's laser led to the subsequent development of many other types of lasers.[8][9] The laser was successfully fired on May 16, 1960. In a July 7, 1960, press conference in Manhattan,[10] Maiman and his employer, Hughes Aircraft Company, announced the laser to the world.[11] Maiman was granted a patent for his invention,[12] and he received many awards and honors for his work. His experiences in developing the first laser and subsequent related events are recounted in his book, The Laser Odyssey,[13] later being republished in 2018 under a new title, The Laser Inventor: Memoirs of Theodore H. Maiman.[14]
Early and student life
Maiman was born in Los Angeles to a Jewish family. Abraham "Abe" Maiman, an electrical engineer
Following a year's service in the United States Navy at the end of World War II,[18] he earned a B.S. in engineering physics from the University of Colorado Boulder. Maiman then went on to graduate studies at Stanford University where he earned an M.S. in electrical engineering in 1951 and a PhD in physics in 1955.
Maiman's doctoral thesis in experimental physics, under the direction of physicist Willis Lamb,[10] involved detailed microwave-optical measurements of fine structural splittings in excited helium atoms. He also devised laboratory instrumentation for Lamb's experiments. Maiman published two articles jointly with Lamb in Physical Review, the second of which was based on his own thesis research.[19][20] His thesis experiment was instrumental in his development of the laser.[14]: 43
Career
In 1956 Maiman started work with the Atomic Physics Department of the Hughes Aircraft Company (later Hughes Research Laboratories or
On May 16, 1960, at Hughes'
Maiman had begun conceptualizing a solid-state laser design even before he undertook the maser project at Hughes.[5]: 45 [14]: 59 Moving the microwave frequency of masers up the electromagnetic spectrum 50,000-fold to the frequency of light would require finding a feasible lasing medium and excitation source and designing the system.[5]: 34–37 [29] Other major research groups at IBM, Bell Labs, MIT, Westinghouse, RCA and Columbia University, among others, were also pursuing projects to develop a laser.[5]: 7 [14]: 78
Their work was stimulated by a 1958 paper by
Following his invention of the laser, in 1961 Maiman departed Hughes to join the newly formed Quantatron company, which grew in-house ruby crystals for lasers.[
By 1962, when
Maiman was awarded US Patent Number 3,353,115 for his "Ruby Laser Systems" on November 14, 1967, and paid $300 for it by assignee Hughes Aircraft Company. It turned out to be Hughes' most profitable patent.[15]
In 1971 Maiman founded the Laser Video Corporation, and from 1976 to 1983 he worked as vice president for advanced technology at TRW Electronics (now Northrop Grumman).[3]: 232 He later served as consultant to Laser Centers of America, Inc. (now LCA-Vision Inc.) and director of Control Laser Corporation. Maiman continued his involvement in laser developments and applications. In addition to his patent for the first working laser, Maiman authored a number of patents on masers, lasers, laser displays, optical scanning, and modulation.[34]
Prior to his death, Maiman held an adjunct professor position in the School of Engineering Science at Simon Fraser University, where he worked on the development of curricula in biophotonics, photonics and optical engineering.[35]
Awards and recognition
Maiman received numerous prizes, awards, and accolades over the years for his development of the first laser. He was granted membership in both the
In 1966 Maiman received the
In 1976, Maiman was awarded the Optical Society of America's R.W. Wood Prize for "Pioneer Development of the First Laser". In 1980, he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.[38] He was the recipient of the 1983/84 Wolf Prize in Physics[16] and was also inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame that year.[10][39] In 1987 Maiman was awarded the Japan Prize[16] in Electro-Optics for "realization of the world's first laser."[40]
In 1994, he was inducted as an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, the only non-physician, non-royal member. Time magazine cited Maiman's invention of the laser as among the twenty most important technological developments of the 20th century.[41] Many universities granted Maiman honorary degrees, with the last from Simon Fraser University in 2002.[42]
Recognition for Maiman and his laser invention continued posthumously. In a 2007 obituary testimonial, maser co-inventor Charles H. Townes described Maiman's 1960 Nature article on his laser as "probably more important per word than any of the papers published by Nature over the past century."[43] The annual Theodore Maiman Student Paper Competition was established in 2008, endowed by major laser groups, and is administered by the OSA Foundation.[44] In 2010 numerous events were staged worldwide by major scientific and industry photonics organizations to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Maiman's first laser and subsequent lasers under the umbrella of LaserFest.[45]
The U.S. Congress passed a resolution celebrating the invention of the laser and citing Maiman.
In 2011, Maiman was recognized by Stanford University as a "Stanford Engineering Hero", citing his "rare blend of advanced training in physics and engineering combined with significant laboratory experience".[48] In 2014, the National Academy of Sciences published a biographical memoir of Maiman including a tribute by Nick Holonyak, Jr.[49]
In 2017 UNESCO declared May 16 the International Day of Light, which is celebrated every year by numerous laser and light-related events around the world.[50] That date commemorates Maiman's first successful firing of his laser.
Death
Maiman died from systemic mastocytosis on May 5, 2007, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, where he lived with his second wife, Kathleen,[10][51] whom he met on February 13, 1984. He had one daughter, named Sheri, with his first wife, Shirley, whom he married in 1956. Sheri Maiman died of cancer in 1988 at the age of 30.[15]
See also
References
- ^ Lengyel, Bela A. (1962). Lasers: Generation of Light by Stimulated Emission. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 22–28.
- ^ Bromberg, Joan Lisa (1991). The Laser in America, 1950–1970. MIT Press. pp. 86–92.
- ^ ISBN 0750309113.
- ^ a b Townes, Charles H. (2003). Laura Garwin and Tim Lincoln (ed.). "The First Laser". A Century of Nature: Twenty-One Discoveries that Changed Science and the World. University of Chicago Press. pp. 107–12.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Hecht, Jeff (2005). Beam: The Race to Make the Laser. Oxford University Press. pp. 106–15, 169–82.
- ^ Johnson, John Jr. (May 11, 2008). "Theodore H. Maiman, at age 32; scientist created the first LASER". Los Angeles Times
- ^ "Maiman Builds First Working Laser". Physics History: May 16, 1960. APS News 19. May 2010.
- ^ "The First Ruby Laser". LaserFest. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
- ^ "Voila. That was it! The Laser was born! Celebrating 50 Years of Laser Technology, 1960–2010". HRL Laboratories LLC. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g Martin, Douglas (May 11, 2007). "Theodore Maiman, 79, Dies; Demonstrated First Laser". The New York Times.
- ^ "Speech by Dr. Theodore H. Maiman, Hughes Aircraft Company, at a Press Conference at the Hotel Delmonico" (PDF). New York. July 7, 1960. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
- ^ Maiman, Theodore H. (1961) "Ruby laser systems " U.S. patent 3,353,115
- ISBN 978-0-9702927-0-4. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
- ^ ISBN 978-3-319-61939-2. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
- ^ ISBN 978-3-319-61939-2.
- ^ a b c d e "Theodore Maiman". The Telegraph. May 11, 2007.
- ^ a b c "Laser Inventor, Biography of Theodore Maiman from laserinventor.com". Retrieved December 31, 2013.
- ^ a b Waters, Rod (2013). Maiman Invention of the Laser: How Science Fiction Became Reality. CreateSpace Independent Publishing. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
- .
- .
- ^ a b Bromberg, Joan (February 5, 1985). "Oral History Transcript– Dr. Irnee D'Haenens – Interview". American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives. Archived from the original on January 12, 2015. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
- . Retrieved December 2, 2015.
- ISBN 9780936551005
- ISBN 978-1-4381-0925-1.
- ^ S2CID 4224209.
- .
- .
- .
- ISBN 978-0-471-52620-9.
- .
- .
- ^ Lengyel, Bela A. (1966). Introduction to Laser Physics. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 90–101.
- S2CID 4145783.
- ^ "Laser Pioneer Ted Maiman Dies at 79". LaserFocusWorld. May 15, 2007. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
- ^ "Moon-measurer, laser inventor remembered at International Day of Light – SFU News – Simon Fraser University".
- ^ ISBN 978-1-134-65020-0.
- ^ Lyndon B. Johnson (April 27, 1966). "Remarks on Presenting the Fannie and John Hertz Foundation Award to Dr. All Javan and Dr. Theodore H. Maiman". The American Presidency Project. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
- American Academy of Achievement.
- ^ "Inventor Profile: Theodore Harold Maiman". National Inventors Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on January 7, 2014. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
- ^ "Laureates". The Japan Prize Foundation. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
- ^ "20th Century Technology". Time. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
- ^ a b "List of IEEE Milestones". IEEE Global History Network. IEEE. Retrieved August 3, 2011.
- S2CID 4388584.
- ^ "Maiman Student Paper Competition". OSA. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
- ^ "LaserFest: Celebrating 50 Years of Laser Innovation". Retrieved December 2, 2015.
- ^ "Recognizing the 50th Anniversary of the Laser". House Resolution 1310, 111th Congress. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
- ^ "Theodore Maiman: Hughes Research Laboratories, Malibu, California". APS Historic Sites. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
- ^ "2011 Stanford Engineering Heroes". Stanford University. Archived from the original on January 7, 2014. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
- ^ Andrew H. Rawicz (2014). "Theodore H. Maiman (1927–2007)" (PDF). National Academy of Sciences: 23–31. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
- ^ "International Day of Light". Retrieved July 8, 2020.
- ^ Kilbane, Doris (December 7, 2009). "Theodore Maiman: Professional Focus, Personal Warmth". Electronic Design. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
External links
- Laser Inventor – Creator of the World's First Laser
- Theodore H. Maiman via IEEE Global History Network
- Bright Idea: The First Lasers (history) Archived October 3, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- Time Photos, "20th Century Technology: Laser"
- SPIE, "Lasers and Sources, Video: Theodore Maiman on the First Laser"
- SPIE, "Lasers and Sources, Video: Maiman's First Laser Light Shines Again"
- SPIE, "Video: Celebrating 50 Years of the Laser" on YouTube
- CLEO, "Video: The World's First Laser, Made by Ted Maiman on May 16, 1960" on YouTube
- MIT Tech TV, "Video: The Laser at 50, symposium, October 8, 2010"