T. Maiman, inventor of the laser

In the CD player, in the pointer, in the printer, in the industry, in surgery... lasers are everywhere!

But do you know who was the person who developed the first laser?

As you will have already deduced from the title of this post, his name was Theodore Maiman.

Let's find out something more about him.

He was born in 1927 in Los Angeles. He inherited the liking for engineering from his father, who worked as electronics engineer and inventor.

He studied engineering physics at the University fo Colorado, where he got his BsC degree in 1949. Two years later he attended Stanford University and earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering and then a doctorate in physics in 1955.

In 1953, C. Townes together with J. P. Gordon and H. J. Zeiger, had invented the maser ("microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation"); two years later, inspired by this development and the basis set by C. Townes and A. Schawlow, Maiman built the ruby laser, considered to be the first functioning laser, in 1960, while working at Hughes Aircraft Company.

If you feel curiosity, you can download the original patent (US3353115) here: http://www.pat2pdf.org/pat2pdf/foo.pl?number=3353115

In 1962, he founded his own enterprise, Korad Corporation, to manufacture lasers; six years later he sold it to Union Carbide and established a new corporation, Maiman Associates.

Among the awards he received throughout his career, he was given the Japan Prize.

He died in 2007 in Vancouver.

PS: Maiman was not given the Nobel Prize (even though he was twice nominated)... surprising, isn't it?