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Definition: devices generating visible or invisible light, based on stimulated emission of light
“Laser” is an acronym for “Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation”, coined in 1957 by the laser pioneer Gordon Gould. Although this original meaning denotes an principle of operation, the term is now mostly used for devices generating light based on the laser principle. The first laser device was a pulsed ruby laser, demonstrated by Theodore Maiman in 1960 [2, 3]. In the same year, the first gas laser (a helium–neon laser [5]) and the first laser diode were made. Before this experimental work, Arthur Schawlow, Charles Hard Townes, Nikolay Basov and Alexander Prokhorov had published ground-breaking theoretical work on the operation principles of lasers, and a microwave amplifier and oscillator (maser) had been developed by Townes ' group in 1953. The term “optical maser” (MASER = microwave amplification by stimulated amplification of radiation) was initially used, but later replaced with “laser”.
Laser technology is at the core of the wider area of photonics, essentially because laser light has a number of very special properties: * It is usually emitted as a laser beam which can propagate over long lengths without much divergence and can be focused to very small spots. * It can have a very narrow bandwidth, whereas e.g. most lamps emit light with a very broad spectrum. * It may be emitted continuously, or alternatively in the form of short or ultrashort pulses, with durations from microseconds down to a few femtoseconds.
These properties, which make laser light very interesting for a range of applications, are to a large extent the consequences of the very high degree of coherence of laser radiation. The articles on laser light and laser

References: 3. ^ Conceptual physics, Paul Hewitt, 2002 4 5. ^ a b Chu, Steven; Townes, Charles (2003). "Arthur Schawlow". In Edward P. Lazear (ed.),. Biographical Memoirs. vol. 83. National Academy of Sciences. pp. 202. ISBN 0-309-08699-X. 8. ^ a b Steen, W. M. "Laser Materials Processing", 2nd Ed. 1998. 11. ^ Maiman, T.H. (1960). "Stimulated optical radiation in ruby". Nature 187(4736): 493–494. Bibcode 1960Natur.187..493M . doi:10.1038/187493a0 . 13. ^ Hecht, Jeff (2005). Beam: The Race to Make the Laser. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-514210-1. 14. ^ Csele, Mark (2004). "The TEA Nitrogen Gas Laser" . Homebuilt Lasers Page. Archived from the original  on 2007-09-11. Retrieved 2007-09-15. 16. ^ Schuocker, D. (1998). Handbook of the Eurolaser Academy. Springer.ISBN 0412819104. 18. ^ Wu, X.; et al. (25 October 2004). "Ultraviolet photonic crystal laser" .Applied Physics Letters 85 (17). arXiv:physics/0406005 . Bibcode2004ApPhL..85.3657W . doi:10.1063/1.1808888 . 19. ^ "Picolight ships first 4-Gbit/s 1310-nm VCSEL transceivers" , Laser Focus World, December 9, 2005, accessed 27 May 2006 20 21. ^ Palmer, Jason (2011-06-13). "Laser is produced by a living cell" . BBC News. Retrieved 2011-06-13. 22. ^ Malte C. Gather &amp; Seok Hyun Yun (2011-06-12). "Single-cell biological lasers" . Nature Photonics. Retrieved 2011-06-13. 23. ^ a b Fildes, Jonathan (2007-09-12). "Mirror particles form new matter" . BBC News. Retrieved 2008-05-22. 24. ^ Hecht, Jeff (May 2008). "The history of the x-ray laser". Optics and Photonics News (Optical Society of America) 19 (5): 26–33. 25. ^ Robinson, Clarence A. (1981). "Advance made on high-energy laser".Aviation Week &amp; Space Technology (23 February 1981): 25–27. 26. ^ Charles H. Townes (2003). "The first laser" . In Laura Garwin and Tim Lincoln. A Century of Nature: Twenty-One Discoveries that Changed Science and the World. University of Chicago Press. pp. 107–12. ISBN 0-226-28413-1. Retrieved 2008-02-02. 27. ^ Dalrymple BE, Duff JM, Menzel ER. Inherent fingerprint luminescence – detection by laser. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 22(1), 1977, 106-115 28 29. ^ Kincade, Kathy and Stephen Anderson (2005) "Laser Marketplace 2005: Consumer applications boost laser sales 10%", Laser Focus World, vol. 41, no. 1. (online ) 30 36. ^ Schewe, Phillip F.; Stein, Ben (9 November 1998). "Physics News Update 401" . American Institute of Physics. Retrieved 2008-03-15. 40. ^ Pae, Peter, "Northrop Advance Brings Era Of The Laser Gun Closer", Los Angeles Times, March 19, 2009., p. B2.http://articles.latimes.com/2009/mar/19/business/fi-laser19  Further reading Books * Bertolotti, Mario (1999, trans * Csele, Mark (2004). Fundamentals of Light Sources and Lasers, Wiley. ISBN 0-471-47660-9 * Koechner, Walter (1992). Solid-State Laser Engineering, 3rd ed., Springer-Verlag. ISBN 0-387-53756-2 * Siegman, Anthony E. (1986). Lasers, University Science Books. ISBN 0-935702-11-3 * Silfvast, William T. (1996). Laser Fundamentals, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-55617-1 * Svelto, Orazio (1998). Principles of Lasers, 4th ed. (trans. David Hanna), Springer. ISBN 0-306-45748-2 * Taylor, Nick (2000). LASER: The inventor, the Nobel laureate, and the thirty-year patent war * Wilson, J. &amp; Hawkes, J.F.B. (1987). Lasers: Principles and Applications, Prentice Hall International Series in Optoelectronics, Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-523697-5 * Yariv, Amnon (1989). Quantum Electronics, 3rd ed., Wiley. ISBN 0-471-60997-8 * Bromberg, Joan Lisa (1991). The Laser in America, 1950-1970, MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-02318-4 Periodicals