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Home » March 8, 2010 Issue » Cover Story » Nifty At Fifty » Brief Chronicle Of The Laser
March 8, 2010
Volume 88, Number 10
pp. 14-17

Brief Chronicle Of The Laser

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1917

Albert Einstein derives the theoretical basis for the laser. (1)

1954

The "maser," the microwave forerunner of the modern laser, is born.

1960

The first working (ruby) laser is introduced. (2)

1965

The compact laser disc is invented. (3)

1969

Lasers' wavelength range is expanded with the advent of the organic-dye laser.

1974

A laser-driven barcode scanner is used for the first time in a grocery store. (4)

1986

The Ti:sapphire laser ushers in a new era of ultrafast science. (5)

1987

Vibrational SFG spectroscopy is first used to analyze monolayers.

1988

The high-power fiber laser gets its start.

1990

Multiphoton microscopy is implemented for the first time. (6)

1990

2-D IR spectroscopy of peptides is introduced.

1994

Superresolution fluorescence microscopy is developed.

1999

Ahmed Zewail wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for femtosecond spectroscopy. (7)

2001

The first attosecond laser pulses are used to probe electronic processes.

2008

Fluorophore-free stimulated Raman scattering microscopy of living cells is first demonstrated.


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