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Science Flashback
The laser turns 50
Since its first demonstrated use in 1960, the laser has found countless ways to make itself indispensable.
The inside of Canada's first working laser, built at NRC in 1961.
On a spring day in May 1960, Theodore Maiman in California did something that had never been done before. He turned on a device that he had built to emit a laser beam. It was the first successful device of its kind in the world.
Six months later, in January 1961, Canadian researchers Boris Stoicheff and Alex Szabo repeated this feat in an NRC lab. Their device, like Maiman’s, was a ruby laser, essentially a rod-shaped ruby crystal surrounded by a helical glass tube (called a “fast-discharge flashtube”) encased in a shiny aluminium cylinder. The flashtube created the energy needed to excite electrons so they could emit photons, and the ruby amplified these photons to produce laser light at a specific wavelength.
Did you know?
Laser is an acronym for “light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.”
“Seeing the device work was hugely exciting,” says Dr. Szabo. Back then, nobody had any idea just how common laser technology would become. Fifty years after its first demonstrated use, the laser has evolved from a curiosity in the lab to a technology that is present in many aspects of our lives. Lasers are used for everything from treating skin cancer and blocked arteries to etching bar codes on groceries and reading DVDs. They come in many shapes and sizes, and use a variety of approaches to generate energy. 
Photo essay: A focus on lasers
From detecting fingerprints to treating blocked arteries, this versatile tool continues to reach new frontiers.
