Laser Technology: Full of Endless Capabilities

Instead of being known as that harmless “toy” you use to drive your cat crazy for hours, lasers should be known for what they actually represent today – the future of scientific research. From being used in surgeries, data transmission, precision tools, computers, and many more use cases, the laser has been shown to be extremely practical over the years. But why exactly is such a concentrated beam of light so useful, and what does this technology entail for the future of physics? 


The idea of a laser was first conceptualized by Albert Einstein, who coined the term stimulated emission to describe the way in which light photons can collide with atoms to create even more photons and generate a focused beam of light. It was not until 1960 that physicist Theodore Maiman was able to create and test the first working laser. However, Maiman was famously quoted as saying “a laser is a solution seeking a problem,” so was the laser all that it was meant to be?


Indeed, one of the most interesting things about lasers is the fact that those who pioneered the technology genuinely didn’t know what was to come. In an interview with physicist Robert Byer, who is a pioneer in today’s laser technology, stated in 2019, “We didn’t know as we worked to develop lasers where they would lead. They shaped the future only after they happened.” 


Byer’s sentiment was clearly evident from the endless amount of problems that the laser became a solution to iin the years after Maiman’s discovery. More and more scientific research led to lasers that were not only more capable of doing things like cutting, welding, scanning, or transmitting data, but very accessible and affordable. Nearly every industry, from construction to commerce, had a valid and powerful use of lasers, that benefitted the respective industries immensely, and scientific research was no exception. 


For instance, such innovations that lasers can provide to the scientific community were showcased in the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics. The laureates of this prize were able to develop intense, short beams of laser light called “optical tweezers” that are able to pick up and manipulate extremely microscopic objects, like viruses and bacteria. Such technology has been used to sort healthy cells from diagnosed cells or properly study the motor activity of certain mechanisms in muscle cells. 


Optical tweezers are just one of the many laser advancements that greatly benefit scientific knowledge and progress. Another area of scientific interest via the use of lasers is atom manipulation, or moving and manipulating individual atoms. A study by Physical Review Letters Journal in 2022 has actually shown a way to shape individual atoms that are ultra-cold by using a laser. Through atom manipulation, it is possible to create atomtronic circuits, the equivalent of electronic circuits that guide extremely cold atoms in order to create a circuit and power our electronic devices. 


All in all, there are many fields in that lasers prove to be practical. Scientific research of laser technology is especially important because more information about lasers can lead to a better understanding and, subsequently, a better application of the technology in various fields. Just as the original pioneers of the technology did not know what the laser was capable of, imagine how much more capable lasers would be if we knew everything about them!


Works Cited


https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201005/physicshistory.cfm 

https://www.embs.org/pulse/articles/the-power-of-light-nobel-prize-in-physics-2018/

https://news.stanford.edu/2019/11/19/life-changing-first-glimpse-laser/

https://www.iop.org/explore-physics/big-ideas-physics/laser

https://www.inverse.com/science/physics-atom-laser

https://www.trumpf.com/en_US/newsroom/stories/the-future-of-lasers-will-be-magical/


-Written by Jesal Gandhi

 

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