Theodore Maiman
| Theodore Harold Maiman | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | Theodore Harold Maiman July 11, 1927 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Died | May 5, 2007 (aged 79) Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Fields | Physics, Electrical Engineering |
| Institutions |
Hughes Research Laboratories Quantatron Korad Corporation |
| Alma mater |
University of Colorado Stanford |
| Doctoral advisor | Willis Lamb |
| Known for | Inventing, Demonstrating, and Patenting the World's First LASER |
| Notable awards |
Stuart Ballantine Medal (1962) Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize (1966) Wolf Prize in Physics (1983) Japan Prize (1987) |
Theodore Harold "Ted" Maiman (July 11, 1927 – May 5, 2007) was an American engineer and physicist credited with the invention of the first working laser. Maiman's laser led to the subsequent development of many other types of lasers. The laser was successfully fired on May 16, 1960. In a July 7, 1960 press conference in Manhattan, Maiman and his employer, Hughes Aircraft Company, announced the laser to the world. Maiman was granted a patent for his invention, and he received many awards and honors for his work. Maiman's experiences in developing the first laser and subsequent related events are described in his book, The Laser Odyssey.
Maiman was born in Los Angeles, California to Abraham "Abe" Maiman, an electrical engineer and inventor, and Rose Abramson. At a young age his family moved to Denver, Colorado, where he helped his father with experimentation in a home electronics laboratory. In his teens Maiman earned money by repairing electrical appliances and radios, and after leaving high school was employed as a junior engineer with the National Union Radio Company at age 17.
Following a year's service in the U.S. Navy at the end of World War II, he earned a B.S. in Engineering Physics from the University of Colorado. Maiman then went on to graduate studies at Stanford University where he earned an M.S. in Electrical Engineering in 1951 and a PhD in Physics in 1955.
His doctoral thesis in experimental physics, under the direction of physicist Willis Lamb, involved detailed microwave-optical measurements of fine structural splittings in excited helium atoms. He also devised laboratory instrumentation for Lamb's experiments. Maiman published two articles jointly with Lamb in Physical Review, the second of which was based on his own thesis research. His thesis experiment was instrumental in his development of the laser.
In 1956 Maiman started work with the Atomic Physics Department of the Hughes Aircraft Company (later Hughes Research Laboratories or HRL Laboratories) in California where he led the ruby maser redesign project for the U.S. Army Signal Corps, reducing it from a 2.5-ton cryogenic device to 4 pounds while improving its performance. As a result of this success Maiman persuaded Hughes management to use company funds to support his laser project beginning in mid-1959. On a total budget of $50,000, Maiman turned to the development of a laser based on his own design with a synthetic ruby crystal, which other scientists seeking to make a laser felt would not work.
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