| Laser technology has powered remarkable progress in the 50 years since the invention of the first laser in 1960, and even more exciting advances are underway in research institutions and corporate and government labs around the world. Follow the latest R&D with the SPIE Advancing the Laser tribute and hear what industry and research leaders have to say about the future. |
New! Laser museum will travel to San Diego and Tucson
More than 120 vintage lasers in traveling display organized by SPIE will be shown in two more venues this year: as part of the exhibition at SPIE Optics + Photonics in San Diego 3-5 August, and through fall semester at Flandrau planetarium at the University of Arizona in Tucson. The display includes pieces such as the first laser ever invented, early HeNe lasers, a slab of pink glass from the National Ignition Facility, and dozens of other pieces dating from the beginning to the present day. Photo panels featuring laser luminaries and a timeline of the technology's development and a video interview series also help tell the story of the laser.  Not planning to be in San Diego or Tucson? See the tribute display online: Major loans for the equipment exhibit came from the collections of Richard Stone and Robert Hess and from the archives of Kathleen Maiman, wife of the late laser inventor Theodore Maiman.
Get technical with open-access articles and features - The quarterly member magazineSPIE Professional details laser history and future prospects in feature articles and interviews with laser luminaries. In the current issue, Abraham Katzir (Tel Aviv Univ.) talks about how lasers are being used for closure of wounds and incisions in "Lasers: The Future of Suture."
Free! Posters and DVDs To request free posters or DVDs, please email Ms. Pascale Barnett at pascale@spie.org.  Poster: "Lasers: Illuminating the Future"
The laser's many uses stem from its unique properties. Learn how lasers have transformed our world in many ways, with this informative poster. Available in English, French, and German.
- Poster: "Building Upon the Past/Advancing Into the Future"
Celebrate laser history and advances with a representative  photo tribute to some of the major luminary figures past and present who have moved the technology forward.
- Poster: "50 Years: Advancing the Laser"
Follow the story of the development of the laser through a timeline developed by SPIE and Laser Focus World magazine, in consultation with laser expert Jeff Hecht.
- DVD: "Light in Action: Lasers, Cameras & Other Cool Stuff"
Audience age: 9-11
Kids showing kids that science can be fun and exciting and that advancements with light are all around them.
View the Light in Action demonstrations:
Pinhole camera experiment
Bubble experiment
Kaleidoscope experiment
- DVD:"Optics: Light at Work"
Audience age: 12-13
Real world applications of optics technology, as well as, examples of "cool" new technology such as nanomedicine, space telescopes, invisibility, and solar energy.
Laser celebration press releases
Laser blogroll - Laser Diode-logues Researchers at GE Global Research Laser and Metrology Labs are blogging in their new Laser Diode-logues Series to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the laser.
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 Luminaries past and present View a photo tribute to some of the laser pioneers and luminaries who have been involved in the invention and advancement of laser technology. Space limitations do not allow inclusion of more than an arbitrary selection. SPIE recognizes that this celebration belongs to a legion of innovators who took Theodore Maiman's device and made it so useful and ubiquitous.
New! Video interviews with laser luminaries Follow the Advancing the Laser Video Series as new interviews are added throughout the golden anniversary year. New this week: Based on a revolutionary laser-beam source concept developed by Adolf Giesen, the disk laser achieved high efficiency and beam quality. It provides a high laser output and an ultra-short pulse capacity. Also in the series: - Gérard Mourou, École Polytechnique
- Martin Seifert, Nufern
- Kumar Patel, Pranalytica
- Steven Jacques, Oregon Health and Science Univ.
- Theodore Maiman's first laser
- Anthony DeMaria, Coherent Laser Division
- Peter Moulton, Q-Peak
- Mike Dunne, UK Science and Technology Facilities Council; HiPER
- Nozomi Nishimura, Cornell Univ.
- Elizabeth Goldschmidt, NIST
- Katarina Svanberg, Lund Univ. Hospital
- Federico Capasso, Harvard Univ.
- Nicolaas Bloembergen, Univ. of Arizona
- Robert McCrory, LLE, Univ. of Rochester
- Tayyaba Hasan, Harvard Medical School and Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital
- Andreas Ostendorf, Ruhr-Univ. Bochum
- Scott Keeney, nLight
- Charles Townes, Univ. of California, Berkeley
- Joe Schmitt, LightLab
- Peter Leibinger, TRUMPF
- Author Jeff Hecht giving a virtual tour of the vintage laser equipment display at SPIE Photonics West
- Theodore Maiman, in a 1983 video, on the birth of the laser
- James Fujimoto, MIT
- John Emmett, on laser development at LLNL
- Frank Wise, Cornell Univ.
- Leon Esterowitz, NSF
- Joshua Bienfang, NIST
- R. Rox Anderson, Harvard Univ. Medical School.
View additional SPIE Newsroom video features and interviews with laser experts.
SPIE is a
Founding Partner and Sponsor
of LaserFest. Through community-based events and programs, LaserFest is helping to showcase the
prominence of the laser in today's world. SPIE has joined other LaserFest Founding Partners in funding grants for laser outreach in schools and communities.
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