 |
|
American physicist who invented the maser  at Columbia University in 1953 (Gordon et al. 1954). This device,
when pumped with a weak microwave beam, produced a cascade of transitions in ammonia molecules, reinforcing the beam.
He called the device "maser " as an acronym for "microwave amplification by stimulated emission of
radiation." This device was the forerunner of the laser, invented by Maiman in 1960. Townes
shared the 1964 Nobel prize in physics.
 Maiman
Chiao, R. Y. Amazing Light: A Volume Dedicated to Charles Hard Townes on His 80th Birthday.
New York: Springer-Verlag, 1996.
Gordon, J. P.; Zeiger, H. J.; and Townes, C. H. Phys. Rev. 95, 282, 1954.
Townes, C. H. Making Waves. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1994.
Townes, C. H. and Schawlow, A. L. Microwave Spectroscopy. New York: Dover, 1975.
© 1996-2007 Eric W. Weisstein
|
