At left is a green microlaser introduced in 1988 by Amoco Laser Company, Naperville, Illinois. At bottom is Amoco's breakthrough infrared diode-pumped microlaser.
Lasers emit a narrow and very intense beam of light or other radiation.
In developing their microlasers, Amoco combined their technology with advances made by NASA s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. JPL s work concentrated on using lasers to communicate between Earth and spacecraft millions of miles away. This method is very efficient electronically and produces a very narrow and precise laser beam. Based on a NASA concept for optical communications over interplanetary distances. Microlasers emit narrow, intense beams of light or other radiation.