Talk:Ruby laser

message: I removed this:
At first, ruby lasers used natural rubies, making the commercial and scientific use of lasers a very expense venture.  However, the application of lasers become more viable with the invention of the synthetic ruby by John M. Burdick in 1949 (U.S. Patent 2488507), working for Linde Air Products, which was at that time a division of Union Carbide.
since it pre-dates the actual invention of the laser. --Bob Mellish 21:29, 22 May 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Not to mention that it was totally wrong. Natural rubies contain far too many impurities and defects for laser operation. Even the rubies which Charles Townes used in his masers were synthetic.Zaereth (talk) 00:54, 14 November 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Paragraph removed from article

message: I think that the section added today about the 2010 demonstration of Maiman's original laser would be better placed in the article on Maiman. Dirac66 (talk) 18:43, 22 May 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: I think this article could use a history section, that discusses Maiman's work. The new material added today could be included in that section.--Srleffler (talk) 20:17, 22 May 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: I agree. This article could definitely use some expanding. The history is fascinating, and I read up on quite a bit of it, during a bit of research I did for the section above this one. Besides Maiman, being the first to build a working unit, I think the contributions to the field by Townes, Schawlow, and Gould should not be overlooked. I'll work on expanding this article when time permits. Zaereth (talk) 17:18, 24 May 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: Well, yes, a history section is certainly a good idea, and the 2010 demonstration could be its last paragraph. One source for the history is this site which is linked from the article on Theodore Maiman. The page The race to build a laser describes Maiman's work in the paragraph Hughes Laboratories. If I understand correctly, Maiman's essential contribution was to use a pulsed energy source when Schawlow etc. were unsuccessfully trying continuous sources. Dirac66 (talk) 19:46, 24 May 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: As I recall, there was considerable debate over whether ruby, which worked so well in masers, would even work at all as a laser medium, and Schalow was very much convinced that it wouldn't. Gould, on the other hand, came up with the pulsed idea first, (as I recall), and after Maiman's laser was dwmonstrated, there was a huge battle over the patent rights. I believe Gould won the patent for pulsed lasers, but I'll have to go back and read it again. The sources I have are The history of the laser By Mario Bertolotti and How the laser happened: adventures of a scientist By Charles H. Townes, which I believe are availabe on Google Books. Nearly everyone was surprised by the peak powers produced. Zaereth (talk) 20:12, 24 May 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: Note that Wikipedia does cover the general context of laser history at Laser#History.  This article needs to concentrate on the specific history of the ruby laser and Maiman, which get all of two sentences in the other article. Dirac66 (talk) 20:22, 24 May 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: Agreed. I'm all for relevance and organization. Zaereth (talk) 20:32, 24 May 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  2010 demo of Maiman's original laser