Laser for Compact Disc Player
date: label: date made
content: 1983
label: date made
content: 1984
name: label: maker
content: Sony Corporation
notes: label: Description
content: As scientists and engineers came to better understand lasers, they developed a multitude of uses for this light source. The development of Compact Discs (CDs) and Digital Video Discs (DVDs) revolutionized the audio and video recording industries. Lasers are essential in making and playing both types of discs. Scientists refer to laser light as "highly coherent," meaning that the photons stay tightly focused rather than spreading out like the light from a flashlight. Coherent light can be focused on a very small spot. The pits on CDs and DVDs are microscopic.
label: Description
content: This is the laser assembly from a Sony model D-5 "Discman" portable CD player. Donated in 1985, it shows how small lasers had become only 25 years after their invention. This object also shows the dramatic decrease in the amount of power needed to operate a laser. The power supply for Theodore Maiman's 1960 ruby laser is about 6 feet tall by 2 feet square and weights about 500 pounds. By contrast, the Sony "Discman" weighed less than 1 pound and operated on AA batteries.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Laser
label: Subject
content: Entertainment, general
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Electricity
label: See more items in
content: Energy & Power
label: See more items in
content: Lasers
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: from Sony Consumer Products Company
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1985.0387.01
label: accession number
content: 1985.0387
label: catalog number
content: 1985.0387.01
label: model number
content: D-5
objectType: label: Object Name
content: laser assembly
label: Other Terms
content: laser assembly; Lasers and Masers
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: plastic (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 1.5 cm x 8.8 cm x 12 cm; 9/16 in x 3 7/16 in x 4 3/4 in