On Jul 2, 2:35*pm, Cecil Moore wrote:
On Jul 2, 3:21*am, "Szczepan Bialek" wrote:

The word "laser" is probably common *name for the all atificical light
sources.

No, it is not. From answers.com: "Definition: laser - Any of several
devices that emit highly amplified and coherent radiation of one or
more discrete frequencies."

From Wikipedia: "Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of
Radiation (LASER *or laser) is a mechanism for emitting
electromagnetic radiation, typically light *or visible light, via the
process of stimulated emission. The emitted laser light is (usually) a
spatially coherent, narrow low-divergence beam, that can be
manipulated with lenses. In laser technology, 'coherent light' denotes
a light source that produces (emits) light of in-step waves of
identical frequency, phase,[1] *and polarization. The laser's beam of
coherent light differentiates it from light sources that emit
incoherent light beams, of random phase varying with time and
position."
--
73, Cecil, w5dxp.com

should we even bring up its close cousin, the MASER? I particularly
like this definition:

"MASER stands for Microwave Amplification by Stimulation Emission of
Radiation. A LASER is a MASER that works with higher frequency photons
in the ultraviolet or visible light spectrum"
from: http://einstein.stanford.edu/content/faqs/maser.html

On Jul 2, 11:19*am, K1TTT wrote:
should we even bring up its close cousin, the MASER?

According to something I read, the MASER, which was introduced while I
was still in high school, was the original idea behind the development
of the LASER. Thanks for your reference which says: "Basically, a man-
made MASER is a device that sets up a series of atoms or molecules and
excites them to generate the chain reaction, or amplification, of
photons."

What??? A MASER is an RF devices. When discussing RF, aren't photons
just a diversion away from "The Truth According to the Great RF
Gurus"? Someone should tell the MASER guys that they are just wasting
their time associating their RF devices with atoms and photons when
they really should be using fields and waves to explain the MASER
phenomena. Good luck on that one. :-)
--
73, Cecil, w5dxp.com