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# [TECH] Laser (Device)
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**The Laser** (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) is a device producing coherent, monochromatic, collimated light, with applications spanning communications, manufacturing, medicine, and precision measurement.
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## Overview
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Theodore Maiman's first ruby laser (1960) was quickly followed by helium-neon (1960), semiconductor (1962), CO₂ (1964), and dye lasers. By the 1980s, semiconductor diode lasers enabled CD players, optical fiber communications, laser printers, and barcode scanners. High-power lasers cut and weld steel. Ultrashort pulse lasers (femtosecond) enable eye surgery (LASIK), multiphoton microscopy, and attosecond physics. Laser interferometry at LIGO detects gravitational waves.
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## Key Actors
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- **Companies**: Hughes Aircraft (first laser), Bell Labs, Coherent Inc. (1966), II-VI (now Coherent), IPG Photonics, JDSU, Lumentum
- **Inventors**: Theodore Maiman (1927–2007), Nick Holonyak Jr. (diode laser, 1962)
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## Key Patents
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- Schawlow, A. & Townes, C. US Patent 2,929,922 (1960) — laser (optical maser)
- Hall, R.N. US Patent 3,245,002 (1966) — semiconductor laser
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## Economic Value
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Global laser market: **$19 billion/year** (2023, Strategies Unlimited). Industrial laser applications (cutting, welding): $5B. Medical lasers: $3B. Laser communications (optical fiber): enables $30B+ infrastructure. Consumer (barcode, DVD, laser pointers): $3B.
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## Notes
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Strategies Unlimited *Annual Laser Market Review* 2023. Optical fiber communications, enabled by semiconductor lasers, supports the internet — value $11T+/year. Medical laser vision correction (LASIK) alone: 9M procedures/year, $3B market.
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# Parents
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* [SCI] Laser Physics & Stimulated Emission⏎