Schawlow and Townes1 have proposed a technique for the generation of very monochromatic radiation in the infra-red optical region of the spectrum using an alkali vapour as the active medium. Javan2 and Sanders3 have discussed proposals involving electron-excited gaseous systems. In this laboratory an optical pumping technique has been successfully applied to a fluorescent solid resulting in the attainment of negative temperatures and stimulated optical emission at a wave-length of 6943 Å. ; the active material used was ruby (chromium in corundum).
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References
Schawlow, A. L., and Townes, C. H., Phys. Rev., 112, 1940 (1958).
Javan, A., Phys. Rev. Letters, 3, 87 (1959).
Sanders, J. H., Phys. Rev. Letters, 3, 86 (1959).
Maiman, T. H., Phys. Rev. Letters, 4, 564 (1960).
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MAIMAN, T. Stimulated Optical Radiation in Ruby. Nature 187, 493–494 (1960). https://doi.org/10.1038/187493a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/187493a0
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