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0- NASA FACTS
An Educational Services Publication of the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NASA FACTS Vol. 111, No. 6
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THE LASER
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The LASER Telescope located at Wallops Island, Virginia which was used, successfully, to track Explorer X X l l (theBeacon Satellite).

Scientists in government and industry have
teamed t o unlock the secrets and devise appli-
cations of concentrated light which can be gen-
erated through a technique called LASER-
l i g h t Amplification by Stimulated Emission of
Radiation.
I t s use, science i s discovering, may permit
countless new and more efficient methods in
operations requiring direct applications of energy.
The National Aeronautics and Space Admin-
istration's interest i n laser applicability lies
mainly in four general areas: Space communi-
cations, optical radar, industrial application, and
space tracking and navigation.
It is in these fields that NASA i s placing par-
ticular emphasis, although i t s research teams are
following many avenues in the exploration, study,
Page 2
and tests of the laser in their efforts to fully
uqderstand its capabilities.
To understand the laser, it i s useful to examine
an associated technique called maser (Microwave
Amplification b y Stimulated Emission of Radi-
ation). Masers and lasers are closely related.
Both lasers (concentrated light waves) and masers
(concentrated microwaves) are electromagnetic
energy differing only in frequency or wavelength.
Masers, as amplifiers, perform a function simi-
lar t o that filled b y certain electron tubes and
semiconductors. As generators, masers take a
place similar to conventional electronic oscilla-
tor tubes and travelling wave tubes. Lasers, on
the other hand, stand out as the only generators
of coherent electromagnetic energy at light
frequencies.
A laser, therefore, i s a maser whose output
beam falls into the light frequency portion o f
the spectrum. Accordingly lasers are also
known as optical masers. The dividing line be-
tween masers and lasers on the electromagnetic
spectrum is 300 kilomegacycles-the upper end
*
This i s whot o laser device looks like in action. It i s
mounted on on 18-inch telescope atop a 60-foot tower neor
NASA’s Wallops Island Stotion, Virginia.
NASA FACTS Vol. 111, No. 6
of the microwave portion of the electromagnetic
spectrum.
Electromagnetic radiation i s made up of tiny 0
packets of pure energy. It comes naturally
from the sun in the form of heat and light. Light
waves and radio waves are electromagnetic
energy, as are microwaves, infrared rays, ultra-
violet rays, X-rays and gamma rays.
While no one person can be credited with the
invention of the laser technique, a physicist,
Charles H. Townes, had much to do with its
development. In 1 9 5 1, while searching for a
way to make microwaves more useful, he devel-
oped a theory to harness their energy by manip-
ulating the normal behavior patterns of electrons
and atoms. In 1954, he devised a technique to
force atoms to emit a stable, coherent level of
energy. Thus, the maser was born. In 1960,
Mr. Townes, together with another scientist,
Arthur L. Schawlow, devised a similar technique
to harness the energy of light waves and the
laser was born.
Basically, the laser is a device used in the
COHERENT RADIATION
INCOHERENT RADIATION
The upper illustration, indicoting o steady, phased radiation,
i s such o s that emitted by the laser. The lower diogrom
indicotes the random effect of radiation such as that emiwed
by ordinary incondescent light.
technique for producing a beam of light of such
small size and s o closely concentrated that it will
not greatly increase i n size or diffuse, as the
light travels outward from i t s source. Laser
light differs in character f r o m ordinary light in
the same way that a battalion of well drilled sol- a
diers differs from a disorganized mob.
NASA FACTS Vol. 111, No. 6
Laser technology i s based on the principle that
light waves differ from microwaves generated in
radio transmission, etc., in that the crests o f
waves are closer together. Hence, they can be
focused or concentrated more intensely. This
means the beam of light will travel thousands of
miles through space before its width increases
significantly. As a result, this beam of light-
more properly, energy-is capable of performing
many diversified tasks. Just how many and how
well are still wondrous conjecture. But scien-
tists have already discovered that the laser can
effortlessly pierce or cut the hardest of materials
such as tungsten, steel, or diamond. It offers
the promise of carrying a tremendous number-
perhaps millions-of telephone calls or television
channels simultaneously. It may measure dis-
tance, alter the atomic structure of molecules, or
be used in the performance of delicate surgical
operations. Furthermore, it seems capable of
welding most anything-from delicate human tis-
sues to the toughest of steels produced b y
industry.
The laser does not develop ordinary light.
0 Light emitted by the incandescent light bulb, for
example, i s produced when the filament (usually
tungsten) within the vacuum of the bulb i s heated.
As electric current is applied t o the filament, i t s
molecules, bathed in a field of electromagnetic
energy, give up their energy t o the field. The
Dr. Joseph Randall, of the Astronautics Laborotory at the
0 NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, inserts a rod of yttrium
aluminum garnet doped with neodymium into a laser “gun”
in preparation for an experiment.
Page 3
hot glow of light thus provided i s a spontaneous
or random emission of energy. Because of the
random emission, ordinary light contains all
colors of the spectrum, diffuses quickly, radiates
different wave lengths and frequencies at the
same time, and cannot be precisely or accurately
directed. Moreover, it has an inherently l o w
quality of brightness.
The laser produces a beam of light possessing
opposite qualities. The laser beam i s monochro-
matic (single frequency). Research scientists
for some years have noted that as certain mate-
rials begin to cool after being heated (in technical
language, stimulated), their atoms emit energy in
the form of light waves. This Stimulated Emis-
sion provides a part of the acronym IaSEr.
This schematic diagram of a laser i s indicative of the g r w t
simplicity of the device. The laser has many application
possibilities. Considerable emphasis i s being placed on laser
development in the fields of communications, radars, medicine
and welding.
Scientists observed also that when the atoms are
stimulated they emit their light precisely in unison
or, again in technical language, in phase. Fur-
ther, it was observed that their light waves move
i n one precise direction. Scientists describe this
one-way action of the light as “coherent.”
If you have ever focused a lighted flashlight
into a mirror in a darkened room, you’ve un-
doubtedly noticed how the reflected light seems
to amplify in intensity and lighten the whole room.
In a manner of speaking, this i s exactly what the
laser device does to Amplify the Light emitted
by the atoms. Thus, we have l i g h t Amplifica-
tion-two more letters of our acronym LAser.
A pencil-size rod of synthetic ruby was used
in making the first lasers, i n early 1960. The
rod ends, squared off and silver coated (one end
more heavily silvered than the other), served as
two facing mirrors.
Page 4 NASA FACTS Vol. 111, No. 6

Around the r o d was placed a coil of Xenon
flash-tube (a tube containing the heavy inert gas-
eous element Xenon). When this tube was
made to flash, (electrically fired) the intense
flash of light (energy) fed into the ruby rod.
This energy caused a few of the chromium atoms
present as an impurity in synthetic ruby t o be-
come highly excited. The energy thus produced
sought t o escape through one end of the ruby
rod. Instead, the energy was trapped by a mir-
rored end of the rod and reflected directly back
to the opposite end. Enroute, the energy caused
s t i l l more ions to become excited. So, to-
Then, when the reaction had built up enougti,
Radiation forced through the less silvered end of
the r o d as a powerful, pencil-thin beam of in- 0
tense, “coherent” red light. Radiation contrib-
utes the fifth letter in the acronym IaseR.
An attribute of the laser is its singular color.
As mentioned earlier, ordinary light contains all
4
colors of the spectrum. Laser light is more one-
colored than ordinary light. Its single-color light,
depending upon the material used in the laser
technique, theoretically can be of any single
color. Light emitted from the ruby rod i s a bril-
liant deep red.

These are ruby rods, iust as they are grown, and before they have been ground, polished and silvered. To grow one, scientists
place calcium tungstate crystals in a crucible and heat them to about 2,800 degrees F. During the heating process, chromium ions,
t a act as impurities, are introduced into the crystal melts. When the proper temperature i s reached, the fused and nearly liquid
crystal i s pink in color from the chromium ions. The melt of crystal, turned slowly to give it a general rod-like shape, i s taken
from the crucible with a platinum wire. While these rods look light pink, in laser use, they develop a deep red light. The penny
in the photograph illustrates the comparative s i r e of the rods.

gether-in unison-the energy moved toward the
opposite mirror where again, it was caught and
reflected anew, towards the other mirrored rod-
end. Finally, bounced back and forth between
the facing mirror-ends of the ruby rod, and caus-
ing additional ions to “join the crowd marching
i n unison,” the energy became so -highlywampli-
fied that the r o d could contain it no more.
Ruby lasers in use generally are able to give
out only short pulses of light-for about
1 /1,000,000th of a second. And these flashes
can be generated only about once or twice each
second. Other solids substituted for the ruby
r o d have served to increase the length of time
in continuous operation. Most such solids, but 0
not all, however, produce infrared light.
 NASA FACTS Vol. 111, No. 6
Another type of laser i s generated from a
mixture of helium andheon gases. Gas lasers
0 can be used for any desired length of time, but
are characteristically lower in power than the
pulsed solid lasers. However, the gas laser can
produce both visual and infrared beams. But,
the characteristics of neither gas nor solid lasers
are fully understood as yet. Science teams in
pose 5
government and industry jointly believe these
fields of laser research to hold great promise.
It is possibk to focus the laser's concentrated
beam into a spot measuring no more than
5 / 100,000ths of an inch. In fact, a laser can
be directed so sharply that i t s accuracy is limited
only by the precision of the telescope used i n
aiming it.

Close up view of the NASA Explorer X X l l (the B e a c o n satellite). Quartz refkctors, 360 of them, are mounted an an eight-sided
fiat-top pyramid Two sdor ponds s h o w n in left and right forefront of the picture are designed t o catch the sun's rays for con-
version into electricity. T h e 116-lb windmill-shapd spacaraft i s equipped to make surveys of Earth's ionosphere and to evaluate
laser techniques.
 NASA FACTS VoL 111, No. 6

A boom of loser light is so concentrated thot it will spread only one-third of on inch for each mile thot it travels from its trans-
mitter. The moon is 238,357 miles away from earth and has a diameter of 2,160 miles. Thus, if we aimed a laser b w m at o
moon torget a s diogranmed in the photo at left, our boom, on skiking the moon, would illuminate an areo obout one mile in diom-
eter as illustrated in the photo ot right. If we were oble to build CI search light, using ordinary electric light, powerful enough
to tmvel the distonco to the moon, its rays would probably cover on areo equol to six times the diameter of the moon.

N A S A i s using laser i n connection with the
Explorer XXII, XXVll and XXlX (the Geodetic Ex-
plorer) satellites which were launched October
10, 1964, April 29, 1965, and November 6,
1 965, respectively. These satellite experiments
provide a means to investigate the uses and
techniques of space communications and track-
ing. The satellites carry equipment for laser
tracking, the laser device being mounted on an
Intercept Ground Optical Recorder (IGOR) tele-
scope at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center,
Greenbelt, Maryland.
With this arrangement, the laser i s aimed
a l o n g a predicted path of the satellite. The
laser beam i s flashed when the orbiter appears
over the station. A reflector assembly on the
spacecraft returns the light beam t o a photo-
multiplier tube i n the ground telescope. The
time for the round trip of the laser beam enables
the trackers to pinpoint the distance of the satel-
lite within 10 feet-for a satellite more than 600
miles away. By adding an azimuth or angular
measurement of the beam, the direction of the
satellite can be obtained.
The reflector assembly consists of fused silica
prisms mounted on the satellite. When a light
ray hits the face of any prism, it will be reflected
directly back t o its source. Explorer XXlX i s
stabilized in i t s flight s o as t o keep the reflector
assembly pointing earthward at all times.
The reflector assembly i s composed of 360
fused silica corner reflector prisms each coated
with aluminum to make them highly reflective. 0
Then, each prism i s finally coated with a silicon
oxide-a conventional protective process used
on the front face of any optical quality glass.
Fused silica, a form of glass, was used in the
reflector assembly instead of more conventional
glass because the latter would have turned black
after two months of exposure to radiation in free
space. Fused silica will remain highly reflective
for a longer time than ordinary glass.
A future laser flight experiment may be a two-
way communication link-up in which a satellite
would receive a laser beam from a ground sta-
tion, modulate the beam, and relay it to another
ground station. Laboratory tests and experi- .
ments under way in the NASA program range
from basic research (for learning the nature of
lasers and the forces behind them) to advanced
applied projects in their uses.
The Explorer satellites involve two major poten-
tial peaceful uses of the laser for which NASA
established the program: ( 1 ) optical radar, and 0
( 2 )space tracking.
NASA FACTS Vol. 111, No. 6 Page 7

This i s a loser stripped of i t s outer covering t o illustrate the positioning of the ruby rod (center) and the flash tube (right).
Note the comparotive size of the laser with the technician’s hand which holds it. A single pulse of light, lasting for 1/1,000,000th
of a second i s powerful enough to voporize a hole completely through a rozor blode. I t would use about the same amount of
energy as would be required by the batteries of a hand flashlight to operate i t s light bulb for two seconds.

Samples of potential uses of lasers by private
industry include advance warning to aircraft
pilots of air turbulence; drilling and welding of
machine and electronic parts; erasure of type-
written letters with the split-millisecond pulses of
heat vaporizing the typewriter ink. There are
many others.
In medicine, a laser has been used at Columbia
Presbyterian Hospital in New York City t o “spot
weld” a detached retina in a human eye. Simi-
lar surgical techniques now appear very prom-
ising for brain and nerve operations, according
t o medical authorities.
Chemists, too, have an interest in the laser,
whose beams may be used t o create chemical
reactions never before possible, or even to pro-
 Page 8 NASA FACTS Vol. 111, No. 6
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Research and development work in the field of losers has developed rapidly. Scientist now
understand the principles of laser action and understand quality of materials which produce
efficient losers. While an important number of loser applications have been discovered, scien-
t i s t s feel that possible applications of the loser hove barely been tapped. Shown obove i s a
portable bser held in the left hand of Dr. C. F. Luck of the Raytheon Company. He i s checking
the power supply that runs it.

vide a tool t o manipulate a single atom within Defense are also among the enthusiasts in laser
the molecule. development and are hard at work in their re-
Laser beams have also demonstrated promise spective fields on commercial and military appli-
i n the metallurgy field-to cut, weld, and pierce cations of the technique. The laser also holds
materials such as tungsten, diamonds, and steel. great promise in space and especially for com-
One of the most dramatic demonstrations of munications, tracking and navigation. For ex-
laser possibilities was provided by researchers of ample, the laser shows great promise in detecting
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and and measuring high altitude cosmic dust; and the
the Raytheon Company. They shot laser beams use of laser gyroscopes in the guidance systems
at the moon and detected their reflections back of rocket launch vehicles is now undergoing tests.
on earth. Each of the 13 short bursts of the Much advanced work i s being conducted at
red laser beam made the half-million-mile round NASA’s Marshall and Goddard Space Flight
trip in 2 % seconds. Man had illuminated a Centers. However, NASA expects to stimulate
celestial body for the first time with an optical and carry out a great many promising research
device. projects with lasers at its new Electronics Re-
Private industry and the Department of search Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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