MAIMAN, THEODORE H.

born July 11, 1927, Los Angeles, Calif., U.S. in full Theodore Harold Maiman American physicist who constructed the first laser, a device that produces monochromatic coherent light, or light in which the rays are all of the same wavelength and phase. The laser has found numerous practical uses, ranging from delicate surgery to measuring the distance between the Earth and the Moon. After receiving his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1955, Maiman accepted a position with the Hughes Research Laboratories, Miami, where he became interested in a device developed and built by Charles H. Townes and colleagues and known as a maser (acronym for microwave [or molecular] amplification by stimulated emission of radiation). Maiman made design innovations that greatly increased the practicability of the solid-state maser. He then set out to develop an optical maser, or laser, which is based on the maser principle but produces visible light rather than microwaves. He operated the first successful laser in 1960 and two years later established Korad Corporation for research, development, and manufacture of lasers.