08-02-2013, 04:42 PM
Microwave Amplification by Stimulation Emission of Radiation
[attachment=50266]
What is a MASER?
MASER stands for Microwave Amplification by Stimulation Emission of Radiation or A maser is a device that produces coherent electromagnetic waves through amplification by stimulated emission. A LASER is a MASER that works with higher frequency photons in the ultraviolet or visible light spectrum (photons are bundles of electromagnetic energy commonly thought of as "rays of light" which travel in oscillating waves of various wavelengths)
The first papers about the MASER were published in 1954 as a result of investigations carried out simultaneously and independently by Charles Townes and co-workers at Columbia University in New York and by Dr. Basov and Dr. Prochorov at the Lebedev Institute in Moscow. All three of these gentlemen received the Nobel PrizeBasically, 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. Metastable emission states make MASERs and LASERs possible.
Technology behind the maser
The maser is based on the principle of stimulated emission proposed by Albert Einstein in 1917. When atoms have been put into an excited energy state, they can amplify radiation at the proper frequency. By putting such an amplifying medium in a resonant cavity, feedback is created that can produce coherent radiation.
Some common types of masers
Atomic beam masers
Ammonia maser
Free Electron Maser
Hydrogen maser
Gas masers
Rubidium maser
Solid State masers
Ruby maser
[attachment=50266]
What is a MASER?
MASER stands for Microwave Amplification by Stimulation Emission of Radiation or A maser is a device that produces coherent electromagnetic waves through amplification by stimulated emission. A LASER is a MASER that works with higher frequency photons in the ultraviolet or visible light spectrum (photons are bundles of electromagnetic energy commonly thought of as "rays of light" which travel in oscillating waves of various wavelengths)
The first papers about the MASER were published in 1954 as a result of investigations carried out simultaneously and independently by Charles Townes and co-workers at Columbia University in New York and by Dr. Basov and Dr. Prochorov at the Lebedev Institute in Moscow. All three of these gentlemen received the Nobel PrizeBasically, 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. Metastable emission states make MASERs and LASERs possible.
Technology behind the maser
The maser is based on the principle of stimulated emission proposed by Albert Einstein in 1917. When atoms have been put into an excited energy state, they can amplify radiation at the proper frequency. By putting such an amplifying medium in a resonant cavity, feedback is created that can produce coherent radiation.
Some common types of masers
Atomic beam masers
Ammonia maser
Free Electron Maser
Hydrogen maser
Gas masers
Rubidium maser
Solid State masers
Ruby maser