The Airborne Laser from Theory to Reality: An Insider’s Account

Authors

Hans Mark, Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, The University of Texas at Austin

Files

Description

Albert Einstein spent World War I in Berlin, where he developed a theory that described electromagnetic radiation in equilibrium with atoms that could emit and absorb radiation. The innovation in Einstein’s work, which was published in 1916 and 1917, was that he used the newly developed quantum theory to obtain his results. The most important result was not only that the atoms in the assembly could absorb and emit radiation spontaneously but also that atoms in certain excited states could be induced to emit radiation.¹ Einstein called this discovery the stimulated emission of radiation. Einstein’s discovery provided the basis for the development of lasers, though the phenomenon would not be observed in the laboratory for many years.

Document Type

Policy Brief

Publication Date

4-2002

Publication

Defense Horizons

Publisher

National Defense University Press

City

Washington, DC

Recommended Citation

Mark, Hans, "The Airborne Laser from Theory to Reality: An Insider’s Account" (2002). Defense Horizons. 73.
https://digitalcommons.ndu.edu/defense-horizons/73