View from the top: Laser technology: Its evolution into the marketplace: The search for coherent radiation at higher frequencies has spawned a lucrative commercial and military world market

摘要

Use of the electromagnetic spectrum has always been marked by a steady drive toward the production and application of coherent electromagnetic energy of higher and higher frequencies. Much of the impetus for this research comes from the realization that increasing carrier frequency has a positive impact on the amount of transmitted information, on directivity, and on efficiency, and alleviates problems of crowding and interference between existing frequency bands. Another important reason is research interest in using these waves for probing atoms in solids, liquids, and gases by employing experimental techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance, paramagnetic resonance, and cyclotron resonance.