Contributions of IBM to laser science—1960 to the present

IBM Journal of Research and Development, Volume 23, Issue 5, pp. 476-489 (1979).

Shortly after the discovery of stimulated emission devices at Bell Telephone Laboratories in 1958, IBM began research on lasers and their uses. In 1962 the GaAs injection laser was discovered independently and simultaneously at IBM and General Electric Corporation. The first publication appeared in November 1962. The first issue of the IBM Journal of Research and Development in January 1963 (Vol. 7, No. 1) contained seven papers on the theory, construction, and characterization of GaAs lasers at IBM.

The development of the dye laser by IBM was published in a series of papers in the IBM Journal of Research and Development by P. P. Sorokin, J. R. Lankard, and others:

• Ruby laser Q-switching elements using phthalocyanine molecules in solution (JRD 1964)
• Stimulated emission observed from an organic dye, chloro-aluminum phthalocyanine (JRD 1966)
• Laser-pumped stimulated emission from organic dyes: Experimental studies and analytical comparisons (JRD 1966)
• Flashlamp excitation of organic dye lasers: A short communication (JRD 1967)

The early work on GaAs lasers eventually led to the development of solid-state lasers, which are used today in optical communication and storage devices (CD and DVD drives). The dye lasers were the first continuously tunable lasers and led to much fundamental work in spectroscopy.

Related papers:

Ruby laser Q-switching elements using phthalocyanine molecules in solution (JRD 1964) by P. P. Sorokin, J. J. Luzzi, J. R. Lankard, and G. D. Pettit Stimulated emission observed from an organic dye, chloro-aluminum phthalocyanine (JRD 1966) by P. P. Sorokin and J. R. Lankard Laser-pumped stimulated emission from organic dyes: Experimental studies and analytical comparisons (JRD 1967) by P. P. Sorokin, J. R. Lankard, E. C. Hammond, and V. L. Moruzzi Flashlamp excitation of organic dye lasers: A short communication (JRD 1967) by P. P. Sorokin and J. R. Lankard