Optics & Photonics News

The color was unlike anything we had ever seen before— extraordinarily brilliant and totally saturated with a strange speckle-like appearance that we later learned was associated with the coherence properties of laser light.

After a few minutes, the discharge became erratic, and it seemed that the tube was on the verge of failing. I shouted down to Darwin Perry on the floor below to come up quickly and witness the lasing before the tube died. Later, he told us that he thought someone had been badly injured because of the urgency in my voice.

A minute or two later, the tube went dead, but not before all of us had seen it lase. It was the first continuous visible laser, and we were the first three people on earth to witness it. Nowadays, of course, with hundreds of different visible spectral lines lasing, our experience that evening seems insignificant.

At the time, we felt a continuous visible laser was an impor-
tant development, but its true significance didn’t sink in until
a day or so later after we made a new tube with higher power.
It produced a much brighter and more stable beam that could
be projected hundreds of feet down the hall with very little
spreading from diffraction. People came in from all over the
lab to see the bright new red laser beam. Unlike the pulsed
ruby laser beam, this beam could be studied and used in the
laboratory with little hazard. The reward for our discovery
came rather quickly; within days we were given carte blanche
to explore the red HeNe to the fullest with
a budget to match.

A few minutes later, the tube went dead, but not before we had seen it lase. It was the first continuous visible laser, and we were the first three people on earth to witness it.