The first demonstration of laser action in ruby was made in 1960 by T. H. Maiman of Hughes Research Laboratories, USA. Many laboratories worldwide began the search for lasers using different materials, operating at different wavelengths. In the UK, academia, industry and the central laboratories took up the challenge from the earliest days to develop these systems for a broad range of applications. This historical review looks at the contribution the UK has made to the advancement of the technology, the development of systems and components and their exploitation over the last 60 years.

Beam . The Race to Make the Laser. By Jeff Hecht . Oxford University Press, New York, 2005. 284 pp. $29.95, £18.50. ISBN 0-19-514210-1. Building on recent memoirs and his own extensive research, the author provides a balanced account of the race to develop the laser and assesses the conflicting claims surrounding the invention.

In a world in which new technology is introduced at an ever increasing rate, the demands on manufacturing equipment and processes are relentless. This applies across many industries – aerospace, transport, instrumentation, electronics and communications. Today, car pistons need to be accurate to 7–8 μm, while the read/write heads in video recorders must be precise to 2.5 μm. The demands on optical fibres and integrated circuits are even more demanding. Moreover, the US National Institute of Standards and Technology recently predicted that manufacturing design tolerances will reach 1 pm by the year 2000.

We have demonstrated 5.5 W of average power in the TEM00 mode with a slope efficiency of 30% from a copper-vapor-laser-pumped Ti:Al2O3 laser at a pulse repetition rate of 6.5 kHz and a pump power of 21.4 W. The laser crystal was longitudinally pumped through both end faces. With a three-plate birefringent tuner the laser bandwidth was reduced to less than 0.25 nm and was tunable from 750 to 825 nm.