Math & science · 1960
Laser
Maiman's ruby crystal emits the first coherent beam of light.
Built at Hughes Research Labs on the maser principle, the laser was called a solution looking for a problem. It went on to power fibre-optic internet, surgery, barcode scanners and gravitational-wave detectors.
What it built on 2
What it led to 13
- Low-loss optical fiber 1970
- Bell tests of entanglement 1982
- Excimer laser lithography 1982
- 3D printing (stereolithography) 1984
- Buckminsterfullerene 1985
- Trapped-ion quantum gate 1995
- Gravitational waves detected 2015
- EUV lithography 2019
- SI redefined by constants 2019
- Fusion ignition (NIF) 2022
- 448-atom fault-tolerant architecture 2025
- Space gravitational-wave observatory ~2037
- Continental quantum networks ~2040
Watch
Related measurements
The dashed line marks when it first worked.
Fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people Latest: 20.1 per 100 people (2025) Source: Our World in Data