HRL Laboratories (formerly Hughes Research Laboratories) is a research center in Malibu, California, established in 1960. Formerly the research arm of Hughes Aircraft, it is currently owned by General Motors Corporation and Boeing. It is housed in two large, white multi-story buildings overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
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Hughes Research Laboratories in the context of Laser
A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word laser originated as an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. The first laser was built in 1960 by Theodore Maiman at Hughes Research Laboratories, based on theoretical work by Charles H. Townes and Arthur Leonard Schawlow and the optical amplifier patented by Gordon Gould.
A laser differs from other sources of light in that it emits light that is coherent. Spatial coherence allows a laser to be focused to a tight spot, enabling uses such as optical communication, laser cutting, and lithography. It also allows a laser beam to stay narrow over great distances (collimation), used in laser pointers, lidar, and free-space optical communication. Lasers can also have high temporal coherence, which permits them to emit light with a very narrow frequency spectrum. Temporal coherence can also be used to produce ultrashort pulses of light with a broad spectrum but durations measured in attoseconds.
Hughes Research Laboratories in the context of Ruby laser
A ruby laser is a solid-state laser that uses a synthetic ruby crystal as its gain medium. The first working laser was a ruby laser made by Theodore H. Maiman at Hughes Research Laboratories on May 16, 1960.
Ruby lasers produce pulses of coherent visible light at a wavelength of 694.3 nm, which is a deep red color. Typical ruby laser pulse lengths are on the order of a millisecond.