Laser Technology

Laser Communication

Kenneth Ikoo

Multimedia University of Kenya

INTRODUCTION

Laser is an abbreviation which in full is Light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. The history of laser technology dates back to the year 1900, when Max Plank’s publication provided an understanding that light is electromagnetic radiation (Hannaford, 2010). After this understanding a breakthrough came about when Albert Einstein, a renowned scientist attempted to describe the theory of stimulated emission of radiations. However, the engineers did not utilize this principle until the late 1940’s when they started its practical application and after a decade they started applying the principle of stimulated emissions to harness laser energy (Yong, 2011).

The laser was a remarkable breakthrough in technology, but in the early years it was some kind of technology without purpose. It was however put into work as some uses were found. It was used in the making of sighting systems, laser weapons and powerful laser technology used in surgery among other uses (Mecherle, 2011). These earlier application of this technology through the atmosphere faced challenges in that lasers could not penetrate through clouds and rain.

With the passing of time laser technology has been greatly improved and has become among the world’s important technological advancements. Its application has been recognized in medicine, information technology, consumer electronics, entertainment, information technology, law enforcement, modern warfare and manufacturing industries (Mecherle, 2010).

Laser technology application in the communication industry has advanced from the past throughout the years until date with further improvements yet to be implemented. From early development when researchers realized light was better than radio waves in the transmission of information (data) in terms of both speed and density (Mott, 2010). It was also realized that light had more tightly packed wavelengths than sound waves, had stronger signal strength and their rate of transmitting information per second was much higher than that of sound. When this was achieved it was a milestone in the development of communication and information system. Information transfer using laser technology has been in use for quite some time and among its application in our daily lives (Aviv, 2009). Among these are reading CDs and DVDs, scanning bar codes, in the tapping of fiber optic backbone of phones or in internet switches.

In development history, this technology has faced challenges like that by NASA in 1964, toyed with the idea of airline communication which could use the application of laser