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Science 8 October 2004:
Vol. 306. no. 5694, pp. 236 - 237
DOI: 10.1126/science.1101354
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Perspectives

Also see the archival list of Science's Compass: Enhanced Perspectives

APPLIED PHYSICS:
Enhanced: The Maser at 50

Ronald L. Walsworth

In 1954, the first device demonstrating "microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation" was demonstrated. Fifty years on, some masers are widely used as amplifiers and high-stability oscillators. Other, more novel maser designs are enabling fundamental studies of quantum mechanics and are providing sensitive tests for quantum gravity theories. In his Perspective, Walsworth reviews these recent developments. In a related Perspective, Claussen reviews the discovery and study of naturally occurring masers in astronomical objects such as star-forming regions.

The author is at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. E-mail: rwalsworth{at}cfa.harvard.edu

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)