Abstract :
Military research scientists have built and successfully operated a continuous-wave optical maser (laser) with maser action confined to 1.5 seconds of mirror alignment. It is mounted on a granite surface plate for mechanical stability. Construction technique allows alignment and adjustment of the end mirrors to less than 0.1 second of angle with a stability exceeding 1 second per hour with special temperature control or thermal shielding. Minneapolis-Honeywell Regulator Co., which built the maser, say that because of its coherent characteristics and its extremely narrow bandwidth and low divergence angle, it shows promise for use in long-range communications and precise measurement of velocity.
