The art of engineering

Far-field pattern obtained from a helium/neon continuous-wave laser operating at 6328 angstrom units. Because the unaltered laser spot is small and bright, a lens was used to enlarge the beam and effectively reduce the intensity or energy density. The spot was magnified by passing the beam directly through a camera lens and onto a photographic plate. This photograph is from a paper “Interference Fringes and Laser Systems,” by C. L. Rudder and D. L. Hayler of the Douglas Missile and Space Systems Division, presented at the 1964 National Electronics Conference, and scheduled for publication in the Proceedings of the Conference.