What are masers used for?

Masers are used as the timekeeping device in atomic clocks, and as extremely low-noise microwave amplifiers in radio telescopes and deep space spacecraft communication ground stations.

What are masers in astronomy?

The acronym MASER, now a word in its own right, stands for Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emisson of Radiation; it is the microwave-wavelength version of the laser. Stimulated emission is a form of spectral line emission.

Is the necessary condition for operation of maser?

Masers operate at the resonance frequency of the hydrogen atom, which is 1 420 405 752 Hz. A hydrogen maser works by sending hydrogen gas through a magnetic gate that only allows atoms in certain energy states to pass through.

What are hydrogen masers used for?

A hydrogen maser, also known as hydrogen frequency standard, is a specific type of maser that uses the intrinsic properties of the hydrogen atom to serve as a precision frequency reference. Both the proton and electron of a hydrogen atom have spins.

Is a microwave a laser?

The electrons in masers are hit by some form of electromagnetic waves, which excite the electrons to a higher energy level, and when the electrons move down to a lower energy level, they emit a photon with a longer wavelength and lower frequency (less energy) than a laser. These are known as microwaves.

Are masers visible?

Maser stands for Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation, which tells us that is functions in much the same way as a laser does, the only difference being that masers produce light in the microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum, whereas the light given off by a laser lies in the visible …

Why do lasers require more energy than masers?

The electrons in masers are hit by some form of electromagnetic waves, which excite the electrons to a higher energy level, and when the electrons move down to a lower energy level, they emit a photon with a longer wavelength and lower frequency (less energy) than a laser.

Who proposed that masers can be operated in light range frequencies?

In 1958 Townes and Arthur Schawlow of Bell Laboratories in New Jersey proposed a system that would work at infrared and optical wavelengths [2] but it wasn’t until 1960 that the first light-emitting maser–which quickly became known as the laser–was constructed [3].

How does stimulated emission work?

Stimulated emission is the process by which an incoming photon of a specific frequency can interact with an excited atomic electron (or other excited molecular state), causing it to drop to a lower energy level.