Directed by Wallace Bennett and produced by Jerry Fairbanks Productions, LASERS UNLIMITED takes a look at the laser which was then in its infancy. Only nine years had elapsed since the technology had first been introduced, and already the laser had not only captured the imagination of the science fiction community (as shown in the first sequence in this film which features a “War of the Worlds” type attack by a UFO with a laser cannon), it had also been put to use in a number of practical applications.
The film shows various applications some of which have become commonplace, such as early laser tattoo and skin anomaly removal (1:58), barcodes on railroad cars read by laser, lasers cutting apart microcircuit boards, laser levels helping with aircraft production, and many more applications. Holograms and holographic technologies are given special focus – laser memory storage was still a few years away, and in 1969 they thought holograms were going to be much more important in the future than they are today.
A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The term “laser” originated as an acronym for “light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation”. The first laser was built in 1960 by Theodore H. Maiman at Hughes Research Laboratories, based on theoretical work by Charles Hard Townes and Arthur Leonard Schawlow. A laser differs from other sources of light in that it emits light coherently. Spatial coherence allows a laser to be focused to a tight spot, enabling applications such as laser cutting and lithography. Spatial coherence also allows a laser beam to stay narrow over great distances (collimation), enabling applications such as laser pointers. Lasers can also have high temporal coherence, which allows them to emit light with a very narrow spectrum, i.e., they can emit a single color of light. Temporal coherence can be used to produce pulses of light as short as a femtosecond.
Among their many applications, lasers are used in optical disk drives, laser printers, and barcode scanners; DNA sequencing instruments, fiber-optic and free-space optical communication; laser surgery and skin treatments; cutting and welding materials; military and law enforcement devices for marking targets and measuring range and speed; and laser lighting displays in entertainment.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
