Alan David White (1923 — 9 May 2020) was an American physicist, known primarily as one of the inventors of the visible helium-neon laser.

Biography

After completing his military service during World War II, White graduated due to the

G.I. Bill The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, bu ...

. He earned degrees in physics and mathematics from

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

and

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

. From 1953 to 1983 he worked at

Bell Laboratories Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984), then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996) and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007), is an American industrial research and scientific development company owned by mult ...

. Then he was a scientific consultant for Tropel Corp. He was fond of art, in particular, sculpture. For his achievements he was awarded the 1984

IEEE David Sarnoff Award The IEEE David Sarnoff Award was a Technical Field Award presented in 1959–2016 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). It was awarded annually for exceptional contributions to electronics. The award was established i ...

, and in 2000 he was elected to the

New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame The New Jersey Inventor's Hall of Fame was established in 1987 to honor individuals and corporations in New Jersey for their inventions. Award recipients are recognized at the annual Award Banquet Dinner. The New Jersey Inventors Hall of ...

Scientific achievements

The first gas laser, using a mixture of helium and neon, was demonstrated in 1960 and emitted radiation at a wavelength of 1.15 μm (infrared range). Two years later, White, together with Dane Rigden, showed that a helium-neon laser can emit radiation at a wavelength of 632.8 nm, i.e., in the visible range of the spectrum. In subsequent years, White, with

Eugene I. Gordon Eugene Irving Gordon (September 14, 1930 – September 15, 2014) was an American physicist. He was Director of the Lightwave Devices Laboratory of Bell Labs. Biography Gordon was born on September 14, 1930 in New York City. He graduated from th ...

and others, investigated the reasons for the limitation of the power of such lasers, established scaling laws for gas-discharge lasers, and developed frequency stabilization methods for such devices. The first continuous-wave visible laser, invented by White and Rigden, is still widely used in research and education, and is a part of various instruments. White also made significant contributions to the development of lenses for microlithography, as well as methods for aligning a lithographic mask using special lenses and Fresnel zone plates.

Biography

Scientific achievements

Select publications

References

Sources