Laser for Compact Disc Player

Description:

As scientists and engineers came to better understand lasers, they developed a multitude of uses for this light source. The development of Compact Discs (CDs) and Digital Video Discs (DVDs) revolutionized the audio and video recording industries. Lasers are essential in making and playing both types of discs. Scientists refer to laser light as "highly coherent," meaning that the photons stay tightly focused rather than spreading out like the light from a flashlight. Coherent light can be focused on a very small spot. The pits on CDs and DVDs are microscopic.

This is the laser assembly from a Sony model D-5 "Discman" portable CD player. Donated in 1985, it shows how small lasers had become only 25 years after their invention. This object also shows the dramatic decrease in the amount of power needed to operate a laser. The power supply for Theodore Maiman's 1960 ruby laser is about 6 feet tall by 2 feet square and weights about 500 pounds. By contrast, the Sony "Discman" weighed less than 1 pound and operated on AA batteries.

Date Made: 19831984

Maker: Sony Corporation

Location: Currently not on view

Subject: LaserEntertainment, general

Subject:

See more items in: Work and Industry: Electricity, Energy & Power, Lasers

Exhibition:

Exhibition Location:

Credit Line: from Sony Consumer Products Company

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Id Number: 1985.0387.01Accession Number: 1985.0387Catalog Number: 1985.0387.01Model Number: D-5

Object Name: laser assemblyOther Terms: laser assembly; Lasers and Masers

Physical Description: metal (overall material)plastic (overall material)Measurements: overall: 1.5 cm x 8.8 cm x 12 cm; 9/16 in x 3 7/16 in x 4 3/4 in

Guid: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a5-4edc-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Record Id: nmah_713880

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