Ali Javan
26 December 1926 – 12 September 2016
Ali Javan (1926-2016) was an Iranian-American physicist born in Tehran who completed his doctorate at Columbia University under Charles H. Townes. At Bell Telephone Laboratories in 1960 he led the team that built the first gas laser, a helium-neon device that produced a continuous beam of light. He spent most of his academic career at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he worked on laser spectroscopy and precision frequency measurement.
Lived at the same time
Well-documented people whose lives overlapped with Ali Javan.
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- Charles Aznavour (1924–2018) Overlapped 90 years →
- Chen-Ning Yang (1922–2025) Overlapped 90 years →
- David Attenborough (1926–present) Overlapped 90 years →
- Etel Adnan (1925–2021) Overlapped 90 years →
- James Lovelock (1919–2022) Overlapped 90 years →
Life events
Born to Azerbaijani parents who had settled in Tehran.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAttended the university before leaving for the United States without completing a degree.
Travelled to New York and entered Columbia University as a graduate student in physics.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgCompleted his PhD under the supervision of Charles H. Townes, working in microwave spectroscopy.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgTook a research position where he developed his proposal for a gas discharge laser.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgWith William R. Bennett Jr. and Donald Herriott, operated a helium-neon laser producing a continuous beam, and used it in the first telephone call carried on a laser beam.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgRemained at MIT for the rest of his academic career, later holding a named professorship.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgRecognised for his contributions to laser physics and spectroscopy.
Source: en.wikipedia.org