First Hologram With A Semiconductor Laser

[Eidetical]

Here's a letter to the editor of Laser Focus magazine from July, 1970, by high school student Robert Latterman who apparently was the first to make a hologram using a semiconductor laser. Way to go Robert (53 years late)!

I contacted him by phone and it turns out we were both at the same holography conference in 1991. He said that the next year he added an etalon to increase coherence length, and his senior year showed much better results winning first place at the International Science Fair that year.

 

[paul1598419]

It's amazing that a high school student was pushing the boundaries of holography back in 1970. I was just a college student back then and not that far along.

Edited for a spelling error

 

[CurtisOliver]

It takes fresh blood sometimes to try things. Its why I don’t support teachers/tutors not supporting their students to try and only to stick to what is known.

 

[kecked]

How did he get the laser. Back then they were thousands of dollars and that meant 100k

 

[Eidetical]

How did he get the laser. Back then they were thousands of dollars and that meant 100k

He simply asked for one in a letter to the manufacturer, and they gave it to him.

 

[atomd]

I'm curious how exactly he added external etalon to it.

 

[paul1598419]

I would also like to know exactly how he set this up.

 

[Eidetical]

According to him: "I worked on this project for the next two years and came up with a way to attach tiny etalon filters to the bare diodes (yes...I had to mount my own bare diodes after a while) anyhow.... it was successful at greatly narrowing the spectrum and I managed to get a 1st place in physics at the 23rd international science fair in New Orleans in 1972..... the good old days."

I'm thinking he may have meant interference filters instead of etalons. The laser would've been infrared.