maser

American  

[mey-zer] / ˈmeɪ zər /

noun

1. a device for amplifying electromagnetic waves by stimulated emission of radiation.

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maser British  

/ ˈmeɪzə /

noun

1. a device for amplifying microwaves, working on the same principle as a laser

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maser Scientific  

/ mā′zər /

1. Short for microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. A device that generates coherent microwaves using the same principles as a laser. Masers are used in a variety of applications, including in atomic clocks. Natural masers are found in outer space when water or other substances are excited by radiation from a star or by the energy of a collision.

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Etymology

Origin of maser

1950–55; m(icrowave) a(mplification by) s(timulated) e(mission of ) r(adiation)

Example Sentences

This releases a burst of energy that heats up the disk as it moves outwards - and produces maser emissions on the way.

From Space Scoop • Mar. 29, 2023

In the late 1950s, Gould explored using light to optically ‘pump’ a maser — a device emitting microwaves at a specific frequency, invented by physicist Charles Townes in 1953.

From Nature • Jan. 8, 2019

In the mid-1970s, a hydrogen maser, a device akin to a laser that produces a microwave radio signal at a particular wavelength, was carried by a rocket to an altitude of 10,000 kilometers.

From Textbooks • Oct. 13, 2016

Charles Townes, the Nobel Prize–winning physicist credited with the invention of the laser and its predecessor — the maser — died in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday.

From Time • Jan. 29, 2015

Scientific and technical instruments—oscilloscopes, X-ray generators, radar equipment, maser sets, dynostatic crystals, thermolight resonators, and so on—were stolen complete or gutted for various parts.

From Anything You Can Do! by Garrett, Randall