Quantum electronics

Article By:

Rana, Farhan Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.

Last reviewed:January 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.562700

Quantum electronics is concerned with the interaction of electromagnetic radiation and matter and with the use of radiation-matter interactions for applications in devices such as lasers and masers. The term “quantum electronics” for this field was coined in 1958 or 1959 by Charles H. Townes, who invented the maser, as this field in its early days brought together ideas from electrical engineering and quantum physics in the development of the maser and the laser. The field has grown immensely, and today quantum electronics is concerned not just with masers and lasers but with a wide range of topics related to linear as well as nonlinear radiation-matter interactions, quantum-mechanical properties of radiation, noise and photon statistics, physical properties of solid-state materials relevant to radiation interaction, and devices and systems that utilize these basic principles for practical applications. See also: Laser; Maser

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