Definition of Laser

Laser: A powerful beam of light that can produce intense heat when focused at close range. Lasers are used in medicine in microsurgery, cauterization, for diagnostic purposes, etc. For example, lasers are employed in microsurgery to cut tissue and remove tissue.

Technical Note: A laser concentrates high energies into an intense narrow beam of nondivergent monochromatic electromagnetic radiation; Lasers using various substances (ruby, argon, krypton, neodymium, helium-neon, carbon dioxide) are available.

Laser is an acronym coined in 1960 from a forgettable term: Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.