Editing Maser (section)

==Terminology==
The meaning of the term ''maser'' has changed slightly since its introduction. Initially the acronym was universally given as "microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation", which described devices which emitted in the microwave region of the [[electromagnetic spectrum]].

The principle and concept of stimulated emission has since been extended to more devices and frequencies. Thus, the original acronym is sometimes modified, as suggested by Charles H. Townes,<ref name="nobel_lecture" /> to "''molecular'' amplification by stimulated emission of radiation." Some have asserted that Townes's efforts to extend the acronym in this way were primarily motivated by the desire to increase the importance of his invention, and his reputation in the scientific community.<ref>{{cite book |last=Taylor |first=Nick |title=LASER: The inventor, the Nobel laureate, and the thirty-year patent war |year=2000 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |isbn=978-0-684-83515-0}}</ref> <!--''Molecular'' is used here in the sense of [[kinetic theory]], where the base element of a kinetic system is a [[molecule]], even if it happens to be [[monatomic]]. This should not be confused with the usage of the term in the molecular sciences, where it refers to a [[bound state]] comprising two or more atoms.-->

When the laser was developed, Townes and [[Arthur Schawlow|Schawlow]] and their colleagues at Bell Labs pushed the use of the term ''optical maser'', but this was largely abandoned in favor of ''laser'', coined by their rival Gordon Gould.<ref>{{cite book |last=Taylor |first=Nick |title=LASER: The inventor, the Nobel laureate, and the thirty-year patent war |year=2000 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |isbn=978-0-684-83515-0 |pages=66–70}}</ref> In modern usage, devices that emit in the [[X-ray]] through [[infrared]] portions of the spectrum are typically called [[laser]]s, and devices that emit in the microwave region and below are commonly called ''masers'', regardless of whether they emit microwaves or other frequencies.

Gould originally proposed distinct names for devices that emit in each portion of the spectrum, including ''grasers'' ([[gamma ray]] lasers), ''xasers'' (x-ray lasers), ''uvasers'' ([[ultraviolet]] lasers), ''lasers'' ([[visible light|visible]] lasers), ''irasers'' ([[infrared]] lasers), ''masers'' (microwave masers), and ''rasers'' ([[radio frequency|RF]] masers). Most of these terms never caught on, however, and all have now become (apart from in science fiction) obsolete except for ''maser'' and ''laser''.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}