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Incoming links: James Power Gordon
Ammonia maser Created 2026-10-18 Updated 2026-10-31
An ammonia maser uses an Ammonia molecular beam, maser state selection and a maser cavity to obtain amplification or sustained microwave oscillation. In the 1954 experiment by James Power Gordon, Herbert Jack Zeiger and Charles Hard Townes, a quadrupolar static electric field focused upper-state molecules toward the cavity and deflected lower-state molecules away. The reported ammonia inversion transition lies near .[ref]
Molecular Microwave Oscillator and New Hyperfine Structure in the Microwave Spectrum of NH3 by James Power Gordon and others. pp. 282–283, Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 caption; 23 870 Mc/sec
Charles H. Townes Created 2026-10-24 Updated 2026-11-05
Charles H. Townes, James Power Gordon and Herbert Jack Zeiger developed the molecular maser, using stimulated emission to amplify or generate coherent microwaves. Their report treats the same device as an amplifier, oscillator and spectrometer. Preparing the molecular excitation and providing resonant feedback turns microscopic transitions between energy levels into a macroscopic signal. The measured frequency stability and narrow spectroscopic resolution showed why the maser could serve as both an instrument for studying molecules and a frequency reference.[ref]
The Maser—New Type of Microwave Amplifier, Frequency Standard, and Spectrometer by James Power Gordon and others. 1955 abstract and molecular-generator mechanism: oscillator stability, spectroscopy and amplification
A physicist.[ref]
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1964/townes/biographical/. Independent professional profile
Portrait of Charles H. Townes
. Woodruff T. Sullivan III; NRAO/AUI Archives, Sullivan Collection; rights NRAO/AUI/NSF. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, with NRAO's displayed source-credit/non-endorsement and third-party-rights qualifications., via Wikimedia Commons. Source.
Maser history 2026-10-18
The 1955 paper by James Power Gordon, Herbert Jack Zeiger and Charles Hard Townes acknowledged Nikolay Basov and Aleksandr Prokhorov's independent proposal.[ref]
The Maser—New Type of Microwave Amplifier, Frequency Standard, and Spectrometer by James Power Gordon and others. p. 1264, Introduction and reference 2
The latter authors' theory paper states that they presented the molecular-generator possibility in May 1952, cites their 1954 publication, and separately cites the Gordon–Zeiger–Townes experimental realization. These are contributions from independent groups.[ref]Theory of the Molecular Generator and Molecular Power Amplifier by Nicolay Gennadiyevich Basov and Aleksandr Mikhailovich Prokhorov. p. 426, historical footnote and references 3–4; manuscript submitted December 10, 1954, English publication October 1956