William B. Bridges

Who is William B. Bridges?

William B. Bridges is the Carl F Braun Professor of Engineering, Emeritus, and Professor of Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics in the Engineering and Applied Science division at the California Institute of Technology. Born in Inglewood, California, he is the discover/inventor of the Argon Ion laser, and holds the patent for the Ionized Noble Gas Laser.

He received his undergraduate and graduate education at the University of California at Berkeley. His graduate research dealt with noise in microwave tubes and electron-stream instabilities

He joined the Hughes Research Laboratories division of the Hughes Aircraft Company in 1960 where he worked briefly on microwave vacuum tubes, then gas lasers. He discovered and patented the noble gas ion lasers in 1964, lasers that are still around 50 years later He worked on many projects using lasers: an airborne night reconnaissance system, space communications systems, early high power laser weapons, hydrogen maser clocks for the global positioning system.