OBITUARY FOR MARSHALL NATHAN

NATHAN--Marshall. Marshall Nathan, a Harvard University applied physics Ph.D. graduate in 1958 and an inventor of the semiconductor laser in 1962, died on August 23, 2026. Today, the semiconductor laser is by far the most widely used laser. It accounts for more than $8 billion in annual revenue. The laser enables fiber optic telecommunications, the compact disc and a wide variety of scanners, including the bar code scanner in every supermarket. The realization of the semiconductor laser was a race between several industrial and academic research laboratories. Marshall and his colleagues at the IBM Research Center in Yorktown Heights, NY, made the first demonstration of such a laser in November 1962. MORE AT MARSHALL NATHAN Obituary (2026) - New York, NY - New York Times