Earl D. Shaw

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Earl D. Shaw

1937-

American physicist who has made important contributions to laser technology. Shaw helped develop the free electron laser, infrared lasers, and tunable lasers. Tunable lasers are important because, unlike conventional lasers, the wavelength of the emitted light can be changed, or tuned, for a particular application. Shaw has applied his studies of tunable lasers to research into the physical properties of DNA and other biologically important molecules.