At Northrop Corporate Research Laboratory, physicist Mani Lal Bhaumik led the development of the first efficient excimer laser, creating the precision ultraviolet technology that later made LASIK eye surgery possible. After receiving FDA approval in the 1990s, LASIK transformed vision correction for tens of millions of Americans and hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Bhaumik’s work demonstrated how fundamental physics research could produce one of the most widely used medical procedures of the modern era, linking American scientific innovation with a lasting improvement in human health and quality of life.
