Professor Juozas Vidmantis Vaitkus and the first Lithuanian laser on its 60th anniversary

The objective of this article is to reconstruct the development of Lithuanian laser science on the 60th anniversary of the first laser constructed and fired at Vilnius University in 1966, with particular attention to the role of Professor Juozas Vidmantis Vaitkus. Historical and published sources show that the first Lithuanian laser was developed for semiconductor research and initiated laser-based materials studies at Vilnius University (VU). Under Vaitkus’s scientific leadership, this research expanded into international research on radiation-hard semiconductor materials and detectors at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), as well as interdisciplinary applications in laser medicine, biomedical optics, and personalized optical diagnostics. The establishment of the Institute of Applied Sciences at VU in 1992 helped preserve and develop interdisciplinary collaboration between physics, engineering, chemistry, computer science and medicine during the transition from the Soviet research system. These activities contributed to the development of laser surgery, fluorescence spectroscopy and optical diagnostic methods, alongside education and international scientific cooperation. The first Lithuanian laser, fired on Vaitkus’s initiative in 1966, marked the beginning of continuous development from fundamental semiconductor research to laser-based materials science and the establishment of a Lithuanian photonics school with broad applications, including medicine. Its 60th anniversary in 2026 also marks the vision, determination and scientific leadership that laid the foundations for these developments and contributed to Lithuania’s international achievements in science, technology and medicine.