Nanowire laser, artwork. Beam of ultraviolet light (blue) being emitted by a nanowire laser. This device was grown It was developed by a group led by chemist Peidong Yang from the University of California, Berkeley, USA, who won an award in 2007 for this work. The nanowire was grown as part of an an array using novel, efficient techniques. The materials used included zinc oxide and gallium nitride. The acronym LASER stands for 'light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation'. The laser was developed in 1960 and laser technology is now used in many different areas.