Researchers have made a huge breakthrough in microwave emitting laser technology allowing them to maintain a beam at room temperature for the first time. Previously, all versions of microwave emitting lasers, or a “maser,” required high magnetic fields and technically challenging cooling systems.

The report published in the journal “Nature” shows that masers can be created using a crystalline material without any cooling units or magnets.

The first maser was created in 1953 and was used in events like the first transatlantic television broadcast but then researchers moved into the visible light spectrum to create lasers. Unlike lasers, masers required large setups resulting in their being limited to organizations like NASA who used the masers for communications with deep space satellites.

The advantage of masers over lasers is that a maser can penetrate places that a laser cannot reach such as through a cloud or through skin. A maser that works at room temperature could open up huge advances in medical equipment and detectors for explosives at airports and train stations.

The maser also creates a beam with less noise than a laser allowing to increase clarity and distance on telecommunications both on earth and into space.