Professors P. Dhamelincourt and F. Wallart from the LASIR laboratory of the University of Lille, alongside E. Da Silva, M. Leclercq, J. Barbillat, C. Allay, T.A. Nguyen in France and D. Landon in the United States for Lirinord, developed the first commercial Raman laser microscope under the name MOLE™ (Molecular Optical Laser Examiner). This invention revolutionized vibrational spectroscopy, and is of particular interest to materials science researchers and geologists, as it was the first device in the world capable of making molecular measurements at the micron scale.