Two researchers with ties to the University of Rochester have won the 2018 Nobel Prize in physics for their groundbreaking work with lasers.

Donna Strickland and Gérard Mourou developed a technique called chirped pulse amplification, which makes it possible to generate high-intensity, ultra-short optical pulses.

Strickland is only the third woman to win the Nobel Prize in physics, following Marie Curie in 1903 and Maria Goeppert Mayer in 1963.

"Obviously we need to celebrate women physicists, because we’re out there," Strickland said in a phone call with the academy after the prize announcement. "And hopefully in time it’ll start to move forward at a faster rate, maybe,"

Strickland and Mourou will share the 2018 Nobel Prize with another laser researcher, Arthur Ashkin, who was recognized for his work developing "optical tweezers and their application to biological systems."

Michael Moloney, CEO of the American Institute of Physics, praised all the laureates and said "It is also a personal delight to see Dr. Strickland break the 55-year hiatus since a woman has been awarded a Nobel Prize in physics, making this year’s award all the more historic.”

He credited the work of all three honorees with “expanding what is possible at the extremes of time, space and forms of matter.”

'Revolutionary' research

Strickland and Mourou worked together at the University of Rochester in the 1980s.

Mourou was a physics professor who headed a group researching ultra-fast lasers at UR's Laboratory for Laser Energetics. Strickland studied under him and was the primary author of a scientific paper that first described chirped pulse amplification in 1985.

In announcing the award, the academy described that article as "revolutionary." It was Strickland's first scientific publication.

Mourou and Strickland demonstrated what has been described as a stunning advance in laser power, with a table-top terawatt laser. At the time, the peak power of laser pulses was limited because of the serious damage the pulses caused to the material used to amplify them.

The technique that Strickland and Mourou developed takes a short laser pulse, stretches it, amplifies it and squeezes it together again.

The breakthrough made it possible to create very precise laser systems. The applications for the technology include Lasik eye surgery, semi-conductor manufacturing, and solid state hard drives.

Strickland received her undergraduate degree in physics from McMaster University in Hamilton Ontario and a Ph.D. in optics from UR in 1989. She currently serves as associate professor and associate chair of the physics department at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.

Mourou, a native of France, came to the University of Rochester after earning his PhD in 1973. He later worked at the University of Michigan, where he was founding director of the Center for Ultrafast Optical Science in 1991. In 2004, Mourou returned to France to become director of the Laboratoire d’ Optique Appliquée at ENSTA-Ecole Polytechnique in Paris.

UR's Laser Lab

Strickland was an undergraduate student and Mourou was her faculty adviser when the pair worked at UR’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics during the 1980s.

For nearly five decades, the lab has been at the cutting edge of laser research. Last month, Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, helped restore funding for the facility after the U.S. Department of Energy proposed a three-year ramp-down of the lab.

On Tuesday, Schumer said the Nobel Prize demonstrates the facility's vital scientific contributions.

"It's why I made sure that the Laser Lab remained open," Schumer tweeted. "We need federal resources for cutting-edge research."

Mike Campbell, director of the Lab, said the newest Nobel laureates have helped shape the direction of research in high-powered lasers of the kind housed at the laser lab.

"The development of chirped pulse amplification by Gérard and Donna has created numerous new applications in science and industry and has catalyzed research around the world in high peak power lasers,” Campbell said. “The research that led to the Nobel was conducted at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics and highlights the quality and innovation that has long characterized the University’s contributions to optics and laser science."

Other UR Nobel laureates

Nine others with ties to the University of Rochester have won a Nobel Prize, including six graduates and three faculty members.

More:Seven UR alums, 4 faculty members have won Nobel Prize

They include:

Richard Thaler - 2017 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.

Masatoshi Koshiba - 2002 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Steven Chu - 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Robert Fogel - 1993 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.

Daniel Carleton Gajdusek - 1976 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Arthur Kornberg - 1959 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Vincent du Vigneaud - 1955 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Henrik Dam - 1943 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

George Whipple - 1934 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine



SLAHMAN@Gannett.com