Donna Strickland

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Donna Strickland
Born
Donna Theo Strickland

(1959-05-27) May 27, 1959 (age 64)
Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Alma materMcMaster University
University of Rochester
Known forIntense laser-matter interactions, Nonlinear optics, Short-pulse intense laser systems, Chirped pulse amplification, Ultrafast optics
Awards
Scientific career
Fields
InstitutionsUniversity of Waterloo
ThesisDevelopment of an ultra-bright laser and an application to multi-photon ionization (1988)
Doctoral advisorGérard Mourou
Websitehttps://uwaterloo.ca/physics-astronomy/people-profiles/donna-strickland

Donna Theo Strickland (born May 27, 1959) is a Canadian physicist, academic, and Nobel laureate, who is a pioneer in the field of lasers.[1] She is the third woman to win the Nobel Prize in Physics, shared with her former PhD adviser, Gérard Mourou of France, for their work on laser physics.[2] The technique they developed, called chirped pulse amplification, is used for producing ultrashort pulses of very high intensity, useful in laser micromachining, surgery, medicine, and in fundamental science studies. She is an associate professor in the Physics and Astronomy Department of the University of Waterloo.

Early life

Donna Theo Strickland was born on May 27, 1959 in Guelph, Ontario, Canada.[3] She graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng) degree in engineering physics from McMaster University in 1981, and obtained her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in physics (specialising in optics) at the University of Rochester in 1989.[4][5] Her doctoral thesis was titled "Development of an ultra-bright laser and an application to multi-photon ionization", and was supervised by Gérard Mourou.[3]

Career

Strickland is an associate professor at the University of Waterloo, where she leads an ultrafast laser group that develops high-intensity laser systems for nonlinear optics investigations.[1] On 2 October 2018, Strickland was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for her work on chirped pulse amplification with Gérard Mourou, becoming only the third woman ever to win in that category (the others were Curie in 1903 and Goeppert-Mayer in 1963).[6][7] Her pioneering work on the "Compression of amplified chirped optical pulses" was published in 1985,[8] and led to the development of the field of high-intensity, ultrashort pulses of light beams. Strickland's recent work has focused on pushing the boundaries of ultrafast optical science to new wavelength ranges such as the mid-infrared and the ultraviolet, using techniques such as two-colour or multi-frequency techniques, as well as Raman generation[1]. She is also working on the role of high-power lasers in the microcrystalline lens of the human eye, during the process of micromachining of the eye lens to cure presbyopia[1].

In her professional capacity, she has served as the vice-president (2011) and the president (2013) of the Optical Society, and was a topical editor of the journal Optics Letters from 2004 to 2010.[1][9]

In 1999, Strickland received Ontario's Premier's Research Excellence Award and in 2000 she was the recipient of the Cottrell Scholars Award, for her research and academic leadership. She was named a fellow of the Optical Society of America in 2008.[2]

Strickland is the first first female physics laureate for 55 years and only the third woman in history to win the physics prize. American physicist Arthur Ashkin received 50% of the prize for his invention of "optical tweezers that grab particles, atoms, viruses and other living cells with their laser beam fingers", a method that has "revolutionized eye surgery". [10]

Strickland shared the balance with Gérard Mourou of the École Polytechnique (near Paris). According to The Guardian, their work on chirped-pulse amplification "paved the way for the shortest, most intense laser beams ever created. Their technique is now used in laser machining and enables doctors to perform millions of corrective laser eye surgeries every year".[11]

Awards and honors

Selected publications

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Donna Strickland - Physics and Astronomy". 5 April 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  2. ^ a b Murphy, Jessica (2 October 2018). "Donna Strickland: The 'laser jock' Nobel prize winner". BBC News. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  3. ^ a b Strickland, Donna T. (1988). "Development of an ultra-bright laser and an application to multi-photon ionization" (PDF). Laboratory for Laser Energetics. University of Rochester. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 July 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  4. ^ a b c "Biographies -Donna T. Strickland". The Optical Society. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  5. ^ "Donna Strickland". Education Program for Photonics Professionals. University of Waterloo. 11 September 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  6. ^ Rincon, Paul (2 October 2018). "First woman Physics Nobel winner in 55 years". BBC News. Retrieved 2 October 2018 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  7. ^ Sample, Ian; Davis, Nicola (2 October 2018). "Arthur Ashkin, Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland win Nobel physics prize". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  8. ^ Strickland, Donna; Mourou, Gerard (1985-10-15). "Compression of amplified chirped optical pulses". Optics Communications. 55 (6): 447–449. doi:10.1016/0030-4018(85)90151-8. ISSN 0030-4018.
  9. ^ "Arthur Ashkin, Gérard Mourou, and Donna Strickland Awarded 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics". osa.org. The Optical Society. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  10. ^ "Arthur Ashkin, 2 others win Nobel Physics Prize for laser research 96-year-old Jewish American who revolutionized eye surgery is oldest Nobel laureate ever". Times of Israel. 2 October 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2018. {{cite web}}: line feed character in |title= at position 67 (help)
  11. ^ "Physics Nobel prize won by Arthur Ashkin, Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland". The Guardian. 2 October 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  12. ^ "Past Sloan Fellows". sloan.org. Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Retrieved 2 October 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  13. ^ "Cottrell Scholars" (PDF). rescorp.org. Research Corporation For Science Advancement. Retrieved 2 October 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  14. ^ "Arthur Ashkin, Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland win the Nobel Prize for Physics". Physics World. Retrieved 2 October 2018.

See also

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