The Nobel Prize in Physics 1981
Awarded on: 1981-10-19
"for their contribution to the development of laser spectroscopy"
Affiliations:
- Stanford University – Stanford, CA, USA
Arthur Leonard Schawlow
Born: 1921-05-05 in Mount Vernon, NY, USA
Gender: male
Field: American physicist; co-inventor of the laser (1921–1999)
Biography
Arthur Leonard Schawlow was an American physicist who, along with Charles Townes, developed the theoretical basis for laser science. His central insight was the use of two mirrors as the resonant cavity to take maser action from microwaves to visible wavelengths. He shared the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physics with Nicolaas Bloembergen and Kai Siegbahn for his work using lasers to determine atomic energy levels with great precision.