Arthur Leonard Schawlow

Arthur Leonard Schawlow was an American physicist who shared the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physics for contributions to the development of laser spectroscopy.

Charles H. Townes: Charles H. Townes was an American physicist who shared the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics for work on masers and lasers. Townes co-developed the optical maser proposal with Schawlow and shared the 1981 Nobel Prize with him.
Laser spectroscopy: Laser spectroscopy uses laser light to measure the structure and behavior of atoms and molecules. It is the field for which Schawlow received the 1981 Nobel Prize.
Maser: A maser amplifies or generates electromagnetic waves through stimulated emission, typically at microwave frequencies. Schawlow and Townes drew on maser principles when proposing an optical counterpart.
Frequency comb: A frequency comb is a spectrum of evenly spaced, phase-coherent optical frequencies used for precise measurement. Comb spectroscopy extends the precision measurement tradition associated with Schawlow’s laser work.
Theodore Maiman: Theodore Maiman was an American physicist who built the first working laser in 1960. Maiman’s demonstration turned the laser principle Schawlow helped formulate into a working device.
Optical pumping: Optical pumping uses light to redistribute populations among the energy states of atoms or molecules. It helps prepare atomic states for precise spectroscopic measurements.
Infrared and Optical Masers: “Infrared and Optical Masers” is the 1958 paper by Arthur Schawlow and Charles Townes outlining how to build an optical maser. This paper set out the theoretical basis for the laser.
Laser cooling: Laser cooling uses light to reduce the motion and temperature of atoms or molecules. Precision laser techniques made controlled interactions with atoms increasingly practical.
Nicolaas Bloembergen: Nicolaas Bloembergen was a Dutch-American physicist who developed nonlinear optics and shared the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physics. Bloembergen shared Schawlow’s Nobel Prize for independent contributions to laser spectroscopy.
Doppler-free spectroscopy: Doppler-free spectroscopy suppresses motion-induced frequency broadening to resolve narrow atomic or molecular transitions. Schawlow helped develop methods that revealed spectral lines obscured by Doppler broadening.

Linked from 3 pages

Kai SiegbahnRelated: He shared the prize with Siegbahn, whose electron spectroscopy complemented the award’s recognition of optical methods.