Donna Strickland

Donna Strickland is a Canadian physicist who shared the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics for developing chirped-pulse amplification, a method for producing extremely intense laser pulses.

Chirped-pulse amplification: A laser technique that stretches, amplifies, and recompresses a pulse to produce extremely high peak power. Strickland and Gérard Mourou developed this technique, the work recognized by her Nobel Prize.
University of Rochester: A private research university in Rochester, New York. Strickland completed her doctoral research there with Gérard Mourou.
Ultrafast laser: A laser that emits pulses lasting from picoseconds down to femtoseconds. Chirped-pulse amplification made high-energy ultrafast laser systems practical.
Nobel Prize in Physics 2018: The 2018 award recognizing Arthur Ashkin, Gérard Mourou, and Donna Strickland for laser physics. Strickland shared this prize with Mourou for chirped-pulse amplification.
High-intensity laser physics: The study of matter and fields under the influence of extremely intense laser light. The technique opened experimental regimes that earlier laser systems could not reach.
Laser pulse: A brief burst of coherent light emitted by a laser. Strickland’s method changes a pulse’s duration and energy while controlling its peak intensity.
Gérard Mourou: A French physicist who shared the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics for chirped-pulse amplification. Mourou supervised Strickland’s doctoral work and co-developed the technique with her.
Femtosecond laser: A laser that emits pulses lasting on the order of 10⁻¹⁵ seconds. Amplified femtosecond pulses enable intense light-matter experiments.
University of Waterloo faculty: The academic staff of the University of Waterloo. Strickland became a professor of physics and astronomy at Waterloo.
Petawatt laser: A laser system capable of peak powers around 10¹⁵ watts. Chirped-pulse amplification is central to producing petawatt-class pulses.

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