Gérard Mourou

Gérard Mourou is a French physicist who co-invented chirped pulse amplification, a technique for producing extremely intense, ultrashort laser pulses. He shared the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics with Donna Strickland.

Chirped pulse amplification: A laser technique that stretches, amplifies, and recompresses a pulse to produce very high peak power. Mourou co-invented this method with Donna Strickland to avoid damaging amplifiers with intense pulses.
Donna Strickland: A Canadian physicist who co-invented chirped pulse amplification with Gérard Mourou. Strickland and Mourou published the technique together in 1985.
High-intensity laser physics: The study of matter and fields exposed to extremely strong laser radiation. CPA enabled experimental access to laser intensities that were previously difficult to achieve.
Nobel Prize in Physics: An annual international award recognizing outstanding contributions to physics. Mourou shared its 2018 award for the invention of chirped pulse amplification.
Peak power (optics): The maximum instantaneous optical power of a light source, often expressed in watts. CPA sharply increased achievable laser peak power by compressing amplified pulses.
Ultrashort pulse: A light pulse lasting from femtoseconds to picoseconds. CPA increases peak power by compressing amplified light into an ultrashort pulse.
University of Rochester: A private research university in Rochester, New York. Mourou and Strickland developed chirped pulse amplification while working at its Laboratory for Laser Energetics.
Attosecond physics: The study of electron dynamics on timescales of attoseconds, or billionths of a billionth of a second. Ultrashort laser pulses enabled the generation and measurement of attosecond light pulses.
Arthur Ashkin: An American physicist who pioneered optical tweezers and shared the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics. Ashkin received the same Nobel award for a distinct contribution to laser science.
Laser wakefield acceleration: A particle-acceleration method that uses a laser-driven plasma wave to accelerate charged particles. CPA-generated intense pulses can drive the plasma waves required for this compact acceleration approach.

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