Wolfgang Paul

Wolfgang Paul (1913–1993) was a German physicist who shared the 1989 Nobel Prize in Physics for developing ion-trap techniques, especially the Paul trap.

Paul trap: An ion trap that confines charged particles using oscillating electric fields. This device embodies the ion-trapping technique associated with Paul.
Mass spectrometry: An analytical technique that identifies or measures substances by sorting ions according to their mass-to-charge ratios. Ion traps developed from Paul’s work became versatile mass-analysis instruments.
Hans Georg Dehmelt: A German-American physicist who shared the 1989 Nobel Prize in Physics for developing ion-trapping techniques. Dehmelt shared the prize with Paul for independent advances in trapping charged particles.
University of Berlin: A historic German university, now divided among successor institutions including Humboldt University of Berlin. Paul studied physics there and earned his doctorate under Erwin Schrödinger.
Nobel Prize in Physics: An annual international award recognizing outstanding contributions to physics. Paul received the 1989 prize jointly with Dehmelt and Ramsey.
Quadrupole ion trap: A mass analyzer that traps ions in a radio-frequency quadrupole field and ejects them according to mass-to-charge ratio. Paul’s radio-frequency trapping principle underlies this widely used instrument.
Atomic clock: A clock that keeps time by measuring a stable frequency associated with atomic energy transitions. Trapped ions can serve as exceptionally controlled frequency references.
Norman Foster Ramsey Jr.: An American physicist awarded the 1989 Nobel Prize in Physics for work on separated oscillatory fields and precision spectroscopy. Ramsey shared the prize with Paul and Dehmelt for foundational precision-measurement methods.
Kiel University: A public research university in Kiel, Germany, founded in 1665. Paul held an early academic post in Kiel before moving to Bonn.
Laser cooling: A family of methods that uses light to reduce the motion and temperature of atoms or ions. Cooling trapped ions enables longer, more precise measurements of their properties.

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Wolfgang KetterleRelated: Paul’s work exemplifies the German physics tradition in which Ketterle trained before moving to the United States.