Arthur Ashkin has won half the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics, while Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland will split the other half of the prize, for their work on methods to manipulate light, the prize committee announced this morning (October 2).
Ashkin, formerly a researcher at Bell Laboratories in Holmdel, New Jersey, developed focused beams of light called optical tweezers to grab and move the minutest elements of matter—from atoms to molecules to living cells. The tool is now used to study the inner workings of cells and DNA.
Mourou of École Polytechnique in Palaiseau, France, and Strickland of the University of Waterloo in Canada developed a technique to stretch and amplify beams of light, leading to boosts in laser power. The technique is also used in medical science, specifically, as the lasers in corrective eye surgery.
Strickland took part in the announcement today, and when asked about winning the ...
