Arthur Schawlow

Professor, Physics 1921-1999

Arthur L. Schawlow Prize in Laser Science, awarded annually by the American Physical Society.

(Died April 28, 1999)

The Stanford News Service obituary is available.

Other links:
1996 Oral History interview at Berkeley

Bell Labs -- Laser History

Research Interests

Past research involved applying laser and other spectroscopic techniques to a wide range of problems in basic physics. In recent years these have included methods of simplifying complex atomic or molecular spectra by using a laser to label one chosen lower level, which is periodically depleted or oriented. Sensitive (non-laser) spectroscopy has been used to detect rare earth ions in single atomic layers and in metals. Recently investigated factors affecting tunability of semi-conductor diode lasers, and the uses of these lasers for spectroscopy.

• Experimental Atomic Physics
• Quantum Electronics
• Laser Physics

Career History

• J.G. Jackson and C.J. Wood Professor of Physics
• B.A., 1941, M.A., 1942,
• Ph.D., 1949, University of Toronto
• Co-inventor, with Charles H. Townes, of the laser, 1958
• Postdoctoral Fellow and Research Associate, Columbia University, 1949-51
• Research Physicist, Bell Telephone Laboratories, 1951-61
• Stuart Ballantine Medal, 1962
• Frederick Ives Medal
• Golden Plate Award
• Richtmyer Memorial Prize Lecturer
• Fellow of the American Physical Society, 1966
• Fellow of the Optical Society of America, 1966
• Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• Fellow of the American Association of the Advancement of Science
• Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• Fellow of the American Philosophical Society
• Fellow of the Institute of Physics (Great Britian)
• California Scientist of the Year, 1973
• 1981 Nobel Prize in Physics for his contribution to the development of laser spectroscopy
• U.S. National Medal of Science
• Honorary degrees from Belgium, Canada, England, Ireland, Sweden, and U.S.
• President of the Optical Society of America, 1975
• President of the American Physical Society, 1981
• Inductee in the Inventor's Hall of Fame, 1996