Agostini, Two Others Win 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics for Attosecond Pulses

By Adedapo Adesanya

Three scientists will share the Nobel Prize in Physics as the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences recognised Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L’Huillier as this year’s recipients for experimental methods that generate attosecond pulses of light for the study of electron dynamics in matter.

The three Nobel Laureates in Physics 2023 were recognised for their experiments, which have given humanity new tools for exploring the world of electrons inside atoms and molecules.

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According to the awarding body, these trio have demonstrated a way to create extremely short pulses of light that can be used to measure the rapid processes in which electrons move or change energy.

The prizes include a cash payment of 11 million Swedish crowns ($1 million), which come from a fund left by the creator of the prize, the Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, who died in 1896.

The prize money which will be shared by the trio was raised by one million crowns this year due to the loss of value of the Swedish currency.

“The laureates’ experiments have produced pulses of light so short that they are measured in attoseconds, thus demonstrating that these pulses can be used to provide images of processes inside atoms and molecules,” the official statement said.

In 1987, Anne L’Huillier discovered that many different overtones of light arose when she transmitted infrared laser light through a noble gas. Each overtone is a light wave with a given number of cycles for each cycle in the laser light. They are caused by the laser light interacting with atoms in the gas; it gives some electrons extra energy that is then emitted as light. Anne L’Huillier (Lund University, Sweden) has continued to explore this phenomenon, laying the ground for subsequent breakthroughs.

In 2001, Pierre Agostini (the Ohio State University, Columbus, USA) succeeded in producing and investigating a series of consecutive light pulses, in which each pulse lasted just 250 attoseconds. At the same time, Ferenc Krausz (Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, Garching and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany) was working with another type of experiment, one that made it possible to isolate a single light pulse that lasted 650 attoseconds.

“The laureates’ contributions have enabled the investigation of processes that are so rapid they were previously impossible to follow,” the body added.

There are potential applications in many different areas. In electronics, for example, it is important to understand and control how electrons behave in a material. Attosecond pulses can also be used to identify different molecules, such as in medical diagnostics.

“We can now open the door to the world of electrons. Attosecond physics gives us the opportunity to understand mechanisms that are governed by electrons. The next step will be utilising them,” says Ms Eva Olsson, Chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics.

In keeping with the yearly tradition, the Prize in Chemistry will be awarded on Wednesday. Literature and Peace will follow subsequently and next week Monday, the laureates for Economics will be announced.