Gérard Mourou is a French physicist born in 1944, a specialist in lasers. Together with Donna Strickland, he invented the chirped pulse amplification (CPA) technique, which earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2018.
Gérard Mourou(1944 — ?)
Gérard Mourou
France
6 min read
Frequently asked questions
Key Facts
- Born on 22 June 1944 in Albertville (Savoy)
- Developed the chirped pulse amplification (CPA) technique in 1985 with Donna Strickland
- Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2018, shared with Donna Strickland and Arthur Ashkin
- Launched the European ELI (Extreme Light Infrastructure) project of ultra-powerful lasers
- His work has applications in eye surgery (LASIK) and precision machining
Works & Achievements
A fundamental invention, developed with Donna Strickland, that makes it possible to amplify laser pulses without destroying the equipment. It multiplied the power of lasers and founded the entire field of ultra-intense laser physics.
The founding publication in Optics Communications describing the CPA method. Short but decisive, this article has been cited thousands of times.
A research center founded by Mourou that became a world hub for the study of ultra-fast light phenomena.
A direct medical application of his research, used to correct nearsightedness and operate on cataracts with unprecedented precision.
A European network of some of the most powerful laser facilities in the world, initiated by Mourou and located in Romania, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.
The supreme award, given for the invention of CPA and shared with Donna Strickland and Arthur Ashkin.
Anecdotes
In 2018, Gérard Mourou received the Nobel Prize in Physics together with his doctoral student Donna Strickland, for work they had published in 1985. Donna Strickland thus became the third woman in history to receive the Nobel Prize in Physics, after Marie Curie and Maria Goeppert-Mayer.
The brilliant idea of Mourou and Strickland, chirped pulse amplification (CPA), consists of stretching a laser pulse out in time before amplifying it, then recompressing it. It is a bit like spreading out a wave to make it harmless while you build it up, before concentrating it once again into a wall of energy.
At the time of their decisive first publication, the young Donna Strickland was still only a doctoral student. The founding 1985 paper was only a few pages long, but it paved the way for the most powerful lasers ever built by humankind.
The techniques invented by Mourou are now used in millions of eye surgeries every year: laser surgery for myopia and cataract operations rely on these ultra-short pulses, capable of cutting the cornea with extreme precision.
Gérard Mourou dreams of using these super-powerful lasers to clean up space: his idea would be to target space debris in orbit to slow it down and make it fall back into the atmosphere, where it would burn up before becoming dangerous to satellites.
Primary Sources
We have demonstrated the amplification and subsequent recompression of optical chirped pulses. A system which produces 1.06 µm laser pulses with pulse widths of 2 picoseconds and energies at the millijoule level has been constructed.
The prize is awarded “for groundbreaking inventions in the field of laser physics”, including chirped pulse amplification of high-intensity, ultra-short laser pulses.
Our method, chirped pulse amplification, made it possible to increase the intensity of lasers by several orders of magnitude, paving the way for applications in medicine and fundamental science.
Key Places
Town in the French Alps where Gérard Mourou was born in 1944.
University where Mourou led the Laboratory for Laser Energetics and where he invented the CPA technique with Donna Strickland in 1985.
Here Mourou founded the Center for Ultrafast Optical Science in 1990, a pioneer in ultrafast lasers.
Here Mourou directed the Laboratory of Applied Optics and championed the European ELI project of extreme lasers.
The Swedish capital where Mourou received the Nobel Prize in Physics in December 2018.
Typical Objects
A laser emitting extremely brief light pulses, on the order of a millionth of a billionth of a second. It is the central tool of Mourou's research.
A grating-based optical device that stretches a laser pulse in time before amplification, then recompresses it. It is the heart of the CPA technique.
An active medium that greatly increases the energy of the stretched pulse without destroying the optical components. Without it, the final intensity would remain modest.
A heavy anti-vibration table drilled with threaded holes onto which mirrors, lenses, and lasers are mounted. It ensures perfect beam alignment, accurate to a thousandth of a millimeter.
Goggles that filter out dangerous wavelengths to protect researchers' eyes. Essential in any laboratory working with powerful lasers.
A gold medal bearing the likeness of Alfred Nobel, awarded to laureates in Stockholm. Mourou received it in 2018 for his work on lasers.
School Curriculum
Vocabulary & Tags
Key Vocabulary
Daily Life
Morning
A physicist like Mourou often begins the morning by reading scientific papers and emails from collaborators around the world. He then heads to the laboratory to discuss ongoing experiments with his doctoral students.
Afternoon
Much of the afternoon is spent in the laboratory, at the optical tables, adjusting the arrangements of mirrors and lenses. The work alternates between delicate handling, data analysis, and team meetings.
Evening
In the evening, he prepares lectures, writes papers, or exchanges ideas with researchers abroad across different time zones. An international career demands flexible hours and a great deal of travel.
Food
His life split between France and the United States exposes him to a varied cuisine, from American university cafeterias to more traditional French meals. Like many researchers, he often eats lunch quickly between two experiments.
Clothing
In the laboratory, he wears practical clothing and a lab coat, along with protective goggles to shield against the lasers. For lectures and ceremonies, he puts on a suit, or even formal evening dress at the Nobel award ceremony.
Housing
As a university professor, he lives in comfortable housing, in an American college town and later in the Paris region. His life is shaped by the moves tied to his successive positions and international collaborations.
Historical Timeline
Period Vocabulary
Liens externes & ressources
Références
Œuvres
Technique d'amplification par dérive de fréquence (CPA)
1985
Article « Compression of amplified chirped optical pulses »
1985
Center for Ultrafast Optical Science (Université du Michigan)
1990
Chirurgie oculaire au laser femtoseconde
années 1990
Projet ELI (Extreme Light Infrastructure)
2005-2008
Prix Nobel de physique
2018
