prof. dr. Martin Čopič, prof. dr. Igor Poberaj: Nobel Prize in Physics 2018

prof.dr. Igor Poberaj (Aresis d.o.o.), prof.dr. Martin Čopič (UL FMF in Institut „Jožef Stefan“)

Nobel Prize in Physics 2018

 

Povzetek / Abstract: Half of the Nobel Prize in Physics 2018 was awarded to Arthur Ashkin. In 1986 he demonstrated that tightly focused laser beam can trap microscopic particles in its focus. Devices based on this phenomenon are called optical or laser tweezers. In the talk I will describe the physics behind optical tweezers and some major scientific achievements where the use of optical tweezers played essential role in discoveries.

Half of the Nobel Prize was awarded „for groundbreaking inventions in the field of laser physics“  jointly to Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland „for their method of generating high-intensity, ultra-short optical pulses.“ They used an optical fiber to stretch a short laser pulse, amplified it and then recompress it using a pair of optical gratings. This technique circumvented the problem of optical damage of the amplifying medium and enabled femtosecond laser pulses with  power  in the petawatt range.