The Einstein Prize for Laser Science was a recognition awarded by the former Society for Optical and Quantum Electronics and sponsored by the

Eastman Kodak Company The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...

. The prize, awarded in the 1988–1999 period, consisted of a 3-inch brass medal including Einstein's image and a depiction of a two-level transition including the A and B coefficients. Recipients of the prize include: *

Serge Haroche Serge Haroche (born 11 September 1944) is a French physicist who was awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize for Physics jointly with David J. Wineland for "ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum sy ...

, 1988 *

Herbert Walther Herbert Walther (January 19, 1935 in Ludwigshafen/Rhein, Germany – July 22, 2006 in Munich) was a leader in the fields of quantum optics and laser physics. He was a founding director of the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics (MPQ) in Garchin ...

, 1988 * H. Jeff Kimble, 1989 * Richart E. Slusher, 1989 *

Carlton M. Caves Carlton Morris Caves is an American theoretical physicist. He is currently professor emeritus and research professor of physics and astronomy at the University of New Mexico. Caves works in the areas of physics of information; information, entro ...

, 1990 *

Daniel Frank Walls Daniel Frank Walls FRS (13 September 1942 – 12 May 1999) was a New Zealand theoretical physicist specialising in quantum optics. Education Walls gained a BSc in physics and mathematics and a first class honours MSc in physics at the Univers ...

, 1990 * S. E. Harris, 1991 * L. M. Narducci, 1991 * John L. Hall, 1992 * Willis E. Lamb, 1992 *

Raymond Chiao Raymond Y. Chiao is an American physicist best known for his experimental work in quantum optics. He is currently an emeritus faculty member at the University of California, Merced physics department, where he is conducting research on gravitat ...

, 1993 * Norman F. Ramsey, 1993 * G. S. Agarwal, 1994 *

Theodor W. Hänsch Theodor Wolfgang Hänsch (; born 30 October 1941) is a German physicist. He received one-fourth of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physics for "contributions to the development of laser-based precision spectroscopy, including the optical frequency comb ...

, 1995 * Carl E. Wieman, 1995 *

David J. Wineland David Jeffery Wineland (born February 24, 1944) is an American physicist at the Physical Measurement Laboratory of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). His most notable contributions include the laser cooling of trapped ...

, 1996 * Peter L. Knight, 1996 *

Paul Corkum Paul Bruce Corkum (born October 30, 1943) is a Canadian physicist specializing in attosecond physics and laser science., as published in '' Physics in Canada'', 65(2) 58. He holds a joint University of Ottawa– NRC chair in attosecond photoni ...

, 1999 In retrospect, the prize was mainly awarded for significant contributions in

quantum optics Quantum optics is a branch of atomic, molecular, and optical physics and quantum chemistry that studies the behavior of photons (individual quanta of light). It includes the study of the particle-like properties of photons and their interaction ...

. Two recipients of the Einstein Prize for Laser Science were already

Nobel laureates in physics The Nobel Prize in Physics () is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the 1895 will and testament, will of Alfred Nobel (wh ...

(W. E. Lamb and N. F. Ramsey) and five other recipients went on to win the Nobel Prize in Physics (S. Haroche, J. L. Hall, T. W. Hänsch, C. E. Wieman, and D. J. Wineland). Presentation of the prize was done at the ''Lasers'88'' to ''Lasers'99'' conferences. Note: the official name of these conferences was

The International Conference on Lasers and Applications, Lasers 'XX The International Conference on Lasers and Applications, Lasers 'XX was an annual conference organized by the former Society for Optical and Quantum Electronics. The conference, known in short by ''Lasers 'XX'' (where XX refers to the particul ...

References

External links: group photographs

Group photograph at ''Lasers'92''
including, right to left,

Marlan Scully Marlan Orvil Scully (born August 3, 1939) is an American physicist best known for his work in theoretical quantum optics. He is a professor at Texas A&M University and Princeton University. Additionally, in 2012 he developed a lab at the Baylor ...

Willis Lamb Willis Eugene Lamb Jr. (; July 12, 1913 – May 15, 2008) was an American physicist who shared the 1955 Nobel Prize in Physics with Polykarp Kusch "for his discoveries concerning the fine structure of the hydrogen spectrum". Lamb was able to p ...

, John L. Hall, and

F. J. Duarte Francisco Javier "Frank" Duarte (born c. 1954) is a laser physicist and author/editor of several books on tunable lasers. His research on physical optics and laser development has won several awards, including an Engineering Excellence Award in ...

.
Group photograph at ''Lasers'93''
including (right to left) Norman F. Ramsey,

, and

.
Group photograph at ''Lasers'95''
including (right to left)

, Carl E. Wieman, and

. {{Einstein Laser awards and associations Physics awards Albert Einstein

See also

References

External links: group photographs