Szymon Suckewer (born April 10, 1938, in Warsaw) is a Polish-born American physicist, and professor emeritus at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

. His primary fields of interest include

X-ray laser An X-ray laser can be created by several methods either in hot, dense plasmas or as a free-electron laser in an accelerator. This article describes the x-ray lasers in plasmas, only. The plasma x-ray lasers rely on stimulated emission to gener ...

s, and

X-ray microscopy An X-ray microscope uses electromagnetic radiation in the X-ray band to produce magnified images of objects. Since X-rays penetrate most objects, there is no need to specially prepare them for X-ray microscopy observations. Unlike visible light, ...

, particularly the generation of ultrashort laser pulses which are applied in

plasma diagnostics Plasma diagnostics are a pool of methods, instruments, and experimental techniques used to measure properties of a plasma, such as plasma components' density, distribution function over energy (temperature), their spatial profiles and dynamics, whi ...

. Suckewer completed his degree in physics at the

Lomonosov Moscow State University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, and six branches. Al ...

in 1962. He went on to receive a doctorate in physics from the Institute for Nuclear Research at the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public university, public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well ...

in 1966. Suckewer received his habilitation in 1971 after which he was a lecturer at the Institute for Nuclear Research in Warsaw until 1975. In the same year, he went to

where he was the Senior Research Physicist in the Laboratory for Plasma Physics. From 1987 he worked as a professor and leader of a research team tasked to discover lasers with wavelengths of under 30 nm. In 1984 Suckewer's team succeeded in creating a laser with a wavelength of 18.2 nm in plasma composed of carbon ions. This was the first successful demonstration of laser operation in the soft X-ray range, almost at the same time as Peter Hagelstein's group at

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in Livermore, California, United States. Originally established in 1952, the laboratory now i ...

succeeded in doing so too. For the next years, he tasked himself with the need for developing laser pulses of shorter wavelengths and inventing new techniques for producing high-intensity laser pulses. In 1987 he managed to create ultrashort laser pulses within intensities of

2 \times 10^

W \times cm^

'' with a krypton-fluoride laser. With these pulses he managed to induce laser activity in lithium-ion plasma with wavelengths of 13.5 nm. He continued working with laser pulses of even shorter wavelengths into the 21st century. This led Suckewer to investigate applications of his lasers in fields such as bioengineering. He applied his laser technologies in the carrying out of incision-free eye surgery as well as using high-intensity lasers in the safe and efficient removal of tattoos. In 1990 he received the American Physical Society's Award for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research. In 2005 Suckewer was presented the Willis E. Lamb Award for Laser Science and Quantum Optics. In 2007 he received the Arthur L. Schawlow Award f''or pioneering contributions to the generation of ultra-short wavelength and femtosecond lasers and X-ray laser microscopy''. Suckewer is a fellow of the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of ...

and the

Optical Society of America Optica, founded as the Optical Society of America (later the Optical Society), is a professional society of individuals and companies with an interest in optics and photonics. It publishes journals, organizes conferences and exhibitions, and ca ...

and holds numerous patents in The United States Patent and Trademark Office. He transferred to

professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

status on July 1, 2016.

References

External links

Szymon Suckewer Professor Emeritus at Princeton University
''attribution'' translated from :de:Szymon Suckewer {{DEFAULTSORT:Suckewer, Szymon Princeton University faculty Microscopy 1938 births American people of Polish descent Moscow State University alumni University of Warsaw alumni Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory staff Fellows of Optica (society) Plasma physicists Living people Fellows of the American Physical Society