The oldest discipline in physics
Milestones in nonlinear optics
Replica of the first gas laser in Germany from 1962.
Image: Liana Franke/Universität Jena
The importance of the lens
When the Arab scholar Alhazen (965–1040) took a closer look at the structure of the eye, he identified the importance of the lens for sight and refuted the theory of ›rays of vision‹ in various scientific experiments. Some of his analysis included the reflective properties of curved mirrors, the refraction of light in the atmosphere and the magnification qualities of lenses.
Die ersten Glaslaser werden in Jena gebaut.
Reinhart Neubert (*1935) built the first gas laser in Germany—in Jena—in 1962. Exactly 50 years later, the University of Jena awarded the laser pioneer an honorary doctorate.
Den ersten Lehrstuhl für nichtlineare Optik gibt es in Jena.
The first chair of nonlinear optics in Germany was held by Max Schubert (1926–1998), who was appointed to the University of Jena in 1964. Together with his student, the physicist Bernd Wilhelmi (1938–2018), Schubert wrote an ›Introduction to Nonlinear Optics‹, a textbook that subsequently became an international standard work.
Der Physiker Gerhard Paulus entdeckt Hohe Harmonische bei Photoionisation.
Six years after Anne L’Huillier had discovered high harmonics, Gerhard Paulus (*1966), who was appointed to the University of Jena in 2007, demonstrated the corresponding effect in photoionization. In 2015, Anne L’Huillier became the first female honorary doctor of the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Jena.
Der vorläufige Schlusspunkt der nichtlinearen Optik ist die relativistische Laserphysik.
As it stands, the most advanced school of thought in nonlinear optics is the field of relativistic laser physics. When the laser fields are so strong that the electrons are accelerated to almost the speed of light, a whole new class of characteristic effects is produced. The first chair in this field is currently held by Malte Kaluza (*1974) at the University of Jena.