She Invented That A digital museum of women in science

Scientist Exhibit

Donna Strickland

Physics

1959 – Present Canada

Co-developed chirped pulse amplification for generating high-intensity ultrashort laser pulses

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Donna Strickland

Overview

About Donna Strickland

Donna Strickland is a physicist whose doctoral research with Gérard Mourou produced chirped pulse amplification, or CPA. The method stretches a short laser pulse, amplifies it at lower peak intensity, and then compresses it to create an extremely powerful ultrashort pulse without damaging the amplifying material. CPA became fundamental to high-intensity laser science and has applications including precision manufacturing and corrective eye surgery. Strickland shared the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Scientific Contribution

Key Discovery

Chirped pulse amplification

A method for generating extremely intense ultrashort laser pulses without damaging the amplifying material.

Life Timeline

Important Moments

1985

discovery

Develops chirped pulse amplification with Gérard Mourou

As a graduate student, Strickland and Gérard Mourou developed chirped pulse amplification, a method for producing ultrashort optical pulses of extremely high intensity.

1985

publication

Publishes the first chirped pulse amplification paper

Strickland and Mourou published their method for amplifying chirped optical pulses, establishing the basis of modern high-intensity laser systems.

1989

education

Receives her PhD from the University of Rochester

Strickland completed her doctorate in optics at the University of Rochester.

1997

career

Joins the University of Waterloo faculty

Strickland joined the University of Waterloo, where she built a research programme in ultrafast laser science.

2018

award

Receives the Nobel Prize in Physics

Strickland shared half of the Nobel Prize with Gérard Mourou for their method of generating high-intensity, ultra-short optical pulses.

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