A NOBEL PRIZE FOR ATTOSECOND PHYSICS BASED ON EXTREME NONLINEAR OPTICS

Nobel Prizes related to lasers are awarded for their application in pioneering research areas, as was the case in 2023. Lasers are closely linked to 13-14 Physics Prizes, involving new discoveries, inventions, or research methods. The list is long, including optical fibers, optical tweezers, frequency combs, femtochemistry research, and research related to trapped particles. Lasers also play a crucial role in detecting gravitational waves and in holography. The 2023 award fits into this powerful series. The Prize and the oeuvre of Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L'Huillier shows how state-of-the-art laser technology enabled the emergence of extreme nonlinear optics and attophysics and, in turn, how attosecond science triggered the development of revolutionary light sources that are now used in medical diagnostics research or the semiconductor industry.