Fritz Peter Schäfer

Fritz Peter Schäfer (15 January 1931 – 25 April 2011) was a German physicist, born in Hersfeld, Hesse-Nassau. He is the co-inventor of the organic dye laser.[1][2] His book, Dye Lasers, is considered a classic in the field of tunable lasers. In this book the chapter written by Schäfer gives an ample and insightful exposition on organic laser dye molecules in addition to a description on the physics of telescopic,[3] and multiple-prism,[4] tunable narrow-linewidth laser oscillators.

In their original experiment Schäfer and colleagues[5] employed a ruby laser to optically excite various infrared organic dyes. These dyes emitted laser radiation in the 731-835 nm range. Schäfer et al. achieved high power outputs at a bandwidth of approximately 10 nm. Schäfer also experimented with laser dyes in the vapor phase under optical excitation.[6]

In addition to his pioneering work on the dye laser, Schäfer also made important contributions to femtosecond lasers[7][8] and the application of these lasers in plasma physics.[9][10]

Schäfer was Director of the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen.

References

1. F. P. Schäfer (Ed.), Dye Lasers 2nd Edition (Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1990).
2. F. J. Duarte and L. W. Hillman (Eds.), Dye Laser Principles (Academic, New York, 1990).
3. Hänsch, T. W. (1972-04-01). "Repetitively Pulsed Tunable Dye Laser for High Resolution Spectroscopy". Applied Optics. 11 (4). The Optical Society: 895–8. Bibcode:1972ApOpt..11..895H. doi:10.1364/ao.11.000895. ISSN 0003-6935. PMID 20119064.
4. Duarte, F.J.; Piper, J.A. (1980). "A double-prism beam expander for pulsed dye lasers". Optics Communications. 35 (1). Elsevier BV: 100–104. Bibcode:1980OptCo..35..100D. doi:10.1016/0030-4018(80)90368-5. ISSN 0030-4018.
5. Schäfer, Fritz P.; Schmidt, Werner; Volze, Jürgen (1966-10-15). "Organic Dye Solution Laser". Applied Physics Letters. 9 (8). AIP Publishing: 306–309. Bibcode:1966ApPhL...9..306S. doi:10.1063/1.1754762. ISSN 0003-6951.
6. Steyer, Bernd; Schäfer, Fritz P. (1974). "A vapor-phase dye laser". Optics Communications. 10 (3). Elsevier BV: 219–220. Bibcode:1974OptCo..10..219S. doi:10.1016/0030-4018(74)90143-6. ISSN 0030-4018.
7. Szatmári, S.; Schäfer, F.P.; Müller-Horsche, E.; Müchenheim, W. (1987). "Hybrid dye-excimer laser system for the generation of 80 fs, 900 GW pulses at 248 nm". Optics Communications. 63 (5). Elsevier BV: 305–309. Bibcode:1987OptCo..63..305S. doi:10.1016/0030-4018(87)90181-7. ISSN 0030-4018.
8. Szatmári, S.; Schäfer, F.P. (1988). "Simplified laser system for the generation of 60 fs pulses at 248 nm". Optics Communications. 68 (3). Elsevier BV: 196–202. Bibcode:1988OptCo..68..196S. doi:10.1016/0030-4018(88)90184-8. ISSN 0030-4018.
9. Fedosejevs, R.; Ottmann, R.; Sigel, R.; Kühnle, G.; Szatmari, S.; Schäfer, F. P. (1990-03-12). "Absorption of femtosecond laser pulses in high-density plasma". Physical Review Letters. 64 (11). American Physical Society (APS): 1250–1253. Bibcode:1990PhRvL..64.1250F. doi:10.1103/physrevlett.64.1250. hdl:11858/00-001M-0000-002C-363D-2. ISSN 0031-9007. PMID 10041346. S2CID 22155760.
10. Teubner, U.; Bergmann, J.; van Wonterghem, B.; Schäfer, F. P.; Sauerbrey, R. (1993-02-08). "Angle-dependent x-ray emission and resonance absorption in a laser-produced plasma generated by a high intensity ultrashort pulse". Physical Review Letters. 70 (6). American Physical Society (APS): 794–797. Bibcode:1993PhRvL..70..794T. doi:10.1103/physrevlett.70.794. ISSN 0031-9007. PMID 10054205.