Fritz Peter Schäfer Explained

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.

Notes and References

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