Alfred Kastler

Alfred Kastler was born on May 03, 1902 in Guebwiller, Alsace, German Empire, French, is Physicist. Alfred Kastler was a French physicist who was awarded the ‘Nobel Prize in Physics’ in 1966 for discovering and developing optical procedures to study Hertizian resonances in atoms. His areas of research in collaboration with another French physicist Jean Brossel included quantum mechanics, spectroscopy and interaction between atoms and light. He examined the different radiations that emit by exciting atoms with radio waves and light. He went on to work on the combo of magnetic resonance and optical resonance to develop the procedure of optical pumping, a procedure where atoms are stimulated in a specific substance in a way that they achieve greater states of energy. As the light energy applied in stimulating the atoms is re-emitted, the optical pumping system evolved as a significant step in advancing the development of the theory of lasers and masers. His long investigations on atomic spectra helped in the commencement of a new field of nuclear magnetic resonance. He served as an academician at the ‘Blaise Pascal University’, ‘University of Bordeaux’, ‘University of Louvain’ and ‘École Normale Supérieure’. He remained Director of Research of the ‘National Centre of Scientific Research’ of France. He was active in peace movements, advocated for establishing Israel, opposed the rapid generation of nuclear weapons and voiced out his opinion against participation of America in the Vietnam War. He received Knighthood (1952), the French Legion of Honor Commander (1957) and Wilhelm Exner Medal (1979) among other awards and achievements.
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