The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics honors Pierre Agostini of Ohio State University, Ferenc Krausz of the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics, and Anne L’Huillier of Pierre and Marie Curie University for developing tools that reveal electron dynamics inside atoms and molecules. The Nobel Committee announced the award during a ceremony in Stockholm, recognizing their work on attosecond light pulses that enable real time observation of electronic motion.
Alexander Sergeev, head of the National Research Center for Physics and Mathematics and former president of the Russian Academy of Sciences, reflected on the award. He noted that Paul Corkum, a renowned Canadian scientist, had anticipated the attosecond impulse and contributed foundational discoveries. Sergeev added that all laureates are highly deserving of the recognition, while acknowledging Corkum’s important role in the field (attribution: Sergeev, National Research Center for Physics and Mathematics).
Who can turn on the light in an instant?
Electron dynamics unfold on incredibly brief timescales; attoseconds measure one quintillionth of a second. Traditional methods struggle to capture such fleeting events. The prize winners devised a method to generate ultra-short light pulses that illuminate electron motion within atoms and molecules in real time. This breakthrough helps illuminate fundamental physical processes and chemical reactions at the atomic scale. The ability to film electron motion in mega-slow motion could be likened to a camera capable of recording events inside matter with astonishing temporal resolution (attribution: general overview).
Anne L’Huillier described the significance of these advances during the award announcement, noting that every process begins with electronic transitions and that controlling the onset of molecular reactions may enable future manipulation of reaction pathways. The challenge lay in revealing how to light atoms and switch the light on and off with unprecedented speed, a feat that neither humans, mechanics, nor electronics could achieve with existing technology. The creation of attosecond pulses required new principles and powerful lasers capable of ionizing atoms (attribution: L’Huillier, ceremony remarks).
As explained by Mikhail Ryabikin from the Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the development demanded lasers strong enough to liberate electrons. The needed pulse duration exceeded what prior electronics could provide, prompting researchers to pursue a novel approach. The analogy of photographing a moving motorcyclist with a high shutter speed helps convey the essence of the achievement: attosecond lasers enable electrons to be photographed and, in principle, allow real-time movies of chemical processes inside molecules (attribution: Ryabikin).
The practical implication is clear: attosecond pulses open new possibilities for observing and guiding electronic motion, potentially enabling movies of reactions at the scale of atoms and molecules. The technology has the potential to illuminate fundamental processes and to provide a powerful tool for understanding chemistry and physics at the most granular level (attribution: general application).
Applications in science and engineering
One promising application is the development of novel electrical conductors. Attosecond lasers enable researchers to witness how a material in an insulator temporarily becomes conductive under a short light pulse, then reverts once the pulse ends. This observation could lead to faster computers and the possibility of memory cells built on attosecond dynamics (attribution: Ryabikin).
Understanding how an electron moves within a molecule allows scientists to steer chemical reactions with light. By directing electrons to specific locations, researchers can influence reaction outcomes and potentially improve solar cell efficiency and other energy technologies (attribution: Ryabikin).
Several Russian research groups are actively pursuing attosecond pulse techniques, including a prominent team at the Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences. They are examining how to obtain attosecond pulses with higher efficiency, intensity, and tailored electric field profiles and polarizations. Their goal is to learn how to control the properties of these light flashes for applications such as light-triggered photocells and early-stage photoionization, where currents emerge within extremely short timescales (attribution: Ryabikin; Institute of Applied Physics).
Attosecond pulses also hold promise for medical diagnostics, including identifying molecules linked to diseases such as lung cancer, though practical deployment remains under study. Experts caution that the technology is still largely in the research domain and far from routine use. The emphasis is on understanding electron dynamics in complex molecular systems and how to extract meaningful information from the resulting images (attribution: Andrei Vasiliev, Moscow State University).
In practical research settings, attosecond lasers already serve to explore chemical and biological processes in materials science and any domain where electron dynamics are central. The ongoing work aims to unlock deeper insights into how electrons behave under various conditions and how to harness that knowledge for future technologies (attribution: general research context).
The scientists behind the prize
Anne L’Huillier, based in Paris and now at Lund University in Sweden, leads an attosecond physics group focused on real-time electron movement and its relation to chemical reactions. In 2003 her team set a world record with a 170-attosecond laser pulse. L’Huillier became the fifth woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Physics, following pioneers such as Maria Skłodowska-Curie, Maria Geppert-Mayer, Donna Strickland, and Andrea Mia Ghez. Her reaction to the award blended humility and pride, as she recalled the moment of being reached while teaching and the difficulty of keeping calm after the news (attribution: L’Huillier; Nobel Prize history).
Pierre Agostini, born in France, earned a doctorate from the University of Aix-Marseille in 1968 and held positions in various institutions before joining Ohio State University in 2005 as a professor of physics. In 2001 he demonstrated a sequence of light pulses lasting as little as 250 attoseconds, and in 2012 he helped a team capture the movement of atoms within a molecule using an ultrafast camera. He also contributed the RABBITT method for characterizing attosecond pulses (attribution: Agostini career highlights).
Ferenc Krausz, a Hungarian physicist, trained at Budapest University of Technology and later directed the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics in Germany. Krausz and his team achieved the first generation and measurement of an attosecond light pulse, marking a formative moment in attosecond science. In 2008 their team documented an 80-attosecond pulse, a record that entered the Guinness Book of Records. In 2022 Krausz received the Wolf Prize in Physics for pioneering contributions to ultrafast laser science, and he donated the prize money to the charity he founded, Science4People. He has described attosecond technology as the closest practical analogy to freezing the motion of electrons, highlighting its potential to accelerate information processing to the speed of light (attribution: Krausz; Wolf Prize).
The collective work of these researchers represents a milestone in the study of electron dynamics. While current practical applications continue to develop, the underlying physics promises to reshape how scientists observe and influence chemical and material processes at their most fundamental level (attribution: Nobel laureate overview).