Olexander Smakula ( uk, Олександр Теодорович Смакула) (1900 in Dobrovody,

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, today

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

– 17 May 1983 in

Auburn, Massachusetts Auburn is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 16,889 at the 2020 census. History The Auburn area was first settled in 1714 as of today outer parts of Worcester, Sutton, Leicester and Oxford, Massachusett ...

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

) was a

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

physicist known for the invention of anti-reflective lens coatings based on

optical interference In physics, interference is a phenomenon in which two waves combine by adding their displacement together at every single point in space and time, to form a resultant wave of greater, lower, or the same amplitude. Constructive and destructive ...

Biography

Smakula was born to a peasant family in Dobrovody village,

(today

Ternopil Oblast Ternopil Oblast ( uk, Тернопі́льська о́бласть, translit=Ternopilska oblast; also referred to as Ternopilshchyna, uk, Терно́пільщина, label=none, or Ternopillia, uk, Тернопілля, label=none) is an obl ...

). After finishing his studies at the Ternopil gymnasium he applied to the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

from which he graduated in 1927. Afterwards he worked as an assistant of Prof.

Robert Pohl Robert Wichard Pohl (10 August 1884 – 5 June 1976) was a German physicist at the University of Göttingen. Nevill Francis Mott described him as the "father of solid state physics". See also: "Components of the solid state", Nevill Mott, New Sci ...

. After his short stay at

Odessa University Odesa I. I. Mechnykov National University ( uk, Одеський національний університет Iмені І. І. Мечникова, translit=Odeskyi natsionalnyi universytet imeni I. I. Mechnykova), located in Odesa, Ukraine, i ...

, Smakula returned to Germany as head of an optics laboratory in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

. From 1934 he worked at the

Carl Zeiss AG Carl Zeiss AG (), branded as ZEISS, is a German manufacturer of optical systems and optoelectronics, founded in Jena, Germany in 1846 by optician Carl Zeiss. Together with Ernst Abbe (joined 1866) and Otto Schott (joined 1884) he laid the f ...

company in

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a popu ...

. While at Zeiss, in 1935, Smakula invented and patented interference-based optical

anti-reflective coating An antireflective, antiglare or anti-reflection (AR) coating is a type of optical coating applied to the surface of lenses, other optical elements, and photovoltaic cells to reduce reflection. In typical imaging systems, this improves the effic ...

s, a significant advance in optical technology. The patent mentions practically almost no light absorbing organic and inorganic materials can be used for such coatings. These coatings remained a German military secret for several years, until the Allies discovered the secret during World War II.Camera Lens Anti-Reflection Coatings: Magic Explained
/ref> During World War II, Smakula collaborated with the Nazi regime and worked on

infrared guidance Infrared homing is a passive weapon guidance system which uses the infrared (IR) light emission from a target to track and follow it seamlessly. Missiles which use infrared seeking are often referred to as "heat-seekers" since infrared is radi ...

for missiles. After the end of World War II Smakula went to the US with other German physicists, where he first worked in Virginia investigating materials for infrared technology. In 1951 he was offered a professorship at

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the mo ...

, where he mainly did research into crystalline materials. Olexander Smakula died on May 17, 1983, and is buried in

References

External links

History of Camera Lenses from Carl Zeiss - 1935 - Olexander Smakula develops anti-reflection coating

''Physicist Oleksandr Smakula and his contributions to science''. Welcome to Ukraine 2008, 3.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smakula, Olexander 1900 births 1983 deaths 20th-century Ukrainian inventors 20th-century Ukrainian physicists University of Göttingen alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty Soviet expatriates in Germany Soviet emigrants to the United States