Phillip A. Sprangle (born September 27, 1944, in Brooklyn) is an American physicist who specializes in the applications of plasma physics. He is known for his work involving the propagation of high-intensity

laser beams A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fir ...

in the

atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A s ...

, the interaction of ultra-short

laser pulse A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fir ...

s from high-power lasers with matter, nonlinear optics and nonlinear plasma physics, free electron lasers, and lasers in particle acceleration.

Early life and career

Sprangle received a bachelor's degree in

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in 1967, a master's degree from the University of Puerto Rico in 1969, and a Ph.D. in applied physics from Cornell University (where he had been since 1969) in 1973. From 1972, he was at the

Naval Research Laboratory The United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is the corporate research laboratory for the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. It was founded in 1923 and conducts basic scientific research, applied research, technological ...

, from 1982 as a senior scientist. There he headed the beam physics department. He is a professor at the University of Maryland.

Honors and awards

In 2008, Sprangle received the IEEE Plasma Science Award, in 1991 the International Free Electron Laser Prize, in 1986 the E. O. Hulburt Science and Engineering Award, in 2008 an award as Top Navy Scientist and Engineer of the Year and in 2012 the Fred E. Saalfeld Award for Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Scientist from the

Office of Naval Research The Office of Naval Research (ONR) is an organization within the United States Department of the Navy responsible for the science and technology programs of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. Established by Congress in 1946, its mission is to plan ...

. In 2013, he received the James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics, for “''pioneering contributions to the physics of high intensity laser interactions with plasmas, and to the development of plasma accelerators, free-electron lasers, gyrotrons and high current electron accelerators"''. He is a fellow of the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

, the Optical Society of America and the IEEE.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sprangle, Phillip A. 1944 births American plasma physicists University of Puerto Rico alumni Cornell University alumni University of Maryland, College Park faculty Scientists from Brooklyn Living people 20th-century American physicists 21st-century American physicists