STEVEN CHU
Steven Chu is the Theodore and Frances Geballe Professor of Physics and Applied
Physics at Stanford University. Professor Chu's research is primarily in atomic
physics, quantum electronics, polymer and bio-physics. He became the sixth
director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory on August 1, 2004.
His thesis and postdoctoral work at Berkeley, the observation of parity non-conservation
in atomic transitions in 1978, was one of the earliest atomic physics
confirmations of the Weinberg-Salam-Glashow theory that unifies the weak and
electromagnetic forces.
While at Bell Laboratories he and Allen Mills did the first laser spectroscopy
of positronium, the bound state of an electron and positron in 1982. They went
on to measure the 1s-2s energy level splitting of that atom to an accuracy of a
few parts per billion. They also made the first measurement of the corresponding
transition in muonium, an atom consisting of muon+ and an electron. He also
worked on exciton energy transfer in solids and picosecond pulse propagation in
solids.
In 1985, he led the group that showed how to first cool and then trap atoms with
light. The optical trap was also used to trap microscopic particles in water:
these so-called "optical tweezers" are widely used in biology. The first optical
trapping was followed by the demonstration of the magneto-optic trap, the most
commonly used atom trap. After joining the Stanford Physics Department in 1987,
Chu (and independently, Dalibard and Cohen-Tannoudji) explained how multi-level
atoms can be cooled far below the minimum temperature predicted by the theory of
two-level atoms. His group also demonstrated the first atomic fountain and then
made the first atomic fountain frequency standard to exceed the short term
stability of atomic clocks maintained by standards laboratories. They developed
a novel atom interferometer that has already exceeded the accuracy of the most
accurate commercial inertial sensors.
Using the optical tweezers, Chu developed methods to simultaneously visualize
and manipulate single bio-molecules. Using this new technique, his group have
used single DNA molecules to address a number of problems in polymer science.
His group is also applying methods such as fluorescence energy transfer, optical
tweezers and atomic force microscope methods to study the protein and RNA
folding, translation and other enzyme activity at the level of individual bio-molecules.
Chu has been awarded the Herbert Broida Prize for Spectroscopy (American
Physical Society, 1987), Richtmyer Memorial Prize Lecturer (APS/AAPT, 1990), co-winner
of the King Faisal International Prize for Science (1993), the Arthur Schawlow
Prize for Laser Science (APS, 1994), the William Meggers Award for Laser
Spectroscopy (Optical Society of America, 1994), the Science for Art Prize (Louis
Vitton - Möet Hennesey, 1995), and co-winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics (1997).
Chu received a Humboldt Senior Scientist award (1995) and the Guggenheim
Fellowship (1996).
He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical
Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Academica Sinica. He
is also a foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Korean
Academy of Science and Engineering.
Steven Chu is the Theodore and Frances Geballe Professor of Physics and Applied
Physics at Stanford University. Professor Chu's research is primarily in atomic
physics, quantum electronics, polymer and bio-physics. He became the sixth
director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory on August 1, 2004.
His thesis and postdoctoral work at Berkeley, the observation of parity non-conservation
in atomic transitions in 1978, was one of the earliest atomic physics
confirmations of the Weinberg-Salam-Glashow theory that unifies the weak and
electromagnetic forces.
While at Bell Laboratories he and Allen Mills did the first laser spectroscopy
of positronium, the bound state of an electron and positron in 1982. They went
on to measure the 1s-2s energy level splitting of that atom to an accuracy of a
few parts per billion. They also made the first measurement of the corresponding
transition in muonium, an atom consisting of muon+ and an electron. He also
worked on exciton energy transfer in solids and picosecond pulse propagation in
solids.
In 1985, he led the group that showed how to first cool and then trap atoms with
light. The optical trap was also used to trap microscopic particles in water:
these so-called "optical tweezers" are widely used in biology. The first optical
trapping was followed by the demonstration of the magneto-optic trap, the most
commonly used atom trap. After joining the Stanford Physics Department in 1987,
Chu (and independently, Dalibard and Cohen-Tannoudji) explained how multi-level
atoms can be cooled far below the minimum temperature predicted by the theory of
two-level atoms. His group also demonstrated the first atomic fountain and then
made the first atomic fountain frequency standard to exceed the short term
stability of atomic clocks maintained by standards laboratories. They developed
a novel atom interferometer that has already exceeded the accuracy of the most
accurate commercial inertial sensors.
Using the optical tweezers, Chu developed methods to simultaneously visualize
and manipulate single bio-molecules. Using this new technique, his group have
used single DNA molecules to address a number of problems in polymer science.
His group is also applying methods such as fluorescence energy transfer, optical
tweezers and atomic force microscope methods to study the protein and RNA
folding, translation and other enzyme activity at the level of individual bio-molecules.
Chu has been awarded the Herbert Broida Prize for Spectroscopy (American
Physical Society, 1987), Richtmyer Memorial Prize Lecturer (APS/AAPT, 1990), co-winner
of the King Faisal International Prize for Science (1993), the Arthur Schawlow
Prize for Laser Science (APS, 1994), the William Meggers Award for Laser
Spectroscopy (Optical Society of America, 1994), the Science for Art Prize (Louis
Vitton - Möet Hennesey, 1995), and co-winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics (1997).
Chu received a Humboldt Senior Scientist award (1995) and the Guggenheim
Fellowship (1996).
He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical
Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Academica Sinica. He
is also a foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Korean
Academy of Science and Engineering.