# Charles Hard Townes Award

The Charles Hard Townes Award of Optica is a prize for quantum electronics, including laser physics. Awarded annually since 1981, it is named after the Nobel Prize-winning laser pioneer Charles H. Townes.
Former winners include Nobel Prize laureates John L. Hall, Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, Serge Haroche, Arthur Ashkin, and Gérard Mourou.

## Recipients

| Year | Recipient | Citation |
| 2025 | Kerry John Vahala | "For pioneering contributions to the development and application of optical microresonators and nonlinear optical oscillators." |
| 2024 | Franco Nori | "For his many fundamental contributions to quantum optics, quantum information processing and quantum circuits, and for the development of key quantum software tools." |
| 2023 | Andrew M. Weiner | "For ground-breaking work bringing optical frequency combs to the quantum world and developing innovative applications spanning several fields, including coherent control, generation and line-by-line manipulation of frequency combs, and ultrabroadband radio-frequency photonics." |
| 2022 | Girish Saran Agarwal | "For discoveries in theoretical quantum optics especially vacuum-induced coherences, photon-added coherent states, nonclassical cat states for qubits via engineered many-body interactions, and transparency in optomechanical systems." |
| 2021 | Mikhail Lukin | "For his pioneering theoretical and experimental contributions to quantum nonlinear optics and quantum information science and technology, and for the development and application of nanoscale quantum systems for sensing." |
| 2020 | Toshiki Tajima | "For seminal contributions in broad and novel plasma physics and laser-based accelerator physics, introducing the concept of Laser Wakefield Acceleration." |
| 2019 | Alexander L. Gaeta | "For seminal contributions to chip-based nonlinear photonics, nonlinear optics in photonic crystal fibers, and nonlinear propagation of ultrashort laser pulses." |
| 2018 | Peter Fritschel [de] | "For advances in quantum-limited precision measurement in the Advanced LIGO detectors, leading to the first direct detection of gravitational waves." |
| 2017 | Adolf Giesen [de] | "For pioneering breakthroughs in the field of solid-state lasers by the invention of and fundamental contributions to thin disk lasers." |
| 2016 | Robert W. Boyd | "For fundamental contributions to the field of nonlinear optics, including the development of methods for controlling the velocity of light, of quantum imaging methods, and of composite nonlinear optical materials." |
| 2015 | Ursula Keller | "For seminal contributions in the fields of octave-spanning lasers, frequency comb technology, and high repetition-rate ultrafast semiconductor disc lasers." |
| 2014 | Masataka Nakazawa | "For seminal contributions to the science and applications of ultrafast optics and ultrastable narrow-linewidth lasers." |
| 2013 | Günter Huber [de] | "For seminal contributions to solid state lasers, in particular the growth, development, and fundamental characterization of new laser materials based on laser active transition metal and rare earth ions." |
| 2012 | Philippe Grangier [fr; de] | "For breakthroughs in fundamental quantum optics, based on invention and/or development of experimental methods and techniques, and leading to groundbreaking applications in quantum information." |
| 2011 | Wilson Sibbett | "For pioneering breakthroughs in the science and technology of ultrashort optical pulses including generation, measurement and the development of practical sources for applications in photophysics, photochemistry, photomedicine, engineering and communications." |
| 2010 | Atac Imamoglu | "For his seminal contribution to electromagnetically induced transparency and pioneering work on quantum information processing with quantum dots." |
| 2009 | Gérard Mourou | "For ground-breaking applications of high-intensity lasers to precision micromachining, eye surgery and relativistic light-matter interactions." |
| 2008 | Robert R. Alfano | "For contributions to the discovery and investigation of supercontinuum generation and the development of tetravalent chromium-based tunable solid state lasers." |
| 2007 | Serge Haroche | "For pioneering experiments in cavity quantum electrodynamics, starting with the observation of superradiance, leading to the twophoton maser, non-destructive measurements of photons, and decoherence of Schrödinger cats." |
| 2006 | Orazio Svelto [it; de; mg] | "For pioneering work on ultrashort laser pulses and solid state lasers, and for the invention of the hollow-fiber compressor, leading to advances in extreme nonlinear optics and attosecond science." |
| 2005 | Paul Corkum | "For key contributions to the understanding of the physics of atoms and molecules in intense laser fields and the application of these ideas to ultra-fast measurement techniques." |
| 2004 | Erich P. Ippen | "For his many outstanding, pioneering and sustained contributions to ultrafast science and technology, and fundamental nonlinear optics." |
| 2003 | David C. Hanna | "For seminal contributions to the development of coherent light sources and for leadership within the worldwide optics community." |
| 2002 | Charles V. Shank | "For the development of ultra short lasers from the near-infrared to x-rays, and their application to condensed-matter problems in chemistry, physics, and biology." |
| 2001 | A. David Buckingham | "For many theoretical and experimental contributions to electro-optics and magneto-optics, including the invention and application of a direct method for measuring molecular electric quadruple moments." |
| 2000 | Richard G. Brewer [de; pt] | "For his outstanding contributions to quantum optics, characterized by originality and diversity, involving the interplay of theory and elegant experiments to elucidate fundamental problems of coherent optical transients, using atoms, molecules, solids and trapped ions." |
| 1999 | Charles H. Henry | "For fundamental contributions to the understanding of the optical properties of quantum wells, semiconductor lasers, and advanced photonic technologies." |
| 1998 | Marlan O. Scully | "For his role in laying the theoretical foundation for laser science, free-electron lasers, and lasers without inversion." |
| 1997 | Linn F. Mollenauer | "For pioneering ultrafast optics in the 1.5 μm wavelength regime, demonstrating optical soliton propagation in fibers, and developing innovative soliton systems that have set records for high-capacity repeaterless data transmission." |
| 1996 | Chung Liang Tang | "For seminal and pioneering advances in the field of nonlinear optics and laser physics." |
| 1995 | Ivan P. Kaminow [de] | "For outstanding leadership and contributions to the field of quantum electronics over the past 40 years, which include pioneering the invention and development of titanium-diffused LiNb03 waveguides and revolutionary innovations in electro-optic modulators." |
| 1994 | Joseph H. Eberly | "For his contributions to theoretical optical physics, in particular, his work on coherent pulse propagation and superradiance, atomic radiation theory, cavity quantum electrodynamics, and multiphoton intense field phenomena." |
| 1993 | Claude Cohen-Tannoudji | "For his contributions to optical pumping and his development of the dressed atom method for describing electromagnetic interactions with matter." |
| 1992 | Nick Holonyak | "For his career in quantum electronics, particularly his contributions to semiconducting, light-emitting sources." |
| 1991 | Elias Snitzer [de] | "For his pioneering contributions to solid state lasers and fiber optics, in particular, neodymium-glass and erbium-glass lasers, the first fiber optic laser, and for innovative contributions to fiber optic amplifiers and fiber optic lasers." |
| 1990 | Herbert Walther | "For his fundamental contributions to the quantum electronics of atoms and molecules." |
| 1989 | Daniel Joseph Bradley | "For his pioneering contributions to the fields of nonlinear optics, the physics of dye lasers, and the generation and detection of ultrashort light pulses." |
| 1988 | Arthur Ashkin | "For original, creative, experimental, and theoretical work that initiated the study of laser radiation pressure and for continuing exceptional contributions." |
| 1987 | Hermann A. Haus | "For his analysis of laser noise, the development of the mode-locked semiconductor laser, and contributions to our understanding of nonlinear waveguide interactions." |
| 1986 | Yuen-Ron Shen | "For his pioneering and continuing contributions to the field of nonlinear optics." |
| 1985 | Stephen E. Harris | "For his contributions to the development of techniques for the generation of extreme ultraviolet and soft x-ray radiation." |
| 1984 | Veniamin P. Chebotaev [ru; de] | "In recognition of independent pioneering efforts and continuing contributions in the field of laser metrology, ultrahigh resolution spectroscopy, and ultrastable laser sources." |
| 1984 | John L. Hall | "In recognition of independent pioneering efforts and continuing contributions in the field of laser metrology, ultrahigh resolution spectroscopy, and ultrastable laser sources." |
| 1983 | Robert W. Hellwarth [ja; de] | "For his invention of the Q-switched laser, codiscovery of the Raman laser and explanation of stimulated scattering phenomena, and the theory of optical phase conjugation." |
| 1982 | Chandra Kumar N. Patel | "For his pioneering contributions to quantum electronics, including the discovery of many gaseous laser systems, particularly to the CO$_2$ laser; his invention and development of the spin-flip Raman laser; his high-resolution studies for pollution detection in the atmosphere; and his contributions to acousto-optic techniques for measuring small optical absorptions." |
| 1981 | James P. Gordon | "For their contributions to the successful operation of the first quantum-electronics device, the ammonia maser." |
| 1981 | Herbert Zeiger | "For their contributions to the successful operation of the first quantum-electronics device, the ammonia maser." |