Ahmed Zewail
At the end of the 1980s and beginning of the 1990s rapid developments in the laser industry led to the appearance of ultrafast, so-called femtosecond lasers. This new generation of lasers has the ability to generate pulses with durations of a few femtoseconds and even less (1 fs = formula_1sec). The duration of such a pulse is comparable with the period of a molecule's natural oscillation. Therefore, a femtosecond laser can, in principle, be used as a mean of controlling single molecules and atoms. A consequence of such an application is the possibility of realizing the alchemists' dream of changing the natural course of chemical reactions. A new area in chemistry emerged, femtochemistry, and new femtotechnologies were developed. Ahmed Zewail from Caltech was awarded the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on femtochemistry.