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Arthur Ashkin (September 2, 1922 – September 21, 2020) was an American scientist and Nobel Prize laureate who worked at Bell Labs. Ashkin has been considered by many as the father of optical tweezers, "LaserFest – the 50th anniversary of the first laser" for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 2018 at age 96, becoming the oldest Nobel laureate until 2019 when John B. Goodenough was awarded at 97. He resided in Rumson, New Jersey.
Ashkin started his work on manipulation of microparticles with laser light in the late 1960s which resulted in the invention of optical tweezers in 1986. He also pioneered the optical trapping process that eventually was used to manipulate atoms, molecules, and biological cells. The key phenomenon is the radiation pressure of light; this pressure can be dissected down into optical gradient and scattering forces.
: accessed December 23, 2013), Isadore Ashkin, Brooklyn (Districts 1251–1500), Kings, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 1261, sheet , family 298, NARA microfilm publication."United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918"
: accessed December 23, 2013), Isadore Ashkin, 1917–1918; citing New York City no 86, New York, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1509, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d); FHL microfilm 001765586."United States World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942"
: accessed December 23, 2013), Isadore Ashkin, 1942."United States Census, 1920"
: accessed December 23, 2013), Isdor Ashkin, Brooklyn Assembly District 18, Kings, New York, United States; citing sheet, family 342, NARA microfilm publication T625, FHL microfilm 1821173. Within a decade of his landing in New York, Isadore had become a U.S. citizen and was running a dental laboratory at 139 Delancey Street in Manhattan.
Ashkin met his wife, Aline, at Cornell University, and they were married for over 60 years with three children and five grandchildren. She was a chemistry teacher at Holmdel High School, and their son Michael Ashkin, is an art professor at Cornell University.
Ashkin finished his course work and obtained his BS degree in physics at Columbia University in 1947. He then attended Cornell University, where he studied nuclear physics. This was during the era of the Manhattan Project, and Ashkin's brother, Julius Ashkin, was successfully part of it. This led to Arthur Ashkin's introduction to Hans Bethe, Richard Feynman and others who were at Cornell at the time.
He received his PhD degree at Cornell University in 1952, and then went to work for Bell Labs at the request and recommendation of Sidney Millman, who was Ashkin's supervisor at Columbia University.
Within various professional society memberships, Ashkin attained the rating of fellow in the Optical Society of America (OSA), the American Physical Society (APS), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Ashkin received the Charles Hard Townes Medal in 1988 and the Frederic Ives Medal in 1998, both from The Optical Society. He was later named an Honorary Member of the organization. He retired from Bell Labs in 1992 after a 40-year career during which he contributed to many areas of experimental physics. He authored many academic paper over the years and held 47 patents. He was recipient of the Joseph F. Keithley Award For Advances in Measurement Science in 2003 and the Harvey Prize in 2004. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1984 and to the National Academy of Sciences in 1996. He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2013. He continued to work in his home lab.
Besides optical tweezers, Ashkin is also known for his studies in photorefraction, second harmonic generation, and non-linear optics in fibers.
Recent advances in physics and biology using optical micromanipulation include achievement of Bose–Einstein condensation in atomic vapors at submillikelvin temperatures, demonstration of atom lasers, and detailed measurements on individual motor molecules.
Ashkin's work formed the basis for Steven Chu's work on cooling and trapping atoms, which earned Chu the 1997 Nobel Prize in physics.
At 96, Ashkin was the oldest Nobel Prize laureate to be awarded the prize, until John B. Goodenough received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2019 at the age of 97. He died on September 21, 2020, at the age of 98.
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