Phillip Sprangle

{{short description|American physicist (born 1944)}} {{Infobox scientist | honorific_prefix = | name = Phillip A. Sprangle | honorific_suffix = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image =  | image_size = | image_upright = | alt = | caption = | birth_name =  | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1944|09|27}} | birth_place = Brooklyn, New York | death_date =  | death_place = | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates =  | home_town = | other_names = | pronounce = | residence = | citizenship = | fields = Plasma physics | workplaces = | patrons = | education = Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn (BS) <br> University of Puerto Rico (MS) <br> Cornell University (Ph.D.) | alma_mater = | thesis_title = | thesis_url =  | thesis_year = 1973 | doctoral_advisor = | academic_advisors = | doctoral_students = | notable_students = | known_for = | influences = | influenced = | awards = {{plainlist| * James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics (2013) * Presidential Rank Award (2015) }} | author_abbrev_bot = | author_abbrev_zoo = | spouse = | partner =  | children = | signature =  | signature_alt = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Phillip A. Sprangle''' (born September 27, 1944, in Brooklyn) is an American physicist who specializes in the applications of plasma physics.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://umdphysics.umd.edu/people/faculty/current/item/503-sprangle.html|title=Sprangle, Phillip - UMD Physics|last=Suplee|first=Anne|website=umdphysics.umd.edu|language=en-us|access-date=2020-02-25}}</ref> He is known for his work involving the propagation of high-intensity laser beams in the atmosphere,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Sprangle|first1=Phillip|last2=Peñano|first2=Joseph|last3=Hafizi|first3=Bahman|last4=Gordon|first4=Daniel|last5=Scully|first5=Marlan|date=2011|title=Remotely induced atmospheric lasing|journal=Applied Physics Letters|volume=98|issue=21|pages=211102|doi=10.1063/1.3584034|bibcode=2011ApPhL..98u1102S|issn=0003-6951}}</ref> the interaction of ultra-short laser pulses from high-power lasers with matter,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Esarey|first1=E.|last2=Sprangle|first2=P.|last3=Krall|first3=J.|last4=Ting|first4=A.|date=1997|title=Self-focusing and guiding of short laser pulses in ionizing gases and plasmas|journal=IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics|volume=33|issue=11|pages=1879–1914|doi=10.1109/3.641305|bibcode=1997IJQE...33.1879E|issn=1558-1713}}</ref> nonlinear optics and nonlinear plasma physics,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Peñano|first1=Joseph|last2=Sprangle|first2=Phillip|last3=Ting|first3=Antonio|last4=Fischer|first4=Richard|last5=Hafizi|first5=Bahman|last6=Serafim|first6=Phillip|date=2009|title=Optical quality of high-power laser beams in lenses|journal=JOSA B|language=EN|volume=26|issue=3|pages=503–510|doi=10.1364/JOSAB.26.000503|bibcode=2009JOSAB..26..503P|issn=1520-8540}}</ref> free electron lasers,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Roberson|first1=C. W.|last2=Sprangle|first2=P.|date=1989|title=A review of free‐electron lasers|journal=Physics of Fluids B: Plasma Physics|volume=1|issue=1|pages=3–42|doi=10.1063/1.859102|bibcode=1989PhFlB...1....3R|issn=0899-8221|hdl=2027/mdp.39015018983083|hdl-access=free}}</ref> and lasers in particle acceleration.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Esarey|first1=E.|last2=Sprangle|first2=P.|last3=Krall|first3=J.|last4=Ting|first4=A.|date=1996|title=Overview of plasma-based accelerator concepts|journal=IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science|volume=24|issue=2|pages=252–288|doi=10.1109/27.509991|bibcode=1996ITPS...24..252E|issn=1939-9375}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Esarey|first1=Eric|last2=Ride|first2=Sally K.|last3=Sprangle|first3=Phillip|date=1993|title=Nonlinear Thomson scattering of intense laser pulses from beams and plasmas|journal=Physical Review E|volume=48|issue=4|pages=3003–3021|doi=10.1103/PhysRevE.48.3003|pmid=9960936|bibcode=1993PhRvE..48.3003E}}</ref>

== Early life and career == Sprangle received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering 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, 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.<ref name=":0" />

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"''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aps.org/programs/honors/prizes/prizerecipient.cfm?last_nm=Sprangle&first_nm=Phillip&year=2013|title=2013 James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics Recipient|last=|first=|date=|website=American Physical Society|language=en|access-date=2020-02-25}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nrl.navy.mil/Media/News/releases/dr-phillip-sprangle-receives-prestigious-maxwell-prize-plasma-physics/|title=Dr. Phillip Sprangle Receives Prestigious Maxwell Prize in Plasma Physics|date=2013-11-15|website=News|language=en|access-date=2020-02-25}}</ref>

He is a fellow of the American Physical Society, the Optical Society of America and the IEEE.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://eng.umd.edu/news/story/sprangle-awarded-2013-maxwell-prize|title=Sprangle Awarded 2013 Maxwell Prize|website=eng.umd.edu|language=en|access-date=2020-02-25}}</ref>

== References == {{Scholia}} {{Reflist}}

{{James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics recipients}} {{Authority control}} {{use mdy dates|date = February 2020}}

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