IVA's Great Gold Medal 2024: Anne L'Huillier – opened the door to the world of atoms
Swedish-French Anne L'Huillier is the physicist and Nobel Prize winner who, against all odds, has succeeded in revolutionizing the possibilities of seeing into the world of atoms and molecules. By developing a laser technology that can capture the processes that take place in electrons at the attosecond level, she has opened the door for applications in everything from nanotechnology to the development of the next generation of computers.
At the end of the 1980s, atomic physicist Anne L'Huillier made a discovery that more than 30 years later would lead to a Nobel Prize. By irradiating noble gas atoms with infrared laser pulses, she was able to show that they generated harmonics of light. Through many years of research and experiments, she, together with several colleagues, succeeded in developing laser technology that makes it possible to study electron movements that take place inside atoms and molecules on the attosecond scale – i.e. one billionth of a billionth of a second.
Anne L'Huillier's research, and the technological advances she has contributed to, can shed new light on the interaction between light and matter that forms the basis of all life. This opens up not only new basic research, but also applications in areas such as nanotechnology, chemical reactions and electronics. Industrial trials are already underway to use her technology to control chips with very small components, which could be used in the next generation of computers and phones. Thanks to her enthusiasm and her great commitment to both research and teaching, Anne L'Huillier has been highlighted as a strong role model for researchers, technicians and students.
"I think I have a valuable position as a role model. It is important to inspire the younger generation. Especially young girls.”
Jury citation
Professor Anne L'Huillier is awarded IVA's Great Gold Medal for her development of new laser techniques for the generation of ultra-short light pulses, and studies of ultrafast physical processes in atoms and matter. Her frontline research has increased the understanding of the dynamics of electrons in atoms and matter on the attosecond scale with applications in electronics, chemical reactions and nanotechnology, among others.
About Anne L’Huillier
Anne L’Huillier is a Professor of Physics at Lund University. She was born in 1958 in Paris, France, and studied at the École Normale Supérieure in Fontenay-aux-Roses. She pursued her doctoral studies at the Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique (CEA) and defended her thesis, “Multielectron multiphoton ionization of atoms,” at the Université Pierre et Marie Curie in 1986. She then secured a permanent position there. Throughout her academic career, she has conducted research at several universities, including Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, the University of Southern California, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. She moved to Sweden in 1994, became an Associate Professor at Lund University in 1995, and was appointed Professor there two years later.
In 2023, Anne L’Huillier was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics together with researchers Pierre Agostini and Ferenc Krausz.
Anne L’Huillier has been a fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (KVA) since 2004 and a fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA) since 2012.
IVA's Gold Medal
For more than a century, IVA has celebrated excellence in technology, economics, business and society by awarding Gold Medals to people who, through their outstanding achievements, have helped to create a better society.
IVA's Gold Medal is awarded for meritorious work within the academy's field of activity.
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