Siegfried H. Glenzer, 2013
Fusion and Plasma Sciences: For seminal development of Thomson X-ray scattering as an in situ microscopic characterization technique of dense plasma, and for its use to advance fundamental understanding in high energy density physics.
Siegfried H. Glenzer is honored for his development of Thomson X-ray scattering as an in situ microscopic characterization technique of dense plasma, and for its use to advance fundamental understanding in high energy density physics. Thomson X-ray scattering is based on the interaction of electromagnetic waves, such as light, with free electrons, and is used to determine the properties of matter that has been heated and compressed to high temperatures and/or pressures, and is especially powerful in sensing the temperature of plasma – the high-temperature state of matter in which electrons and nuclei move independently of each other. The technique enables probing unusual and exotic states of matter under extreme conditions of temperature, pressure, and radiation, such as the Big Bang, when the Universe was born in a primordial fireball; the interiors of stars and planets; and thermonuclear weapons.
