Anatoly Maksimchuk elected Fellow of APS

Dr. Anatoly Maksimchuk, ECE Research Scientist and a leader in the High Field Science research group at the Center for Ultrafast Optical Science (CUOS), was elected Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS), “for major contributions to the understanding of short pulse high intensity laser-plasma interactions, in particular for innovative experimental work in electron and ion acceleration and radiation generation.”

Dr. Maksimchuk is a world leader in the field of high intensity laser plasma interactions. He specializes in laser-matter interaction at relativistic intensities, table-top particle accelerators, and high-power short pulse lasers. Some of the major accomplishments he has made include: the earliest measurements of accelerated relativistic electron beams from a laser generated wakefield (1996); the first measurements of the non-linear Thomson scattering (1998); the first observation of laser-driven forward accelerated proton beams from thin film targets (2000), followed by the first nuclear activation experiments with laser accelerated light ions and production of radioactive isotopes (2001).

Dr. Maksimchuk participated in the construction of a 300 TW HERCULES laser facility (pictured above), and is head of the experimental target areas there. He also is the head of a 20 TW, 400 fs hybrid Ti:Sapphire/Nd:Phosphate glass laser facility. He studies the physics of ultra-relativistic laser-plasma interactions with the purpose of furthering development of table-top accelerators for production of high-energy electron and proton beams, and for generation of ultra-bright and ultra-fast sources of radiation, extending from THz to gamma rays. These laser driven particle and radiation beams could revolutionize the fields of nuclear science, molecular biology, materials science, medical therapy and energy research.

Dr. Maksimchuk joined the University of Michigan in 1992, after receiving his Ph.D. in Physics and Mathematics from Lebedev Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He is the author of more than 200 scientific papers that were published in prestigious journals; many were highly influential leading to them being cited more than 4000 times. Dr. Maksimchuk is an excellent educator and has mentored several graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who are now employed in governmental laboratories, industry and academia. In 2009, Dr. Maksimchuk’s achievements were recognized by the College of Engineering with an Outstanding Research Scientist Award.

About the APS Fellowship Program

The APS Fellowship Program was created to recognize members who may have made advances in knowledge through original research and publication or made significant and innovative contributions in the application of physics to science and technology. They may also have made significant contributions to the teaching of physics or service and participation in the activities of the Society. Each year, no more than one-half of one percent of the then current membership of the Society are recognized by their peers for election to the status of Fellow in The American Physical Society.