2022 Julius Springer Prize

Applied Physics A and Applied Physics B congratulate the winner of the 2022 Julius Springer Prize!

New York | Heidelberg, 19 July 2022

The 2022 Julius Springer Prize for Applied Physics is awarded to Dr. Richard E. Russo for his outstanding research in Laser Ablation, LIBS and general atomic and molecular spectroscopy.  The award comes with a prize of US$5,000.

Dr. Richard E. Russo has studied fundamental properties of laser material interactions and related applications for 40 years. Dr. Russo earned a B.S. degree in Chemistry at the University of Florida (1976), and received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Indiana University (1981), where he also completed his postdoctoral studies. Since 1982, he has held various positions at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in Berkeley, California, where he is currently an Affiliate Senior Scientist. Dr. Russo established and directed a fundamental research program that pioneered the development of laser ablation chemical analysis for applications in nonproliferation, safeguards, forensics, industrial manufacturing, energy and environmental monitoring. His research also included the fabrication of high-temperature superconductor (HTSC) thin-films, fiber sensors for organic and radioactive species, and photothermal spectroscopy of rare-earth and actinide ions. He is co-inventor of the ion-assisted pulsed laser deposition (IBAD) and ion-texturing (ITEX) processes, and established the world record for the highest critical current density HTSC film on a polycrystalline substrate in 1992. Dr. Russo is co-discoverer of the nanowire laser, highlighted by a Science article and patent in 2002.

At LBNL, Dr. Russo also served as Department Head of the Energy Technologies Division for 9 years. His responsibilities included program development, management, and laboratory logistics for over 200 staff members with a $40M annual budget. Programs included batteries, combustion, sensors, materials science and chemistry.

Dr. Russo also founded a small business, Applied Spectra in 2004. He currently is the Chairman of the Board and Chief Technology Officer. He oversees government relations, SBIR programs and all aspects of business development. The company employs 36 staff, including 9 PhD scientists, engineers, and manufacturing personnel.  Applied Spectra manufactures analytical instruments that are utilized in national and international markets, including academia, industry, energy, environmental, forensics and national security. Over 400 instruments have been installed throughout the world.

Quote from winner

“I am honored to be the recipient of the Julius Springer Prize for Applied Physics in 2022.  Thank you sincerely for this recognition and to thanks to my co-workers who are responsible for the R&D that led to this award. I look forward to the award ceremony during the October meeting.”

The Julius Springer Prize for Applied Physics recognizes researchers who have made an outstanding and innovative contribution to the field of applied physics. It has been awarded annually since 1998 by the editors-in-chief of the Springer journals Applied Physics A – Materials Science & Processing and Applied Physics B – Lasers and Optics. Recent winners have included Roland Wiesendanger, Xiang Zhang, Viktor Malka, Guus Rijnders, Jerome Faist, Leon Chua and Jun Ye.

The Julius Springer Prize will take place on 14 October 2022 at the Magnus Haus in Berlin.

Find out more about Rick Russo’s work in the following articles published in Applied Physics A and other Springer Nature titles: 

Choi, I., Mao, X., Gonzalez, J.J. et al. Plasma property effects on spectral line broadening in double-pulse laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. Appl. Phys. A 110, 785–792 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-012-7153-6

Zeng, X., Mao, X., Greif, R. et al. Experimental investigation of ablation efficiency and plasma expansion during femtosecond and nanosecond laser ablation of silicon. Appl. Phys. A 80, 237–241 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-004-2963-9

Russo, R., Klunder, G., Grant, P. et al. Laser ablation ion-storage time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Appl Phys A 69, S895–S897 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/s003390051554

Mao, X., Russo, R. Invited paper Observation of plasma shielding by measuring transmitted and reflected laser pulse temporal profiles . Appl Phys A 64, 1–6 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/s003390050437

Xu, X., Grigoropoulos, C.P. & Russo, R.E. Nanosecond-time-resolution thermal emission measurement during pulsed excimer-laser interaction with materials. Appl. Phys. A 62, 51–59 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01568087

5 highly cited

Gondhalekar, C., Biela, E., Rajwa, B. et al. Detection of E. coli labeled with metal-conjugated antibodies using lateral-flow assay and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. Anal Bioanal Chem 412, 1291–1301 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-019-02347-3

Mao, X., Chan, G.CY., Choi, I. et al. Combination of atomic lines and molecular bands for uranium optical isotopic analysis in laser induced plasma spectrometry. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 312, 121–131 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-017-5197-y

Lee, SH., Kim, CK., Shim, HS. et al. Ablation and spectroscopic characteristics of thin CuIn1-xGaxSe2 solar cell films fabricated by co-evaporation and co-sputtering processes. Int. J. of Precis. Eng. and Manuf.-Green Tech. 1, 17–24 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40684-014-0003-6

Zorba, V., Mao, X. & Russo, R.E. Optical far- and near-field femtosecond laser ablation of Si for nanoscale chemical analysis. Anal Bioanal Chem 396, 173–180 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-009-3136-7

Grant, P.M., Moody, K.J., Hutcheon, I.D. et al. Nuclear forensics in law enforcement applications. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 235, 129–132 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02385950