Michigan State University chemist Marcos Dantus is the 2023 recipient of the prestigious American Chemical Society Ahmed Zewail Award in Ultrafast Science and Technology.

The award, sponsored by the Ahmed Zewail Endowment Fund established by the Newport Corp. (a supplier of photonics technology and products) recognizes outstanding and creative contributions to fundamental discoveries or inventions in ultrafast science and technology in the areas of physics, chemistry, biology or related fields.

 

Dantus, an MSU Foundation Professor and University Distinguished Professor, is a pioneer in the use of spectrally and temporally shaped ultrafast pulses and the inventor of revolutionary laser optimization instruments. His research utilizes ultrafast lasers to explore high-energy chemical reactions, detect cancer, and trace explosives. Dantus is incorporating computer-controlled lasers to speed up advanced photonic materials characterization by orders of magnitude.

Dantus has excelled in the field of ultrafast science since his time at the California Institute of Technology. As a graduate student in Zewail's program, Dantus built the laboratory and carried out a series of research projects that helped create the branch of science now known as femtochemistry, the area of physical chemistry involving the study of chemical reactions on an extremely short “femtosecond” (one millionth-of-a-billionth of a second) timescale.

“I am honored and very excited to be recognized by this award,” said Dantus, who holds joint appointments in the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the College of Natural Science. “This award is of particular significance for me given that I played an important role in Zewail’s research group. I appreciate that this award recognizes both scientific and technological contributions to ultrafast laser science. I enjoy making both fundamental scientific discoveries and developing tools that can help society.”

To read more about Dantus, visit natsci.msu.edu