Sven Hartmann
About Optica
In Memoriam: Sven Richard Hartmann, 1932 - 2021
17 December 2021
Sven R. Hartmann, Optica Fellow and recipient of the RW Wood Prize, passed away on 17 December 2021 at the age of 89 in High Falls, New York. A founder of the modern field of optical physics, he was most known for his pioneering experiment that unveiled the “photon echo” phenomenon that defied the basic notions about the interaction of light and matter.
Hartmann was born in the Bronx, New York to Danish immigrant parents. He went to Brooklyn Technical High School and pursued his undergraduate studies at Union College. He continued his studies at the University of Minnesota and then was called to serve in the Air Force in the Wright Air Development Center for two years as a lieutenant entrusted with physics tasks. Hartmann went to on to receive his doctorate in 1961 at the University of California, Berkley under Erwin Hahn. His thesis on double resonance methods made an impact on the field of nuclear magnetic resonance, established the widely used cross-polarization technique. In 1962, he joined the faculty of Columbia University and remained there his entire scientific career, transitioning to the status of Professor Emeritus in 2003.
In 1964, Hartmann with Isaac Abella and Norman Kurnit, unveiled the “photon echo”, a dilute ruby crystal emitting spontaneously a short pulse of light, after irradiation by two successive ruby-laser pulses.
As laser science continued to develop, Hartmann collaborated with Alexander M. Prokhorov to form the Annual International Laser Physics Workshop (LPHYS) in 1992, which brought together leading laser scientists from all over the world.
Hartmann was recognized for his achievements in 1983 with the RW Wood prize “in recognition of the extension of spin echos to the conceptually different optical regime and for the development of the photon echo technique into a useful spectroscopic tool.” Two years later, he was named a Fellow of Optica (formerly The Optical Society) in 1985.
In addition to his passion for the optical sciences, he saved a historic barn in the Hudson Valley in 1976 that was formerly the home of Wickie Wackie. The barn held historic significance, and welcomed Black Americans in the 1950s and 60s during segregation. The barn became a source of comfort to Hartmann after the passing of his first wife Helen in 1979.
Hartmann remarried in 1986 and he and Constance Beckley raised honeybees, peacocks and llamas.
Optica and the scientific community mourn his loss.
