Fritz Peter Schäfer

Fritz Peter Schäfer (15 January 1931 – 25 April 2011) was a German physicist, born in Hersfeld, Hesse-Nassau. He is the co-inventor of the organic dye laser.[1][2] His book, Dye Lasers, is considered a classic in the field of tunable lasers. In this book the chapter written by Schäfer gives an ample and insightful exposition on organic laser dye molecules in addition to a description on the physics of telescopic,[3] and multiple-prism,[4] tunable narrow-linewidth laser oscillators.

In their original experiment Schäfer and colleagues[5] employed a ruby laser to optically excite various infrared organic dyes. These dyes emitted laser radiation in the 731-835 nm range. Schäfer et al. achieved high power outputs at a bandwidth of approximately 10 nm. Schäfer also experimented with laser dyes in the vapor phase under optical excitation.[6]

In addition to his pioneering work on the dye laser, Schäfer also made important contributions to femtosecond lasers[7][8] and the application of these lasers in plasma physics.[9][10]

Schäfer was Director of the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen.