Professor Paul Corkum of the Department of Physics, also a researcher at the National Research Council of Canada, is the NSERC John C. Polanyi Award winner. Corkum is also a 2006 recipient of the Killam Prize for physical sciences.
The prize, shared with André Bandrauk of the Université de Sherbrooke, is for their work using advanced molecular theory and precision lasers to measure the movements of molecules and their electrons over timeframes of one attosecond. An attosecond is a billionth of a billionth of a second. For example, an athlete winning a race by an attosecond would be ahead by less than the width of an atom.
The two researchers began collaborating in the 1980s, combining Bandrauk’s expertise in theoretical chemistry and Corkum’s discoveries as an experimental physicist, to explore a new area of science: attosecond science. The ultimate goal of this research is to control the movements of electrons as they speed along inside molecules. Mastery of this challenge promises breakthrough applications in fields as diverse as quantum computing, diagnostic medicine and high-bandwidth telecommunications.
The award, which includes a research grant of $250,000, honours an individual or team conducting research in Canada that has led to a recent outstanding advance in the natural sciences or engineering. It was established in 2006, in honour of John Polanyi, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1986.
