Dr. Phillip Sprangle received a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in 1968, and a Ph.D. degree in Applied Physics from Cornell University in 1974. He joined the scientific staff of the Naval Research Laboratory the same year, and now has a Navy Senior Technical (ST) position and is the Senior Scientist for Directed-Energy Physics at the Naval Research Laboratory. In 2012, he received a joint appointment as Professor of Electrical and Computing Engineering and Physics at the University of Maryland.
Dr. Sprangle's pioneering research contributions to theoretical plasma physics are of the highest intellectual caliber and have had a major impact in a wide range of areas of pure and applied plasma physics. These include the atmospheric propagation of high-energy lasers, laser-driven high-gradient accelerators, ultra-short-pulse laser propagation and interaction with matter, and free-electron lasers.
His research accomplishments are highly cited and include: (a) formulation and analysis of the nonlinear electron cyclotron maser instability, (b) proposed and analyzed the modified betatron high-current accelerator, (c) proposed and analyzed efficiency enhancement and optical guiding in free-electron lasers, (d) proposed and analyzed optically guided laser wakefield accelerators, (e) performed the most comprehensive analysis of laser atmospheric propagation, (f) conceived, analyzed, and demonstrated proof-of-concept of a fiber laser directed-energy system, and (g) formulated and analyzed the atmospheric propagation of ultra-short pulse lasers and high-energy lasers. His fiber laser-based directed-energy laser system is presently deployed on board a Navy vessel.
Dr. Sprangle's citation for the 2013 James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics reads:
For pioneering contributions to the physics of high-intensity laser interactions with plasmas and for the development of plasma accelerators, free-electron lasers, gyrotrons, and high-current electron accelerators.
Dr. Sprangle is a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the Optical Society of America (OSA), and the Directed Energy Professional Society (DEPS). He is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including: the Fred E. Saalfeld Award (2012), the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award (2011), the IEEE Plasma Science Award (2008), the Sigma Xi Pure Science Award (1994), the International Free Electron Laser Prize (1991), the E.O. Hulburt Science and Engineering Award (1986), two NRL Technology Transfer Awards (2004 and 2009), and the Dolores M. Etter Top Navy Scientist and Engineer of the Year Award (2008). He has published over 290 refereed scientific articles, presented over 250 invited, review, and keynote lectures, and holds 17 U.S. patents. His research papers have been cited over 13 000 times in the scientific literature.
