The Hans Mueller Memorial Award & Lecture is dedicated to Hans Mueller, a Swiss physicist and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), who created the Mueller matrix calculus. Hans Mueller’s contributions to polarization optics continue to reverberate through numerous fields in optics and are the basis for many advanced ellipsometry instrumentation operations as well as mathematical analysis methods.
This Award & Lecture was established at the 10th International Conference on Spectroscopic Ellipsometry (ICSE-10) by the North American Ellipsometry Association (NAEA) in collaboration with the Spectroscopic Ellipsometry Technical Group (SETG) of the American Vacuum Society (AVS).
The Ellipsometry Association and AVS Technical Group are seeking support to permanently fund this Award & Lecture for future ICSE meetings.
Purpose
The Hans Mueller Memorial Award & Lecture recognizes outstanding individuals for their life-time achievements in the areas of interest to the Ellipsometry Association and the AVS Technical Group, with emphasis on developments, applications, and/or dissemination or education in the fields of ellipsometry and polarimetry, or other applications that use polarization properties of light.
Nature
The Hans Mueller Memorial Award & Lecture consists of: a commemorative plaque or certificate, stating the title of the Award, details of the ICSE event, and name of the awardee; a monetary prize; plus an honorary Lecture at a regular session of the ICSE meeting. The Lecture may reflect the awardee’s life-time achievements and inspire future generations of scientists and educators in the fields of ellipsometry and polarimetry.
Eligibility & Nomination
Nominees for the Hans Mueller Memorial Award & Lecture shall have made pioneering, life-long contributions to the fields of ellipsometry and polarimetry, or to other applications that use polarization properties of light.
Nomination packages should contain a cover letter, a 2-page CV of the nominee, an up to 2-page description of the contributions to the field for which the nominee shall be considered, one or more letters of support from colleagues in the field (optional), and a complete list of the nominee’s publications and/or other relevant achievements.
Nominations and self-nominations may be submitted by anyone to the Awards Committee of the respective ICSE event.
The Chair of the Awards Committee shall inform the awardee well in advance of the ICSE meeting to allow for sufficient preparation of their Lecture.
Registry of Hans Mueller Memorial Awardees
| John A. Woollam (shared) | ICSE-10 (2025) in Boulder, CO, USA |
| David E. Aspnes (shared) | ICSE-10 (2025) in Boulder, CO, USA |