F. P. Schäfer

Fritz Peter Schäfer (15 January 1931 – 25 April 2011) was a German physicist, born in Hersfeld. He is the co-inventor of the dye laser. His book, Dye Lasers, is considered a classic in the field of tunable lasers.

In their original experiment Schäfer and colleagues 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.

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