(1981) Nicolas Bloembergen

Nicolaas Bloembergen (born Dordrecht, March 11, 1920) is a Dutch-American physicist and Nobel laureate.

He was awarded the Lorentz Medal in 1978. Bloembergen shared the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physics with Arthur Schawlow and Kai Siegbahn for their work in laser spectroscopy. Bloembergen and Schawlow investigated properties of matter undetectable without lasers. He had earlier modified the maser of Charles Townes.