Olexander Smakula
Alexander Smakula (Ukrainian Олександр Теодорович Смакула, scientific transliteration Oleksandr Teodorovyč Smakula; * 1900 in Dobrowody, Ukraine; † 17 May 1983; Auburn, Massachusetts) was a Ukrainian physicist, known for his invention of the antireflection coating of optical surfaces.
Life
Smakula was born in the village Dobrovody ( Ternopil region ) into a peasant family. After graduating from high school in Ternopil he applied to the University of Göttingen. In 1927 he completed his physics studies. He then worked as assistant to Professor Robert Wichard Pohl. After a brief stay at the University of Odessa Alexander Smakula returned to Germany and became optics laboratory manager in Heidelberg. From 1934 Smakula worked at Zeiss in Jena. During this time, around 1935, he developed and patented the antireflection coating of optical surfaces, which represented an important improvement of optical devices. After the war Smakula came to the U.S., where he first studied materials for infrared technology. In 1951 he was appointed professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he mainly studied crystals. In 1966 he received the Culture Prize of the German Society for Photography.