Final answer:
Donna Strickland and Gérard Mourou developed Chirped Pulse Amplification, critical for high-powered laser miniaturization, which underpins modern confocal microscope technology. They were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2018.
Step-by-step explanation:
The first mechanically scanned confocal laser microscope was “developed” through the contributions of multiple scientists over time. The key breakthrough that revolutionized the use of lasers in various fields, including microscopy, was Chirped Pulse Amplification (CPA), developed by Donna Strickland and Gérard Mourou in the 1980s at the University of Rochester. This technology enabled the creation of high-powered lasers that could be miniaturized, and it eventually contributed to advances in microscopy, such as the development of the confocal microscope. Although Strickland and Mourou did not specifically invent the confocal microscope, their work on lasers was critical for the technology that underpins the function of these microscopes. CPA is now used in many high-powered lasers worldwide and has applications in medical procedures, such as precise microcuts or burns. In recognition of their groundbreaking work, Strickland and Mourou were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2018.