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Laser physicists from the attoworld team at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics (MPQ) and Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München (LMU) have developed a new and unique high-power laser system for driving the attosecond beamlines and ultrafast attosecond experiments at MPQ. The new laser “HORUS” (High-power OPCPA system for high Repetition rate Ultrafast Spectroscopy) operates in the near-infrared spectral range at ... more

Last week, Eli Yablonovitch, referred to as the father of the photonic crystal, has been named MPQ Distinguished Scholar, which is an award and research scholarship given to outstanding scientists in the field of optics, photonics, quantum physics, or other areas related to quantum optics by the Board of Directors of the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics. This program allows an awardee to spend up to six months at the Institute to collaborate with its scientific departments. more

The Bernard J. Couillaud Prize in Ultrafast Lasers honours Dr Edoardo Vicentini’s state-of-the-art research on digital holography with femtosecond frequency combs.The award, conferred annually by the Optica Foundation and Coherent Inc., recognises excellent early-career researchers in ultrafast photonics. Awardees receive a financial grant of 20,000 US dollars, intended to support their outstanding innovative research projects. more

In 2018, Joannis Koepsell and his colleagues at MPQ experienced a magnetic moment: They succeeded for the first time in photographically imaging so-called magnetic polarons, using a quantum simulator. Now, almost five years later, for this astounding discovery as part of his PhD thesis, Joannis Koepsell is awarded with the Otto-Hahn-Medal, the dissertation prize of the Max Planck Society for young talented researchers. more

Atoms of the rare earth metal erbium embedded in a silicon crystal can be used to build quantum networks. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics have now succeeded in taking an important step towards technical realisation: For the first time, they were able to elicit individual light particles from such atoms – with properties that make them suitable carriers of quantum information. more

During photoinjection, an electron that cannot move freely through a solid receives enough energy from a light wave to become mobile. Scientists have been exploring this phenomenon since the beginning of quantum mechanics; nevertheless, there are still open questions about how the relevant processes unfold in time.  Laser physicists of MPQ and LMU have now made a direct observation of... more

Joannis Koepsell, former PhD Candidate in the group of Immanuel Bloch, receives the award for his outstanding dissertation entitled “Quantum simulation of doped two-dimensional Mott insulators”. The prize is sponsored by the Wilhelm and Else Heraeus Foundation, a private institution that supports scientific research and education with an emphasis on physics. The award is donated to the Faculty of Physics and is endowed with 4,000 euros. more

Focusing on so-called symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases, the theorist uncovered some essential but previously unknown properties. Her findings further our understanding of STP phases in open systems. more

The simulation of quantum chemical processes promises a lot of progress, such as the discovery of new chains of reactions, new synthetic materials or pharmaceuticals. But it is an enormous task, which known methods have failed to date. For classical supercomputers, the molecules are too complex, and for quantum simulations with cold atoms, the technological hurdles are still too high. In a new paper, theorists have now developed... more

Every two years, the optics enterprise ZEISS honours outstanding research achievements in the fields of optics and photonics with the "ZEISS Research Award". This year, the award goes to Prof. Dr. Immanuel Bloch – one of the world's leading minds in the development of experiments for quantum simulation with ultracold atoms. The price will be awarded in a gala event on the 26th of June in the Deutsches Museum in Munich.  more

From 11 to 16 April 2023, the 15 best physics students in all of Germany came together for the national final round of the Physics Olympiad. At the MPQ, they faced tricky theoretical and experimental tasks from all areas of physics and experienced a varied programme. The five best young talents will travel to Tokyo in July as the German national team and compete with young people from over 80 countries for Olympic medals. more

The European Quantum Flagship project PASQuanS continues. Led by Immanuel Bloch, 25 project partners from academia and industry will continue to cooperate intensively for another seven years to advance European quantum simulation capabilities. Their ambitious goal: developing large-scale programmable quantum simulators with up to 10,000 atoms... more