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Can a start-up stand a chance against Google or IBM in the race for operable quantum computers? It certainly can. Because so far it is not clear which technology platform will prevail. And planqc from Munich is pursuing a different path than the tech giants. It relies on neutral atoms, lasers, microscopes and decades of research at the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics. - Article by Wolfgang Kerler, 1E9. more

Researchers at MPQ have developed a novel microwave cooling technique for molecular gases. It enables polar molecules to be cooled down to a few nanokelvin, 21 billionths of a degree above absolute zero. In doing so, they set a new low-temperature record and pave the way for new forms of quantum matter that were previously not experimentally accessible. more

With their newly developed "nanoTIPTOE" technique, physicists from the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics and the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, in cooperation with Stanford University, have managed for the first time to record a helical light field on shortest time and length scales. more

As one of the leading experts for quantum information, MPQ Director Ignacio Cirac has received an honorary doctorate from the University of À Coruña. He was nominated by the Chemistry Department of the Faculty of Natural Sciences. Thanks to his pioneering work in quantum physics, it is now possible to study chemical problems using computers and quantum simulators. more

In a first round of funding, the founders of the start-up just received 4.6 million euros. With this funding, planqc will develop a highly scalable quantum computer operating at room temperature and based on atoms trapped in optical lattices... more

In a special arrangement of atomic spins, Max Planck physicists have measured the properties of the so-called Haldane phase in an experiment. To do so, they used a quantum mechanical trick. more

Scientists from Hamburg and Munich developed the world's most powerful dual-comb spectrometer that paves the way for many applications in atmospheric science and biomedical diagnostics, such as early cancer detection. more

Dr. Nathalie Picqué and Dr. Edoardo Vicentini have been awarded the 2022 Helmholtz Prize in the category of “applied metrology” for the demonstration of digital holography with laser frequency combs. The Helmholtz Prize, the most important European prize for metrology, is awarded ... more

Laser physicists of the attoworld team at Ludwig Maximilians Universität, the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics and the Center for Molecular Fingerprinting have achieved unprecedented control over light pulses in the mid-infrared wavelength range. more

Silke Stähler-Schöpf is the head and source of energy of the MPQ school laboratory PhotonLab. With great dedication and didactic skills, she conveys a fascination for quantum optics to young people - with ever new ideas, formats and methods. more

Physicists at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich in collaboration with Stanford University have used for the first time laser light to control the location of light-induced reactions on the surface of nanoparticles. more

For the first time, researchers have succeeded in observing a new transport phenomenon in spin chains under the microscope - with surprising results: the movement in the quantum world resembles certain phenomena known from everyday life like the form of coffee stains on a tablecloth. more