Report on the Physics Department FAU Erlangen

Report on the
Physics Department
FAU Erlangen
October 2013
www.physik.fau.de
Contents
Contents .............................................................. 1
Introduction ......................................................... 3
Structure and Evolution of the Department ... 3
Research Topics ................................................... 5
Astroparticle Physics ....................................... 6
Condensed Matter Physics .............................. 9
Biophysics ...................................................... 14
Optics ............................................................. 18
Light-Matter Interface ................................... 21
Theoretical Physics ........................................ 24
Physics didactics ............................................ 28
Teaching ............................................................ 29
Outreach ............................................................ 34
Statistics and Overview ..................................... 36
Faculty ............................................................... 41
Junior Research Groups ................................... 130
1 2
Introduction
This report is designed to present the current
status (in 2013) of the Department of Physics at
the Friedrich-Alexander Universität ErlangenNürnberg (FAU), which is the second largest university in the state of Bavaria. The report attempts to give a brief but comprehensive overview of the Department's research topics, the
teaching, and the individual professors making
up the Department's faculty. In addition the report highlights junior research groups, statistics,
outreach efforts, as well as links of the Department within the university and within international research collaborations.
Structure and Evolution of the Department
The Department of Physics (the Department)
currently consists of 16 chairs (four in theoretical
and twelve in experimental physics) and several
independent professorships. Each of these chairs
is part of an Institute, namely the Institute for
Condensed Matter, the Physics Institute, the
Institute for Optics, Information and Photonics,
the Institute for Theoretical Physics, and the
Astronomical Institute in Bamberg. However, this
report will present the various research topics
according to subject area and not necessarily
along the lines of Institutes. The Department
experienced a significant shift in research topics
during the last two decades, namely from nuclear and particle physics to astroparticle physics
and physics of gravitation and a broader condensed matter physics area (including soft matter and biophysics) replacing the classical solid
state physics. Together with optics a new interface of light/matter physics is now emerging.
3
4
Astroparticle Physics
Condensed Matter Physics
Research Topics
This chapter aims to give a broad overview of the
various research topics at the department. We
have chosen a subdivision of topics that adequately represents both the old established
structure of the department (with Institutes in
Astroparticle Physics, Condensed Matter, Optics,
and Theory) and the emerging regrouping of
topics (with three broad areas: Astroparticle
Physics, Physics of Light and Matter, and Biophysics). At times this necessarily leads to some
overlap between the sections, since several
groups feel at home in various topics.
Biophysics
Optics
Light-Matter Interface
Theoretical Physics
Physics Didactics
5
H.E.S.S.
telescope
in Namibia
H.E.S.S. telescope
in Namibia
Astroparticle Physics
Astroparticle physics is a young and emerging
research field addressing questions and methods
at the intersection of particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology. Research in astroparticle
physics concentrates on studying the most extreme conditions in the universe, such as the
physical processes in the vicinity of Black Holes
and Neutron Stars, the physics of acceleration of
particles to the highest energies, and the physical processes at and beyond the limits where our
current understanding of gravity as described by
Einstein's theory of gravitation ends.
FAU has identified astroparticle physics as a top
priority research field of the Faculty of Science
and has given it a formal framework with the
foundation of the Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics (ECAP) in 2007. ECAP bundles FAU's
activities in this area by incorporating the chairs
in experimental astroparticle physics at the Physics Institute (Anton, Katz/van Eldik, succession
Stegmann/NN), the two divisions of the Astronomical Institute (Heber, Wilms) and parts of
chairs of the Institute of Theoretical Physics
(Thiemann/Sahlmann/Giesel, Mecke). The Center was awarded the status of an Emerging Field
Centre of FAU in 2011. ECAP plays a leading role
in astroparticle physics in Germany and is a
member of the Helmholtz Alliance for Astroparticle Physics. It receives high acknowledgment
and visibility in international research projects
and currently has over 150 members.
Experimental and observational astroparticle
physics and astrophysics are characterized by the
development and use of large international facilities, with partners at the European level and
worldwide. The field is highly networked, with
typical collaboration sizes encompassing hundreds of researchers from a large number of
institutions and countries. ECAP scientists are
involved in leading positions in the current and
next generation of water based neutrino telescopes (ANTARES, KM3NeT). They also contribute significantly to the current and next genera6
tion of ground-based telescopes in gamma-ray
astronomy (H.E.S.S., Cherenkov Telescope Array), as well as in the development phases for
the next generation of high-energy astrophysics
space based missions such as the German
eROSITA experiment on the Russian Spectrum-XGamma satellite.
ECAP's contributions to international facilities
drive its strong detector development activities.
The Center led the evaluation of acoustic particle
detection for ultrahigh energy neutrinos. ECAP's
detector group also develops detectors for particle physics such as the search for neutrino-less
double beta decay or for neutrino mass hierarchy measurements and optical modules for the
future projects KM3NeT and PINGU. ECAP's detector activities have also triggered applications
in medical physics (see the section on biophysics). ECAP is also involved in studies of the detector performance for space based and ground
based experiments. For example, the Center
contributes significantly to the design study for
the neutrino mass hierarchy experiment ORCA
and to the end-to-end simulations for the next
generation of X-ray sensitive satellites performed under the auspices of the European
Space Agency.
Uniquely in Germany, this experience with largescale facility and detector development is supplemented by experience in observational astrophysics which covers the whole electromagnetic
spectrum from the radio regime via the optical
to the X-rays, gamma-rays, and into the TeV regime. ECAP is one of the large groups contributing to the H.E.S.S telescope array experiment
in Namibia. ECAP also develops advanced analysis methods for faint structure detection in astronomical images based on Minkowski functionals. ECAP researchers routinely use large
ground based facilities such as the European
Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope,
the Keck telescopes on Hawaii, radio arrays such
as the Australia Telescope National Facility or the
Jansky Very Large Array in New Mexico, as well
as space based facilities such as the Hubble
Space Telescope, the XMM-Newton and Chandra
satellites, the Japanese Suzaku instrument or
NASA's Fermi gamma-ray satellite. Observational
research with these facilities is directly related to
the experimental work at ECAP, and includes
work, e.g., on acceleration processes in the Galaxy (especially in supernova remnants), on the
precursors of supernova explosions, binary stars,
and the interaction of stars with the central
black hole of our Galaxy, the measurement of
relativistic effects near black holes, as well as
multiwavelength studies of the radiation from
supermassive black holes in Active Galactic Nuclei. All of these objects are also predicted to be
neutrino emitters. This research is done in close
collaboration with the chair for astrophysics at
Würzburg University.
A significant fraction of observational research at
ECAP is related to cosmological questions such
as the evolution of black holes in the Universe.
ECAP's theory group performs research in the
area of quantum gravity, which predicts conditions in the early universe (see the description in
the theory section). A strategic appointment of a
further theoretician at the professorial level with
7
a background in theoretical cosmology has been
approved by the Bavarian State Ministry of Sciences, Research and the Arts, in order to further
tighten the connection between the theory and
experimental/observational work in the Center.
8
Artistic drawing of a graphene transistor on SiC
Condensed Matter Physics
Scientific Environment and Strategic Position
Condensed matter physics is an essential part of
one of the most important research areas “New
Materials and Processes” of the FAU. The overall
effort includes research in the faculty of natural
sciences (physics, chemistry) as well as in the
technical faculty (materials science, electrical
engineering etc.). This interdisciplinary research
has been selected in the excellence initiative as a
cluster of excellence “Engineering of Advanced
materials (EAM)”.
In addition to the establishment of the EAM,
several interdisciplinary platforms in materials
science have been founded that also receive
high-level third-party funding: the Sonderforschungsbereich 953 Functional Carbon Allotropes (Speaker: A. Hirsch, chemistry, Vice
speaker: H. B. Weber, exp. physics), funded since
1/2012, the DFG Forschergruppe 1878 Function-
al Molecular Structures on Complex Oxide Surfaces (funCOS) (Speaker: J. Libuda (Physical
chemistry), and the DFG Graduiertenkolleg 1896
In-Situ Microscopy with Electrons, X-rays and
Scanning probes (Speaker: E. Spiecker, Vice
speaker S. Maier). Also, the priority program
1459 “Graphene” was launched in Erlangen by
Th. Seyller with strong contributions from local
groups.
These large-scale funding initiatives were a consequence of a steady built-up of interdisciplinary
expertise, organized in interdisciplinary centers
within FAU. For example, physicists and chemists
have established the Interdisciplinary Centre for
Molecular Materials (ICMM), the Interdisciplinary Centre for Interface Controlled Processes
(ICICP), the Graduate School for Molecular Science (GSMS), the Center for Nanoanalysis and
Electron Microscopy” (CENEM).
This Erlangen-specific strong position of the condensed matter physics enabled a situation,
where (instead of grouping around few scientific
topics) an unusually large spectrum of methods
9
and scientific topics can be covered. The success
of this structure can be seen in the high number
of Schottky awardees (the most important German award on solid state physics: G. Döhler (retired), P. Müller (retired 10/2013), F. Marquardt,
Th. Seyller (since 2012 in Chemnitz). Further, our
scientists received calls to professorships with
high reputation: M. Weinelt (W3 FU Berlin), A.
Ustinov (W3 KIT), T. Schäffer (W3 Ulm, declined,
subsequently W3 Tübingen, accepted), O.
Waldmann (W3 U Freiburg), Th. Seyller (W3 U
Chemnitz), S. Müller (W2 TU Hamburg-Harburg).
Erlangen’s experimental condensed matter physics have had numerous highly-ranked publications (5 Science, 2 Nature, 10 Nature research
papers, 39 PRL) in the last decade.
The condensed matter research unit has since
2004 launched and reinforced research efforts in
biophysics. Together with a focused recruitment
policy in theory, a strong and promising research
field has evolved. This has been recognized in
the FAU and is currently discussed as a further
emerging field of the department. Similarly,
light-matter interaction has been identified as a
promising new field, which benefits from both
the strong materials competence as well as the
Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light.
Selected Research Topics
Electronic aspects of novel materials
(Krstić, Maier, Müller, Ristein, Weber)
Electronic degrees of freedom are of highest
fundamental interest in condensed matter physics, but also lead to technological innovation. In
Erlangen, the whole range from fundamental
research to applications is covered.
An example for a very intense research effort in
Erlangen is graphene. Based on long-term expertise with silicon carbide (SiC), Th. Seyller and H.
Weber developed a new material system “epitaxial graphene on SiC”, which is a wafer-based
material with epitaxial control. First the material
and its properties were investigated using various surface science and electronic techniques
(Fauster, Hundhausen, Maier, Ristein, Schneider,
Seyller, Weber), then novel low-temperature
quantum transport phenomena could be identified (Weber), strongly supported by theoretical
considerations (Pankratov). In a next step, a device building concept could be put forward (Weber), such that a fast analog and digital logic is
now possible. Th. Seyller established a Germanywide priority program 1459 “Graphene”, with
strong contributions from Erlangen. The graphene research also boosted the SFB 953 “Synthetic carbon allotropes”, the scientific focus of
which goes well beyond graphene research.
Another example is charge transport through
individual molecules, research carried out in the
ICMM. After pioneering experiments in the Weber group, one focus of research was to understand the underlying physical principles of
charge transport. Together with M. Thoss (theory) and A. Görling (theoretical chemistry), the allimportant influence of vibrations could be elucidated. This was strongly supported by specially
designed and manufactured molecules from the
Gladysz and Tykwinsky group (synthetic chemistry). Complementary investigations using scanning tunneling microscopy could be carried out
by P. Müller and S. Maier. In the SFB 583, P. Müller developed significant competence in molecular magnetism which, in turn, inspired investigations on single-molecule junctions using magnetic molecules, giving new access to singlet-triplet
transition in molecules (Weber).
Quantum transport of electrons is investigated
theoretically also in the group of Florian Marquardt (Theory II). His group investigates systems
at the interface between nanophysics and quantum optics, providing a link between the condensed matter and optics efforts of the department.
The research on novel electronic materials (molecules, graphene and others) is strengthened by
V. Krstić, who started in October 2013. He came
from Trinity College Dublin where he was Assistant Professor since 2007. 10
Structure and Dynamics of Matter
(Hock, Magerl, Neder, Unruh)
The chair for Crystallography and Structural
Physics (LKS) with four professors is at present
the strongest university unit in its field in Germany. The research activities are focused on
structural and dynamical issues of condensed
matter including interfaces and defects. The
embracing technique is diffraction complemented whenever indicated by supporting methods
including computing.
Diffraction methods presently enjoy worldwide a
vibrant development and many novel research
fields in condensed matter science are emerging
in particular through the advent of novel light
sources. The future trend in structural physics is
characterized by a transition from measurements and interpretation of the classical pair
correlation function on dominantly periodic systems (the crystallography of the 20th century)
towards an access of higher correlation functions
in short range ordered condensed matter including their time evolution in an extremely large
time regime. Coherent beam diffraction and
imaging are examples exploiting the novel possibilities, and the group is engaged to take full
advantage of these options both at major
sources and in the laboratory.
The group is a heavy user of national and international major research centers, and e. g. in
2012 through worldwide competitive proposal
applications it was granted ~60 days and ~15
days on synchrotron and neutron sources, respectively. In this environment there are long
standing and active collaborations with national
and international large-scale research centers on
numerous scientific projects, on methodical developments and through committee works. Currently T. Unruh is spokesman of the KFN and
thus represents some 1200 German neutron
users of major research infrastructures. In addition, the group has built up with significant efforts unique laboratory instrumentation,
which has just been extended by T. Unruh with a
powerful SAXS/GISAXS diffractometer. This high
level equipment is mandatory for student training and in preparation for experiments at the big
sources. As the knowledge about structure and dynamics
is a fundamental issue in condensed matter research directly related to the functionality of
materials, the competence of the chair is well
sought after and contributes to several interdisciplinary research structures and programs at the
FAU (EAM, ECN, CENEM (A. Magerl founding
director, T. Unruh division head), ICICP, IZNF,
GSMS, FG funCOS, GRK 1896) and also outside
(SPP 1415, several BMBF funded projects). In
addition, there are frequent requests from other
universities and from industry to provide support
in case of structural issues. In many cases this
has to be denied because of lack of resources.
The group enjoys a highly successful development and the prospect for the years to come are
excellent as expressed, e. g by the growth of the
third party funding which increased by a factor
of 10 over a period of 8 years and the outlook
into 2014 promises a further increase to at least
1.4 M€ according to presently approved funding. In this vast and rapidly growing field, the four
professors have well-defined complementary
research programs of their own, all of them embedded in collaborations. The subject nucleation
and growth of particles, also a focal topic of the
EAM cluster, may illustrate the complementarity
and the fruitful interaction of the in-house research:
Magerl is looking into the very early stages of
particle formation in a fast flowing free jet by
wide angle (crystal structure) and small angle
(precursor states) scattering. The accessible embryonic time range reaches down to some 10 μs
(world record by more than one order of magnitude!).
11
T. Unruh specialized in small angle diffraction
studies the ripening and aging process of juvenile
particles with X-rays, neutrons and optical techniques.
R. Hock follows the development of precursors
like metallic films, nanoparticles and sol-gels into
adult particles in the form of polycrystalline
functional thin films with powder diffraction
techniques. His application-relevant research
focuses on novel materials for thin film solar
cells.
R. Neder studies the nucleation and growth of
quantum dots by a total scattering approach.
PDF analysis allows unravelling the elementary
steps with atomic resolution. He has pioneered
this technique and developed the now widely
acclaimed simulation program DISCUS, wellsuited to refine atomic models of quantum dots
including the stabilizing organic ligands on the
surface.
Surface Science
(Fauster, Magerl, Maier, Ristein, Schneider)
The properties of surfaces and interfaces come
into play whenever condensed matter becomes
very thin or its dimensionality is reduced or both
as in the case of graphene. The properties of
surfaces and interfaces are studied with various
methods: Scanning Probe Methods (Maier,
Schneider), Low-energy Electron Diffraction
(Fauster, Schneider), and Photoelectron Spectroscopy (Fauster, Ristein) to name the most
important.
Electron diffraction is used to quantitatively and
precisely determine the positions of the atoms of
a crystalline surface. Especially the results obtained on SiC, graphene, and on transition metal
oxide serve as a solid basis for current and newly
established research efforts. In this respect
Scanning Probe Methods are needed as a complementary method to establish possible models
of the surface that can be tested with the results
of electron diffraction. Furthermore, Scanning
Tunneling Microscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy are used to study less well ordered or local,
single molecule or atomic structures both on
(semi-)conducting and insulating surfaces. Reflectometry and grazing incidence diffraction
methods as described in the previous section are
complementary and reveal sub-molecular structural information both in-plane and out-of-plane.
These methods also allow surface studies in a
wide range of environments and also in the liquid phase.
Photoelectron spectroscopy accesses the electronic properties of surfaces and in time resolved
two-photon photoemission the electron dynamics is sampled on a femtosecond scale. These
methods are applied to metal, metal-oxide and
semiconductor surfaces and interfaces formed
with organic molecules or graphene in contact
with these surfaces. Examples are image potential states on graphene, topological surface
states on bismuth chalcogenides and electronic
properties of epitaxial cobalt-oxide films. On the
other hand, characterization of electronic properties on the atomic scale is provided by Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy at liquid-helium
temperatures. With this the electronic properties of molecules on metal oxide surfaces and
the interfaces between graphene and metallic
contacts are explored, the latter in the framework of the priority program “Graphene”. Also in
line with this direction of research are the collaborative efforts of FAU (Ristein) and the MPL
(Christiansen) to unravel the electronic properties of nanostructured materials for photovoltaic
and photo-electrochemical applications by mi12
croscopic and spectroscopic techniques. Specifically the interplay between surface characterization and the measurement of the electronic surface and interface properties has turned out to
be a powerful tool to understand the fundamental working principles of related photo-electronic
devices.
collaborations (cancer diagnostics) and worldwide partnerships (NIH bioengineering research
partnership on smooth muscle micromechanics).
In order to stress the growing importance of this
field within the physics department, we have
opted to dedicate a separate section to a more
detailed description of biophysics.
The wealth of surface-science methods present
in the Department of Physics is complemented
by groups at Physical Chemistry (Steinrück, Libuda, Fink) and Engineering (Schmuki, Spiecker).
Within the Interdisciplinary Center for InterfaceControlled Processes, many bilateral projects,
but in particular the recently funded DFG research group FOR 1878 “funCOS – Functional
Molecular Structures on Complex Oxide Surfaces” have been established. Further, funding the
Graduate School (DFG Graduiertenkolleg 1896)
“In-Situ Microscopy with Electrons, X-rays, and
Scanning Probes” strengthens the perspectives
of surface science research and puts special emphasis on the promotion of young talents in microscopy methods in general.
Light-Matter Interaction
(Fauster, Hommelhoff, Hundhausen, Weber,)
Biophysics
(Fabry, Goldmann, Hensel, Unruh, Whyte)
Over the past 10 years, the experimental condensed matter physics groups of the Department
have built up a strong and internationally competitive biophysical research team consisting of 5
core groups: B. Fabry (cellular biomechanics), W.
Goldmann (molecular biophysics), B. Hensel (biomaterials and biomedical engineering), G.
Whyte (bioimaging), and T. Unruh (biomembranes). Other groups contribute to this effort as
well, such as the groups of R. Hock (biomineralization) and P. Müller (DNA sequencing, biomagnetism). These research activities tie in with biophysical projects on the theoretical physics side
(K. Mecke, A. Smith, T. Franosch). These efforts
of the Physics Department contribute significantly to university-wide research consortia with the
Departments of Biology and the Faculties of Engineering and Medicine (SFB-initiatives synthetic
biology, voice disorders), emerging field initiatives (organ- and tissue engineering), EU-wide
In light of the Department’s strong expertise in
condensed matter physics as well as in optics
and the emerging fruitful research efforts at the
intersection of both of these fields, we have
identified light-matter interaction as a new strategic focus. It will be discussed in more detail in
the section Light Matter Interface.
In particular, from the domain of condensed
matter physics, the following groups contribute
strong expertise: The Fauster group has done
pioneering work in two-photon photoemission
spectroscopy, the Hommelhoff group sheds light
on ultrafast processes at nanomaterials, while
the Hundhausen group performs research in
spatially-resolved Raman spectroscopy. The Weber group contributes both electronic device
expertise as well as expertise in ultrafast electronics that has led to the establishment of an
effort in THz physics (Malzer).
13
Biophysics
Biophysics is presently one of the fastest growing
fields in the natural sciences. Apart from understanding the processes from the level of single
molecules, over entire organisms to the behavior
of a population, this field is also a rich source of
processes that can be exploited beyond their
original biological context, either for technological or medical purposes. Furthermore, cells are
seemingly endless sources of adaptive materials,
mimics of which are already finding their way
into our everyday life. However, from the physics
point of view, perhaps the most exciting aspect
is the fact that living systems rely on energy consumption and dissipation to manipulate very
noisy environments, the understanding of which
emerges through the development of the so far
incomplete, conceptual framework for the nonequilibrium dynamics.
The potential multi-faceted impact of this field
has been recently recognized at FAU when Molecular Life Sciences became a major research
area of the university, spanning over the Faculties of Medicine, Sciences and Engineering. This
recognizes the highly interdisciplinary nature of
the field, and provides the core structure for
cross-departmental and cross-faculty initiatives.
The aims of the latter are multiple: The first is to
increase the teaching capacity of the university,
manifested by the initial establishment of the
Bachelor course and, recently, a Master’s study
program in Integrated Life Sciences (ILS). The
second is to develop core research facilities,
evidenced by the recent opening of the Optical
Imaging Center Erlangen (OICE), next to the already established Central Institute for Scientific
Computing (ZISC). The last is to foster research
excellence and interdisciplinary collaborations
through Emerging Field Initiatives (TopBiomat,
SynBio), Research Training Group (RTG) initiatives, an example of which is the RTG on biological membranes, and SFB-initiatives on Synthetic
biology as well as Voice disorders. The aim of the
Physics Department therein, was to evolve from
a tangential to a strong, and in some cases, leading partner. As will be outlined below, this goal
has partially been achieved in more recent de14
velopments. However, further strengthening of
biophysics at the physics department is necessary to fully accomplish its potential.
Over the last five years, biophysics became one
of the key topics in the Department of Physics.
This development, founded on the very successful work of the Central Institute for Biomedical
Engineering since 1973 and pursued by the Max
Schaldach Professorship since 2003 (Bernhard
Hensel), was greatly facilitated by the employment of Ben Fabry (Chair
for Medical Physics and
Technology;
experimental cell biophysics)
and Wolfgang Goldmann
(W2 on the same chair,
biochemistry of cells) in
2003, followed by the recruitment of Klaus
Mecke (Chair for Theoretical Physics; soft condensed matter, statistical physics and Geometry)
in 2004. However, to achieve the critical mass of
researchers, the excellence cluster initiative EAM
was utilized for the staffing of further three professorships. First was Ana-Sunčana Smith in 2009
(now W2 in theoretical biophysics), followed by
Tobias Unruh (W2 in structural physics with a
focus on short time scale dynamics in biological
systems) in 2010, and Graeme Whyte (W1 in
microfluidics and minimal models) in 2012. The
biophysics activities in the Department of Physics
were further strengthened by the arrival of Vahid Sandoghdar in 2011 (W3/MPL; single molecule tracking, microscopy).
Emerging Field Initiative Synthetic Biology
(SynBio)
This initiative aims at establishing an interdisciplinary research platform between the fields of
Biology, Chemistry, Informatics, Mathematics,
Material Science and Physics to understand biological phenomena at the nanometer scale, explore rational metabolic engineering of living
cells, and to create bio-inspired nanodevices.
Non-living nanodevices may be used to combine
conventional chemical synthetic processes with
biological systems to achieve synthesis of complex compounds in a sustainable and cost effective manner. These systems will require encapsulation of single or multi-enzyme complexes in
membrane-like structures allowing exchange of
small molecules between the inside and the outside of the nanoparticles. Such studies of synthetic systems will shed light on the workings of
complex natural biological systems. Currently, all
required research fields coexist at the FAU. The
EFI initiative SynBio will direct these forces to a
collaborative research program. From the Physics Department side, SynBio is coordinated by V.
Sandoghdar, supported by K. Mecke and B. Fabry.
Research Training Group “Dynamic Interactions at Biological Membranes – From
Single Molecules to Tissue”
This initiative is concerned with processes in and
on biomembranes, spanning different time and
length scales. It is an interdisciplinary and col-
The previously mentioned groups all have a
strong base in biophysics, linking this field to soft
condensed matter and/or optics. Their efforts
are complemented by the work led by Rainer
Hock (Structural physics; biomineralization), Paul
Müller (Condensed Matter; DNA sequencing and
biomagnetism) and Gisela Anton (ECAP, detectors for bio-imaging), who has developed strong
ties with local industrial partners (e.g. Siemens).
Membrane with proteins
The result of the reinforcement of the biophysics
community is the strong participation of the
Physics Department in several new initiatives:
laborative effort of twelve groups, four of which
are from the Physics Department (T. Unruh, A.-S.
Smith, B. Fabry and V. Sandoghdar), and the
15
others are from the Department of Biology and
the Faculty of Medicine. The research focus is
deeply anchored in the existing Integrated Life
Sciences (ILS) degree program, a study course at
the interface between biology, mathematics, and
physics. The RTG will complement the ILS undergraduate studies by a doctoral program, the latter introducing its participants to different techniques in theoretical modelling and state of the
art experiments, while performing research on
the organization of proteins and lipids in artificial
and model membranes.
Optical Imaging Center Erlangen (OICE)
The OICE is a newly established “Zentral-Institut”
of FAU (i.e. independent of departments and
faculties), but it was born out of the Institute of
Optics, Information and Photonics of the Physics
Department under the leadership of Vahid Sandoghdar. It applies methods from laser spectroscopy, quantum optics and microscopy to biological investigations in a highly interdisciplinary
environment. In addition to a professionally run
facility center, OICE will develop new physical
methods for the detection, sensing, imaging and
tracking of biological matter. As a facility, OICE
complements ZISC and the supercomputing facilities of FAU in providing broad access to the
most advanced tools and research equipment,
hence, bestowing a highly competitive scientific
environment.
Research Activities in Selected Groups
The different backgrounds of the research
groups involved in biophysics topics ensures a
very broad research program, both from the
experimental and theoretical points of view,
spanning method development to applications.
Some of the topics are presented in the following sections.
The Biophysics group of Ben Fabry and Wolfgang
Goldmann is an interdisciplinary research group
of scientists trained in soft matter physics, molecular cell biology, cancer cell biology, biochemistry, engineering, and applied mathematics.
Their research focuses on mechanical properties
of cells and tissues, mechano-chemical signal
transduction in cells, and cell-matrix interactions
for biomaterials design. They are active in the
development of novel instrumentation and
methods to characterize biopolymer networks
and cell mechanical properties: magnetic twisting and magnetic tweezers cytometry with optical detection of cellular deformation, Fourier
transform traction microscopy, 3-D traction microscopy, and particle tracking nanorheology in
living cells.
External Calls
The excellence in research and teaching of the
biophysics community at the Department of
Physics is furthermore evidenced by three of the
staff members obtaining permanent professorships at other universities. More specifically,
Roland Roth accepted a W3 professorship in
statistical soft condensed matter in Tübingen,
Thomas Franosch was awarded the full professorship in theoretical biophysics at the University
of Innsbruck, and Tilmann Schäffer went to Tübingen for a W3 position in NanoBioPhysics and
Medical Engineering.
Protein(6-4 Photolyase) repairing a DNA lesion.
Unlike the Fabry group, the Mecke group uses
mostly theoretical tools. In the past, it has applied statistical physics to clarify, for instance,
the adhesion mechanism for geckos, to develop
16
a non-equilibrium model for molecular motors
and to study fluctuating actin filaments. Based
on integral geometry, the 'morphometric approach' has been proposed as a theoretical concept for fluids in the presence of a confinement
or curved substrates, to give insight into interaction between solvation and structure for protein
conformations (with R. Roth) and the entangled
filament structure in biological tissue (collaboration with B. Fabry). Using the experience on formation of topologically complex ordered structures, a bicontinuous single Gyroid structure was
first identified in butterfly wing-scales and then
their chiral-optical and biophotonics properties
were elucidated (with G. Schröder-Turk). These
efforts were complemented by the work on
anomalous transport in biological environments
(with T. Franosch).
Experimental studies on the basic mechanism of
the anomalous molecular transport in organic
liquids and biological membrane mimics are performed in T. Unruh’s group. For these studies a
combination of quasi elastic neutron scattering
(QENS) and MD simulation is used. The neutron
experiments are performed in close cooperation
with different large-scale facilities such as the
FRM II in Munich and the ILL in Grenoble. Close
cooperation and research activities on protein
interactions with membranes have been initiated
with R. Böckmann’s group (bio informatics, FAU).
(collaboration with V. Sandoghdar), to provide a
theoretical description of the micro-locomotion
of entire swimmers and nanodevices in viscous
environments (collaboration with U. Rüde - Informatics). Another focus of the group is the
understanding of the recognition process on the
level of a single cell as well as on a level of a tissue (collaboration with F. Rehfeld).
Based on the experience in the development of
particle detectors, the chair of G. Anton is
strongly involved in applications for medical
physics. Such applications cover radiation dosimetry and X-ray imaging with a main focus on
grating-based phase contrast imaging. Investigating the dark-field of this imaging method, the
group was the first to image cancer signatures of
micrometer-sized calcifications in breast tumors
at a tolerable radiation dose. G. Anton was
awarded the “Innovationspreis Medizintechnik”
of the German Ministry of Science in 2008.
The Sandoghdar group applies its know-how
from laser spectroscopy, scanning probe microscopy and quantum optics to the detection, microscopy, tracking, and manipulation of biological nano-objects such as viruses and proteins. In
particular, three-dimensional nanoscopic visualization and control of transport and diffusion of
these particles on and through biological membranes are current topics of research.
The Smith group also covers a range of biophysics problems, mostly from the modelling perspective. It addresses issues from calculating the
spectral characteristics of a single molecule (with
D. M. Smith), over modelling the binding affinity
and diffusion limited processes in membranes
17
Optics
The optics activity of the department has been
expanded appreciably in the last decade largely
due to the establishment of the Max Planck Research Group for Optics, Information and Photonics (2003-2008), which resulted in the foundation of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL). The Department of Physics
and MPL are closely linked. Initially the Department provided fallback positions for the two
director appointments in the Max Planck Research Group, which was a serious commitment
and all four directors of MPL hold faculty positions at the Department of Physics – either as
main or as side office. As part of the new strategy currently being developed the Department
decided to take advantage of the potential synergy between optics and condensed matter
physics by forming the new joint field "lightmatter interaction". Consequently, the recent
appointments of Vahid Sandoghdar, Stephan
Götzinger, Peter Hommelhoff and Oskar Painter
at the interface of optics and condensed matter
physics were made in the spirit of this new strategy.
The research activity of the optics sector spans a
wide range from classical optics, via nonlinear
optics and nano-photonics all the way to quantum optics. There is great potential both for advancing the basic science of light and for developing cutting-edge applications, examples being
fundamental studies of the interaction of light
with single atoms or molecules, enhanced nonlinear and quantum effects in gaseous materials
and bright broadband light sources. We believe
that the conjunction of basic research, applications and enabling technologies under one joint
roof of MPL and the Department will provide a
unique and very fruitful scientific environment.
Optical engineering at the nanoscale involves
optical antenna design, nonlinear interactions,
quantum effects, and last but not least classical
optics with novel method development at all
18
scales. The MPL will focus on mastering and con
trolling light in its numerous dimensions, i.e.,
space, time, polarization and quantum statistical
properties. The activity at the Department complements the MPL program.
The research area of Philip Russell and Nicolas
Joly is nano- and micro-structured materials and
their applications in photonics and related fields.
The particular focus is photonic crystal fiber
(PCF) - a new kind of optical fiber proposed by
Philip Russell in 1991. The first example of a
working PCF was reported in 1996, and since
that time groups all over the world have become
active in developing PCF and exploiting its multifaceted applications. In this division a range of
experiments are carried out that make use of the
remarkable properties of PCFs. These include
scientific uses of PCF, e.g., low threshold nonlinear gas-laser devices and phononic band gaps;
and technological applications, e.g., biomedical
sensors, supercontinuum sources and laser
tweezers manipulation of particles in hollowcore PCF.
Systems from the domain of (quantum) optics
are now increasingly being coupled to nanophysical devices. One example are the optomechanical structures being investigated experimentally primarily by the groups of Oskar Painter and Philip Russell. The theory group of Florian
Marquardt, with its extensive experience in this
area, has started collaborations with the experimental groups in Erlangen working in this field.
In addition, the Marquardt group works on other
topics related to quantum optics, such as circuit
quantum electrodynamics in superconducting
structures, quantum information processing, and
the physics of cold atoms. Oskar Painter's cur-
rent research activities focus on the use of radiation pressure to control the quantum mechanical
behavior of tiny mechanical objects. A great
many applications are envisaged, including quantum-limited precision sensors and quantumoptical communication networks.
The research of Vahid Sandoghdar and Stephan
Götzinger aims at advancing experimental and
theoretical mastery of light-matter interaction at
the nanometer scale and at achieving the same
degree of control and finesse that is known from
the gas-phase quantum optics in the condensed
phase. To do this, they combine concepts from
quantum optics, laser spectroscopy, cryogenics,
optical imaging, scanning probe technology and
nano-fluidics. In this endeavor, these groups
have addressed a wide spectrum of scientific
questions, ranging from quantum optics to biophysics.
Joachim von Zanthier’s group investigates multiphoton interference phenomena in quantum
optics and quantum information science using
non-classical, classical or mixed light sources.
The research is carried out in theory and in experiment and focuses on fundamental questions
as well as possible applications. Topics of interest are, among others, quantum imaging, superradiance, entanglement of distant particles, and
testing the foundation of quantum mechanics via
violation of Bell inequalities or other measures.
The Peschel group is active in several areas of
classical optics. Members of the group are working on the experimental realization of nanooptical plasmonic circuitries and of new effective
optical materials based on colloidal crystals. Different aspects of nonlinear dynamics in optical
systems such as self-organization and soliton
formation are investigated and extensive numerical modelling is performed to design new structures and to illuminate the details of light-matter
interaction on the nanoscale.
19
Gerd Leuchs concentrates on the spatial structure of the light field including optics design,
optical sensors, and polarization optimization
e.g. in focusing light. Other studies concern the
temporal characteristics of light including quantum noise manipulations and the generation of
single photons and of quantum entangled states.
All this is achieved using nonlinear interactions,
e.g. nonlinear optical fibers and whispering gallery mode resonators and is applied to topics
such as quantum key distribution, optical amplification, optical communication and the development of optical logic quantum gates.
Master program for Advanced Optical Technologies (MAOT), and in the International Max Planck
Research School Physics of Light (IMPRS-PL). In
addition, an initiative by Vahid Sandoghdar has
resulted in the creation of the Optical Imaging
Center Erlangen (OICE), a central institution of
the FAU.
The optics groups cooperate with other groups
in the physics department, as well as other FAU
faculties. For example, the Optical 3D Metrology
(OSMIN) group (Gerd Häusler) collaborates with
ECAP (Christopher van Eldik) on the measurement of mirrors for the Cherenkov Telescope
Array (CTA) by using phase measuring deflectometry (PMD), with „Neurologische Klinik“
(Prof. Dr. H. Stefan) about head motion management by using flying triangulation, with
“Lehrstuhl für Fertigungsmesstechnik (FMT)”
(Prof. Dr. T. Hausotte) about automatic registration method for multisensor datasets adopted
for dimensional measurements on cutting tools,
with the Pattern Recognition Lab (Prof. Dr. J.
Hornegger) about joint surface reconstruction
and 4-D deformation estimation from sparse
data and prior knowledge for marker-less respiratory motion tracking.
Further important cooperations exist naturally
with the Max Planck Institute for the Science of
Light (MPL). In addition, optics groups from the
department participate in the Graduate School
for Advanced Optical Technologies (SAOT), in the
20
Laser light focused on a sharp tungsten tip.
Light-Matter Interface
This section is devoted to research at the interface of condensed matter physics and optics,
dealing with systems that feature light-matter
interactions. This topic thus represents one key
component of the future envisioned, much larger and broader area of "physics of light and matter" that will unite optics and condensed matter
within the department.
Light-matter interaction has recently emerged as
one of the main topics in the Physics Department
at FAU. Around 15 professors from both experimental and theoretical groups at the Department are working on research topics ranging all
the way from solid state physics to quantum
optics to exploit synergy effects at this interface.
Research on light-matter interaction is strengthened by the newly founded Max Planck Institute
for the Science of Light, the Erlangen Graduate
School in Advanced Optical Technologies (SAOT)
and the cluster of excellence “Engineering of
Advanced materials”.
The followings topics serve as examples to illustrate common research interests and how the
various groups collaborate at this exciting interface.
Collaborations/ Common Research Interests
Optomechanics
(Painter, Marquardt, Lutz, Russell)
Optomechanics is a relatively recent research
field right at the intersection of quantum optics
and condensed matter physics. It deals with the
interaction between light and nano-mechanical
motion and holds great promise for both applications and fundamental studies. Applications include ultrasensitive detection of small displacements, forces, accelerations, and masses, as well
as mechanically mediated transduction between
microwaves and optical radiation, which would
be crucial for future quantum communication
protocols. Strong research collaboration exists
between the Painter group at the Max Planck
Institute and the Marquardt group in the area of
quantum cavity-optomechanics . Marquardt is an
expert in the theory of cavity-optomechanical
21
systems, and has developed several new directions for this burgeoning field based upon devices developed in the labs of Painter. The Painter
group in turn, has begun a new direction in the
area of quantum many-body physics with integrated optomechanical crystal circuits, ideas
tions and biochemistry. Within the FAU and the
Max Planck Institute the Russell group develops
novel fibers for applications in quantum optics.
The Leuchs group uses photonic crystal fibers to
generate squeezed states in a very controlled
manner. The Sandoghdar division on the other
hand exploits the high spatial confinement and
the well-defined mode structure in order to realize one dimensional quantum optical systems
with a controlled number of interacting emitters.
Photons and Electrons
(Fauster, Hommelhoff, Sandoghdar, Götzinger,
Peschel)
Optomechanical crystal
which were proposed in large part by Marquardt
and his students. Other groups in the department, including Eric Lutz (theory), are now exploring possible applications of optomechanical
concepts as well, in particular the investigation
of quantum nonequilibrium processes and the
realization of quantum thermodynamic machines, while the Russel group explores optomechanics in photonic crystal fibers.
Novel Optical Fibers
Particularly Photonic Crystal Fibers
(Russell, Leuchs, Sandoghdar, Joly, Götzinger) Since the first demonstration of a photonic crystal fiber in 1996 by the Russell group, these microstructured fibers have attracted a lot of attention due to the unprecedented way they control nonlinearity, dispersion and numerical aperture. These fibers found applications far beyond
the pure guiding of light; filled with a liquid they
can be used for example in biophysical applica-
The photoelectric effect is the simplest interaction of a photon with an electron in matter. The
photon is destroyed and its energy is used to
excite an electron. It is widely used to study the
occupied part of the electronic band structure of
solids and their surfaces in angle-resolved photoemission. Higher-order processes like twophoton or multiphoton photoemission can be
used to access the unoccupied bands and in addition to sample the electron dynamics in the
femto- and attosecond regime. The Fauster
group has a long-standing experience with time
and angle-resolved two-photon photoemission
at various surfaces using femtosecond lasers. Its
surface science expertise provides support for
the research in photonics and plasmonics where
the surface and interface properties become
more and more important with increasing miniaturization.
In the last two decades multiphoton physics has
evolved into strong-field and attosecond physics.
22
While these processes have so far mainly been
studied with atoms, the Hommelhoff group set
out to investigate if similar phenomena can also
be observed at solids. Taking advantage of field
enhancement at nanoscale metal tips, the group
showed that much of what is known from atoms
can indeed be observed also at solids. A prominent example is the elastic re-collision of the
photoemitted electron with the parent matter
when driven back by the laser field. This can be
used as a new means to study surface science,
now on the attosecond time scale. With these
experiments strong-field physics and nano-optics
have been merged, representing a natural tie to
the Sandoghdar/Götzinger experiments.
Photons and Structure
(A. Magerl, T. Unruh)
The destruction of the phase coherence of a
macroscopic quantum state of a (X-ray) light
wave under Bragg condition has the potential to
reveal minute disturbances from a perfect periodic dielectric function with an extreme sensitivity, e. g. on crystalline defects far beyond the
reach of any other technique. These opportunities, which have been demonstrated, will be
developed as well as principles of coherent diffraction imaging of macroscopic objects and
including diffraction from optical elements.
Nonlinear Light-Matter Interaction
(Russell, Joly, Leuchs, Peschel, Marquardt,
Sandoghdar, Götzinger)
partment six groups are engaged in the investigation of the various phenomena of nonlinear
light matter interaction. Russell and Joly investigate super continuum generation in photonics
crystal fibers, the Leuchs group studies all-optical
signal regeneration in fiber transmission systems
while the Peschel group together with the Marquardt group is interested in the nonlinear dynamics in optical systems. Sandoghdar and
Götzinger push these nonlinear interactions to
their ultimate limit by exploiting the inherent
nonlinearity of a single emitter. A laser can be
controlled by a single molecule by manipulating
its population.
Excitons in Organic Crystals, Singlet Fission
(T. Fauster, V. Sandoghdar, M. Thoss)
One strategy to improve solar-cell efficiency is to
generate two excited electrons from just one
photon through singlet fission, which is the conversion of a singlet into two triplet excitons. In a
concerted effort between synthetic and physical
chemistry (Tykwinski, Guldi), surface and molecular physics (Fauster, Sandoghdar) and theoretical physics (Thoss) the fundamental physical
processes of singlet fission in pentacene derivatives shall be clarified. This understanding will
lead to a knowledge-based design and realization of molecules exploiting singlet fission in
highly-efficient next-generation solar cells using
environmentally-friendly and inexpensive materials. This project is under consideration for the
Emerging Fields Initiative of the FAU.
Light-matter interaction is the source of optical
nonlinearities and can result in an intriguing dynamics of the light field. Those nonlinear processes crucially influence the quality and capacity of all-optical signal transmission, which is the
basis of our modern communication technology.
Their understanding is essential for the operation and optimization of lasers and supercontinuum sources, but also touches a lot of fundamental aspects, which are equally important for
the description of wave phenomena. In the de23
Snapshot of a quantum spacetime evolved via the quantum Einstein equations according to Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG). The
colours indicate the amount of area on the triangles of this topological triangulation. Regions without tetrahedra display holes in
the spacetime.''Copyright: Thomas Thiemann (FAU), Milde Marketing (Potsdam), Exozet (Potsdam)
Theoretical Physics
Research in the Theoretical Physics groups at the
FAU physics department comprises a set of different research directions, including statistical
physics, soft condensed matter, quantum optics,
molecular physics, condensed matter physics,
and quantum gravity. These topics will be outlined in some more detail below, together with
the strong connections to the experimental
groups at the physics department as well as to
groups outside physics and outside Erlangen.
Statistical Physics and Soft Condensed Matter Theory
The language of modern physics is mathematics.
The chair of 'Theoretical Physics I' tries to identi-
fy novel mathematical methods to describe
physical phenomena and is therefore inherently
cross-disciplinary. Its main focus is actually on
soft condensed matter and biological systems
with tools from geometry, computational and
statistical physics which can be applied universally to all systems with many degrees of freedom.
The chair currently comprises the groups of two
professors (Klaus Mecke, Ana Smith), one vacant
professorship on mathematical physics (succession of Hajo Leschke), one independent research
group (Gerd Schröder-Turk) and one Humboldt
fellow (Myfanwy Evans). Since 2005 four members accepted an offer of a professorship: Michel
Pleimling (Virginia Tech, 2006), Wolfgang Spitzer
(Hagen, 2010), Roland Roth (Tübingen, 2012)
and Thomas Franosch (Innsbruck, 2013).
24
With its research focus on the theory of condensed matter, the chair is a central part of the
Cluster of Excellence 'Engineering of Advanced
Materials' (EAM) which tries to develop novel
designs for materials and processes. Current
projects address fluids on a nanometer scale and
liquid crystals, bio-membranes and cell adhesion,
as well as design of elastic and photonic materials with a complex spatial microstructure. In
particular, with its expertise in theoretical biophysics, the groups at the chair also collaborate
with experimental groups in biophysics, medical
physics and medicine (see section on biophysics).
With its research focus on statistical physics and
morphometry the chair is part of the Erlangen
Center for Astroparticle Physics (ECAP), where
acoustic wave detection of neutrinos and source
detection in gamma-ray astronomy are supported by theoretical analysis. In particular, with its
expertise in triangulations and finite projective
geometry the chair is part of the Emerging Field
Initiative 'Quantum Geometry' (EFQG), in which
the mathematical foundations of space and time
are studied and intensive co-operations exist
with the Department of Mathematics.
The chair fosters a lively interaction with the
Faculty of Humanities, especially with departments for literature science and philosophy with
interdisciplinary research projects, lectures and
public outreach activities. It therefore represents
the department in the Center for Applied Ethics
A partition of space by polygonial cells containing all
points which are closest to a sphere: such Voronoitesselations are frequently used as a mathematical tool
to characterize spatial structures in condensed matter
physics, biophysics and astronomy, for instance.
and Science Communication (ZIEW) and the Erlangen Center for Literature and Natural Science
(ELINAS).
The chair represents the department in the Central Institute for Scientific Computing (ZISC) and
the Erlangen Computing Center (RRZE).
Quantum Optics and Nanophysics
The chair Theoretical Physics II comprises the
research groups of Florian Marquardt (who arrived in 2010) and Eric Lutz (who joined in 2013).
Its research topics in general involve quantum
dynamics in situations that are important for
systems at the intersection of quantum optics
and nanophysics. Research activity at this interface has become particularly important and fruitful during the past decade. Many experimental
systems in the solid state are nowadays investigated to realize goals such as quantum computation or quantum simulation. Very often, the theoretical analysis benefits from employing tools
first developed for the field of quantum optics.
At the same time, quantum optics and atomic
physics systems are being studied to serve as a
test bed for ideas from condensed matter physics, e.g. via realizing correlated quantum manybody dynamics in systems of cold atoms in optical lattices. Finally, there is an increasing number
of systems which directly combine features from
both worlds.
For example, the Marquardt group is very active
in the field of cavity optomechanics, where one
studies the interplay of light with nanomechanical motion. In addition, it carries out research in
topics such as quantum electrodynamics in superconducting circuits, decoherence, quantum
transport of electrons, and quantum many-body
dynamics in electronic systems and cold atoms.
The group of Eric Lutz investigates the field of
quantum thermodynamics, where concepts from
statistical physics and thermodynamics are applied to small quantum systems, such as heat
engines made from single ions.
25
There are ongoing collaborations of the Marquardt group with experimental groups at the
department and at the MPL, especially with
those in the optics domain (e.g. Gerd Leuchs’
quantum information processing division, and
Oskar Painter’s newly formed group). Optomechanics is studied experimentally by both the
Painter and Russell groups. The Marquardt group
is part of a European Marie-Curie ITN network
on cavity optomechanics. With its research topics, the chair
directly contributes
to
the new focus on lightmatter interactions at the
FAU physics
department.
The
Lutz
Optomechanical systems could be used to group is part
generate truly nonclassical quantum of a Europestates of mechanical motion, such as the
an
STREP
one shown in this Wigner density plot
project and
a European COST network on quantum thermodynamics.
Quantum Gravity
The Institute for Quantum Gravity (IQG; chair for
Theoretical Physics III) hosts professors Kristina
Giesel, Hanno Sahlmann, Thomas Thiemann and
Michael Thies (Fiebiger professorship - renewal
approved by the Bavarian State Ministry of Sciences, Research and the Arts). The current activities at the IQG focus on research in quantum
gravity. This is a theory under construction which
aims at consistently combining the principles of
Einstein's General Relativity (GR) and Quantum
Field Theory (QFT). In its current stage, there are
still many mathematical questions to be answered which is why the IQG fosters a lively interaction with the Department of Mathematics
of the FAU. In fact, the IQG is an integral part of
the Emerging Field Project ``Quantum Geometry'' funded by the Emerging Field Office of the
FAU in which the expertise of physicists and
mathematicians are combined in order to make
progress in understanding the mathematical
foundations of quantum gravity. When completed, quantum gravity is a theory that will expand
our understanding of nature in regimes where
the current description breaks down. This concerns in particular the physics of very strong
gravitational fields such as close to the cosmological big bang or the interior of black holes as
well as ultra high energy elementary and astroparticle physics. Quantum gravity is very likely
also required in order to explain for instance the
origin of dark energy and the finer details of
structure formation in the universe. In principle,
corresponding quantum gravity effects can be
detected in high precision experiments based on
cosmic rays, gravitational waves and the cosmic
background radiation and any hints from experiments will guide the mathematical development
of the theory. Accordingly, the IQG is part of the
Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics (ECAP).
The actual computation of possible quantum
gravity imprints that are detectable in such experiments is very complicated because the theory can only be non-perturbatively defined and as
in QCD one has to resort to sophisticated methods from computational physics. The IQG has
therefore set up several collaborations together
with members of the chair "Theoretical Physics I"
(statistical physics) within the afore mentioned
EFP.
26
Condensed Matter Theory
The Solid State Theory chair (Professors O. Pankratov and M. Thoss, Privatdozent M. Bockstedte
and research assistant S. Shallcross) focuses on
the quantum theory of solids, which includes abinitio calculations for bulk materials, surfaces
and molecular systems, the development of
electronic structure theory beyond the standard
density functional schemes and the theory of the
nonequilibrium quantum processes.
In the Pankratov group, the modelling of materials is stimulated by collaborations with experimental colleagues in Physics and Chemistry (e.g.
H. Weber and A. Hirsch on epitaxial graphene
and graphene flakes), whereas the density functional theory development (time dependent DFT,
diagrammatic formalism for the calculation of
excited states within DFT, density matrix functional theory) is a part of a strong international
effort.
In recent years, special attention in the group
has been devoted to graphene and its derivatives which are fascinating systems featuring
chiral electron states. The possibility of such
states in solids was predicted in the 80s (O.
Pankratov, G. Semenoff, F. Haldane and others)
but the real “boom” started after discoveries of
graphene and – more recently – of the topological insulators. The theory of these systems unites
the solid state and the quantum field theory
concepts, complemented by ab-initio modeling
of realistic materials. This provides a unique platform for collaboration of all theory chairs within
the Institute for Theoretical Physics. For example, rippled graphene can be described with
quantum field theory on a curved space - the
formalism explored in the quantum gravity
group of Prof. T. Thiemann.
Other prominent examples are multiple mutually
rotated graphene layers. Understanding of these
systems requires a combination of the Diophantine algebra and of the band structure theory
which is a novel concept in the quantum theory
of solids.
The focus of the research in the Thoss group is
the theory and simulation of nonequilibrium
processes in quantum many-body systems. Theoretical and computational methods are developed and applied to quantum dynamics and
quantum transport in molecules, nanostructures,
at surfaces and interfaces. The research projects
include fundamental aspects of dynamics and
transport in correlated quantum systems, such
as interference, decoherence and localization as
well as applications to the charge and energy
transfer in nanostructures which are relevant for
nanoelectronics and photovoltaics. The group
has active collaborations with other researchers
in Erlangen, including M. Bockstedte on photoinduced charge transfer on surfaces, H. Weber
on quantum transport in nanoscale molecular
junctions, and T. Clark and M. Halik on charge
transport in carbon-based nanostructures. In a
new collaboration with several groups in Erlangen (T. Fauster, D. Guldi, R. Tykwinski, V. Sandoghdar) the process of a singlet fission in novel
organic materials is being investigated, which
holds great promise for improving the efficiency
of solar cells.
The groups of O. Pankratov and M. Thoss are
members of the Interdisciplinary Center for Molecular Materials (ICMM) and of the Central Institute for Scientific Computing (ZISC). They participate with two projects in the SFB 953 ‘Synthetic
Carbon Allotropes’ and in the cluster of excellence EAM (‘Engineering of Advanced Materials’). M. Bockstedte is a principal investigator of
the DFG research group funCOS (‘Functional
Molecular Structures on Complex Oxide Surfaces’). The Thoss group is associated with the cluster of excellence ‘Munich Center of Advanced
Photonics (MAP)’.
Several former chair members now hold professorships or distinguished researcher positions (R.
Winkler, Professor at Northern Illinois University,
USA, I. Tokatly, Ikerbasque Research Professor,
Univ. San Sebastian, Spain, V. Valeyev, Senior
researcher at Kurchatov Institute, Moscow, Russia).
27
Physics didactics
fibers and polarizers, to get a hands-on approach
to modern research in optics and quantum optics.
The professorship for physics didactics is an independent division equivalent to a chair, led by
Jan-Peter Meyn. It is in charge of physics teacher
training generally, not only for teaching the educational subjects. The complete team is comprised of Dr. Angela Fösel as permanent staff
(Akademische Oberrätin), two PhD students, a
technician (part-time) and a secretary (parttime). Jan-Peter Meyn serves on a number of
teacher-related committees, which represent
the Physics Department and stays in contact with
the head of Department (Departmentssprecher)
and the dean of studies (Studiendekan), but also
with the dean of the faculty of science, the university's vice-president for teaching, and the
centre of teacher training (ZfL). The inclusion of
the physics didactics professor in the Department is in contrast to other models of teacher
education within FAU and at other universities. It
ensures the best information exchange between
the large number of facilities in charge of teacher
training, and a teacher students' voice within the
faculty. Teacher training for primary and secondary school (Grund- Haupt- und Realschule) is
located at the former EWF Campus, Regensburger Straße, in Nuremberg. Dr. Angela Fösel is informally in charge of this branch of teacher training and she is personally present in Nuremberg
throughout the lecture period - at the same time
she is a regular group member integrated in the
professorship's activities. The students' activity
programme (Schülerlabor) "Photonik macht
Schule" was developed in cooperation with the
MPL. More than 1000 high school students have
worked with modern optical components such as
28
Teaching
The Department of Physics offers bachelor and
master programs in physics and materials physics. Prospective high school teachers are trained
in Erlangen whereas elementary and middle
school teaching is taught at the Department of
Didactics in Nuremberg.
Apart from these regular, purely physicsoriented bachelor and masters programs, the
Department is also involved in courses and programs of an interdisciplinary nature. Integrated
life sciences (ILS) is an interdisciplinary bachelor
and master program comprising biology, biomathematics and biophysics and is run jointly by
the three departments. In addition, physics
courses are provided for close to 2000 students
in over 20 study programs of the faculties of
natural sciences, engineering, and medicine.
Most students from other departments or faculties take physics for one year.
tion of physics beginners over the last 15 years.
A positive trend in the number of physics students in recent years is evident even after the
maximum in 2011 due to two graduating high
school classes in Bavaria.
In the following the physics programs are presented in more detail emphasizing special concepts developed at Erlangen.
Physics (BSc, MSc)
Students
First year
Total
Physics BSc
157
437
Physics MSc
33
120
Materials Physics BSc
8
26
Materials Physics MSc
0
6
High school
43
173
Elementary school
0
6
Middle school
16
82
ILS BSc
40
145
ILS MSc
10
25
Total
244
773
The table gives an overview of the enrollment in
the various programs in the winter term 2013/14
(Source: www.uni-erlangen.de/universitaet/statistik/studierende/lehreinheiten/). The total
numbers take into account that teachers study
two subjects and ILS is shared by three departments. The graphics shows the temporal evolu-
The study of physics follows the recommendations (www.kfp-physik.de/dokument/Empfehlungen_Ba_Ma_Studium.pdf) of the Conference
of Physics Departments (KFP). The bachelor program takes three and the master program two
years. The basic subjects are covered by six
courses in experimental physics and four courses
in theoretical physics. In the first three semesters mathematics is mandatory and the students
have to choose a minor subject such as astronomy, chemistry, physical chemistry or computer
science. Particular emphasis is put on lab courses: In the third semester, students may choose
their own projects and work in groups of six students under the guidance of experienced tutors.
A lab course in electronics is taught in the fourth
semester using advanced state-of-the-art electronic equipment. In these lab courses the traditional writing of reports was replaced by the
presentation of the results. In this way, students
learn to present their work in front of an audience, an important skill for presenting seminar
talks in later studies and for their future career
29
as physicists. The advanced lab courses offer a
wide variety of modern experiments in the main
research fields of the Department. The advanced
lab courses are part of the curriculum in the
bachelor studies (fifth semester) and in the first
year of the master’s program. They also serve as
an introduction into the research at the Department of Physics to aid students in picking the
subjects of their bachelor and master’s thesis.
A substantial amount of enrolment fees1 was
used to modernize the lab course equipment
including the excellent observation facilities at
the Astronomy Institute in Bamberg. A modern
computer pool is available to all students and
used for teaching programming, text processing
(LaTeX), computational physics and numerical
methods. For master’s students inclined more
towards theory, the advanced lab course may be
replaced by projects in computational physics.
The video recording of selected lectures is appreciated by students, because it helps in recapitulating lectures and in preparing for examinations.
The physics program leaves plenty of room for a
substantial amount of elective courses, so students can specialize in subjects of their choice.
Physics in medicine is a special program at the
master’s level which is attested by a special diploma. Delving into certain subjects is based on
the solid foundation of the basic courses in experimental and theoretical physics. In combination with the skills acquired in the lab courses
the students have excellent qualifications for
doing high-level research in their bachelor or
master’s thesis. Even at the bachelor level many
students present their work at the spring meeting of the German physical society or appear as
co-authors on publications.
In the first year of the master’s program, a more
advanced approach is presented in one or two
subjects in experimental and theoretical physics
that have been covered previously on a more
elementary level during the bachelor studies.
Elective courses can be chosen on a wide variety
of topics and may be used to gain specialized
Electronics course
competences. These are of use for the work on
the master’s thesis during the second year of the
master’s studies.
In Physics Advanced the Department implements
an integrated approach to research and training
on the bachelor, master and doctoral programs.
The students have the opportunity to tailor their
program of studies by choosing a number of
elective courses. Students are given the opportunity to find their own balance between the
duration and depth of study. Direct application
of acquired knowledge is enabled through early
immersion in research. This makes Erlangen particularly attractive to both German and foreign
students who seek quality education. Physics
Advanced is an international program. Lectures
are given in German and English. Language
courses are offered for students coming from
non-German speaking countries. Regular lectures are supported by workshops and seminars
with leading international experts to provide
more in depth knowledge of certain topics. As a
program which cherishes excellence, the Physics
Advanced program offers and demands more
than other programs. The graduates are awarded a 'Master of Science with Honors' as a sign of
the high demands of the program.
Materials Physics (BSc, MSc)
1
"Studiengebühren". After their abolition in 2013,
these have been replaced by a program funded by the
state of Bavaria.
The concept of the study program in materials
physics emphasizes subjects in condensed mat30
ter physics and incorporates courses offered by
the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering.
It also meets the standards for physics programs
of the KFP. The training in mathematics is the
same as for the engineering students. The number of courses in experimental and theoretical
physics is reduced to four and three, respectively. This leaves room for additional courses in
chemistry, materials science or nanotechnology.
Physics Teachers (BSc)
High school teachers are required to major in
two subjects and the recommended match for
physics is mathematics. Many courses of the 4.5
year program are used jointly with the bachelor
programs of physics and materials physics. Special courses are required in didactics of physics.
Teachers have to pass a state examination with
special regulations. In order to open other areas
of employment the university offers the option
to obtain a bachelor degree. A bachelor of sciences (BSc) is awarded, if both subjects are in
natural sciences. The Department of Physics
strongly supports the introduction of a master of
education and the abolition of the state examination.
Elementary and middle school teachers are
trained at the Department of Didactics in Nuremberg. The physics courses are a minor part of
the program. The distance between the two
campuses hampers an integration of these students at the Department of Physics.
Integrated Life Sciences (BSc, MSc)
This interdisciplinary program in biology, biomathematics and biophysics is a result of the
transformation of biology to a quantitative life
science. It ties in with the research in biophysics
and physics in medicine at the Department of
Physics. The ILS program is managed by the Department of Biology.
Teaching for other Departments
The Department of Physics offers lectures and
lab courses for close to 2000 non-physicists (engineers, natural scientists, medical students in
more than 20 study programs). In the winter
term nine courses in experimental physics including exercise classes are taught. We are also
striving for excellent teaching in this area. The
lecture hall experiments and presentation facilities are continuously being improved using the
enrolment fees. Additional tutors are also paid
and modern equipment for lab courses also purchased using these funds. The medical students
fare extremely well in the tests, since we introduced additional crash courses in physics to prepare for the state examination. Currently we are
implementing computer-based examinations for
the engineering students. The aim is to have
standardized questions, to alleviate the preparation for the test, and to improve the quality of
scoring.
Ensuring Quality of Teaching
The quality of teaching at the Department of
Physics is monitored by the student evaluation of
the courses. The dean of study affairs oversees
and monitors this process. The best lecture of
the year is awarded a prize at the graduation
ceremony. The student body rewards exceptional dedication for teaching. The results of the
evaluation are also used to identify problems in
the study program. These questions are discussed in the committee for study affairs (consisting of students and professors) which usually
finds adequate solutions in a cooperative manner. Once a year, a plenary meeting of all members of the Department is scheduled. The student union of the physics department is very
active, well organized and constructive. Its contributions to the improvement of the study programs and the social life at the department are
highly appreciated.
The exercise classes on experimental physics
during the first year are led by two tutors for
31
each group. These tutors attend a special training course before teaching the class. This innovative concept has led to a significant reduction of
the drop-out rate during the first year of physics
studies. The university has extended this successful program of the Department of Physics to
mathematics and computer science and receives
funding from the Higher Education Pact of the
Federal Ministry of Education and Research
(BMBF).
Prizes for the best bachelor, master’s, diploma
and doctoral theses are awarded at the graduation ceremony each year totaling the sum of
5000 Euro. Our students regularly get prizes also
from other foundations or institutions.
A significant number of students go abroad for
one semester to study at universities in foreign
countries. Such exchange is supported in Europe
by Erasmus and other programs. The examination regulations explicitly allot the fifth semester
for a study abroad. Courses attended at other
universities are honored to the largest possible
extent towards the degree in Erlangen.
Special Courses and Schools
The various research areas at the Department
are reflected in the wide variety of special lecture courses and schools offered to students.
The introductory astronomy lectures and laboratory, which are taught by the members of ECAP,
are typically attended by more than half of the
Department's 1st year students. ECAP also offers
a large number of specialized lectures in astroparticle physics, which cover the whole range
from experimental and theoretical particle physics and the theory of gravitation to astronomy
and astrophysics. Since 2004 ECAP has been
organizing the annual "Schule für Astroteilchenphysik" (school for astroparticle physics), with a
typical attendance of 30-40 graduate students
from all over Germany who are taught by worldexperts in astroparticle physics.
The “Basic courses in optics”, taught by the optics sector comprise four lectures on classical,
quantum and non-linear optics, and are open to
both bachelor and master’s physics students.
They are also delivered for students from Computational Engineering (CE), Integrated Life Science (ILS) and Master of Advanced Optical Technologies (MAOT)
The various theory groups offer advanced courses on: mathematical physics, condensed matter
theory, biophysics, non-linear dynamics, quantum optics, the physics of cold atoms, nanophysics, open quantum systems, the foundations of
quantum mechanics, superconductivity, group
theory, and transport in nanosystems.
Quantum gravity is a very popular topic among
the very best master’s students worldwide, but
there is typically a lack of a thorough background
in this subject. The Institute for Quantum Gravity
(Theory III) has therefore set up a curriculum
consisting of six specialized courses (QFT I: Introduction, QFT II: Advanced Topics, GR I: Introduction, GR II: Advanced Topics, Cosmology, Quantum Gravity) which are designed to ideally prepare master’s students for carrying out research
projects in quantum gravity during their master
and PhD period.
With its expertise in computational tools, the
chair Theory I is responsible for the CIP-pool, the
introductory programming as well as advanced
computational physics courses.
Another strong topical focus of the teaching
activity of the Department is in basic crystallography, scattering methods with X-rays and neutrons, and crystal physics. Single crystal and
powder diffraction X-ray experiments were newly made available for students in the form of
practical courses. An entire laboratory course in
X-ray crystallography was newly designed with
instruments adapted to the needs of the students. This process continues and recently with
the advent of T. Unruh a laboratory SAXS set up
for practical training has been built.
32
The chair of 'Kristallographie und Strukturphysik'
organizes excursions to large scale research facilities as, e.g., synchrotron (ESRF, Soleil) and neutron (FRM II, ILL) sources but also others like
CERN, Genf or LNCMI, Grenoble. The excursions
are well received by the students. This is reflected by the strong over-subscription of the visits,
which are regularly offered.
Since 2012, the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light organizes together with the Department of Physics at the FAU an annual Autumn Academy on the physics of light. The aim is
to introduce undergraduate and master’s students from all over the world to the optical sciences, including topics such as quantum information processing, metamaterials, nano-optics,
photonic crystal fibers, nonlinear optics, imaging
and sensing. Due to the restriction to 25 participants the application process is quite competitive. The event takes two and a half days with
lectures, lab tours and poster session. Tutorials
are given by well-known invited lecturers and
the MPL directors.
In order to attract promising master’s and graduate students from all over Europe, the Department has recently established the FAU Physics
Academy. This is a small workshop/tutorial
where talented students (at the bachelor and
master level) from elsewhere are invited to
come to Erlangen and listen to lectures by renowned experts on some research area that is
part of the Department's range of topics. The
first such academy in April 2013 dealt with the
physics of graphene.
(www.physics-academy.fau.de)
In the German CHE 2012 ranking, the Erlangen
Department of Physics was ranked 2nd place regarding its support for students' studies abroad.
33
Outreach
In 2010, the Department has started an initiative
(Patenschulprogramm) to foster contact with
secondary schools in a large area around Erlangen and Nuremberg. Members of the Department visit physics classes for short lectures on
specific topics and give information about studying physics. Furthermore, practical support is
offered for repairing physics equipment by the
Department’s electronics and machine shop of
the Department. A positive impact is expected
for the number of physics students as well as a
reduced number of dropouts.
Initiating and keeping contact to young people
with interest in science is of invaluable importance for attracting future students. Based on
the experience with the Projektpraktikum the
Department founded the Erlangen Schülerforschungszentrum für Bayern (ESFZ) in 2009.
Four times per year the ESFZ offers a one-week
research camps for high school students. The
students come from all over Bavaria. They work
on self-defined research projects having access
to the infrastructure of the Projektpraktikum.
Students and scientists from the physics department give them support. Many students of the
ESFZ work on their projects for more than a year
and many have been awarded prizes at contests
as for instance Jugend forscht.
(www.esfz.nat.uni-erlangen.de/).
Samstagmorgen" ("Modern physics on saturday
mornings") is a lecture series intended for high
school students but also the general lay public.
Each semester, it consists of four or five 1-hour
talks that are delivered by scientists from the
physics department. The audience ranges in size
from 50 to more than 200. It includes high school
students with their parents as well as other interested members of the public. Every semester,
there is a mix of topics, ranging from astrophysics to optics and condensed matter. Care is taken
to prepare talks that are generally accessible for
non-experts. The feedback has been very positive, and there is usually a lively discussion after
the lectures. The talks are announced via the
Department’s website, through a press release
via the FAU Faculty of Sciences, as well as
through direct mailings to nearby schools.
www.thp2.nat.uni-erlangen.de/index.
php?title=Moderne_Physik_am_Samstagmorgen
Special offers are made for female high school
students at the “Girl’s Day”, which takes place
once a year.
A more specific and focused field of research is
covered within the quantum lab. Classes can
spend a teaching unit at the Department to work
on quantum phenomena with photons (entanglement, photon statistics, interference). web:
www.didaktik.physik.uni-erlangen.de/quan
tumlab
Another outreach effort has been introduced in
2012 by the Department: "Moderne Physik am
The Physics Department takes a major role in the
biennial “Long Night of Sciences” (Lange Nacht
der Wissenschaften), the biggest Science event in
Germany (about 30.000 visitors) by demonstrating (hands on) experiments and giving scientific
talks to a broad audience of more than 2000
visitors alone in the Physics Department.
Last but not least, ECAP has a large outreach
program in astronomy and particle physics. An34
nually 1000 - 2000 members of the public participate in observing the night sky and in guided
tours of Remeis-observatory, in addition the
observatory's facilities are also used by local
schools. ECAP researchers are also active in the
Netzwerk Teilchenwelt, a nationwide network
which introduces high school students to particle
physics.
35
Statistics and Overview
ment2 exceeds 4 200. Among these publications
are numerous published in high impact journals
like
no. of publications
In the years since 2008, approximately 1600
publications have been published by members of
the Department (with an Erlangen address line),
as counted by the Thomson-Reuters Scientific
Web of Science (WoS). The yearly statistics are
displayed in the figure below. These publications
have been cited about 17000 times within that
time interval (excluding self-citations).
Nature (Impact Factor 38): 27 publications, Science (31): 22, Reviews of Modern Physics (45): 2,
Nature Group (~25): 40, Advanced Materials
(14): 10, Physical Review Letters (8): 254, Astrophysical Journal (Letter) (~7): 86
The yearly statistics for current faculty members
are shown in the figure below.
no. of publications
Publications Originating from the Department
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
year
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
year
Among these publications are numerous published in high impact journals like
Nature (Impact Factor 38): 5 publications, Science (31): 7, Reviews of Modern Physics (45): 2,
Nature Group (~25): 16, Advanced Materials
(14): 8, Physical Review Letters (8): 85, Astrophysical Journal (Letter) (~7): 63.
Going back 20 years (1993 - 2003), the total
number of publications from the Physics Department is exceeding 7 000 in that time interval.
Publication Statistics for Current Faculty
Members
We emphasize that these statistics are conservative as WoS does not count citations to and from
papers on the arXiv server and a reasonable
number of conference proceedings are not
measured by WoS. Roughly speaking, if these
were included (as measured by other services
such as Google Scholar), the number of publications for some researchers would be up to twice
as high and the h-indices generally increase by
about 10%-20%.
In the CHE 2012 ranking, the total number of
publications by the department in Erlangen put it
at 12th place among 62 German physics departments ("top group"), and the number of publications per researcher and citations per paper was
ranked in the middle group.
The total amount of papers published at any
time in the past by the current professors and
permanent members (as of 2013) in the Depart2
All W1/W2/W3 professors, as well as apl. professors
and permanent scientific staff
36
Third Party Funding
Infrastructure
The graphics shows the third party funding (including DFG, BMBF, EU funding etc.) of the physics department over the last 5 years3.
The four main buildings of the physics department are located in close vicinity to each other
on the southern campus of the FAU (Staudtstr. /
Erwin-Rommel-Str.).
12
10
Biophysics shares a building with Medical Physics
near the city center and the Astronomy Institute
is for historical reasons based in Bamberg.
M€
8
6
4
2
0
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
year
Currently, the average amount of third party
funding is around 10 M€/year and equals roughly the university-funded personnel costs of the
department (Landesmittel).
In the CHE (Centrum für Hochschulentwicklung)
2012 ranking of 62 German physics departments,
the annual amount of third party funding acquired by the Erlangen physics department
ranked 13th place (in the "top group"), and the
amount of funding per researcher was ranked in
the "middle group". Regarding third party funding obtained from industry, the Erlangen physics
department ranked 2nd place (after the KIT Karlsruhe). In the number of possibly patent-relevant
inventions, Erlangen was ranked 1st place in the
CHE 2012 ranking.
PhD students
The number of annual dissertations at the physics department in Erlangen is about 30 - 40 (recent numbers):
2010: 30
2011: 37
2012: 39
3
These data have been obtained from the central
university administration and the data for 2011 and
2012 had to be corrected for an administrative mistake in the raw data
The physics department occupies about 18.000
m² of space. One third is used for offices and one
third for labs.
The remaining third is divided about equally for
machine shops, lab courses and lecture/seminar
rooms.
Special facilities
The facilities of the department include 5 focused ion beam machines and 4 scanning electron microscopes with e-beam writing. Numerous machines for evaporation and sputtering of
metals and dielectrics are available as well as dry
chemical etching and CVD machines for III-V, and
Si related materials. 3 smaller clean rooms are
located at the individual chairs, but no central
clean room facility exists.
Resources from university
There are 165 university-provided positions
(Landesstellen) at the department.
In addition, the university provides some amount
of yearly base funding for each chair at the department. In total, currently these funds
(Titelgruppe 73) amount to 450,000 EUR per year
for the whole department. This amount is distributed according to a performance-related
model.
The student enrollment fees amount to about
400,000 EUR per year and are dedicated to the
improvement of studying and teaching. After the
replacement of the enrollment fees by state
funds we expect an amount of about 360,000
EUR per year.
37
Selected important awards & prizes
Current and past faculty members of the department have received numerous important
awards and important personal grants. These
include:
Alexander von Humboldt professorship:
O. Painter, V. Sandoghdar
Alfried-Krupp-von-Bohlen-Halbach
Chair: P. St. J. Russell
ICMM - Interdisciplinary Centre for Molecular
Materials
ICICP - Interdisciplinary Center for InterfaceControlled Processes
CENEM - Center for Nanoanalysis and Electron
Microscopy
SFB 953 - "Synthetic Carbon Allotropes"
Start ups
Endowed
Körber prize: P. St. J. Russell
Gottfried-Wilhelm Leibniz prize: G. Anton
Walter Schottky Award for Solid State Physics of
the German Physical Society:
G.H. Döhler (ret.),
P. Müller (ret.)
Th. Seyller (now W3 at Chemnitz university),
F. Marquardt
Erwin Schrödinger prize: H.B. Weber
ERC grants: Starting Grants for F. Marquardt and
A.S. Smit; Consolidator Grant for P. Hommelhoff;
Advanced Grants for V. Sandoghdar and G.
Leuchs
Interdisciplinary projects, contribution to
university wide initiatives
The physics department is part of or contributes
to the following initiatives and networks within
the university:
EAM - Excellence Cluster Engineering of Advanced Materials
SAOT - Graduate School Advanced Optical Technologies within the Excellence Initiative
OICE - Optical Imaging Centre Erlangen
EFI Quantum Geometry - Emerging Field Initiative (a competitive program within the university)
EFC Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics Emerging Field Centre
Several start up companies have emerged from
activities within the department or co-founded
by members of the department. There are two
companies in the area of optics that have been
founded by members of the department: 3DShape GmbH (founded in 2001, 3D Sensors, Metrology Services) and OPTOCRAFT (founded in
2001, wave front sensors), both located in Erlangen. Another recent startup is feinarbyte in Erlangen (founded in 2011, automation).
International Guests
Researchers at the department regularly host
senior researchers for longer-term visits, e.g. in
the context of the Alexander von Humboldt program and similar programs. A partial list from the
recent past includes the following: The Institute
for Quantum Gravity hosted Prof. Jurek Lewandowski (U. Warsaw, Poland), Prof. Robert Oeckl
(U. Morelia, Mexico) and Affiliate Prof. Florian
Girelli (U. Waterloo, ON, Canada); Jörn Wilms
(Astronomy) hosted the Humboldt Fellow A.
Markowitz (Univ. Calif. San Diego); Thomas
Fauster hosted Marko Kralj (Zagreb) as a Humboldt Fellow; A. Magerl hosted Prof. A. Rempel
(Ural State University); Oleg Pankratov hosted
Dr. J. Klepeis (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA) and Dr. V. Valeyev (Senior researcher at Kurchatov Institute, Moscow); P.
Müller hosted Prof. Dr. Lütfi Özyüzer (Izmir Institute of Technology) as a Humboldt fellow; A. S.
Smith hosts David Smith (visiting professor within EAM); J. v. Zanthier hosted Girish S. Agarwal
(Humboldt Prize); G. Leuchs hosted Luis L.
Sanchez-Soto, R. W. Boyd (Humboldt Prize), Elisabeth Giacobino (Humboldt Prize), and the
Humboldt fellows Radim Filip and Dmitry Streka38
lov and others; P. Russell hosted Joseph Zyss
(Humboldt Prize).


Workshops & schools
International workshop 'Quantum transport
in nanoscale molecular systems', Telluride,
USA (2013, M. Thoss)
Workshop Frontiers of Nanomechanics, ICTP
Trieste (September 2013, Marquardt)
Members of the department are active in organizing workshops and schools, both in Erlangen
and at international centres. This is best illustrated by a list of such workshops organized in
the year 2013 alone. In and around Erlangen, the
following workshops have been organized:







FAU
Physics
Academy:
Cutting-Edge
Research on Graphene (April 2013, H.
Weber)
13th International Conference on Squeezed
States and Uncertainty Relations in
Nuremberg (June 2013, G. Leuchs as
Chairperson)
CENEM Workshop Neutrons For Functional
Materials in Erlangen (June 2013, T. Unruh)
International Workshop on Hadron Structure
and Spectroscopy 2013 in Erlangen (W.
Eyrich)
Second Erlangen Fall School on Quantum
Geometry (October 2013, Institute for
Quantum Gravity together with the
mathematics department)
Workshop/School on Cavity Optomechanics
in Erlangen, within the European Marie-Curie
ITN network cQOM (October 2013, F.
Marquardt)
10th Erlangen School for Astroparticle Physics
for young scientists, in ObertrubachBärenfels
(October
2013,
ECAP)
Members of the department are also acting as
(co-)organizers of workshops at various international venues, for example (in 2013):


Workshop on Mathematical Methods of
Quantum Tomography, Field's Institute,
Toronto (February 2013, G. Leuchs)
Photonics workshop in Mont Tremblant,
Canada (March 2013, G. Leuchs)
39
Alumni
Non tenured junior researchers working at the
FAU physics department are receiving offers for
permanent professorships from universities
worldwide. Examples from recent years include:
Michel Pleimling (Virginia Tech, 2006)
Wolfgang Spitzer (Hagen, 2010)
Roland Roth (Tübingen, 2012)
Thomas Franosch (Innsbruck, 2013)
Martin Weinelt (FU Berlin)
Christine Silberhorn (Paderborn, 2010)
Stefan Müller (TU Hamburg Harburg, 2010)
Reinhold Kleiner (Tübingen, 2001)
Peter van Loock (Mainz, 2012)
Oliver Waldmann (Freiburg, 2004)
Thomas Seyller (TU Chemnitz, 2012)
Markus Schmidt (Jena, 2012)
Fabio Biancalana (Edinburgh, 2012)
Natalia V. Korolkova (Univ. of St. Andrews, 2003)
Norbert Lütkenhaus, (Waterloo, Canada, 2006)
Ulrik L. Andersen, (DTU Lyngby 2006)
Klaus Helbing (Wuppertal 2006)
In addition, PhDs graduating from the Erlangen
physics department in several cases have proceeded to a succesful international academic
career. Examples include:
Andreas Wallraff (PhD 2001, Full Prof. ETH Zürich)
Peter Müller (PhD 1996, Prof. in mathematics,.
LMU München)
Michael Kneissl (PhD 1996, Prof. TU Berlin & FBH
Berlin)
Simone Warzel (PhD 2001, Prof. in mathematics,
TU München)
Karsten Reuter (PhD 1998, W3 TU München
2009)
Volker Blum (PhD 2001, Associate professor
Duke Univ 2013)
40
Faculty
This
chapter
presents
the
professors
(W3/W2/W1) of the Department in alphabetical
order.
At the end of this chapter, the “apl” (adjunct)
professors are presented.
41
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Gisela Anton
(b. 1955)
W3, Erlangen Centre for
Astroparticle
Physics
(ECAP)
The research of Gisela Anton
covers particle and astroparticle physics, detector development and medical physics. She started in experimental hadron physics with investigations on the spin
structure of proton and neutron and on nucleon resonances. In 1995 she was awarded the prestigious
Leibniz-Preis of the German Science Foundation. In
2001 she entered the field of astroparticle physics
with the participation in the neutrino telescope project ANTARES, and later KM3NeT. She worked on the
detector calibration, on the physics analysis of ANTARES data and she evaluated the method of acoustic
particle detection for ultra high energy neutrinos. She
was elected chair of the ANTARES institute board for
2006 to 2012. Together with her colleague U. Katz she
founded in 2007 the Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle
Physics (ECAP). As an experimental physicist she has
strong interests in detector development. This interest extends to possible applications of particle detectors to other science fields. In 1999 she became
member of the Medipix-collaboration, a CERN-based
group of institutes worldwide, who develop semiconductor detectors for X-rays and particles. As an example, she investigated the application of pixel detectors
for internal tracking of low energy particles. Further,
within these activities she worked on grating-based Xray phase contrast imaging. For her project she was
awarded the “Innovationspreis Medizintechnik” of
the German Ministry of Science in 2008. The scientific
work of Gisela Anton resulted in 206 publications with
more than 4700 citations (h-index of 39) and 8 patents so far.
Research in the Anton group
Astroparticle Physics
Neutrino telescopes offer a new and deep view into
cosmic objects due to the weak interaction of neutrinos. G. Anton and U.Katz are both members of the
ANTARES and KM3NeT collaborations. They lead in
common the Erlangen group which comprises more
than 25 physicists. In ANTARES scientists from ECAP
are responsible for the detector position calibration
and monitoring, for the analysis software and for data
production. The physics analysis work addresses for
example the search for neutrino signals from dark
matter annihilation, the search for neutrinos in coincidence with gamma-ray bursts and the measurement
Professional Career
1995-now W3-professor at FAU, Erlangen
1990-1991 Visiting researcher at the proton accelerator lab Saturne, France
1989-1995 Research Assistant (C1) at the University
of Bonn
1983-1989 Postdoc at the University of Bonn
Functions, boards and panels
since 1995 Referee of various journals
since 1995 Reviewer for projects of DFG, BMBF, MPG,
HGF, EU and other funding agencies
since 1999 Advisory Board of the German National
Metrology Institute (PTB)
2000-2007 Referee for the German Science Foundation (Fachkollegium Teilchenphysik)
2002-2005 German Committee for Hadron and Nuclear Physics (KHuK)
2002-2007 supervisory board of the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe
2003-2006 BMBF board of reviewers for hadron and
nuclear physics
2003-2012 Chair of the Jury of the German Contest
for Young Scientists “Jugend forscht”
2004-2007 German Committee for Astroparticle Physics (KAT)
2004-2011 Physics Research Committee at DESY
2006-2012 Chair of the Institute Board of the ANTARES collaboration
2008-2012 Managing director of the Erlangen Centre
for Astroparticle Physics (ECAP)
2009-2013 Deputy chair of the section for Particle
Physics of the German Physical Society
2013-2015 Scientific Advisory Committee of the Astroparticle Physics European Consortium
Prizes and Awards
1975 German Contest for Young Scientists “Jugend
forscht” (Bundessieger Physik)
1994 Gottfried-Wilhelm-Leibniz-Preis of the German
Science Foundation (DFG)
1995 German Federal Republic Order of Merit
2000 Bavarian University Teaching Award
2008 Innovation Award Medical Technology (Innovationspreis Medizintechnik des BMBF)
2009 Bavarian Order of Merit (Bayerischer Verdienstorden)
2010 Bavarian “Maximilian” Order of Merit
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: C-4840-2013
Website: http://www.pi4.physik.uni-erlangen.de/
Supervised PhD theses: 40 (+ 14 in progress)
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 77
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
of the atmospheric muon and neutrino flux in the
TeV-energy regime. For KM3NeT, the ECAP group has
contributed considerably to the design and initiation
of the project (U.Katz has been coordinator of the EU
42
funded design study). As an example, with colleagues
from the Dutch institute NIKHEF they designed the
optical modules for Km3NeT.
Neutrinos with energies above the region of 1017 eV
can induce acoustic signals in water. The ECAP group
has designed and constructed a system of acoustic
sensors connected to the ANTARES detector. The
system is running smoothly and is continuously taking
data since 2008. It enables a unique long term evaluation of the relevant acoustic background in the Sea.
Up to date neutrino oscillation experiments yield
information on the differences between neutrino
masses leaving an ambiguity to the mass ordering and
the absolute mass. By observation of atmospheric
neutrinos having travelled through Earth this ambiguity can be resolved. The ECAP group is performing
design and sensitivity studies for a detector to measure this neutrino flux. Here, challenges arise from the
relatively low neutrino energies of about 2 to 20 GeV.
Detector development
Liquid xenon is employed as detector material for the
search for the neutrino-less double beta decay. Solid
xenon may turn out as an even better sensor material. In collaboration with the group of J. Hee at Fermilab (USA) the Anton group investigates the behavior of solid xenon as particle detector. The focus is on
the imaging of eV-electrons from the ionization track
produced by the MeV-electrons from double beta
decay. A world-wide group of institutes including
CERN formed the Medipix collaboration for the
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
[1] M. Filipenko, T. Gleixner, G. Anton, J. Durst, T.
Michel: Characterization of the energy resolution and
the tracking capabilities of a hybrid pixel detector
with CdTe-sensor layer for a possible use in a neutrinoless double beta decay experiment, EPJ C (2013)
s10052-013-2374-1
[2] ANTARES Collaboration, S. Adrian-Martinez,…G.
Anton,…: First search for neutrinos in correlation with
gamma-ray bursts with the ANTARES neutrino telescope, JCAP 03 (2013) 6
[3] G. Anton et al.: Grating-based darkfield imaging of
human breast tissue., ZMP 23 (2013) 228
[4] ANTARES Collaboration, J. A. Aguilar, ..., G. Anton,
..., AMADEUS - The acoustic neutrino detection test
system of the ANTARES deep-sea neutrino telescope,
Nucl. Inst. Meth. A 626 (2011) 128.
[5] KM3NeT Collaboration, P. Bagley, ..., G. Anton, ...,
KM3NeT Technical Design Report, ISBN 978-90-6488033-9 (2010). Available from: www.km3net.org.
development of semiconductor pixel detectors. Scientists in the Anton group belong to the core groups of
the Medipix collaboration driving new developments
and holding some patents in the field. They are employing the detectors for use in particle physics, in
dosimetry and in X-ray imaging. They cooperate with
Fraunhofer institutes and local companies for several
imaging modalities.
Medical X-ray imaging
Medical imaging requires high image quality at low
dose. The application of pixel detectors with photon
counting and energy resolved imaging allows to enhance the contrast of soft tissue for some modalities.
The high photon flux and the high dynamic range are
challenging. The Anton group developed a detailed
model for the simulation of the detector behavior.
Based on a deep understanding of the details they are
able to optimize the imaging systems.
In addition to the attenuation property also the diffraction ability of material can be employed to gain
imaging information. In this context, the Anton group
concentrates on dark field imaging which is sensitive
to the granularity of a material. These granular properties are yet unknown for human organs and for
healthy versus pathological tissue. The group has
been the first to image cancer signatures of micrometer-sized calcifications in breast tumors at a tolerable
radiation dose. They are collaborating with scientists
from the medical faculty to explore further application modalities. Colleagues from the informatics department support the image analysis.
Teaching and outreach
For the education in experimental physics within the
bachelor program G. Anton established the Projektpraktikum and on a similar basis for the motivation of
high school students in research she founded the
Erlangen Schülerforschungszentrum für Bayern (ESFZ)
(www.esfz.nat.uni-erlangen.de). For more information on both see the main body of the report.
In 2004, together with U. Katz she founded the German School for Astroparticle Physics, an annual
school for PhD students. Today it is a well established
activity of the German astroparticle community under
the umbrella of ECAP and the Helmholtz Allianz of
Astroparticle Physics.
Funding
Selected funding of the past few years (in average 1.1
Mio Euro per year):
BMBF-Verbundforschung ANTARES, EU design study
and preparatory phase study KM3NeT, BMBF Innovationspreis Medizintechnik, BMBF Forschungsspitzencluster Medical Valley, Industries
___________________________________________________________________________
43
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ben Fabry
(b. 1967)
C4, Chair for Biophysics
Ben Fabry’s main research area
is molecular, cellular and tissue
biomechanics. After his studies
at the Technical University of
Dresden, he joined the Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine division at Draegerwerk AG, Lübeck, Germany, and subsequently the
Department of Clinical Physiology at the University of
Basel where he worked on respiratory physiology. His
main contribution during that time was the development of the “Automatic Tube Compensation” mode,
which is now an industry standard in modern intensive care ventilators. After receiving his doctorate
degree in 1995, he was research assistant and after
1999 research associate at the Physiology Program,
Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, where he
worked on smooth muscle physiology and cellular
biomechanics. His discovery that cells behave mechanically as a scale-free soft glassy material has advanced the prevailing sol-gel theory of cell mechanics
and has led to fundamental insights into the pathophysiology of human diseases that are rooted in aberrant cell mechanics, such as asthma and cancer. Since
2003, Ben Fabry has been full professor at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, and since 2005 has been
co-director of the Center for Medical Physics and
Technology at the University. His current research
emphasis is on how cells respond to mechanical signals, and how they coordinate their mechanical behavior during contraction, migration, differentiation
and proliferation. One specific focus of his research is
cancer cell invasion in tissue. His approach has been
driven by the idea that the complex mechanical behavior of cells can be understood from concepts derived from the physics of soft materials. He has also
developed novel technologies including magnetic
micro-rheometers, and computational methods for
traction reconstruction in 3-dimensional tissue matrices. Ben Fabry has given more than 100 invited talks,
he has written 1 patent and 135 publications which
are cited over 4100 times (h-index: 38)
Professional Career
2005-now Co-director, Center for Medical Physics and
Technology
2003-now W3 professor at the FAU, Erlangen
1999-2003 Research Associate, Physiology Program,
Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA
1996-1999 Research Fellow, Physiology Program,
Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA
1991-1996 PhD-student, Institute of Clinical Physiology, University of Basel, Switzerland
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: C-5496-2013
Website: www.lpmt.biomed.uni-erlangen.de
Supervised PhD theses: 5
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 33
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
collagen fiber networks to study cells in a more physiological 3-D environment.
Biopolymer network morphology
Collagen is the most abundant protein in the human
body and is responsible for the mechanical integrity
of connective tissue, tendons, cartilage and bones.
Cell behavior in collagen strongly depends on the
collagen network morphology. By changing the protein concentration, polymerization temperature, pH,
and crosslinker concentration, morphological properties such as pore size, fiber thickness, fiber length or
branching ratio can be precisely tuned. This work is
done in collaboration with Klaus Mecke and Gerd
Schroeder-Turk (Theoretical Physics, FAU).
Collagen mechanical properties
Collagen mechanical properties are complex, nonlinear, highly dynamic, and not well understood. In
collaboration with the rheology group of David Weitz
(Harvard University), we investigate the mechanical
properties of collagen gels on a macroscopic as well
as a microscopic level. These data can then be used to
measure cell traction forces.
Traction forces
Research in the Fabry group
Cell behavior in a 3-D extracellular matrix
In traditional hard, flat plastic cell culture (Petri) dishes, cell behavior such as force generation, migration,
adhesion or cytoskeletal organization differs substantially from that observed in a 3-dimensional (3-D)
environment where cells are embedded in a flexible,
degradable extracellular matrix. We use reconstituted
Traction forces are important, for instance, for the
migration of cells (such as cancer cells or white blood
cells) through the connective tissue. 3-D tractions can
be calculated by measuring the deformation field of
the connective tissue matrix surrounding a cell. The
image below shows the elastic strain energy stored in
the extracellular matrix surrounding a breast carcinoma cell. This work is done in collaboration with
Jeffrey Fredberg and James Butler (Harvard University)
44
from an elevated position and tracking the head of
every single penguin for several hours. This work has
excited widespread public interest and has been featured in international media including the NY Times,
Scientific American, National Geographic, and the
BBC.
Teaching
Ben Fabry is the coordinator of the physics masters
program “Physics in Medicine”, and the program
advisor of the department of physics for the interdisciplinary bachelor and masters program “Integrated
Life Sciences: Biology, Biophysics, Biomathematics”,
which is a joint program with the departments of
biology and mathematics. Both programs are popular
with students and contribute vitally to the attractiveness of Erlangen for studying physical sciences.
Funding
~280.000 €/year (DFG, EC)
Huddling in penguin colonies
Many of the concepts of cell mechanics and dynamics
penguin gets to pass the warmest zone in the center
of the huddle. In collaboration with Daniel Zitterbart
can be extended to more complex living systems, for
example emperor penguins. During the Antarctic
winter, emperor penguins have to endure temperatures down to -50° Celsius combined with strong
winds. To conserve energy, they move close together
and share their body heat (huddling). Movements
inside the huddle are highly coordinated so that every
(Institute for Marine and Polar Research Bremerhaven) and Andre Ancel (CNRS Strasbourg), we study
how penguin huddles move, and how the penguins
move inside the huddle, by taking time lapse images
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
Mechanical control of cyclic AMP signalling and gene
transcription through integrins, Nat Cell Biol 2, 666
(2000)
Scaling the microrheology of living cells. Phys Rev Lett
87, 148102 (2001)
Cytoskeletal remodelling and slow dynamics in the
living cell. Nat Mater. 4, 557 (2005)
Single-cell response to stiffness exhibits muscle-like
behavior, Proc Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 106, 18243 (2009)
Strain history dependence of the nonlinear stress
response of fibrin and collagen networks, Proc. Natl.
Acad. Sci. USA, 110, 12197 (2013)
___________________________________________________________________________
45
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thomas Fauster
(b. 1955)
C4, Chair for Solid State
Physics
The research of Thomas Fauster
is in the field of experimental
surface science. He has used
many different techniques
throughout his career, but the current work is focused on photoelectron spectroscopy using femtosecond lasers.
Thomas Fauster studied physics in Würzburg and
joined for his PhD work on inverse photoemission the
group of F. J. Himpsel at IBM Research, Yorktown
Heights, NY, USA in 1981. After receiving his PhD from
the University of Würzburg in 1984 he worked in the
group of V. Dose in Würzburg and at the Max-PlanckInstitute for Plasma Physics in Garching. The work on
low-energy ion scattering led to his habilitation in
1988. From 1989 to 1994 he supervised the group of
W. Steinmann (president at that time) at the LudwigMaximilians University in Munich. There he used
photoemission techniques, in particular two-photon
photoemission from image-potential states. In 1996,
Thomas Fauster became full professor at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg. His work is well known resulting in numerous invited talks at international
conferences and workshops. Thomas Fauster has
been president of the Bavarian regional chapter and
member of the supervisory board of the German
Physical Society for twelve years. He also serves in
many committees at the FAU and as dean of study
affairs at the department of physics.
(140 publications, h-index: 40, 1 habilitation)
Research in the Fauster group
Electron dynamics using time-resolved twophoton photoemission
Our investigations aim at a fundamental physical
understanding of the mechanisms and processes
involved at a microscopic atomic and electronic level.
In recent years progress to apply the techniques to
more complex surface systems has been achieved.
The experimental methods are in part developed by
the group and involve the use of femtosecond laser
systems and high-resolution electron spectrometers.
Other tools such as low- energy electron diffraction,
scanning tunneling microscopy and advanced surface
preparation methods are also employed.
Professional Career
1996-now W3-professor at FAU, Erlangen
1995 Acting professor, University of Würzburg
1989-1994 Acting professor, Ludwig-Maximilians
University, Munich
1986-1996 Research staff, Max-Planck-Institute for
Plasma Physics, Garching
1984-1985 Academic assistant, University of Würzburg
1982-1983 PhD student, IBM Research, Yorktown
Heights, NY, USA
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: B-3096-2012
Website: www.fkp.physik.uni-erlangen.de
Supervised PhD theses: 21 (+ 3 in progress)
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 40
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Image-potential states
Electrons in front of a metal surface can be trappped
in image-potential states. These lightly bound states
are a sensitive probe of surfaces and serve in particular as model systems to study the electron dynamics
at surfaces. The method allows to separate decay and
dephasing of electronic states. Recent studies concern image-potential states on epitaxial graphene
layers on metals and silicon carbide.
Unoccupied electronic structure and dynamics of
topological insulators
A new class of materials which has gained interest in
recent years are toplogical insulators which are semiconductors in the bulk and have topologically protected spin-polarized metallic suface states. We are
investigating the electronic structure of the unoccupied band structure and the electron dynamics of the
excited states.
A topological surface state has a linear dispersion (Dirac
cone). Spin and momentum are intrinsically locked. The
two-photon photoemission intensity at constant energy
shows the circle for Bi2Se3. With circularly-polarized light
the opposite spin orientation on opposite sides of the Dirac
46
cone is revealed. Along the circular cut a three-fold spin
pattern develops further away from the intersection point.
Steinrück. A new initiative on "singlet fission" involves
D. Guldi, V. Sandoghdar, M. Thoss and R. Tykwinski.
Two-photon photoemission from semiconductors and oxides
Teaching
The complex reconstructions of semiconductor surfaces lead in turn to a complicated surface electronic
structure. For Si(100) we identified a bound surface
exciton in the dangling bond bands and investigated
the electron dynamics. On Si(553)-Au evidence for
spin-polarized edge states was found.
Oxide films are studied as substrate for molecular
adsorbates in preparation for the recently funded
DFG research unit.
As dean of study affairs I am responsible for the
organization and evaluation of the teaching at the
department of physics. One challenging aspect is
providing adequate courses for non-physicists (engineers, natural scientist, medical students) including
innovative computer-based tests. The training of the
physics students is continuously improved using the
enrollment fees to pay additional tutors and buy
modern equipment for lab courses.
Funding
Selected collaborations
The main collaboration partners are in alphabetical
order:
E. V. Chulkov (San Sebastian), P. M. Echenique (San
Sebastian), F. J. Himpsel (Madison), U. Höfer (Marburg), R. M. Osgood (Columbia Univ. New York), K.
Tanimura (Osaka), M. Weinelt (FU Berlin).
The network in Erlangen focuses on the DFG Research
Unit funCOS where we have a joint project with H. P.
DFG individual grant (2007-2010, 1 PhD)
DFG research unit funCOS (2013-, 1 PhD)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
Oberflächenphysik: Grundlagen und Methoden, Th.
Fauster, L. Hammer, K. Heinz, M. A. Schneider,
Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag (2013)
Unoccupied topological states on bismuth chalcogenides, D. Niesner, Th. Fauster, S. V. Eremeev, T. V.
Menshchikova, Yu. M. Koroteev, A. P. Protogenov, E.
V. Chulkov, O. E. Tereshchenko, K. A. Kokh, O.
Alekperov, A. Nadjafov, and N. Mamedov, Phys. Rev.
B 86, 205403 (2012)
Unoccupied electronic states at step edges on Si(553)Au, K. Biedermann, S. Regensburger, Th. Fauster, F. J.
Himpsel, and S. C. Erwin, Phys. Rev. B 85, 245413
(2012)
Trapping surface electrons on graphene layers and
islands, D. Niesner, Th. Fauster, J. I. Dadap, N. Zaki, K.
R. Knox, P.-C. Yeh, R. Bhandari, R. M. Osgood, M.
Petrović, and M. Kralj, Phys. Rev. B 85, 081402 (2012)
Unoccupied dimer-bond state at Si(001) surfaces, Th.
Fauster, S. Tanaka, and K. Tanimura, Phys. Rev. B 84,
235444 (2011)
Decay of electronic excitations at metal surfaces, P.
M. Echenique, R. Berndt, E. V. Chulkov, Th. Fauster, A.
Goldmann, and U. Höfer, Surf. Sci. Rep. 52, 219 (2004)
___________________________________________________________________________
47
. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Kristina Giesel
(b. 1977)
W2, Institute for Theoretical
Physics III (Quantum Gravity)
The research field of Kristina
Giesel is quantum gravity, particularly loop quantum gravity,
which is a current candidate for a theory of quantum
gravity. Related fields relevant for research in loop
quantum gravity are general relativity, quantum field
theory, cosmology and astroparticle physics. She
studied at the University of Kiel, the University of
Warwick, UK and the Technical University of Dortmund. In 2007 she received her PhD from the University of Potsdam, Germany. The research during her
PhD focused on the semiclassical analysis of the
Quantum Einstein Equations, which describe the
dynamics of loop quantum gravity. From 2006-2010
she held postdoc positions at the Max-PlanckInstitute for Gravitational Physics (Albert-EinsteinInstitute) in Potsdam, Germany, the Nordic Institute
for Theoretical Physics (Nordita) Stockholm, Sweden
and the Excellence Cluster Universe (Technical University Munich), where she continued her research in
loop quantum gravity in a research environment with
a strong focus on theoretical cosmology. In fall 2010
she accepted an offer from Louisiana State University,
US for an Assistant Professorship in physics and she
became a W2 professor at the FAU ErlangenNürnberg in 2011. Her total number of citations are
385/191 (spires-hep/ web of science), the average
citation number per article is 29.6/14.7, her h-index is
10/9 for her 16/13 publications. She has given more
than 25 invited talks at national and international
institutes and conferences respectively and 5 invited
compact courses on loop quantum gravity at national
and international universities. For her research during
her PhD she was awarded the Michelson Prize of the
Science Department of the University of Potsdam and
the Carl-Ramsauer Prize of the German Physical Society of Berlin in 2007.
Research in the Giesel group
Loop quantum gravity (LQG) is a candidate for a theory of quantum gravity that tries to consistently combine the principles of general relativity and quantum
field theory. LQG takes the canonical version of general relativity as a classical starting point and then
uses the technique of canonical quantization to obtain the corresponding quantum theory. One of the
main research direction we focus on is the implementation of the dynamics of loop quantum gravity.
Professional Career
2011-now W2-professor at FAU, Erlangen
2010-2011 Assistant professor, Louisiana State University, US
2009-2010 Postdoc Excellence Cluster Universe,
Technical University Munich, Germany.
2008-2009 Postdoc Nordic Institute for Theoretical
Physics, Nordita, Sweden, Stockholm.
2006-2008 Postdoc Max-Planck-Institute for Theoretical Physics (Albert-Einstein-Institute), Postdam Germany.
2003-2007 PhD student University of Potsdam (graduated Feb. 2007, started Postdoc already in Oct.
2006)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: C-8699-2013
Website: www.gravity.physik.fau.de/members/ people/giesel.shtml
Supervised PhD theses: 1 in progress
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 3
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Dynamics in the classical theory
In general relativity the dynamics is encoded in Einstein's equations, which describe the interaction between matter (including everything except gravity)
and gravity, which is - due to Einstein's fundamental
description of gravity - related to the geometry of
spacetime. Already at the classical level Einstein's
equations have a complicated structure and only in
very special cases, as for instance when the geometry
of the spacetime has symmetries, analytical solutions
of the dynamical equations are known.
Quantum dynamics
In the quantum theory the classical dynamics is replaced by the so called Quantum Einstein Equations
(in its seminal formulation known as the WheelerDeWitt equation). They describe how quantum matter is interacting with quantum geometry at the fundamental level. Since within the framework of LQG
also geometry becomes quantized a classical geometry no longer exists. As a consequence, for geometric
observables such as volume, area and length corresponding operators exist in the quantum theory and
possible measurement of these quantities are determined by the spectra of these operators. Particularly,
the volume operator is important for the precise form
of the Quantum Einstein Equations.
Semiclassical limit of quantum gravity
A pivotal role in the formulation of LQG plays the
proper implementation of these quantized Einstein
equations and the analysis of their semiclassical limit.
48
There are two limits that are of interest. In the limit
where the quantum properties of the geometry as
well as the matter play a negligible role classical general relativity should be recovered. On the other
hand, in the regime, where the quantum geometry is
peaked around some classical spacetime but matter is
still treated as a full quantum object it should be possible to rediscover ordinary quantum field theories on
classical (curved) spacetimes. These are consistency
checks any theory of quantum gravity needs to pass.
The technical tool, which is used to analyze the semiclassical sector of LQG are coherent and semiclassical
states respectively. Likewise to ordinary quantum
mechanics, these are states, which allow to perform a
transition from the quantum to the (semi-)classical
regime. The currently existing coherent states for LQG
are constructed in analogy to the harmonic oscillator
coherent states and are therefore not very well
adapted to the dynamics of the Quantum Einstein
Equations. Consequently, currently a semiclassical
analysis is only possible and has only been performed
on very short time scales as otherwise the existing
coherent states loose their good semiclassical properties. To construct semiclassical states, which are bet
ter adapted to the quantum dynamics of LQG is one
of our current research projects.
Cosmological consequences
A natural testing arena for effects of quantum gravity
is cosmology. Particularly primordial perturbations,
which seeded the large scale structure of the universe
and which manifest themselves as small anisotropies
in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) are a
promising candidate to test quantum gravity effects
in the early universe. By measuring the anisotropies in
the CMB with experiments such as PLANCK one can
infer the spectrum of the primordial perturbations.
This opens a window to the underlying physics in the
very early universe, which might help to test characteristic properties of quantum gravity models. Therefore, another research project is to develop techniques for LQG, which allow to extract the cosmological sector from loop quantum gravity.
Selected collaborations
Our group interacts with most of the other (loop)
quantum gravity groups worldwide. Closer international collaborations exist with the quantum gravity
group at the University of Warsaw (Jerzy Lewandowski), Louisiana State University (Jorge Pullin,
Param Singh), The Pennsylvania State University (Abhay Ashtekar, Martin Bojowald) and the Beijing Normal University (Yongge Ma). We also collaborate with
cosmology groups at the Excellence Cluster Universe
in Munich particularly the groups of Hofmann and
Weller. Interdisciplinary local collaborations exists
with the math department (Neeb, Meusburger) within the emerging field project "Quantum Geometry".
Inside the physics department collaborations exists
with the ECAP and the Institute for Theoretical Physics I, which is also a member of the emerging field
project.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
Teaching and outreach
Gravitational dynamics for all tensorial spacetimes
carrying predictive, interpretable and quantizable
matter, Kristina Giesel, Frederic P. Schuller, Christof
Witte, Mattias N.R. Wohlfarth, Phys.Rev. D85 (2012)
104042
The professors at the Institute for Quantum Gravity
teach a curriculum for Bachelor/Master students,
which includes advanced lectures in general relativity
(I & II), quantum field theory (I & II), cosmology and
loop quantum gravity.
So far my outreach activities include a popular article
on loop quantum gravity (Sterne und Weltraum July
2011), an invited talk at the planetarium in Nürnberg
and a talk held in the Saturday morning lecture series
in Erlangen.
From Classical To Quantum Gravity: Introduction to
Loop Quantum Gravity, Kristina Giesel, Hanno Sahlmann, Published in PoS QGQGS2011 (2011) 002
Gravity quantized: Loop Quantum Gravity with a Scalar Field, Marcin Domagala, Kristina Giesel, Wojciech
Kaminski, Jerzy Lewandowski, Phys.Rev. D82 (2010)
104038
Manifestly Gauge-Invariant General Relativistic Perturbation Theory. I. Foundations, K. Giesel, S. Hofmann, T. Thiemann, O. Winkler, Class. Quant. Grav. 27
(2010) 055005
Funding
2011 Sonderprogramm für neuberufene Professorinnen, EUR 30 0000.
2011 NSF Grant, $150.000, declined to to the acceptance of the offer of the FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg.
Algebraic Quantum Gravity (AQG). II. Semiclassical
Analysis, K. Giesel, T. Thiemann, Class.Quant.Grav. 24
(2007) 2499-2564
___________________________________________________________________________
49
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Wolfgang Goldmann
(b. 1946)
W2, Institute for Biomedical Physics
Wolfgang H. Goldmann is
Professor of Biomedical Physics (W2) at the FAU in the
Department of Physics (under
the Chair of Ben Fabry for Medical Physics and Technology). Dr. Goldmann is a German-American citizen.
He studied Medicine at the University of Munich and
Physical Biochemistry at the University of Bristol,
England, where he received his PhD in 1990. He then
moved to Munich and joined the Biophysics Department of Prof. E. Sackmann at the Technical University.
From 1995 to 2004 he worked at Harvard Medical
School, Boston, under the supervision of Don Ingber
and Amin Arnaout, where he held the position as
lecturer from 1997 and taught courses in Physical
Biology and Biochemistry. In 2004, he took his sabbatical at the Center for Medical Physics and Technology
at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg as visiting
professor. Professor Goldmann's research encompasses protein –and cell biomechanics. Specifically,
his work deals with the binding of membraneassociated proteins to the actin cytoskeleton and to
focal adhesions, where he investigates their influence
on the viscoelastic behavior of cells by means of biochemical and biophysical methods. In addition, he
conducts research on the function focal adhesion
proteins on growth, motility and chemical signaling of
cancer cells. (H-index: 28; no. of publications: 136,
average citation per item: ~16.)
Research in the Goldmann group
Influence of phosphorylation, lipid membrane
binding and conformational change on the mechanical behavior of vinculin in cells
Many cell types respond to external mechanical forces and changes in their mechanical environment with
altered gene regulation and protein expression. This
process is described as mechanical signal transduction
and is important in cellular processes of life, but also
in many diseases, such as cancer. Previous work has
shown that the focal adhesion protein vinculin has an
important mechanical function. The aim of this work
is to elucidate the mode of action of vinculin in mechanoregulation and to investigate the signal transmission. The specific hypothesis that will be tested is
whether phosphorylation, membrane binding or conformational changes of vinculin influences the mechanical cell behavior. Selected vinculin constructs
will be used where phosphorylation and membrane-
Professional Career
2006-now W2-professor at FAU, Erlangen
2004-2006 Visiting professor at FAU
1995-2004 Lecturer at Harvard Medical School, Boston / Supervisors: Don Ingber and Amin Arnaout
1990-1995 Postdoctoral fellow at the Technical University of Munich / Supervisor: Erich Sackmann
1987-1990 PhD student at the University of Bristol,
UK / Supervisor: Herbert Gutfreund
1980-1996Medical student at LMU, Munich
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: H-5572-2013
Website: lpmt.biomed.uni-erlangen.de
Supervised PhD theses: 2 (+ 1 in progress)
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
binding properties have been changed in transiently
expressed mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF). Phosphorylation and membrane binding sites are important for mechanotransduction and the exchange
in focal complex dynamics will be determined by
means of biophysical measurement methods. In an
analogous manner, constitutively open and closed
variants of vinculin in terms of their influence on the
mechano-transduction and the exchange dynamics
will be tested in focal complexes. The ability of living
cells to respond to their mechanical environment is of
fundamental importance for many vital processes
such as adhesion, migration, and Invasion. If the results confirm the hypothesis that in addition to the
already known mechano-coupling function of vinculin
is also mechano-regulatory, this wouldhave implications that go far beyond the questions posed here
(Collaboration with Prof. Merkel).
Mechanisms of p130Cas-mediated mechanosensing in cells
Adherent cells, when mechanically stressed, show a
wide range of responses including large-scale changes
in their mechanical behavior and gene expression
pattern. This is in part facilitated by activating the
focal adhesion protein p130Cas through forceinduced conformational changes that subsequently
lead to activation of downstream pathways such as
extracellular-signal-regulated kinase (ERK1/2) phosphorylation. We have recently demonstrated that the
phosphorylation site Y12 on p130Cas modulates the
binding with vinculin, which is a prominent mechanocoupling protein in the focal adhesion complex. Preliminary data show that phosphorylation of Y12 or
mutation with phospho-mimicking glutamate Y12E
suppresses the binding of p130Cas to vinculin, leads
to a decline of p130Cas localization in focal adhesions,
and to a reduction of stretch-induced p130Cas activation and downstream ERK1/2 signaling. These obser-
50
vations demonstrate that vinculin is an important
modulator of the p130Cas-mediated mechanotransduction pathway in cells. The central aim of this
project is to test the hypothesis that vinculin is critical
for p130Cas incorporation into the focal adhesion
complex and for transmitting forces to the p130Cas
molecule (Collaboration with Prof. Brabek).
Biomechanics of Myofibrillar Myopathies
Myofibrillar myopathies (MFM) are associated with
mutations in genes encoding cytoskeletal linker proteins of the intermediate filaments, e.g. desmin or
plectin. Most of these proteins connect adjacent
myofibrils as well as myofibrils to Z-lines or other
important cytoskeletal components and thus, ensure
proper anchorage in biomechanically active muscle.
Disruptions of these linkages are expected to result in
vast disturbances of biomechanical properties, including elasticity, active force production, lower mechanical stress resistance that can induce cell damage and
insufficient repair. Although the common symptom in
all patients with MFM is muscle weakness, there is
almost no information at hand as to how muscle is
affected at different structural and functional levels
within the organ and what is the molecular cause of
the muscle weakness. First results from our biome-
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
chanical studies on primary human myoblasts carrying desmin -and plectin mutations showed an increased stiffness and reduced mechanical stress tolerance in the form of higher mechanical vulnerabil ity
compared to control cells. We hypothesize that the
higher stiffness of mutant cells leads to higher intracellular stress at physiologic stretch and shear deformations, which in turn triggers muscle fiber degeneration. In the present project, we will test this hypothesis using immortalized myoblast cells obtained from
two MFM mouse models. Through the DFG research
consortium FOR1228, we have access to two knock-in
mouse models (R155C VCP, and W2710X filamin C),
which harbor the most frequent human pathogenic
VCP and filamin C mutations. Using traction force
microscopy, magnetic tweezer microrheology, and a
cell stretcher together with high resolution (temporal
and spatial) confocal microscopy, we will address two
key questions: (i) what is the influence of these mutations on the biomechanical function of cultured myoblasts and myotubes derived from skeletal muscle
tissue, and (ii) what are the molecular processes that
lead to altered mechanical stress tolerance in these
cells. This project will provide the first insight into the
biomechanical aspects of the pathogenesis of VCPand filamin C-related myopathies. The present ZProject unites a consortium of researchers with renowned expertise in muscle biomechanics at all levels
of organ function (Collaboration with Prof. Schröder/Wiche).
Selected publications
Selected collaborations
Janoštiak R., Brábek J., Auernheimer V., Tatárová Z.,
Lautscham L.A., Dey T., Gemperle J., Merkel R., Goldmann W.H., Fabry B. and Rösel D, CAS directly interacts with vinculin to control mechanosensing and
focal adhesion dynamics. Cell Mol Life Sci, 2013 in
press.
Ben Fabry, Anna H. Klemm, Sandra Kienle, Tilman E.
Schäffer, and Wolfgang H. Goldmann,Focal Adhesion
Kinase Stabilizes the Cytoskeleton. Biophys J
101:2131–2138, 2011.
Prof. Jan Brabek, University of Prague, Czech Republic
Prof. Rolf Schröder, Uniklinikum, Erlangen
Prof. Rudolf Merkel, Forschungszentrum, Jülich
Prof. Gerhard Wiche, University of Vienna, Austria
Funding
Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Forschergruppe
1228)
Mierke CT, Kollmannsberger P, Paranhos Zitterbart D,
Diez G, Koch TM, Marg S, Ziegler WH, Goldmann WH,
Fabry B. Vinculin facilitates cell invasion into 3D collagen matrices. J Biol Chem 285:13121-13130, 2010.
Diez G, Kollmannsberger P, Mierke CT, Koch TM, Vali
H, Fabry B, Goldmann WH. Anchorage of vinculin to
lipid membranes influences cell mechanical properties. Biophys J 97:3105-3112, 2009.
Möhl C, Kirchgeßner N, Schäfer C, Küpper K, Born S,
Diez G, Goldmann WH, Merkel R, Hoffmann B., Becoming stable and strong: The interplay between
vinculin exchange dynamics and adhesion strength
during adhesion site maturation. Cell Motility and the
Cytoskeleton 66:350-364, 2009.
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51
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Stephan Götzinger
(b. 1973)
W2, Institute for Optics, Information and Photonics
The work of Stephan Götzinger
is focused on quantum optics
with solid state emitters. After
studying Physics and Mathematics (Lehramt Gymnasium) at the University in Kaiserslautern, he received his PhD in 2004 at the Humboldt
University of Berlin. In the nano-optics group of O.
Benson he worked on the controlled coupling of a
single nano-emitter to a high-Q microsphere resonator. He then joined the quantum information science
group of Y. Yamamoto at Stanford University, USA, as
a postdoctoral fellow. There he continued his research on the coupling between nanoscopic matter
and high-Q microcavities with the particular aim of
achieving strong coupling, condensation of exciton
polaritions and ultra-low threshold lasing. Furthermore, he started to investigate various semiconductor materials for their potential use as efficient singlephoton sources. In 2006 he moved to ETH Zurich to
become a permanent researcher in the nano-optics
group of V. Sandoghdar. There he worked on singlephoton sources and the efficient interaction of light
with matter. In 2012 he accepted an associate professor position at the FAU. The position is linked to the
Erlangen Graduate School in Advanced Optical Technologies (SAOT). Stephan Götzinger works closely
with V. Sandoghdar and is part of the Division of
Nano-Optics at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light. His work is recognized internationally
with about 1600 citations to more than 40 publications and an h-index of 18.
Research in the Götzinger group
In our research we aim to achieve ultimate control
over the interaction of light and single quantum emitters. Techniques employed are often based on a
strong confinement of light. This can be achieved for
example by using cavity-QED, plasmonic micro- and
nanostructures or by strong focusing.
Efficient single-photon sources
Single-photon sources are important building blocks
for emerging quantum technologies, ranging from
quantum information processing to metrology applications. A crucial requirement for most of the envisioned applications is an extremely high collection
efficiency of the photons emitted by a single emitter.
Recently we demonstrated that a dielectric antenna
can be used to achieve this goal. Extending our
Professional Career
2012-now W2-professor at FAU, Erlangen
2011 Habilitation, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
2006-2012 Senior Scientist at ETH Zurich, Switzerland
(group of V. Sandoghdar)
2004-2006 Postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University,
USA (group of Y. Yamamoto)
1999-2004 PhD student at the University of Konstanz
(group of J. Mlynek) and the Humboldt University of
Berlin, Germany (group of O. Benson)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: C-7396-2013
Website: http://www.mpl.mpg.de/en/sandoghdar/
Supervised PhD theses: 0
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 3
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
photon collection methodology to metallo-dielectric
antennas, would promise collection efficiencies exceeding 99%. Such a source might be key for the realization of a new primary intensity standard or for
novel shot-noise free microscopy techniques.
A dielectric antenna: The PVA film on top of the high refractive index sapphire cover glass acts as a quasi-waveguide.
Photons emitted by a single molecule inside the PVA are
directed into the sapphire and can be collected with nearunity efficiency by a microscope objective.
Cavity-QED with single molecules
Cavity-quantum electrodynamics is a versatile and
established tool for studying light-matter interaction
with single emitters. We use a scanning fiber cavity
for a controlled coupling of a single molecule to the
cavity mode. Here, we pursue both strong coupling
and photon blockade and the coupling of many emitters via one cavity mode and to explore “few-body”interactions.
Quantum plasmonics
Plasmonic nanostructures can be used as an alternative to microcavities for manipulating single quantum
emitters. Theoretical calculations show, for example,
that the spontaneous emission rate can be enhanced
52
by orders of magnitude. We plan to use a bottom-up
approach and put various elements on a chip in order
to realize a simple quantum network based on plasmonic elements.
Selected collaborations
blackboard approach.
Funding
Funding acquired at FAU: EXL02 SIQUTE (2013-2015,
130.000 €)
We collaborate with the PTB in Braunschweig and
other National Institute of Standards in a project that
aims at the realization of a new primary intensity
standard.
Teaching and outreach
Stephan Götzinger has taught various courses in the
Chemistry, Physics and Engineering departments at
ETH Zurich. With his recent appointment as a SAOT
professor at Erlangen he has the possibility to continue lecturing engineers in quantum mechanics and
quantum optics. This is an exciting opportunity to get
engineers interested in concepts so far mostly seminars Stephan Götzinger often employs novel applied
in fundamental science. In lectures and methods and
forms of teaching beyond the traditional
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
[1] S. Kako, C. Santori, K. Hoshino, S. Götzinger, Y.
Yamamoto, Y. Arakawa, A gallium nitride singlephoton source operating at 200 K, Nature Materials 5,
887-892 (2006).
[2] Z. G. Xie, S. Götzinger, W. Fang, W. Cao, G. S. Solomon, Influence of a Single Quantum Dot State on the
Characteristics of a Microdisk Laser, Physical Review
Letters 98, 117401 (2007).
[3] D. Press, S. Götzinger, S. Reitzenstein, C. Hofmann,
A. Löffler, M. Kamp, A. Forchel, Y. Yamamoto, Photon
Antibunching from a Single Quantum-Dot-Microcavity
System in the Strong Coupling Regime, Physical Review Letters 98, 117402 (2007).
[4] J. Hwang, M. Pototschnig, R. Lettow, G. Zumofen,
A. Renn, S. Götzinger, V. Sandoghdar, A singlemolecule optical transistor, Nature 460, 76 (2009).
[5] R. Lettow, Y. L. A. Rezus, A. Renn, G. Zumofen, E.
Ikonen, S. Götzinger, V. Sandoghdar, Quantum Interference of Tunably Indistinguishable Photons from
Remote Organic Molecules, Physical Review Letters
104, 123605 (2010).
[6] K. G. Lee, X. W. Chen, H. Eghlidi, P. Kukura, R. Lettow, A. Renn, V. Sandoghdar, S.Götzinger, A planar
dielectric antenna for directional single-photon emission and near-unity collection efficiency, Nature Photonics 5, 166 (2011).
___________________________________________________________________________
53
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Ulrich Heber
(b. 1954)
C3, Astronomical Institute
The research of Ulrich Heber
deals with hot stars and their
role in the cosmic circuit of matter as progenitors of supernovae
and tracers of halo dark matter.
Heber received his Ph.D. at the Christian Albrechts
University, Kiel. During his assistantship in the team of
K. Hunger he frequently visited the European Southern observatory (Chile) and the Centro Astronomico
Hispano-Aleman Calar Alto (Spain). Heber habilitated
at the University of Kiel in 1988. Since May 1992 he is
professor for Astronomy and Astrophysics at the
University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and Co-director of
the Dr. Karl-Remeis-Sternwarte, Bamberg. Heber
started with the study of chemically peculiar supergiants through ultraviolet spectroscopy, a spectral window that opened up in the late 1970s through the
NASA/ESA IUE Satellite. As a post-Doc he turned to
the then emerging field of hot subluminous stars
through optical and UV spectroscopy and numerical
simulations of their atmospheres. He participated in
large sky surveys such as the Hamburg quasar and the
Hamburg ESO survey to study the population of faint
blue stars. Heber and his team established the international MSST collaboration for asteroseismology of
hot subdwarf stars, the international SPY and MUCHFUSS consortia to study progenitor candidates of type
Ia supernovae and substellar companions to intermediate mass stars. He is a frequent user of major large
facilities such as the ESO Very Large Telescope and
the Hubble Space Telescope. His work is well recognized internationally with ~6500 citations to more
than 230 publications in peer-reviewed journals and
an h-index of 41.
Research in the Heber group
Hot stars and their role in the cosmic circuit of
matter
We apply numerical physical models of stellar atmospheres to optical and ultraviolet spectroscopy and
photometry to study hot stars from the main sequence to the stellar graveyard, thereby identifying
progenitors of type Ia supernovae and the role of
substellar or planetary companions in binary systems.
Models of the Galactic potential are used to probe
the Galactic dark matter halo through analyses of the
trajectories of high-velocity stars.
Numerical modeling of stellar atmospheres
Professional Career
05/1992 Professor for Astronomy and Astrophysics,
University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
04/1989-05/1992 Oberassistent, U. Kiel
1988 Habilitation, U. Kiel
04/1983-04/1988 Hochschulassistent, U. Kiel
03/1982-03/1983 Post-Doc, U. Kiel
1982 Ph.D., U. Kiel
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: G-3306-2013
Website: www.sternwarte.uni-erlangen.de/~heber
Supervised PhD theses: 11 (+4 ongoing)
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 25
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In astrophysics we can observe, but not interact with
the targets under study. The quantity of the incoming
radiation can be measured (by photometry) and its
quality (by spectroscopy), and by measuring their
variation in the time domain (asteroseismology, kinematics, etc.) the physical state of the objects can be
described. This requires detailed physical modeling of
the atmospheric stellar plasma in non-equilibrium
states. The complexity of stellar spectra requires the
construction of sophisticated model atoms with important input from atomic physics. These methods of
quantitative stellar astronomy are the tools of
Heber's research into hot stars.
Quantitative optical and UV spectroscopy of hot
stars High resolution Echelle spectroscopy allows us to
disentangle the spectral features of various ions to
derive the physical state of the plasma and the elemental abundance pattern. These results are used to
derive the stellar parameters such as mass, radius and
luminosity to test stellar evolution theory. The team
studies hot stars in all phases of stellar evolution,
from cradle to grave, from young massive stars
through the supergiant phase to white dwarfs.
Late and final stages of stellar evolution
Hot subdwarf stars and white dwarfs form the legacy
of the evolution of low and intermediate mass stars.
A large fraction of stars forms and evolves in binary or
multiple systems. Apparently hot subdwarfs form
exclusively through binary evolution and provide a
unique laboratory to study the crucial but poorly
understood processes in common envelope evolution
of close binaries. Heber’s team leads the international
MUCHFUSS collaboration.
Close binary stars and type Ia supernova progenitors
54
Recent focus lies on compact binary stars as progenitors of type Ia supernovae (SN Ia). Such supernovae
are used as yard sticks to measure the Universe at the
largest scales and provided the first evidence for the
existence of dark energy (Nobel prize in Physics
2011). Despite their importance for cosmology the
explosion mechanism and the nature of the progenitor stars is not understood yet. Heber’s team cooperates with the theory group at U Würzburg to identify
candidate stellar progenitor systems and constrain
rivaling explosion models.
velocity stars (HVS) were discovered, two of the first
three HVS were found by Heber's team. Those stars
are believed to originate from the Galactic centre
through slingshot ejection by the supermassive black
hole (SMBH) via tidal disruption of a binary. Our team
has continued to search for such stars and provided
in-depth studies of their nature. Our new kinematical
analyses challenge the SMBH paradigm by excluding
the Galactic centre origin via astrometry.
Substellar companions to intermediate mass
stars
Programme committees: ESA IUE (1991-1996), Space
Telescope ECF-User committee (1993-1996), MPIACalar Alto (1994-2001), NASA-HST (1995), ESO (2006,
2011)
SOC IAU Commission 29 1(997-2003) ,INAF Visiting
Committee (Italy, 2007 ), Advisory Committee state
observatory of Thuringia (since 2007, chair since
2012), Advisory Committee Planetarium Nuremberg
(since 2007)
The search and study of planetary companions to
stars has become a major driver in astrophysics.
While most teams target solar-type stars, Heber’s
group collaborates with the team of E. Guenther at
the state observatory of Thuringia to search for substellar companions to intermediate mass stars using
photometric data from the international CoRoT satellite mission.
Kinematics of the Milky Way and its halo
The gravitational potential of the Galaxy is dominated
by the dark matter halo. Halo stars hold the key to
trace the dark matter halo and constrain its mass. In
2005 the fastest stars in halo, the so-called hyper-
External Commissions
Selected collaborations
Long-term collaboration in optical spectroscopy have
been established with the groups at Warwick (Marsh),
Keele (Maxted), Hertfordshire (Napiwotzki), Leuven
(Oestensen) and with the atomic physicists (K. Butler,
Munich). Heber collaborates with the theory groups
at Oxford (Podsiadlowski), Würzburg (Roepke) and
Kunming (Han) on common envelope evolution and
SN Ia progenitors.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
Teaching and outreach
S. Geier, S. Nesslinger, U. Heber, et al.:
The hot subdwarf B + white dwarf binary KPD
1930+2752. A supernova type Ia progenitor candidate, A&A 464, 299 (2007)
U. Heber, H. Edelmann, R. Napiwotzki, et al.: The Btype giant HD 271791 in the Galactic halo. Linking
run-away stars to hyper-velocity stars, A&A 483, L21
(2008)
Teaching includes introductory and lab courses for
the minor subject ''Astronomy'' as well as the astrophysical curriculum for BSc. and MSc. students.
Heber has regularly given public talks also at public
observatories and "Volkshochschulen" nationwide.
He is engaged in the Astronomical Society of Nuremberg, which encourages and coordinates public outreach activities of professional and amateur groups in
the metropolitan area.
U. Heber: Hot Subdwarf Stars, ARA&A 47, 211 (2009)
Funding
N. Przybilla, A. Tillich, U. Heber, R.D. Scholz:
Weighing the Galactic Dark Matter Halo: A Lower
Mass Limit From the Fastest Halo Star Known, ApJ
718, 37 (2010)
Origin of low mass He stars; DFG HE1356/44-1; 200609, 120 k€; Hyper-velocity stars; DFG HE 1356/45-1/2;
2007-15, 285 kEuro; MUCHFUSS; DFG He 1356/49-1,
2009-16, 440 k€; HST Observations of an extreme
Run-away star, 2011-15, DLR 50OR1110, 99 k€; Substellar companions of intermediate mass stars, DFG
He 1356/62-1, 2012-2015, 113 k€; Digitization of
astronomical photographic plates, DFG He 1356/63-1,
2012-2015, 212 k€; HST and XMM Observations of
sdB stars, DLR, 2014-2015, 96 k€
U. Heber: The atmosphere of subluminous B stars. II Analysis of 10 helium poor subdwarfs and the
birthrate of sdB stars, A&A 155, 33 (1986)
U. Heber, S. Moehler, R. Napiwotzki, et al.:
Resolving subdwarf B stars in binaries by HST imaging,
A&A 383, 938 (2002)
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55
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Professional Career
Bernhard Hensel
(b. 1961)
W2, Institute
densed Matter
for
Con-
The current field of work of
Bernhard Hensel is Biomedical
Engineering, focused on fundamental research on implants for minimally invasive
cardiology.
He studied Physics at Erlangen and received his PhD
in 1990 at the Friedrich-Alexander-University of Erlangen-Nuremberg for his works on ion irradiation of
thin films of the then newly discovered hightemperature superconductors. He then joined the
group of René Flükiger at the Department for Condensed Matter Physics of the University of Geneva,
Switzerland. His habilitation treatise was devoted to
the development of long lengths of tapes of hightemperature superconductors by the powder-in-tube
method. After the postdoctoral lecture qualification
in 1996 he worked as an associate professor (privatdocent) at the University of Geneva and the Department of Engineering of the Polytechnical University of
Savoy at Annecy, France. After a brief stay at the
Johannes-Guttenberg University of Mainz where he
worked on high-temperature superconductors containing mercury he joined the company BIOTRONIK in
1998, one of the leading manufacturers of cardiologic
implants. Since 1999 he has the license to teach Physics at the University of Erlangen. Starting in 2001 he
substituted the late Prof. Schaldach (the owner of
BIOTRONIK, who died in a plane crash) on the Chair of
Physical-Medical Technology. In 2003 the Max Schaldach Professorship was established by BIOTRONIK
and the University of Erlangen as a temporally unlimited and independent W2 professorship. By the end
of 2005, Bernhard Hensel was appointed to this endowed professorship.
Research and Education at the Max
Schaldach Professorship
The development of innovative implants for the
treatment of cardiovascular diseases is in the focus of
the research in the group of Bernhard Hensel. Of
special interest are coronary stents or scaffolds for
the advanced treatment of arteriosclerosis. The research tasks originate from clinical practice and aim at
improving current products or establishing new ones.
The everyday work in the group, however, is fundamental and characterized by multi-disciplinarity at the
interface between natural science, engineering and
medicine. Every solution has to prove its feasibility in
2005-now W2 professor at FAU, Max Schaldach Endowed Professorship for Medical Technology
2001-2004 Substitute professor at FAU
1999 Associate professor (Privatdozent) at FAU
1998-2001 Personal assistant to Prof. Max Schaldach,
owner of BIOTRONIK
1990-1997 Postdoctoral fellow and lecture qualification (Habilitation) at the University of Geneva, Switzerland
1986-1990 PhD student at FAU
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: C-6995-2013
Website: www.biomedical-research.net
Supervised PhD theses: 25 (+ 5 in progress)
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 75 (Physics & Med. Technlogy)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
clinical practice. The ultimate goal is to improve the
quality of life of patients worldwide.
The Max Schaldach professorship is founded on the
close cooperation of young scientists from such different fields like Physics, Chemistry, Material Science,
Mathematics and Medicine.
Besides doing research work, academic education is
of very high importance in the group. Young scientists
are given the opportunity to acquire their first professional experience in the challenging field of medical
technology.
Teaching
Bernhard Hensel teaches in the faculty of Sciences as
well as the faculty of Engineering of the FAU. He supervises Bachelor- and Master-theses of students
from both faculties and guides PhD-students in Physics. He is interested in the Russian-German scientific
relations and co-organized several student schools in
Moscow, Russia. He organized a bi-national workshop
th
and the 7 Russian-Bavarian conference on Biomedical engineering which were both held at the Center
for Medical Physics and Technology of the FAU in
Erlangen.
Funding
The research at the Max Schaldach professorship is
financially supported by the Berlin-based company
BIOTRONIK, one of the leading manufacturers of
medical implants for cardiology.
Additional funding was supplied by contract research
for the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits
(Erlangen).
56
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
Impact of microgalvanic corrosion on the degradation
morphology of WE43 and pure magnesium under
exposure to simulated body fluid, H. Kalb, A. Rzany,
and B. Hensel Corrosion Science 57, 122 (2012)
Evaluation of techniques for estimating the power
spectral density of RR-intervals under paced respiration conditions, T. Schaffer, B. Hensel, C. Weigand, J.
Schüttler, C. Jeleazcov, J. Clin. Monit. Comput., published online: 19 March 2013
___________________________________________________________________________
57
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Rainer Hock
(b. 1959)
C3, Institute Condensed
Matter Physics – Crystallography and Structural
Physics
The experimental work of
Rainer Hock focuses on the
determination of structure–property relationships of
crystalline materials to understand their crystalphysical properties and to determine their usefulness
in technological applications.
After studying physics at the University of Frankfurt a.
Main, he received a PhD-grant of the Institute LaueLangevin in Grenoble and prepared a thesis about
magnetic structures of rare earth iron garnets. He
received his Dr.phil.nat. degree in 1990 from the
Physics Department of the University of Frankfurt a.
M.. He was then responsible for the renovation and
operation of a neutron 4-circle diffractometer at the
research reactor Siloe at he Centre des Etudes Nucleaire contracted by the TU-Darmstadt. 1992 he took a
position as scientific assistant at the Chair for Crystallography at the university of Würzburg. During the
following years his research was focused on the structure of minerals and on co-operations in the fields of
mineralogy, geology, archaeometry and biomimetic
materials. In parallel, he prepared his habilitation in
the field of scattering on vibrating silicon crystals and
dynamic theory. After the habilitation in 1998, he
took a position as beamline scientist at the ESRF in
Grenoble. In 1999 he became C3 professor for crystallography and structural physics at the Chair for Crystallography and Structural physics of the FAU. Since
then, his main research interest is the crystallisation
and structure of chalcogenide semiconductors and
their application in novel thin film solar cells. This
research topic meets well with one of FAU main directions: ‘Energy and New Energy Materials.
Humboldt fellows: 1,Publications: 69, No. of citations:
about 900, h-index: 17
Research in the Hock group
Structure of functional materials and correlation of structure with material properties
Many crystalline or partially crystalline materials used
in high-tech applications are polycrystalline. In our
group these materials are characterized with powder
diffraction methods to understand their crystalphysical, structural properties and how these properties can be changed and tailored for applications. The
research is done in close cooperation with research
groups who synthesize these materials and use
Professional Career
1999-now C3-professor at FAU, Erlangen
1998-1999 Scientist at the ESRF
1992-1998 Scientific Assistant at the Chair for Crystallography, Univ. Würzburg
1990-1992 Scientific Assistant, Department for Material Science, TUD Instrument Scientist at the neutron
research reactor Siloe, Grenoble.
1989-1990 1989 – 1990: Scientific Assistant at the
Chair for Crystallography, Univ. Frankfurt a. Main.
PhD in physics at the University of Frankfurt a. Main
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: E-1397-2013
Website: www.lks.physik.uni-erlangen.de/hock/shtml
Supervised PhD theses: 7 (+ 3 in progress)
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 16 (+ 2 in preparation)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
complementary, electrical, optical and thermal characterisation methods.
‚Photovoltaics’ – New materials for thin film solar cells
Today, intensive fundamental and applied research at
the FAU is concerned with one of the most pestering
problems of the near future: the supply of societies
with ‘clean’ energy. Since 1999 continuous research
effort in the development and efficiency increase of
chalcogenide based thin film solar cells is conducted
in our group. This direction of LKS in photovoltaics
matches very well the research of other groups at the
FAU. The research at LKS is done in close cooperation
with the Technical Faculty (Energy Campus Nürnberg,
Solarfabrik der Zukunft) and since the beginning with
industry partners. This assures an applied research in
close contact with the real needs and technical feasibilities in solar cell fabrication processes and constantly attracts students.
From CuInGa(SSe)2 to CuZnSn(SSe)4
Research initially was focused on the understanding
and optimisation of vacuum-based crystallisation
processes for chalcogenide semiconductors like
CIGSSe (Copper-Indium-Gallium-Diselenide-Sulfide).
Our preferred measurement tool is time-resolved
powder diffraction under processing conditions, to
mimick large scale processes in the laboratory. The
measurements deliver information about reaction
pathways and the reaction kinetics processes during
thin film crystallisation. The crystallisation route in
reverse has impact on the final semiconductor structural properties and therefore on the photovoltaic
efficiency reached in a device. Crystallisation is investigated as a function of the initial state of metal precursors, like alloy compositions and layer sequences,
58
as a function of time-temperature pathes, chalcogen
pressures and selenium-sulfur ratios. Kesterite is now
seen as a high potential material in photovoltaics. It is
made from earth-abundant and less toxic elements.
Based on crystallographic reasoning, we make predictions, which initial materials, together with a chosen
processing, will lead to well-crystallised, mono-phase
thin films. So we could predict the most likely process
routes for the favoured novel thin film absorber material CuZnSn(SSe)4, well before the first crystallisation experiments were conducted. In the years 20082009 we have been pioneering together with Atotech
GmbH Berlin electroplating processes for this novel
material. Research on this semiconductor Kesterite is
a fast growing field in photovoltaics.
newly built time-resolved XRF apparatus we investigate the thin film formation from these new initial
materials. With XRF we now are now able to follow
diffusion of elements through the films and element
losses. Before non-vacuum based techniques will
yield reliably working semiconductor films, a couple
of severe problems mot be overcome. Oxidation must
be prevented, out-gasing of solvents leads to porous
films, elements are lost upon heating, adherence of
films and cracking are problems. The only reliably
working solvent today is hydrazine, a very toxic and
explosive substance, and new processing routes must
be found. With our experimental methods we contribute to the identification of problems and their
possible reasons.
From vacuum-based processes to printed solar
cells
Structure of functional materials and correlation
of structure with material properties
Interest shifts now towards non-vacuum processes:
towards ‘printed solar cells’. Non-vacuum processes
are potentially low-cost processes. Semiconductor
films are crystallized from nanoparticles, ink-like suspensions or sol-gels. With powder diffraction and a
Diffraction methods are as well widely used in our
group to investigate other functional materials.
Toipics studied recently are the Influence of cyclic
water loading of zeolithic materials for heat-storage
on the structural stability of their alumo-silicate
framework, the investigation of ex-solved crystalline
phases in CuAgZr-alloys for rocket engines and their
influence on the thermo-mechanical properties, the
investigation of the structural properties of sputtered
MoS2 thin films on steel for rheological applications
and the investigation of CoCrTi-alloys for use as high
temperature stable materials.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
Magnetic phase transitions of MnWO4 studied by the
use
of
elastic
neutron
diffraction
Lautenschläger, G.; Weitzel, H.; Vogt, T.; Hock, R.,
Böhm, A.; Bonnet, M.; Fuess, H.; Physical Review B 48
(9), p. 6087-6098 (1993) A.
Monte Carlo Simulations of Neutron Back-scattering
from Vibrating Silicon Crystals, Hock, R.; Kulda, J.,
Nuclear Instruments and Methods A 338, p. 38 (1993)
Predicted formation reactions for the solid-state syntheses of the semiconductor materials Cu2SnX3 and
Cu2ZnSnX4 (X = S, Se) starting from binary chalcogenides, Hergert, F.; Hock, R.; Thin Solid Films 515 (15), p.
5953 (2007)
Selected collaborations
My research in Erlangen is well embedded in the
FAU focus ‘Energy Research’. We collaborate with
chairs of the FAU and with industry partners. Main
partners: Dept. for Material Science; CENEM; ECN
Energy Campus Nürnberg; Department of Chemicaland Bioengineering, CRT; St. Gobain Recherche, Paris,; Avancis GmbH, Munich; Scheuten Solar; Suntricitycells & Innovative Ink.
Cu2ZnSnS4 thin film solar cells from electroplated
precursors: Novel low-cost perspective, Ennaoui, A.;
Lux-Steiner, M.; Weber, A.; Abou-Ras, D.; Koetschau,
I.; Schock, H. -W.; Schurr, R.; Hoelzing, A.; Jost, S.;
Hock, R.; Voss, T.; Schulze, J.; Kirbs, A., Thin Solid
Films 517 (7), p. 2511 (2009)
Intermetallic compounds dynamic formation during
annealing of stacked elemental layers and its influences on the crystallization of Cu2ZnSnSe4 films, Wibowo, R. A.; Moeckel, S.; A.; Yoo, H.; Hetzner, C.;
Hölzing, A.; Wellmann, P.; Hock, R. Materials Chemistry and Physics 142 (1), p. 311 (2013)
___________________________________________________________________________
59
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Peter Hommelhoff
(b. 1974)
W3, Chair for Experimental
Physics, Laser Physics
Peter Hommelhoff’s experimental interest spans from
attosecond science at nanoobjects via laser-based accelerators and Bose-Einstein condensation of cold atomic
gases to new quantum systems with free electrons,
including electron matter wave science. Prior to becoming full professor in Erlangen in 2012, Peter
Hommelhoff was, since 2008, head of a Max Planck
Research Group at MPI for Quantum Optics in
Garching. In 2012, he obtained his habilitation and
venia legendi at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. From 2003 through 2007 he was a postdoc in
Mark Kasevich’s group at Stanford University, pioneering ultrafast light-matter interaction on the nanometer scale. From 1999 through 2002 he did his
PhD thesis under the supervision of T. W. Hänsch at
LMU Munich, demonstrating first Bose-Einstein condensation in an atomic chip trap. In 1999 he obtained
the Dipl. Phys. ETH from Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology, Zurich, and in 1997 the pre-diploma from
Technical University Berlin. Peter Hommelhoff’s
around 50 journal publications are well received:
several have more than 100 citations, the top one
more than 450. He has received a number of scholarships and awards and has been invited to present at
more than 80 international conferences, workshops
and colloquia as of 2013. In 2012 he received another
offer for a full professorship at University of Oldenburg, which he declined.
Professional Career
2012-now W3-professor at FAU, Erlangen
2008-2013 Head of a Max Planck Research Group at
MPI of Quantum Optics (MPQ), Garching. Elected
ombudsman of MPQ since 2008. Member of the
board, DFG Cluster of Excellence Munich Centre for
Advanced Photonics.
2003-2007 Postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University
(Kasevich group); Lynen Fellow of the Humboldt
Foundation, Trimble Fellow of the Stanford Center for
Position, Navigation and Time
1999-2002 PhD student at University of Munich in
T.W. Hänsch’s group
1999 Diploma student at ETH Zurich in R. Eichler’s
group
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: C-5121-2013
Website: www.mpq.mpg.de/uqo
Supervised PhD theses: 4 (+ 4 in progress)
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 15
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
time scales. This way, outer shell electrons can be
strongly driven, which leads to the generation of highharmonic photon peak shifting due to the AC-Stark
effect, the tell-tale recollision plateau, and carrierenvelope phase effects with 100% visibility – all wellknown from the atomic physics case. Because field
enhancement at the nano-scale tip takes place, small
pulse energies (<100 pJ) suffice to drive these processes. We foresee a plethora of applications, ranging
from ultrafast switching (attosecond field effect transistor) to new ultrafast surface imaging tools and laser
field sensors.
Research in the Hommelhoff group
As an experimental group focusing on nano-optics,
laser physics, quantum as well as electron optics, our
research is currently comprised of four different yet
related projects. We explore attosecond and strongfield physics at nano-scale solids, drive laser-based
particle acceleration at dielectric photonic nanostructures, work towards a new quantum system for
free electrons with the help of microwave Paul traps,
and study quantum enhanced matter wave imaging.
Strong-field and Attosecond Physics at Solid Nanoscale Objects
For two decades strong-field physics almost exclusively took place at and with atoms and molecules in the
gas phase. With few-cycle laser pulses reaching field
strengths of around 1 V/Å, it is possible to drastically
modify the potential landscape on ultrafast
Laser-based Particle Acceleration at Photonic
Structures
In free space, a charged massive particle cannot be
sustainably and efficiently accelerated with an alternating electric field – energy and momentum cannot
be simultaneously conserved. This notion does not
hold any more in proximity of a properly chosen
boundary condition. With a dielectric grating struc-
60
ture, we have recently been able to demonstrate
acceleration of electrons right with the optical electric
field of laser pulses. Laser oscillator pulses are overlapped with an electron beam next to a grating, such
that the laser polarization is parallel to the electron
momentum. The grating periodically flips the phase of
the laser field, effectively generating a grating mode
co-propagating with and continuously imparting momentum on the electrons. With non-relativistic 30keV
electrons we have observed an acceleration gradient
of 25 MeV/m, which is already on par with the accelerations gradients that large accelerator centers such
as DESY or SLAC operate at. For relativistic electrons,
the gradient steeply increases: we expect more than 1
GeV/m, mainly because the speed of relativistic electrons being close to the speed of light allows efficient
momentum transfer. The next step after our proof-ofconcept demonstration is already to show acceleration over an extended range and large energy transfer. Therefore, many grating structures need to be
linearly concatenated and fed by coherently distributed and power-amplified phase-controlled laser
pulses. Intriguingly, it has already been shown theoretically that all necessary components for stable
accelerator operation can be generated from photonic structures, such as deflection and focusing elements
A New Quantum System Based on Free Electrons
in Microwave Paul Traps
The electron’s charge-to-mass ratio is large, which is
why they quickly follow the action of electromagnetic fields. We will take advantage of this property on our way to construct a new quantum system
based on free electrons (in vacuum). Recently, we
have demonstrated that electrons can be trapped in
Paul traps, in a similar fashion to what is well-known
from ions for decades already. Because of the feeble
nature of electrons, electron Paul traps need to be
operated with rather different drive parameters.
Most notably, we drive the trap with microwave frequencies, as opposed to the radio-frequencies known
from ions. Modern communication technology provides all the necessary microwave components. The
idea of the new quantum system is simple: so-called
single-atom tips have been shown to represent fully
coherent electron point sources. With appropriate
electron optics it should be possible to inject the
emitted electrons from such a tip right into the
ground state of the linear Paul trap’s confining potential. Electron beam splitters could allow guidedelectron interferometry, new force sensors etc.
Quantum Enhanced Matter Wave Science: Quantum Electron Microscope
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
J. Breuer, P. Hommelhoff, Laser-based acceleration of
non-relativistic electrons at a dielectric structure,
Phys. Rev. Lett., 111, 134803 (2013)
M. Krüger, M. Schenk, P. Hommelhoff, Attosecond
control of electrons emitted from a nanoscale metal
tip, Nature 475, 78 (2011)
J. Hoffrogge, R. Fröhlich, M. Kasevich, P. Hommelhoff,
Microwave guiding of electrons on a chip, Phys. Rev.
Lett. 106, 193001 (2011)
P. Hommelhoff, C. Kealhofer, M. Kasevich, Ultrafast
electron pulses from a tungsten tip triggered by lowpower femtosecond laser pulses, Phys. Rev. Lett. 97,
247402 (2006)
P. Hommelhoff, Y. Sortais, A. Aghajani-Talesh, M.
Kasevich, Field emission tip as a nanometer source of
free electron femtosecond pulses, Phys. Rev. Lett. 96,
077401 (2006)
Based on the electron Paul trap idea, a new novel way
of quantum enhanced imaging has been proposed,
which is to exploit the quantum Zeno effect to image
matter with electrons while exerting less damage to
the sample as compared to regular electron microscopy. In regular microscopy, the radiation dose a
sample experiences for taking a single image is so
large that biological samples hardly survive the imaging. In order to record movies of biological processes
at the most interesting spatial resolutions in the Angstrom scale, new methods have to be conceived.
Funding
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation: Quantum electron microscope project, together with Stanford and
MIT. 2012-2015. $1,145,000 for each partner.
DFG Cluster of Excellence Munich Centre for Advanced Photonics, project B3.5: Lightwave control of
electron emission from nanotips, 250,000€
DARPA Advanced X-ray integrated source project
(AXiS): 2011-2015. $200,000
W. Hänsel, P. Hommelhoff, J. Reichel, T. W. Hänsch,
Bose-Einstein condensation in a microelectronic chip,
Nature 413, 408 (2001)
___________________________________________________________________________
61
Nicolas Joly
(b. 1977)
W2, Institute for Optics,
Information and Photonics
Since January 2009, Nicolas Joly
is a W2-professor for Experimental Physics at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg. He
obtained his PhD at the University of Lille (France) in
2002, where he experimentally and theoretically
studied the instabilities and the control of Qswitching and mode-locked lasers. He then spent
three years in Philip Russell’s group in UK as a postdoctoral fellow. He was mainly working on the design
and the fabrication of photonic crystal fibre (PCF) as
well as studying nonlinear propagation of short pulses
in these fibres. This includes soliton propagation and
supercontinuum generation. In 2005, he became a
Maître de Conférences at the University of Lille in the
group of nonlinear dynamics. His research was dedicated to Raman laser using conventional fiber and
PCF. He was also involved in the theoretical study of
instabilities observed in Free Electron Laser. In Erlangen, he is strongly involved in the Div. Russell (Photonics & New Material) at the Max-Planck Institute for
the Science of Light, where he works mainly on the
interaction of intense pulses with gas placed in PCF,
but also the dynamics of supercontinuum in ring cavities. He is also strongly involved in fabrication of photonic crystal fibre. Nicolas Joly is member of the scientific committee for CLEO US.
Research in the Joly group
Design and fabrication of photonic crystal fibres
Photonic crystal fibres (PCF) or more generally microstructured fibres are routinely made in a clean-room
environment at the Max-Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL). Although the MPL has the possibility to use different types of glass, I am only involved in the fabrication of all-silica fibre. The main
technique that is used is the so-called stack & draw
technique, where capillaries are drawn from a commercially available high-purity tube, and then stacked
together. The resulting preform is then drawn into
cane before we can make fibre. This is therefore a
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Examples
of (a) solid-core PCF and (b) kagomé fibre drawn
Career
at MPLProfessional
for nonlinear applications.
2009-now W2-professor at FAU
2005-2009 Maître de conferences at the University of
Science and Technologies of Lille (France)
2002-2005 Postdoctoral fellow at Bath university, UK
(group of Philip Russell)
1999-2002 PhD student at the University of University
of Science and Technologies of Lille (France)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: D-3715-2011
Website: www.mpl.mpg.de/en/russell
Supervised PhD thesis: 3 (+3 in progress)
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 4
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
multi step process, which allows a great flexibility for
the desired final design. Solid-core with controlled
dispersion and nonlinearity, as well as hollow-core
can be made using this technique. Finite elements
calculations as well as homemade codes are used in
order to design the linear properties of a desired
fibre.
Pulse propagation in gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fibre
There are basically two families of hollow-core PCF:
the bandgap fiber and the so-called kagomé fibre. The
first one exhibits narrow transmission window but
very low loss, whilst the second offer much broader
transmission capabilities at the expenses of losses.
For nonlinear optics with ultra-short pulses the fibre
length is usually not an issue, and we can afford relatively high losses. Gas-filled kagomé fiber is then an
ideal candidate for all sorts of experiments, which are
based on soliton dynamics and spectral broadening.
In 2009, we first demonstrated the generation of
tunable UV in a spatially coherent mode. Physically,
this relies on the spectral broadening an input pulse
such that its spectrum overlaps with the phasematching conditions required for the emission of
dispersive wave in the UV region. Since dispersion is
fully controlled through the pressure of the filling gas,
the generated wavelength can be easily tuned from
200 to up to 600 nm. Original experiments were
made with kagomé filled with moderate argon pressure. However, such a system is very compact and
versatile: different type of gases or the level of pressure will lead to very different regimes. Moreover,
filled with noble gas, we can prevent any Raman contributions although nonlinearity as high as silica can
be achieved by working at high pressure.
Several applications based on the gas-filled kagomé
are under consideration. We can site the compression
of pulses, the generation of correlated photons or the
seeding of free electron laser with the generated UV
in collaboration with synchrotron SOLEIL and with
FEL-SPARC.
Dynamics of Supercontinuum in Ring Cavity
62
One of the most spectacular nonlinear effects that
can be observed in solid-core PCF is the generation of
supercontinuum source (SC), which can be achieved
with any type of pumping, from fs pulse to CW. The
main common requirement is that the pump wavelength should be closed to the zero dispersion wavelength of the fibre. It is therefore important to have
access to fabrication facilities in order to design
properly the dispersion landscape of the fibre. Depending of the initial pulse duration, dynamics of the
SC generation relies on soliton dynamics, or on modulations instability. Although, part of our studies consists in expanding the SC source into either UV or IR
region with the help of gas-filled fibre or the use of
other type of glass, one activity is to look at the generation of SC in cavity. Ring cavities are known to
exhibit very rich dynamics. Here we study the dynamical behavior of a synchronously pumped ring cavity in
which SC is generated. First observations showed
period doubling, and chaos and theoretical studies
predict spontaneous symmetry breaking, which is
remarkably surprising. Experiment is being set in
order to observe this phenomenon.
Dynamics of seeded free electron laser
Prior my arrival at the FAU, I had an active collaboration with the group of Marie-Emmanuelle Couprie at
the synchrotron SOLEIL on the theoretical study of
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
Bright spatially coherent wavelength-tunable deepUV Laser source using an Ar-filled photonic crystal
fiber, N.Y. Joly, J. Nold, W. Chang, P. Hölzer, A.
Nazarkin, G.K.L. Wong, F. Biancalana and P. St.J. Russell – Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 203901 (2011)
Ultrafast nonlinear optics in gas-filled hollow-core
photonic crystal fibers [invited], John C. Travers,
Wonkeun Chang, Johannes Nold, Nicolas Y. Joly and
Philip St.J. Russell, JOSA B 28, A11–A26 (2011)
Pulse splitting in shord wavelength seeded free electron lasers M. Labat, N. Joly, S. Bielawaki, C. Szwaj, C.
Bruni and M.E. Couprie – PRL 103, 264801 (2009)
Supercontinuum and four-wave mixing with Qswitched pulses in endlessly single-mode photonic
crystal fibres. W. J. Wadsworth, N. Joly, J. C. Knight, T.
A. Birks, F. Biancalana, and P. St. J. Russell – Opt. Expr.
12, 299 (2004)
Influence of timing jitter on nonlinear dynamics of a
photonic crystal fiber ring cavity, M. Schmidberger,
W. Chang, P. St.J. Russell and N. Y. Joly, Opt. Lett. 17,
3576 (2012)
not rely on bounded electrons, and thus covers the
entire electromagnetic spectrum. Consequently it
can be efficiently used to generate optical radiation
at extremely low wavelength. In a self-amplification
of spontaneous emission (SASE), generation of radiation as short as a few Angstroms is possible. By contrast, in a seeded configuration, the coherence of the
input pulse is transferred onto the output radiation,
which can thus present very good temporal coherence and low pulse-to- pulse fluctuation. When we
first demonstrated the possibility to generate tunable UV in a spatially fundamental mode, we proposed
to use this source as a seed for FEL. First calculations
show that the level of energy that can be generated
with the fibre-based UV source is sufficient to seed
FEL. We have now collaboration with SPARC-FEL in
Frascati in order to realize test experiment.
Selected Collaborations
Our group has collaborations with the group of
G. Leuchs and the group of V. Sandoghdar in order to
design new type of fiber for specific application such
as squeezing experiment or high-efficiency collection
of light.
Theoretical part of our study on the synchronously
pumped supercontinuum is performed in collaboration with the group of F. Biancalana at Herriot-Watt
University in UK.
Regarding the project of seeded free electron laser,
we collaborate with the group of Marie-Emmanuelle
Couprie at the Synchrotron SOLEIL (France), and the
group of Luca Giannessi the SPARC-FEL in Frascati
(Italy).
Teaching
I am very involved in the MAOT program (Master of
Advanced Optics and Technology) where I do most of
my teaching duty. I have set-up a few “praktikum”
associated with a laser course that I started. To increase the interest of the student I try to present
experiments during the lecture. I also wrote a few
codes that students can use in order to “test” parameters. I believe that this can help them to understand
better the underlying phenomena that are explained
in the lecture.
Organization of conferences/sessions: in brief
14th international SAOT workshop on “Fibre laser,
sensor and new materials” (July 2011)
International conference on “Nonlinear optics and
complexity in photonic crystal fibers and nanostructures” at Erice, Sicily (nov. 2011)
Session on “high-field in hollow-core fibre and highenergy fiber laser” at PIERS 2013 Stockholm
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
the dynamics of seeded free electron laser (FEL). By
contrast with conventional laser, the gain of FEL does
63
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Uli Katz
(b. 1959)
C4, Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics
Uli Katz' research field is experimental astroparticle physics
and detector development. He
studied physics at the TU Munich and achieved his PhD (1992, Max Planck Institute
for Physics/Tech. Univ. Munich) and his habilitation
(1998, Univ. Bonn) in experimental particle physics.
Since 2001 Uli Katz is at the FAU, where he started
research into experimental astroparticle physics,
together with his colleague Gisela Anton. His main
projects are neutrino astronomy (experiments ANTARES and the future projects KM3NeT and PINGU) as
well as detector development and feasibility studies
for acoustic neutrino detection. Together with G.
Anton he established the Erlangen School for Astroparticle Physics (2004) and founded the Erlangen
Centre for Astroparticle Physics (2007). He coordinated the EU-funded Design Study for KM3NeT (2006-09)
and has a leading role in KM3NeT ever since. Further
activities are in gamma-ray astronomy (H.E.S.S. and
the future CTA project). He is (co-)author of 265 papers with more than 12500 citations and an h-index
of 66. He has supervised 2 habilitations.
Research in the Katz group
The group is part of the Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics (ECAP) and most research activities are
pursued together with further ECAP groups.
Neutrino and gamma-ray astronomy and detector development
Neutrino astronomy with ANTARES
Neutrinos are unique cosmic messengers since they
are not deflected or absorbed on the way from their
source to their detection. ANTARES is the first deepsea neutrino telescope to observe these messengers
using the Cherenkov light emitted by secondary particles emerging from neutrino reactions. U. Katz and G.
Anton have initiated the German participation in
ANTARES and together lead the ANTARES group in
Erlangen. Currently the focus is on the physics analysis of the ANTARES data; topics covered are neutrino
reconstruction algorithms, searches for cosmic neutrino sources and the analysis of the diffuse neutrino
flux.
Professional Career
2003-now C4 professor at FAU, Erlangen
2001-2003 C4 substitute, FAU
1993-2001 University of Bonn (research associate, C1
after 1998)
1986-1992 Max Planck Institute for Physics, Munich
(PhD and postdoctoral researcher)
1984-1986Max Planck Institute for Physics, Munich
(Diploma thesis)
Functions, boards, panels and prizes
since 1998 Referee for various journals
since 2002 Reviewer for projects of DFG, Alexander
von Humboldt foundation, MPG, HGF, MUIR (Italy),
NWO (Netherlands), FWO (Belgium), GIF (Israel),
Croatea (Croatia).
since 2004 Expert reviewer for the Marie Curie programme of the EU
2004-2009 Coordinator of the KM3NeT Design Study
(EU/FP6)
2005-2008 Member of the Peer Review Committee of
ApPEC (Astroparticle Physics European Coordination)
2006-2011 Member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of ASPERA (Astroparticle ERA network)
since 2007 Chair of the Bachelor/Master examination
board of the Department of Physics
2007-2009 Member of Senate and University Council
of FAU
2009-2011 Head of the Department of Physics and
vice dean of the Faculty of Science of the FAU
since 2010 Member of the BMBF board of reviewers
for astro and astroparticle physics
2011 Prize of the students' union for outstanding
commitment
2012 Prize for good teaching by the Dean of Studies,
Department of Physics
2013-2015 Member of Senate and University Council
of FAU
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: E-1925-2013
Website: www.ecap.nat.uni-erlangen.de/members/katz
Supervised PhD theses: 13 (+15 ongoing)
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 26
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Neutrino astronomy with KM3NeT
KM3NeT is a future, cubic-kilometre scale neutrino
telescope in the Mediterranean Sea that will be
roughly 50 times more sensitive than ANTARES. A first
construction phase of KM3NeT will start in 2014.
Erlangen has played a crucial role in this project since
its initiation in 2002. Uli Katz has coordinated an EUfunded Design Study for KM3NeT (2006-09, altogether 20 MEUR) and is member of the collaboration
management. The Erlangen KM3NeT group, jointly
led by U. Katz and G. Anton, contributes to optical
64
module assembly, photomultiplier studies, acoustic
position calibration and software development. A
further topic intensely pursued is the ORCA case
study on using KM3NeT technology for performing
precision measurements of neutrino oscillation parameters, in particular the neutrino mass hierarchy.
Acoustic detection studies
An alternative approach to measuring ultra-high energy neutrinos is the detection of the acoustic pulse
caused by the energy deposition of the secondary
particles in the water and its subsequent thermal
expansion.
To investigate the feasibility of this approach, the
Erlangen group has designed and constructed an
acoustic sensor system (AMADEUS) that is operated
in the ANTARES framework. Currently, the main activities are operation and calibration of the system and
th analysis of the resulting data. For the first time, a
reliable estimate of the rate of "neutrino-like" acoustic signals in ´the deep sea is becoming possible.
Optical modules for PINGU
PINGU stands for "Phased IceCube Next Generation
Upgrade", i.e. the plan to instrument very densely a
subvolume of the IceCube neutrino telescope in the
deep ice of the South Pole for neutrino physics stud
ies. In U. Katz' group a new optical module for this
future project is developed, based on the technology
developed for KM3NeT.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
ZEUS Collaboration, J. Breitweg, ..., U. Katz, ...,
Comparison of ZEUS data with standard model predictions for e+p -> e+X scattering at high x and Q²,
Z. Phys. C74 (1997) 207.
U. Katz, KM3NeT Collaboration:
Towards a km3 Mediterranean neutrino telescope,
Nucl. Inst. Meth. A 567 (2006) 457.
Neutrino physics with atmospheric neutrinos
Atmospheric neutrinos are produced in interactions
of cosmic rays in the atmosphere. Measuring them in
the lower-energy domain (some GeV) allows for determining the parameters of neutrino oscillations and,
due to matter effects in the neutrino propagation
through Earth, also the neutrino mass hierarchy. This
is one of the most fundamental parameters of particle physics and its measurement is not in reach for
current experiments. In addition to instrumental
aspects (ORCA and PINGU, see above), also the neutrino physics as such and the sensitivity of possible
future measurements with neutrino telescopes are
investigated in detail.
Gamma-ray astronomy with H.E.S.S. and CTA
Gamma-ray astronomy, i.e. the detection of highenergy gamma rays with ground-based Cherenkov
telescopes, is pursued at the chair of U. Katz in the
group of Christopher van Eldik. Strong contributions
have been made to the study of the Galactic Centre
and to the absolute pointing calibration of H.E.S.S. U.
Katz was member of the CTA Requirements Review
Committee 2012.
Funding (last 5 years)
Neutrino telescope ANTARES, 2002-2014, together
with G. Anton;
BMBF; 2008-2014; together 1231.0 kEUR.
Feasibility study for acoustic detection, together with
G. Anton;
BMBF; 2008-2014; together xxx.x kEUR.
KM3NeT Design Study, together with G. Anton
EU (FP6); 2006-2009; 1039.7 kEUR.
KM3NeT Preparatory Phase, together with G. Anton
EU (FP7); 2008-2012; 554.0 kEUR.
Development of an optical module for IceCube extensions (PINGU)
BMBF; 2011-2014; 108.0 kEUR.
KM3NeT Collaboration, P. Bagley, ..., U. Katz, ...,
KM3NeT Technical Design Report,
ISBN 978-90-6488-033-9 (2010). Available from:
www.km3net.org.
ANTARES Collaboration, J.A. Aguilar, ..., U. Katz, ...,
AMADEUS - The acoustic neutrino detection test
system of the ANTARES deep-sea neutrino telescope,
Nucl. Inst. Meth. A 626 (2011) 128.
U. Katz and Ch. Spiering, High-Energy Neutrino Astrophysics: Status and Perspectives, Prog. Part. Nucl.
Phys. 67 (2012) 651.
___________________________________________________________________________
65
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Vojislav Krstić
(b. 1972)
W2, Chair for Applied Physics
The experimental research of
Vojislav Krstić roots in the physics
of low-dimensional, nanostructured, and molecular solid-state
systems and associated phenomena in transport and
optics induced by external fields and structural- and
device-topology. This comprises the impact of the
symmetry-breaking action of fields and topology and
their interplay. He studied Physics at the RuprechtKarls-University Heidelberg and carried-out his PhD
work at the Max-Planck-Institute for Solid-StateResearch in Stuttgart supervised by Prof. Siegmar
Roth in the department of Prof. Klaus von Klitzing. His
topic was (magneto) transport in individual singlewalled carbon nanotubes addressing charge-injection
from metals and the magnetochiral anisotropy. From
2002 he worked as postdoctoral fellow at the Grenoble High Magnetic Field Laboratory, and from 2005 on
as CNRS researcher at the National Pulsed Magnetic
Field Laboratory Toulouse on magnetotransport and optics of doped carbon nanotubes and graphene. He
accepted 2007 a permanent position as Assistant
Professor at the School of Physics, Trinity College
Dublin, and became Principal Investigator at the Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and
Nanodevices. End 2007 he received the Stokes Award
from the Science Foundation Ireland for his scientific
merits. He continued to address new emerging materials such as 1D semiconductors and topologically
chiral nano-sized metals incl. ferromagnets and superconductors. He was national head of the Nanoelectronics Strand of the government’s Integrated
Nanoscience Platform for Ireland (INSPIRE) to coordinate the strategic development of nanoscience and
technology in Ireland. His multi-disciplinary activities
lead to substantial collaborations with multinational
industry. 2013 he accepted a W2 professorship in the
FAU Department of Physics in applied physics and
joined in October 2013. Vojislav Krstić is recognized
by more than 40 publications, h-index of 18 and funding from the EU and different national sources (within
EU, USA), and more than 35 invitations to talks and
seminars.
Research in the Krstić group
Fields- and topology-induced phenomena in
nano- and molecular-solid-state electronics
Magnetoelectric transport asymmetries & magnetic coupling in 1D & 2D Systems
Low-dimensionally electronic systems are an intriguing source of rich physics induced by magnetic
Professional Career
Since Oct. 2013 Professor at the FAU
2007-2013 Assistant professor at the Trinity College
Dublin
2005-2007 CNRS researcher, National Laboratory for
Pulsed Magnetic Fields, Toulouse
2002-2005 Postdoctoral fellow, Grenoble High Magnetic Field Laboratory
1998-2002 PhD student, Max-Planck-Institute for
Solid-State Research, Stuttgart
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: I-8101-2013
Website: www.lap.physik.uni-erlangen.de
Supervised PhD theses: 3 (+3 in progress)
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 4
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
fields, e.g. the Quantum Hall effect or the Giant Magnetoresistance. Breaking the inherent or superimposing an additional symmetry in such systems by, e.g.
targeted lithographic, doping, or chemical means,
creates new superstructures with distinctly different
properties. These new properties range from longrange magnetic coupling affecting spinpolarised
charge-transport to coupling of electronic and magnetic degrees of freedom which induce resistance
asymmetries in the corresponding devices tuneable
by electric and magnetic fields. Main focus is currently on materials with relativistic bandstructure and/or
strong spin-orbit coupling. We could demonstrate
that appropriate superstructuring enables for the first
time the tailoring of internal electrical current paths
at room temperature in relativistic
systems
(submitted). The lack of this
possibility was todate regarded as a
major obstacle for
exploiting
such
materials in electronic applications.
Transport & optical effects in topologically chiral
nanosystems
Chiral systems exist in two forms being each other’s
mirror image, e.g. hands or DNA, that is, break spacereversal (parity) symmetry. If in addition time-reversal
symmetry is broken by e.g. a magnetic field, then the
system’s properties depend bi-linearly on the associated particle’s momentum and magnetic-field vectors
- the so-called magnetochiral anisotropy. We pioneered in this field by measuring the anisotropy in the
electrical transport in single-walled carbon nanotubes
(fig. left), and in the dichroism and transmission of
ferromagnetic molecular crystal (insulating) elucidat-
66
ing the ferromagnetic self-field influence (fig. right).
Similarly, anisotropies are generated by external electric fields when directed appropriately w.r.t. the system’s axes. For superconductors and electrically conducting ferromagnets the anisotropy has hardly been
studied as in nature no such strongly correlated systems/solids exist with chiral lattice-structure. We
pioneered in producing and studying instead topologically chiral, nanosized ferromagnets and superconductors (submitted). That is, nanoscale shaping of
ferromagnetic and superconducting solids into a chiral form (helices; fig. left) by fitted technology, studying their transport and optical properties. Addedvalue spin-offs
are
exploitations as fieldtuneable polarizers, nanoantennae and for
energy harvesting.
tivity. Similarly, the surrounding material (incl. substrate) of a conduction channel impacts through interface-doping etc. Towards this end we study the
electrical contact-interface properties of quasi-1D
semiconductor nanowires (Ge, Si, InAs), incl. impact
of contact-geometry on material-interface resistivity,
transfer length, and current-crowding. We achieved
first time demonstration of Fermi-level pinning alleviation due to contact-topology in 1D semiconductors
(see fig.). Regarding 2D systems we study electrical
transport and interface- and contact-properties in 2D
layered materials, specifically graphene, incl. substrate functionalisation and impact of electrode layout and arrangement.
100 nm Ni
Electrical contact-interfaces, doping & devicetopology in 1D & 2D systems
With ongoing miniaturisation of electrically driven
devices, the contact-resistivity becomes increasingly
important for the device performance. In particular,
both, the materials interfacing at a contact and the
actual contact-topology (e.g., side- or end-contacted)
play an equally important role for the contact- resis
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected Publications
Contact resistivity and suppression of Fermi level
pinning in side-contacted germanium nanowires,
Appl. Phys. Lett., accepted, (2013).
Suppression of short-range scattering via hydrophobic
substrates and the fractional quantum Hall effect in
graphene, PSS - Rapid Res. Lett. (2012).
Diameter Controlled Solid-Phase Seeding of Germanium Nanowires: Structural Characterization and Electrical Transport Properties, Chem. Mater. (2011).
Graphene-metal interface: two-terminal resistance of
low-mobility graphene in high magnetic fields, Nano
Lett. (2008).
Strong magneto-chiral dichroism in enantiopure chiral
ferromagnets, Nature Mat. (2008).
Magneto-chiral anisotropy in charge transport
through single-walled carbon nanotubes, J. Chem.
Phys. (2002).
Selected collaborations
We work closely with the theoreticians C. Ewels (IMN,
Nantes) and M. Ferreira (TCD), J. Donegan’s optics
group (TCD), J. Holmes’ synthetic chemistry group
(UCC Cork), G. Rikken (LNCMI Grenoble/Toulouse) for
high-magnetic field experiments, and are currently at
the FAU establishing collaborations with the SFB 953
and the Cluster of Excellence Engineering of Advanced Materials.
Teaching and outreach
The education of students is one of the most important duties to maintain and boost science and
research and scientific excellence at the university. I
have actively worked on the implementation of a new
nanoscience curriculum at Irish universities. For rising
interest and awareness of the importance of science
and research to the general public, I have participated
in a computer-game (Nanoquest2) realisation addressing teenagers, and in videos promoting
(nano)science (cf. YouTube).
Funding
~300.000 € p.a.
(EU, USA; SFI, ESF, FP7, Marie Curie, multinational
industry, NSF)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
67
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Gerd Leuchs
(b. 1950)
W3, Head of the Institute
for Optics, Information and
Photonics
Director of the Max Planck
Institute for the Science of
Light
Gerd Leuchs has led groups in research and development since 1985, including a period from 1990 to
1994 in industry in Switzerland. After joining the faculty at Erlangen he convinced the Max-Planck Society
to fund a research centre for five years, as the precursor for a full-fledged Max-Planck Institute. The new
Max-Planck Institute for the Science of Light opened
in 2009. Gerd Leuchs has also served the scientific
community in numerous ways both nationally and
internationally, and has been a member of OSA's
nomination and strategic planning committees as well
as chairing the Quantum Optics Division of the German Physical Society (DPG). He was elected to the
German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina in
2005. In the same year he received the Quantum
Electronics and Optics Award of the European Physical Society. During his scientific career he has contributed substantially to a wide range of topics from
quantum to classical optics, including studies of nonclassical light and quantum communication, focusing
and nano-photonics, laser spectroscopy, gravitational
wave detection and optical communication and testing. Gerd Leuchs published close to 300 publications
in peer reviewed scientific journals and numerous
invited papers and he is editor of 3 books. Gerd
Leuchs won numerous research grants from the German National Science Foundation (DFG), the Federal
German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF),
the European Commission, the Bavarian Ministry for
Science, Research and Arts, as well as the Max Planck
Society. He supervised 5 habilitations (6 are in progress).
Research in the Leuchs group
The research spans a wider range of fundamental
research from classical to quantum optics, including
studies of non-classical light and quantum communication, focusing and nanophotonics, laser spectroscopy, gravitational wave detection and optical communication and testing.
Efficient atom light coupling in free space
Time reversal symmetry provides a general recipe for
achieving optimum coupling of light to resonant optical material systems, such as Fabry Perot resonators,
Professional Career
2012-now Professor Adjunct, University of Ottawa
2009-now Director of the Max Planck Institute for the
Science of Light, Erlangen
2003-2008 Director of the Max Planck Research
Group for Optics, Information and Photonics, Erlangen
1994-now W3 professor at FAU, Erlangen
1990-1994 Technical Director of Nanomach AG,
Buchs, Switzerland
1986-1994 Faculty member (PD), Universität München
1985-1989 Groupleader (C3) at Max-Planck-Institut
für Quantenoptik, Garching
1983-1985 Heisenberg-Fellow of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft at JILA and NIST, Boulder, Colorado
1980-1981 Feodor-Lynen-Fellow of the Alexandervon-Humboldt Foundation
1979-1980 Visiting Fellow at JILA, University of Colorado
1978-1983 Research Associate, Universität München
1975-1978 Ph.D. Thesis, Ludwig-MaximiliansUniversität München
1970-1975 Study of Physics and Mathematics, Universität Köln
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: G-6178-2012
Website: www.mpl.mpg.de/en/leuchs.html
Supervised PhD theses: 32 (+ 24 in progress)
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 79
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
super and sub wavelength antenna structures. The
extreme case for the latter is a single atom, which will
be treated in detail. This coupling between light and a
single atom is probably the most fundamental process in quantum optics. The best strategy for efficiently coupling light to a single atom in free space
depends on the goal. If the goal is to maximally attenuate a laser beam, narrow band on resonance
laser radiation is required as well as a wave front
approaching the atom from a 2 solid angle. If, on the
other hand, the goal is to fully absorb the light bringing the atom to the excited state with its Bloch vector
pointing fully upwards one will have to provide a
single photon, designed to represent the time reversed wave packet which the atom would emit in a
spontaneous emission process. Among other conditions this requires the single photon wave packet
impinging from a full 4 solid angle and having the
correct temporal shape. Any deviation from the perfect shape will reduce the efficiency. If the interaction
is strong enough it will allow for building a few photon quantum gate without a cavity with possible applications in quantum information processing, such as
a quantum repeater.
68
Unpolarized light in pure quantum states
Two-photon Bell states are among the basic tools of
quantum optics and quantum information. Currently,
there is a growing interest in their macroscopic analogues in connection with macroscopic entanglement.
In particular, conditions for non-separability (entanglement) can be formulated in terms of polarization
(Stokes) observables. In this work, we produce four
macroscopic Bell states in a high-gain travelling-wave
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
J. Gea-Banacloche, G. Leuchs, "Squeezed States for
Interferometric Gravitational Wave Detectors", J.
Mod. Opt. 34, 793 (1987)
S. Quabis, R. Dorn, M. Eberler, O. Glöckl, G. Leuchs,
"Focusing light to a tighter spot", Optics Commun.
179, 1 (2000)
Ch. Silberhorn, P.K. Lam, O. Weiß, F. König, N. Korolkova, G. Leuchs, "Generation of Continuous Variable
Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Entanglement via Kerr Nonlinearity in an Optical Fibre", Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 4267
(2001)
N. Korolkova, G. Leuchs, R. Loudon, T.C. Ralph, Ch.
Silberhorn, "Polarization Squeezing and Continuous
Variable Polarization Entanglement", Phys. Rev. A 65,
052306 (2002)
R. Dorn, S. Quabis, G. Leuchs, "Sharper Focus for a
radially polarized light beam", Phys. Rev. Lett. 91,
233901 (2003)
A.G. Striegel, M. Meißner, K. Cvecek, K. Sponsel, G.
Leuchs, B. Schmauß, "NOLM based RZ-DPSK signal
regeneration", IEEE Phot. Tech. Lett. 17, 639 (2005)
J.U. Fürst, D.V. Strekalov, D. Elser, M. Lassen, U.L.
Andersen, C. Marquardt, G. Leuchs, “Naturally PhaseMatched Second-Harmonic Generation in a Whispering-Gallery-Mode Resonator”, Phys. Rev. Lett. 104,
153901 (2010)
G. Leuchs, M. Sondermann, “Time-reversal symmetry
in optics”, Physica Scripta 85, 058101 (2012)
M. Förtsch, J.U. Fürst, Ch. Wittmann, D. Strekalov, A.
Aiello, M.V. Chekhova, C. Silberhorn, G. Leuchs, C.
Marquard, „A versatile source of single photons for
quantum information processing“, Nature Comm. 4,
1818 (2013)
four-mode optical parametric amplifier and study
their polarization properties.
Squeezing Light in a Whispering Gallery Mode
Resonator
Whispering gallery mode resonators (WGMRs)
are
attractive
devices, as they
are robust, the
quality factors are
huge, and coupling to the WGMR is variable. Several nonlinear processes have already been investigated. However,
nonlinearities in WGMRs could not be exploited for
the generation of non-classical light so far. In our
approach we investigate the process of parametric
oscillation in a crystalline lithium niobate WGMR. Far
above the pump power threshold, not only twinbeam quantum correlations, but also amplitude
squeezing of a single parametric beam is predicted.
Selected collaborations
Ulrik L. Andersen, Lyngby, on quantum communication with coherent states
Robert W. Boyd, Ottawa, on higher order transverse
modes and entanglement
Radim Filip, Olomouc, on quantum communication
protocols
Elisabeth Giacobino, Paris, on interfacing light to
nano-crystal quantum dots
Natalia V. Korolkova, St. Andrews, on quantum discord
Luis Sanchez-Soto, Madrid, on special topics in quantum optics
Christine Silberhorn, Paderborn, on single mode
quantum light
Dmitry Strekalov, Pasadena, on quantum optics in
microresonators
David J. Wineland, Boulder, on an ion trap with wide
open optical access
Funding
approx. 12 million Euro of individual grants including
ERC Advanced Grant (DFG, BMBF, EU, Bw)
approx. 60 million Euro of structural funding (as the
spokesperson of a DFG-Schwerpunktprogramm and
an EU-Consortium, and as the initiator of a MaxPlanck-Research Group)
P. Banzer, M. Neugebauer, A. Aiello, C. Marquardt, N.
Lindlein, T. Bauer, G. Leuchs, „The photonic wheel demonstration of a state of light with purely transverse angular momentum“, JEOS:RP 8, 13032 (2013)
___________________________________________________________________________
69
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Eric Lutz
(b. 1972)
W2, Institute for Theoretical Physics II
The research activities of Eric
Lutz focus on the theoretical
investigation of nanosystems
far from equilibrium. His work
lies at the interface of statistical physics and quantum
optics. After studies in Strasbourg (France), he got his
PhD from the University of Heidelberg with a thesis
on quantum dissipation. He then spent postdoctoral
years in Geneva, Yale University and Ulm. In 2006, he
became the head of an Emmy-Noether group at the
University of Augsburg, where he started to study
quantum thermodynamics, in particular the role of
quantum effects in nano heat engines and nonequilibrium processes. At the same time, he was a Junior
Principal Investigator in the Cluster of Excellence
"Nanosystems Initiative Munich" (NIM). He joined the
physics department at the FAU in 2013. His work is
well recognized internationally, with about 800 citations to more than 50 publications, an h-index of 14,
and more than 90 invited talks at research institutions
and internal conferences and workshops. He was a
visiting professor at the University of Maryland and
the Technical University of Prague. For his research
on quantum thermodynamics, he was awarded the
Bernard Hess Prize of the University of Regensburg in
2010. Since 2013, he is a member of the Management
Committee of the European COST program "Thermodynamics in the Quantum Regime" and chairman of
one of its working groups.
Research in the Lutz group
Nanosystems far from equilibrium
In our research, we employ tools of statistical physics
and quantum optics to investigate the nonequilibrium
properties of nanosystems operating far from equilibrium, in particular, beyond the range of linear response theory, in close collaborations with experimental groups.
Single-ion nano heat engine
Heat engines are devices that convert heat into useful
mechanical work, hence motion. Quantum effects on
heat engines have been the subject of intense theoretical studies for more than 50 years. However, no
quantum heat engine has been built so far. In collaboration with the experimental group of Ferdinand
Schmidt-Kaler at Mainz we have put forward a concrete scheme to built a nano heat engine using a
Professional Career
2013-now W2-professor at FAU, Erlangen
2011-2013 Group leader at Freie Universität Berlin, PI
in the Focus Area "Nanoscale"
2006-2011 Junior group leader (Emmy-Noether Fellow) at the University of Augsburg, PI in the Cluster of
Excellence "Nanosystems Initiative Munich" (NIM)
2003-2005 Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of
Ulm
2002-2003 Postdoctoral Fellow at Yale University,
USA
2000-2001 Postoctoral Fellow at the University of
Geneva, Switzerland
1996-1999 PhD student at the University of Heidelberg
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: C-2713-2008
Website: http://www.thp2.nat.uni-erlangen.de
Supervised PhD theses: 3 (+ 3 in progress)
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 14
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
single ion in a linear Paul trap coupled to engineered
laser reservoirs. Numerical Monte-Carlo simulations
have demonstrated the feasibility of such an engine
with current technology, its ability to run autonomously at maximum power, and its potential to work
in the quantum domain.
Information and thermodynamics
In 1961, Rolf Landauer argued that the erasure of
information is a dissipative process. A minimal quantity of heat is necessarily produced when a classical bit
of information is deleted. Despite its fundamental
importance for information theory and computer
science, the erasure principle had not been verified
experimentally so far, the main obstacle being the
difficulty of doing single-particle experiments in the
low-dissipation regime. In collaboration with the
group of Sergio Ciliberto at ENS Lyon, we have experimentally shown the existence of the Landauer bound
in a generic model of a one-bit memory. Using a system of a colloidal particle trapped in a modulated
double-well potential, we have establishes that the
mean dissipated heat saturates at the Landauer
bound as predicted. This result demonstrates the
intimate link between information theory and thermodynamics.
Cold atoms in optical lattices
Cold atoms in dissipative optical lattices exhibit unusual transport behavior that cannot be described
within Boltzmann-Gibbs statistical mechanics. The
latter include anomalous diffusion, ergodicity breaking and the failure of the Green-Kubo formalism.
70
Using a semiclassical approach, we have characterized the nonergodic properties of the system in terms
of the depth of the optical potential, ergodicity breaking being observable-dependent for shallow lattices.
We have shown that the unusual features of the
atomic cloud can be determined from a distribution
of infinite measure in the regime where the Boltzmann-Gibbs distribution fails and leads to divergent
results.
Selected collaborations
We have active collaborations with the experimental
groups of Ferdinand Schmidt-Kaler at Mainz (ion-trap
engine), Sergio Ciliberto at ENS-Lyon, France (optical
tweezer) and Ferruccio Renzoni at University College
London (optical lattices). On the theory side, we further collaborate with Eli Barkai and David Kessler at
Bar-Ilan University (nonergodic dynamics), Igor Jex at
the Technical University of Prague (quantum walks),
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
Beyond Boltzmann-Gibbs statistical mechanics in
optical lattices,
Eric Lutz and Ferruccio Renzoni, Nature Phys. 9, 615
(2013)
Sebastian Deffner at the University of Maryland
(quantum speed limit), and Giovanna Morigi
at Saarbrücken (bath-induced entanglement).
Teaching
In my teaching, i) I encourage active learning by
keeping students engaged in class and inviting them
to participate in learning activities with the goal that
they become independent learners, ii) I motivate
students by defining the overall goal of the course
and giving them frequent feedback. iii) I moreover
create an effective learning environment with wellstructured courses that highlights general concepts
and methods and pursue general problem-solving
strategies that can be applied to wide-ranging situations.
Funding
Selected funding of the past few years: DFG EmmyNoether grant (2006-2011) 1M EUR (1 postdoc + 1
PhD), Cluster of Excellence (2006-2011), 250K EUR (1
PhD), DFG (2011-2014) 200K (1 PhD), European STREP
(2013-2016) 300K EUR (1 postdoc)
Quantum speed limit for non-Markovian dynamics
Sebastian Deffner and Eric Lutz, Phys. Rev. Lett. 111,
010402 (2013)
Experimental verification of Landauer's principle linking information and thermodynamics
Antoine Berut, Artak Arakelyan, Artyom Petrosyan,
Sergio Ciliberto, Raoul Dillenschneider, and Eric Lutz,
Nature 183, 487 (2012)
Single ion heat engine with maximum efficiency at
maximum power
Obinna Abah, Johannes Rossnagel, Georg Jacob, Sebastian Deffner, Ferdinand Schmidt-Kaler, Kilian Singer, and Eric Lutz, Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 203006 (2012)
Anomalous spatial diffusion and multifractality in
optical lattices
Andreas Dechant and Eric Lutz, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108,
230601 (2012)
Nonequilibrium entropy production for open quantum systems
Sebastian Deffner and Eric Lutz, Phys. Rev. Lett. 107,
140404 (2011)
Nanoheat engine with a single trapped ion. a) Energyfrequency diagram of quantum Otto engine, a generalization of the usual four-stroke car engine. b) An illustration of
the four strokes (heating-expansion-cooling-compression)
for a single ion coupled to engineered laser reservoirs. c)
(Inset) Conical geometry of the Paul trap confining the
single ion.
Generalized Clausius inequality for nonequilibrium
quantum processes
Sebastian Deffner and Eric Lutz, Phys. Rev. Lett. 105,
170402 (2010)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
71
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Andreas Magerl
(b. 1949)
C4, Institute for Condensed
Matter Physics, Crystallography and Structural Physics
Research in the Magerl group
Nanoprecipitates in semiconductor materials
observed in-situ by dynamical x-ray diffraction
Hardly known, but of paramount technological importance is a high concentration of oxygen in semiconductor Si, typically 1*1018 atoms per cm3. It is
manipulated to form nanoprecipiates in the bulk of Siwafers. In this way distortion fields are created which
permanently trap unwanted impurities far away from
the active regions of a chip. No computer today
would work without this internal ‘vacuum cleaner’
effect. While atomic oxygen and precipitates above
20 nm in diameter are accessible by light scattering,
they are practically invisible in the intermediate juvenile size. We have developed several extremely sensitive techniques based on dynamic X-ray diffraction to
make the entire process from the birth over the juvenile stage into an adult precipitate of µm-size observable. And this can even be done in-situ! The key is the
observation of the destruction of macroscopic quantum states in the strain fields of precipitates. At present we broaden the field of application to study
defect inventories in high-quality oxide crystals needed e. g. for high power laser applications.
Schematics of a setup to measure thickness dependent
Pendellösung oscillation from a wedge shaped sample.
Professional Career
1997-now C4-professor at FAU, Erlangen
1981 Employment as a physicist at the Institute Max
von Laue – Paul Langevin (ILL), Grenoble, France;
Appointment as „staff scientist“ at the ILL
Appointment as group leader at the ILL
Habilitation in experimental physics at the Ruhr University of Bochum, Germany, with the subject „Highresolution inelastic neutron spectroscopy – new
methods and applications”.
Appointment on guest professorship at the Ruhr University, Bochum
1980-1981 Visiting research associate professorship
at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Maryland, Maryland, USA
1979-1980 Scholarship by the German Science Foundation (DFG) for 9 months, followed by a guest researcher appointment at the National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST), Maryland, USA
1974-1979 PhD in physics at the Technical University
of Munich with the subject „Phonons in metalhydrogen systems“
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: E-1797-2013
Website: lks.physik.uni-erlangen.de/magerl/shtml
Supervised PhD theses:
Diploma, BSc., MSc.:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
resolution. The GaAs 200 reflection has a significantly
smaller structure factor and as a consequence its
Darwin width is 10 times smaller than in case of Si
111. For the first time we will employ GaAs 200 to
improve the energy resolution of IN16B at the ILL by
one order of magnitude. In addition, a time-of-flight
option will enlarge the energy transfer range also by a
factor of 10. This project is embedded in a world-wide
partnership of neutron scattering centers.
10 m2 analyser array of Si crystals on IN16 at the ILL, Grenoble, France
A neutron backscattering spectrometer with
ultrahigh energy resolution
Structure and growth of self-assembled monolayers
Neutron backscattering spectrometers worldwide use
perfect Si 111 crystals mounted on large spherically
shaped surfaces (~10 m2) to achieve highest energy
Surface properties may be tailored through coatings,
and self-assembled monolayers play an important
role in this field. We use surface-sensitive diffraction
techniques (reflectivity, GI-XRD, GISAXS, etc.) to elu-
72
cidate the surface structures and correlations with
the substrate down to a subatomic level. In-situ experiments unravel the growth dynamics and the
growth mode. While we had focused in the past on
polymers and micellar structures, our present emphasis is on silanes and porphyrines on both amorphous
and crystalline substrates. The ultimate aim is to gain
knowledge about the hierarchy of interactions between the SAMs and the substrates.
Schematic layout of the lithographically patterned
SAMFET device (from Thomas Schmaltzl et al. Adv.
Mater. 2013, 25, 4511–4514)
Of particular interest to us is the structure and dynamics of liquids close to boundary layer and the
influence of shear (flowing liquid). We want to highlight that we have pioneered a new method by combining neutron spin echo with grazing incidence condition. This allows in a unique way to access the gradient of local dynamics with a depth resolution of 10
Å.
Ultrafast SAXS- and WAXS-studies on nucleation
and growth of II-VI quantum dots
II-VI quantum dots are known to have a
high density of stacking faults. It can be
argued whether these are structural
defects or if they represent an intrinsic
property of small crystallites. In other
words, there is a fundamental issue
asking how big a crystal has to be to
adopt his adult structure. We have pioneered a novel technique based on a
fast flowing free jet to follow nucleation
and growth of quantum dot in solution
from 10 µs onwards (world record by 2 orders of
magnitude) with SAXS (morphological shape) and
WAXS (crystal structure). These experiments will be
completed in the near future by TXS (defects). Here a
vclose collaboration with R. Neder is needed (program DISCUS).
Selected collaborations
Numerous collaborations with scientists from many
major neutron and synchrotron radiation facilities
worldwide.
Funding
Presently active:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
The measurement of tunnel states in solid CH3NO2
and CD3NO2, B. Alefeld, I.S. Anderson, A. Heidemann,
A. Magerl, and S.F. Trevino, J. Chem. Phys. 76, 2758
(1982)
Concentration dependence and temperature dependence of hydrogen tunneling in Nb(OH)x, A.
Magerl, A.J. Dianoux, H. Wipf, K. Neumaier and I.S.
Anderson, Phys. Rev. Lett. 56, 159 (1986)
Flow dynamics of sheared liquids explored by inelastic
neutron scattering, A. Magerl, H. Zabel, B. Frick and P.
Lindner, Applied Physics Letters 74, 3474 (1999)
DFG SPP 1415: Kristalline Nichtgleichgewichts-phasen
- Präparation, Charakterisierung und in situUntersuchung der Bildungsmechanismen; 220 k€
DFG FOR 1878: Functional Molecular Structures on
Complex Oxide Surfaces; 200 k€
DFG GRK 1896: In-situ Mikroskopie mit Elektronen,
Röntgenstrahlen und Rastersonden; 140 k€
BMBF: In-situ Synchrotron Studies on the Formation
of Nanomaterials; 690 k€
BMBF Verbundforschung: Erhöhung der Energieauflösung und Erweiterung des dynamischen Bereiches in
der Neutronenrückstreuspektroskopie; 1.8 M€
Storage of X-ray photons in a crystal resonator, K.D.
Liss, R. Hock, M. Gomm, B. Waibel, A.Magerl, M.
Krisch and R. Tucoulou, Nature, 404, 371 (2000)
Micellar crystallization with a hysteresis in temperature, M. Walz, M. Wolff, N. Voss, H.Zabel, A. Magerl,
Langmuir 26 (18),14391-14394 (2010)
Non-periodicity in nanoparticles with close-packed
structures, A. A. Rempel and A. Magerl, Acta Cryst
A66, 479-483 (2010)
___________________________________________________________________________
73
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sabine Maier
(b. 1979)
W1 (tenure track), Institute for Condensed Matter Physics
The research interests of
Sabine Maier center around
scanning probe microscopy
experiments of molecules and functional nanomaterials on surfaces. After her studies at the University of
Basel, Switzerland, she continued in Basel working as
a graduate student in the group of E. Meyer and received her PhD in 2007. Her thesis was on atomic
scale friction and self-assemblies of molecules on
insulators using atomic force microscopy. During her
PhD she spent one year at the McGill University, Canada, in the group of Prof. R. Bennewitz. As a postdoctoral fellow she joint the group of Prof. M. Salmeron
at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA.
There she studied the adsorption and reaction of
small molecules on metal substrate using low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy. 2010 she
moved to Erlangen as a Juniorprofessor at the Department of Physics and the Cluster of Excellence
“Engineering of Advanced Materials”. Her work includes 23 publications with more than 465 citations.
2012 she became a Young Scholar of the Bavarian
Academy of Science.
Research in the Maier group
Our research activities center around the atomic-level
understanding of fundamental physical and chemical
processes of single molecules, molecular selfassemblies and nanomaterials on surfaces using
scanning probe microscopy, including scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and atomic force microscopy
(AFM). We examine apart from the atomic-scale
structure the mechanical and electrical properties of
nanomaterials with a particular functionality.
Molecular self-assemblies on insulators
Molecular self-assembly is a versatile tool for creating
functional structures on surfaces. The growth of ordered molecular structure on insulators is in particular important for the understanding and development
of efficient light harvesting and molecular electronic
devices. While metal surfaces usually exhibit strong
enough surface-molecule interactions that favor molecular self-assembly, controlled growth procedures
of molecules on insulators are often hindered by the
weak, unspecific interaction with the substrate, which
leads to diffusion and disordered aggregates. We
have identified several molecules, including porphy-
Professional Career
2010-now W1-Juniorprofessor at FAU, Erlangen
2007-2010 Postdoctoral fellow at Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory, USA (group of Miquel Salmeron)
2003-2007 PhD student at the University of Basel,
Switzerland (group of Ernst Meyer)
2004-2005 Visiting Scientist at McGill University, Canada (group of Roland Bennewitz)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: B-5917-2008
Website: www.pi3.physik.uni-erlangen.de/maier/
Supervised PhD theses: 2 in progress
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 5
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
rins and phthalocyanines, which form well ordered
self-assemblies on bulk surfaces and investigated
their structure with non-contact AFM. In our studies,
bulk alkali halides served as model surfaces. In future
we will address the organic molecule oxide interface
NC-AFM images of self-assembled porphyrin molecules on
KBr(001) in form of wires: a) Overview image and b) resolved molecular structure. Adapted from S. Maier et al.
Small 4, 8, 1115-1118 (2008)
Functional Carbon Allotropes
Graphene, the youngest carbon allotrope, has
emerged as a promising new nanomaterial for a variety of exciting applications because it possesses several useful properties, such as the high mobility of the
charge carriers and high crystal quality. Recently, it
has been shown successfully that organic molecules
adsorbed on surfaces are ideal precursors for forming
new carbon allotropes, e.g. carbon nanoribbons, in a
bottom-up approach, Our goal is to study the formation of supramolecular structures on surfaces
using organic molecules as precursor which form
functional carbon allotropes on surfaces by surface
stimulated reactions. Their local atomic and electronic structure is determined by scanning probe methods.
74
Wetting phenomena at the nano-scale
Funding
Much effort has been devoted to decipher the nature
of the first layers of water on surfaces as it plays an
important role in electrochemistry, corrosion, or
heterogeneous catalysis. In addition, the understanding of the water dissociation mechanism on surface is
a crucial step in the development of efficient catalysts for splitting of water for hydrogen production, a
major goal of renewable energy research. We contributed to that by identifying the structure of water
on metal and graphene surface at the molecular level
by low temperature STM.
Sabine Maier is PI in the Collaborative research center
SFB 953 “Synthetic Carbon Allotropes”, Research unit
FOR 1878 “Functional Molecular Structures on Complex Oxide Surfaces” and Research Training Group
GRK 1896 “In-Situ Microscopy with Electrons, X-rays
and Scanning probes”; Rising Star Program Cluster of
Excellence “Engineering of Advanced Materials”
Selected collaborations
We have several international collaborations, e.g.
with Prof. M. Salmeron, Lawrence Berkeley National
Lab, USA as well as collaborations with groups at the
FAU, i.e. Prof. R.R. Tykwinski and Dr. M. Kivala from
the Department of Chemistry of the University of
Erlangen-Nürnberg.
High-resolution STM image of one-molecule-thick water
clusters on Ru(0001) composed of 0° and 30° rotated hexagons bridged by heptagons and pentagons. Adapted from
S. Maier et al. Phys. Rev B. 85, 155434 (2012)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
Fluctuations and jump dynamics in atomic friction
S. Maier, Yi Sang, T. Filleter, M. Grant, R. Bennewitz,
E. Gnecco, E. Meyer
Phys. Rev. B 72, 245418 (2005)
Atomic-Scale Control of Friction by Actuation of Nanometer-Sized Contacts
A. Socoliuc, E. Gnecco, S. Maier, O. Pfeiffer, A. Baratoff, R. Bennewitz, E. Meyer
SCIENCE 313, 207 (2006)
Nano-Engineering of Molecular Porphyrin Wires on
Insulating Surfaces
S. Maier, L.-A. Fendt, L. Zimmerli, T. Glatzel, O. Pfeiffer, F. Diederich, E. Meyer
SMALL Vol. 4 Issue 8, 1115-1118 (2008)
Adsorbed water-molecule hexagons with unexpected
rotations in islands on Ru(0001) and Pd(111)
S. Maier, I. Stass, T. Mitsui,P.J. Feibelman, K. Thürmer,and M. Salmeron
Phys. Rev. B 85, 155434 (2012)
Water Splits Epitaxial Graphene and Intercalates
X. Feng, S. Maier, M. Salmeron
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 134 (12), 5662–5668, (2012)
___________________________________________________________________________
75
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Florian Marquardt
(b. 1974)
W3, Institute for Theoretical
Physics II
The theoretical work of Florian
Marquardt deals with quantum
dynamics, applied to systems at
the interface of nanophysics
and quantum optics. After studies at Bayreuth, he
received his PhD in 2002 at the University of Basel,
Switzerland, in the group of C. Bruder, where he had
analyzed decoherence at low temperatures. He then
joined the group of S. Girvin at Yale University, USA,
as a postdoctoral fellow. There, he started to study
the coupling of light and mechanical motion, a topic
that has developed since then into the area of “cavity
optomechanics”. Returning to Germany in 2005, he
became a junior professor and Emmy-Noether group
leader at the Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich. In 2009 he decided to accept an offer to head a
chair of theoretical physics at the FAU, where he has
been since 2010. His work is well recognized internationally, with about 2000 citations to more than 50
publications, an h-index of 24, and more than 50
invited talks at international conferences and workshops so far. For his research on the theory of optomechanics, he was awarded the 2009 WalterSchottky prize of the German Physical Society (DPG).
In 2011 he received an ERC Starting Grant for a project on future optomechanical circuits. Since 2012,
Florian Marquardt is on the Editorial Board of the
open-access New Journal of Physics.
Professional Career
2010-now W3-professor at FAU, Erlangen
2005-2010 Junior research group leader (junior professor and Emmy-Noether fellow) at LudwigMaximilians Universität München (LMU), PI in two
SFBs and junior PI in the NIM cluster of excellence
2003-2005 Postdoctoral fellow at Yale University, USA
(group of Steve Girvin)
2002-2003 Postdoctoral fellow in the Swiss National
Center for Competence in Research in Nanoscale
Science (NCCR), Basel
1999-2002 PhD student at the University of Basel,
Switzerland (group of Christoph Bruder)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: C-2533-2008
Website: www.thp2.nat.uni-erlangen.de
Supervised PhD theses: 5 (+ 5 in progress)
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
mechanics and for possible applications. We have the
quantum transport of electrons, where many-body
effects and the Pauli principle change the usual story
of a single particle coupled to some bath. To this end,
we exploit techniques from many-body theory like
path-integrals, diagrammatic perturbation theory and
exactly solvable models such as Luttinger liquids.
Quantum Electrodynamics in Superconducting
Circuits
In our research, we apply tools from condensed matter theory and from quantum optics to a range of
questions involving quantum dynamics out of equilibrium. In our approach, we often try to identify the
salient features of experimentally relevant situations
and condense them into minimalist models which can
then be attacked with all the state-of-the-art theoretical tools.
Systems of superconducting qubits coupling to onchip microwave resonators have seen enormous progress in the past 10 years, with coherence times increasing by at least four orders of magnitude. They
are now seen as one of the main candidates for quantum computers and simulators. In the past years, we
have e.g. proposed an on-chip detector of single microwave photons or the measurement-based generation of entanglement. At present, multi-qubit circuits
are becoming possible. Here we have been the first to
propose a design for a two-dimensional “cavity grid”,
coupling many qubits and resonators. Recently, we
started exploring how multi-qubit systems could be
exploited for quantum simulations of interesting
many-body models, e.g. with regard to possible phase
transitions of matter-radiation systems, or for implementing interacting quantum field theories.
Decoherence
Many-Body Dynamics in Non-Equilibrium
The wave-particle duality is at the heart of quantum
physics. Matter waves show interference patterns.
However, local interactions destroy interference effects, giving rise to classical-like particle dynamics.
This is known as decoherence and it has important
implications both for the foundations of quantum
Systems of ultracold atoms have become a unique
tool to study many-body physics, since they are well
isolated and parameters can be tuned quickly on the
time-scales of motion. Recently, we have started
studying the possibilities afforded by the novel siteresolved detection of individual atoms. In this con-
Research in the Marquardt group
Theoretical Quantum Dynamics at the Interface
of Nanophysics and Quantum Optics
76
text, we have predicted a many-body Zeno effect
occuring for interacting atoms in an optical lattice
being observed repeatedly and a protocol for measuring spatial current patterns and correlations. In another development, we have proposed how to use
tunnel-coupled clouds of cold atoms to generate a
quantum simulator for testing structure formation in
interacting quantum field theories, including the effects of cosmological expansion, which is relevant for
the early universe.
Cavity Optomechanics: Interaction between Nanomechanics and Light
The past years have seen an explosion of interest in
the interaction of light with nanomechanical motion.
Typical systems contain a laser-driven optical cavity,
being coupled via radiation forces to mechanical motion (like that of a moveable mirror). The goals of this
field range from foundational questions to applications in quantum information processing and in the
ultrasensitive detection of mass, force, position and
acceleration. We have contributed to the initial developments of this field by predicting the nonlinear
dynamics and the formation of hybrid photon-phonon
states in the strong coupling regime, as well as by
pointing out the requirements for ground-state laser
cooling. More recently, we have gone beyond the
canonical optomechanical system and studied systems where many optical and mechanical modes
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected Publications
Superposition of two mesoscopically distinct quantum
states: Coupling a Cooper-pair box to a large superconducting island, F. Marquardt and C. Bruder, Phys.
Rev. B 63, 054514 (2001)
Quantum Theory of cavity-assisted sideband cooling
of mechanical motion, F. Marquardt, J. P. Chen, A. A.
Clerk, and S. M. Girvin, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 093902
(2007)
A photonic crystal with optical and vibrational modes
localized at a defect lattice forms an “optomechanical
array”. When driven by a laser, it can give rise to a
nonequilibrium transition from unsynchronized mechanical oscillations affected by quantum noise (top: mechanical phase space density of a single oscillator, with randomized oscillation phase) to globally synchronized oscillations
(bottom). [with Max Ludwig, Phys. Rev. Lett. 2013]
couple to each other, forming optomechanical arrays
and circuits. There, we are studying the many-body
dynamics of photons and phonons interacting with
each other, possibilities for mechanical quantum
state processing, classical synchronization physics,
and questions related to enhancing the coupling
strengths.
Selected Collaborations
We collaborate with experimental groups worldwide
on possible implementations. Recent examples include the groups of I. Siddiqi at Berkeley (qubits), J.
Harris at Yale (optomechanics), O. Painter (Caltech,
now Erlangen; optomechanical crystals), and J.
Schmiedmayer (Vienna; cold atoms). Long-standing
theory collaborators include A. Clerk (McGill), S.
Girvin (Yale), and Jan v. Delft (LMU Munich). We often
send PhD students for half a year to work with our
collaborators (e.g. at Boston Univ., Caltech, Berkeley,
McGill). In Erlangen, we have started collaborations
with groups at the MPL, in the quantum information
processing division and with the newly arrived group
of Oskar Painter.
Teaching and Outreach
Strong dispersive coupling of a high finesse cavity to a
micromechanical membrane, J. D. Thompson, B. M.
Zwickl, A. M. Jayich, F. Marquardt, S. M. Girvin, and J.
G. E. Harris, Nature 452, 72 (2008)
I am fond of generating enthusiasm for physics
among the general public. In this context I am organizing the lecture series “Modern Physics on Saturday
Mornings” at FAU. For my special lectures I am taking
recordings on video, which are then accessible freely
on the university server and on iTunes University.
Universal Dephasing in a Chiral 1D Interacting Fermion System, C. Neuenhahn and F. Marquardt, Phys.
Rev. Lett. 102, 046806 (2009)
Funding
Collective dynamics in optomechanical arrays,
G. Heinrich, M. Ludwig, J. Qian, B. Kubala, F. Marquardt, Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 043603 (2011)
Cavity Optomechanics (review), M. Aspelmeyer, T. J.
Kippenberg, and F. Marquardt, arxiv: 1303.0733
___________________________________________________________________________
Selected funding of the past few years:
DFG Emmy-Noether grant (2007-2013, 2 PhDs, 1
postdoc); European Research Council Starting Grant
(2011-2016, 1.5 Mio EUR); European Marie-Curie ITN
network cQOM on cavity optomechanics (2012-2016,
2 PhDs, 1 postdoc for 1 year); DARPA (USA) ORCHID
program on optomechanics (2010-2014, $450,000)
77
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Klaus Mecke
(b. 1964)
W3, Institute for Theoretical
Physics I
The research of Klaus Mecke is
in the field of theoretical condensed matter physics, statistical physics of fluid interfaces
and geometry in physics. He studied philosophy and
physics at TH Darmstadt and LMU Munich (diploma
1989) and was 1984-1989 fellow of the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes. In 1993 he received his
PhD supervised by H. Wagner at the LMU with a work
on applications of integral geometry in physics. He
then joined the group of H. Swinney (UT, Austin) and
J. Krim (Boston) as a postdoctoral fellow, where he
studied pattern formation and wetting phenomena.
In the group of S. Dietrich (Wuppertal, Stuttgart) since
1995 he used density functional theory to predict
interfacial phenomena on molecular scales. For his
development of integral geometry in physics he received the Science Prize of Nordrhein-Westfalen
(Bennigsen Foerder-Award) in 1998 and for his work
on spinodal decomposition the Aurel-Vlaicu-Award of
the Romanian Academy of Science in 2001. From
2005-2009 he was Chair of the Chemical Physics and
Polymer Section of the German Physical Society (DPG)
and editor of the Journal of Statistical Mechanics. In
2011, he declined an offer for a W3-professorship at
the University of Tübingen. In numbers:
Publications: > 100, citations: > 3000
Invited Talks: >50
Professional Career
2004-now W3-professor at FAU, Erlangen
2001-2004 Project leader at MPI for Metal Research
(Stuttgart)
1995-2001 Research Assistant at University of Wuppertal; 1998/99 Professor at LMU (Munich)
1994-1995 Postdoctoral Fellow at UTexas (Austin) and
at Northeastern University (Boston)
1990-1993 Teaching Assistant at LMU (Munich)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: C-5562-2013
Website: http://theorie1.physik.fau.de
Supervised PhD theses: 10 (+ 6 in progress)
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 26
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
fluid flow in porous media, as well as wetting, adhesion and wet granular materials. Our main achieve
ment was 2004 the morphometric theory for confined fluids [4], which is based on Hadwiger's theorem for additive functionals and determines the
shape dependence
of thermodynamic
quantities in terms
of only four geometric measures. Since
2009 we developed
a density functional
theory for hard particles of arbitrary
shape [5] and were
able to predict the
phase behavior of liquid crystals and their physical
properties quantitatively.
Research in the Mecke group
Material Science and Biophysics
The main aim is to develop new mathematical methods to study physical phenomena, especially geometric techniques for spatially structured systems. Due to
the universality of the mathematical concepts and the
applied tools such as computer simulations, the studied systems range from complex fluids to galaxy distributions, from foamed materials to spin foam models.
The research group developed novel mathematical
tools to characterize the shape of spatially structured
materials [6] and to derive shape-property relations
based on integral geometry [3]. We are also involved
in the quantitative measurement of material structures by X-ray scattering, AFM and tomography,
where image analysis tools are developed. We use
numerical algorithms to calculate effective properties
of heterogeneous media such as bones, woods and
foams, trying to find principles for biological inspired
designs of materials.
Statistical Physics of Fluids
The properties of fluid interfaces are still not well
understood on a nanometer scale due to the inter
play of disorder and molecular interactions. The prediction of a wavevector-dependent surface tension in
1999 [2], for instance, led to ongoing X-ray scattering
experiments and computer simulations. In the group
several numerical techniques such as molecular dynamics and Lattice-Boltzmann simulations are used to
study the structure and dynamics of complex fluids, -
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Already in 1994 we proposed morphometric techniques to characterize the large-scale structure in the
universe [1], which became a standard tool in astronomy. Recently, we extended the morphometric analysis in collaboration with HESS to detect sources in
gamma-ray astronomy by using Minkowski function-
78
als for structure quantification. In collaboration with
ANTARES we also contribute to the theory of acoustic
neutrino detection by clarifying the non-equilibrium
relaxation processes in water when cosmic rays deposit their energy.
Quantum Geometry and Space-Time Models
The quantisation of Einstein’s general relativity theory
is one of the most important challenges in modern
physics. Currently we are working on computer simulations of triangulations and of spin foam models to
estimate partition sums over space-times. Another
goal is the numerical determination of the spectrum
of the volume operator in Loop Quantum Theory.
Recently, we started to use projective geometry and
finite Galois fields for a model of finite space-time.
Based on the work of Felix Klein and David Hilbert we
introduce fields of bi-quadrics to break projective
symmetry which leads to metrics and curvatures as
prerequisites for formulating general relativity on
finite fields.
Literature and Philosophy
An important part of my activities is history of science
and the study of the cultural context of physics research. I analyzed the use of metaphors in modelling
and theories of physics as well as the adaptation of
physics in poems and narratives. In collaboration with
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
[1] K. Mecke, Th. Buchert, and H. Wagner, Robust
morphological measures for large-scale structure in
the universe, Astronomy & Astrophysics 288, 697
(1994)
[2] K. Mecke and S. Dietrich, Effective Hamiltonian for
liquid-vapor interfaces, Phys. Rev. E 59, 6766 (1999)
[3] C. H. Arns, M. A. Knackstedt, and K. Mecke, Reconstructing complex materials via effective grain shapes,
Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 215506 (2003)
[4] P.-M. König, R. Roth, and K. Mecke, Morphological
thermodynamics of fluids: shape dependence of free
energies, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 160601 (2004)
[5] H. Hansen-Goos and K. Mecke, Fundamental
measure theory for inhomog. fluids of non-spherical
hard particles, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 018302 (2009)
[6] Schröder-Turk, G.E., Mickel, W., Kapfer, S.C, Schaller, F.M., Breidenbach, B., Hug, D. and Mecke, K.,
Minkowski tensors of anisotropic spatial structure,
New J. Phys. 15, 083028 (2013).
the Faculty of Humanities I founded the 'Erlangen
Center for Literature and Natural Science' (ELIN
AS.fau.de) which is an institutionalised infrastructure
for interdisciplinary research, dedicated to the reciprocal transfer of knowledge between physics and
literature. The center is concerned with the importance of language and metaphors in physical research as well as with discursive and narrative modulations of scientific theories in literary texts.
Selected collaborations
We collaborate with experimental, theoretical and
mathematical groups worldwide - mainly on the field
on geometry in physics. Examples include the groups
of J. Daillant (Paris), B. Evans (Bristol), S. Guest (Cambridge) and S. Hyde at ANU (Canberra). PhD students
are regularly sent abroad for three month or half a
year. Recent examples of collaborations in Germany
include the groups of C. Bechinger (Stuttgart), K. Jacobs (Saarbrücken) and M. Schröter (MPI Göttingen).
In Erlangen, we collaborate mainly within the Cluster
of Excellence 'Engineering of Advanced Materials', the
Erlangen Center for Astroparticle Physics (ECAP) and
the Faculty of Humanities.
Teaching and outreach
I am spokesman of the elite graduate program 'Physics Advanced' funded by the Elite Network Bavaria
(ENB), which is an international study program that
integrates BSc, MSc and PhD to a unit. Students receive intensive mentoring and an individually tailored
study program focused on own projects that can
provide a fast-track to graduation and lead to an early
emersion in research (www.enb.physik.fau.de). To
fostering textual proficiency of physics students I
repeatedly organized interdisciplinary seminars, lectures and summer courses on physics in literature,
which were in particular fruitful for physics teachers.
Beyond academia I gave lectures on this topic for a
broad public, e.g. at the Leipzig Book Fair, and arranged a continuous exchange with numerous writers
of contemporary fiction, who presented their published texts in workshops and readings.
Funding
Current Funding (300kEuro per year):
Cluster of Excellence 'Engineering of Advanced Materials' (EAM); DFG Research Group 'Geometry and
Physics of Spatial Random Systems' (GPSRS); Emerging Field Initiative 'Quantum Geometry' (QG); Proctor&Gamble.
additional: ENB-PhysicsAdvanced (1 W2; 1.5 A13;
25kEuro per year)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
79
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Jan-Peter Meyn
(b. 1967)
W2, Professur für Didaktik in
der Physik
Teacher training is Jan-Peter
Meyn's mission. After a decade
of fruitful work in the field of
laser physics (33 publications,
>1000 citations, h = 20) he became a high-school
teacher for physics and mathematics in 2003, and
accepted the professorship in physics didactics at the
FAU in 2005. He unwaveringly pursues the objective
of adapting topics of modern research in the field of
optics and quantum physics to regular school curricula. His webpage www.quantumlab.de contains interactive screen experiments on various single photon
experiments following Grangier, Hong/Ou/Mandel,
and others. It is used for teaching both in high schools
and universities.
Research in the Meyn group
Modern physics in high-school teaching
Including recent research topics into high-school
teaching is an ongoing problem. While the courses of
instruction for public schools cover research results
only from ancient times to the early days of quantum
physics, the majority of physics knowledge has
evolved more recently. With limited instruction time,
modern physics can only be treated in an exemplary
fashion, as the foundations must not be abandoned.
We believe that observation of real experiments is a
key feature of any sound physics instruction at secondary school level. Among the many interesting
research fields, the foundations of quantum optics
has relatively few experimental prerequisites, as scientific progress is still possible on a table operated by
a single researcher. Our goal is to develop single photon experiments which can be operated in a class
room environment. Interactive screen experiments
such as those available on our internet page
www.quantumlab.de are regarded as an interim result, despite their usefulness for teaching in environments with limited resources (figure 1). Prototypes of
classroom experiments are tested in classroom teaching (figure 2). We found that students easily accept
the technical apparatus, but have problems with the
terms handed down in our tradition of quantum physics teaching. Hence, the development of apparatus is
entangled with curriculum innovation. Class room
teaching is performed in cooperation with various
schools, including Rudolf Steinerskolen i Oslo, Norway.
Professional Career
2005-now W2-professor at FAU
2006 Offer to become Chair of Physics and Didactics
(W3) at the Universität zu Köln (declined)
2003-2005 Physics and Mathematics teacher at Heinrich-Heine-Gymnasium Kaiserslautern (high-school
grade 5-13)
1996-2003 Assistant at Technical University Kaiserslautern
1995-1996 Postdoc at Ginzton Lab, Stanford University, USA (group of Martin M. Fejer)
1992-1995 PhD Student at Hamburg University (group
of Günther Huber)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: C-5524-2013
Website: www.didaktik.physik.uni-erlangen.de
Supervised PhD theses : 2 +(2 in progress)
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 16
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Recently we have initiated a second project to advance modern research for high-school teaching: The
development of a student experience program for
selected research topics of the excellence cluster of
advanced materials (EAM), funded by DFG.
A number of small research projects have been conducted to optimize demonstration experiments with a
researcher’s, not a teacher’s approach. We found that
even well-known experiments such as Thomson's
jumping ringexperiment can be improved substantially by taking advantage of technical innovation, or by
gaining insight into the often neglected theory.
Teaching
Future physics teachers must be good physicists but
need additional subject-specific competences: Addressing students' preconceptions, using researchbased teaching strategies, diagnosis of teaching success, and broad experimental skills to use simple
apparatus effectively. These competences are trained
in our didactics teaching, which includes lectures,
laboratory work, seminars and classroom teaching.
We focus on experimental skills and on using physical
terms judiciously.
Academic self-management
Teacher training is interconnected with several faculties and central institutes. The professorship acts as a
link between these institutions and the Department
of Physics. The specific interests of future teacher
students are represented in various committees.
80
Outreach
We operate the physics experience programme "Photonik macht Schule" for students of grade 9 to 12.
They work with modern optical instruments which are
the basis for our single photon experiments, so they
know the components from practical experience.
Further activities of our group include the organization of university studies for gifted high school students (Frühstudium) and the Erlanger Schülerforschungszentrum, an environment for pupils to
perform their own research project, for example to
prepare for contests like "Jugend Forscht".
Screen shot of interactive screen experiment on photon entanglement. The user can adjust the waveplates in Alice's and
Bob's path, and the phase of the pump laser to select different
Bell states.
For each setting, the display relies on real experimental data.
The site www.quantumlab.de is accessed several thousand
times per month.
A 16 year old student of Freie Waldorfschule Weimar is adjusting our single photon experiment by maximizing the coincidence count rate.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
Meyn, Jan-Peter and Fejer, Martin M.: Tunable ultraviolet radiation by second harmonic generation in
periodically poled lithium tantalate. In: Optics Letters
22(16), 1214-1216 (1997)
Bronner, Patrick; Strunz, Andreas; Silberhorn, Christine; Meyn, Jan-Peter: Interactive screen experiments
with single photons. In: European Journal of Physics
30 (2009), 345-353
Meyn, Jan-Peter: Renewable energy sources in terms
of entrophy. In: European Journal of Physics 32
(2011), 185-200
Waschke, Felix ; Strunz, Andreas ; Meyn, Jan-Peter: A
safe and effective modification of Thomson's jumping
ring experiment. In: European Journal of Physics 33
(2012), 1625-1634
Meyn, Jan-Peter: Primärfarben in Kunst und Physik.
In: Praxis der Naturwissenschaften - Physik in der
Schule (2013), Nr. 3/62, 34-41
___________________________________________________________________________
81
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reinhard Neder
(b. 1959)
C3, Institute of Condensed
Matter – Crystallography
and Structural Physics
The experimental work of
Reinhard Neder focuses on
the determination of the
structure of disordered materials.
After studying mineralogy at the University of Münster and the Arizona State University, Tempe, USA he
held a PhD student position at the Department of
Geoscience, University of München and obtained his
PhD in 1990 in the group of F. Frey, where he analyzed the defect structure of cubic Zirconia with diffuse neutron scattering. He continued at the Department of Geoscience, University of München as a
postdoctoral fellow in the group of H. Schulz. Here he
developed single crystal diffraction techniques to
study extremely small single crystals with sub micrometer dimensions. After his habilitation in 1996 he
became C3 professor for crystallography and mineralogy at the Julius-Maximilians-University, Würzburg.
During this time he served for two years as dean of
the geoscience department. In Würzburg his research
initially centered around single crystal work on clay
minerals but quickly developed a focus on the new
PDF technique to study nanocrystalline and generally
disordered materials. Since 2007 he is C3 professor
for crystallography at the FAU. At the FAU he continues his focus on nanocrystalline materials. He is best
known as principal author of the DISCUS program, a
widely acclaimed program to simulate disordered
crystal structures, and he coauthored a book on these
simulation techniques. In Würzburg he was the only
professor for crystallography and routinely taught
with well over nine hours presence in the lecture
room, a trend that continues in Erlangen. As special
teaching effort are the interactive teaching pages on
diffraction physics and regular DISCUS workshops.
Research in the Neder group
Structure of nanocrystalline and disordered materials
To unravel the structure of nanosized or disordered
materials requires substantially different techniques
compared to the well established structure determination of an average crystal structure. As the application of nanosized materials becomes more and more
common, it is important to understand their structure
and the relationship of the structure to the properties. Besides nanosized materials, generally disordered materials become more common as their
Professional Career
2007-now C3-professor at FAU, Erlangen
1997-2007 C3 professorship for Crystallography at the
Department of Geoscience, Julius-Maximilians University Würzburg
1990-1997 Postdoctoral fellow at Department of
Crystallography at the Ludwig-Maximilians University
of Munich (group of Heinz Schulz)
1985-1990 PhD student in crystallography at the
Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich (group of
Friedrich Frey)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: D-9877-2013
Website:www.lks.physik.uni-erlangen.de/neder.shtml
Supervised PhD theses:
Diploma, BSc., MSc.:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
properties are often much better than well ordered
materials, especially in energy related materials.
Nanoparticles
In contrast to their abundant use in technology, very
little is known about the detailed atomic structure of
extremely small nanoparticles with diameters less
than 10 nm. Their small diameter strains all probes
other than powder diffraction techniques, even TEM.
We have developed the application of the Pair Distribution Function (PDF) to the analysis of nanoparticles.
The underlying experimental data are collected at
high energy X-ray sources in the lab and at synchrotron sources, neutron sources and as a recent new
development by electron diffraction techniques. The
combination of different complementary scattering
techniques proves a vital key point for many complex
materials. As an example the combination of X-ray
and neutron scattering techniques are required to
decipher the location and binding sites of organic
ligands that play a crucial role stabilizing the finite
nanoparticles size.
Am emerging field are insitu studies of the formation
and growth of nanoparticles during the synthesis in
real time. The advent of new detector technologies at
intense high energy X-ray sources allows PDF measurements with a time resolution of seconds, in special
cases even fractions of a second. The PDF signal reveals so far unknown details about the chemical processes by which the precursors change into the initial
cluster and eventual nanoparticle. Its formation and
growth can be observed atomic layer by layer and the
accompanying structure simulation can pinpoint defects in the growing nanoparticle.
Our own current focus is on ZnO related material. By
co synthesis with a variety of organic ligands we explore the effect of the ligand chemistry on the size
and defect structure of the nanoparticles. Doping
82
with metal ions aims at establishing diluted magnet
systems and to modify the absorbtion characteristics.
Tools for the description and analysis of disordered structures
A large long term project in our group is the development of tools and computer code to simulate disordered structures. This materials class includes nanoparticles but extends much further to any type of
disordered crystal structure. As defects by definition
deviate from the average structure, they do not have
to obey the restrictions imposed by symmetry onto
the average crystal structure. As a consequence,
there are manifold ways to distribute defects within
any given structure, and these distributions can be
combined with any local defect type. No general determination technique analogous to direct methods is
available. The DISCUS project allows users to simulate
any kind of disordered structure. It provides a large
set of tools to modify the parent structure and enables the user to calculate the diffraction pattern respectively PDF for a refinement to experimental data.
At present further tools are being developed that aim
to facilitate complex nanoparticle simulations. In a
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
Korsounski, VI, Neder, RB, Hradil, K, Barglik-Chory, C,
Müller, G & Neuefeind, J, Investigation of nanocrystalline CdS-glutathione particles by radial distribution
function, J. Appl. Cryst., 36, 1389 (2003)
R. B. Neder, V. I. Korsunskiy, Ch. Chory, G. Müller, A.
Hofmann, S. Dembski, Ch. Graf, and E. Rühl, Structural
characterization of II-VI semiconductor nanoparticles,
phys. Stat. Solidi (c) 4, 3233 (2007)
R.B. Neder, Th. Proffen, (2008) Diffuse Scattering and
Defect Structure Simulations, Oxford University Press
(2008)
cooperation with R. Osborn, Argonne National Laboratory and T. Proffen, Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
tools are developed to integrate these structure simulations into the massive data flow expected in the
near future from single crystal beamlines dedicated to
diffuse scattering measurements. These large data
flows require massive parallelization and speed optimization. A further cooperation with U. Kolb aims at
including electron diffraction into the existing tool
box.
Dedicated PDF Beam line 21.1 at PETRA III
The demand for PDF measurements is rapidly increasing and beam lines like 11-IDB at the Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory regularly
are highly oversubscribed. We proposed a dedicated
PDF beam line that is currently under construction at
PETRA III. The beam line will be realized as side station 21.1 to the Swedish beam line 21. With a focus
on high energy X-ray diffraction at 100 keV and a
large area detector the beam line will enable users to
collect PDF data rapidly up to very large scattering
vectors Q, providing excellent experimental data.
Selected collaborations
We collaborate with research groups at Argonne
National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
and the University Mainz related to the developments
of simulation tools. The ZnO project and further nanoparticle projects are realized in cooperation with
the University Würzburg, the Boreskov Institute for
catalysis, Novosibirsk and the Applied Physical Chemistry, Stockholm.
Funding
Funding during the last years was obtained from
BMBF.
F. Niederdraenk, K. Seufert, A. Stahl, R.S. BhaleraoPanajkar, S. Marathe, S. K. Kulkarni, R.B. Neder and
Ch. Kumpf Ensemble modeling of very small ZnO
nanoparticles, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys.,13, 498
(2011)
K. Page, T.C. Hood, Th. Proffen, R.B. Neder, Building
and refining complete nanoparticle structures with
total scattering data, J. Appl. Cryst. 44, 327 (2011)
T.Y. Kardash, L. Plyasova, D. Kochubey, V. Bondareva,
R.B. Neder, Development of the local and average
structure of a V-Mo-Nb oxide catalyst with Mo5O14like structure during synthesis from nanostructured
precursors, Z. Kristallographie, 227, 288 (2012)
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83
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Oskar Painter
(b. 1972)
W3, Institute for Optics, Information and Photonics
Director, Quantum Photonics
Division, MPL
Oskar Painter received his Bachelor of Applied Science degree in
Electrical Engineering from the University of British
Columbia in 1994, his Master of Science degree from
the California Institute of Technology in 1995, and his
Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the California
Institute of Technology in 2001. In 2000 he helped
found Xponent Photonics, an optical start-up company developing surface-mount photonics for telecom
and data networking applications. In 2002 he returned to the California Institute of Technology,
where he joined the faculty in Applied Physics as an
Assistant Professor, and was promoted to Associate
Professor with tenure (2008), Full Professor and Executive Officer of Applied Physics and Materials Science Department (2010), and Co-Director of the Kavli
Nanosciences Institute (2011). Since April 2013, Prof.
Painter has been on leave from Caltech, and is starting up a new Division of Quantum Photonics at the
Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL) in
Erlangen. He also holds a W3 chair in experimental
physics at the FAU.
Prof. Painter's general research interests lie in studying new and interesting ways in which light behaves
within micro- and nano-scale dielectric and metallic
structures. Uniquely, Painter’s work brings advanced
nanofabrication techniques to bear on fundamental
problems in optical science, and seeks to exploit new
physical insights to develop advanced quantum optical technologies for communication and metrology.
He has published over 100 peer-reviewed journal
articles, and has an h-index of 45. Oskar Painter was a
Canada Scholar during his undergraduate studies and
awarded an NSERC ’67 Scholarship from the Canadian
Government for his PhD studies abroad. He has been
recognized by the Caltech graduate students with the
2005 Graduate Student Council Mentoring Award,
was named a Kavli Frontiers in Science Fellow of the
US National Academy of Science in 2012, and in 2013
was awarded an Alexander von Humboldt Professorship to carry out research in Germany.
Research in the Painter group
Quantum Photonics
Research in the Painter group looks at ways to create
new optoelectronic materials and devices through the
development of nano-scale fabrication technqiues
Professional Career
2013-now W3-professor at FAU, Erlangen and Director, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light
2011-2013 Co-Director Kavli Nanosciences Institute
(Caltech)
2010-2013 Full Professor of Applied Physics, Executive
Office of the Applied Physics and Materials Science
Department (Caltech)
2008-2010 Associate Professor of Applied Physics
with tenure (Caltech)
2002-2008Assistant Professor of Applied Physics (Caltech)
2001-2002 Co-Founder, Xponent Photonics
1995-2001 PhD student at Caltech (group of Axel
Scherer)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: J-7563-2013
Website: copilot.caltech.edu
Supervised PhD theses: 10 (+ 5 in progress)
Diploma, BSc., MSc.:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
and through the exploration of novel physics. The
type of research ranges from pure theory and design
to the actual fabrication and characterization of devices, and is naturally inter-disciplinary in nature,
including fields such quantum optics, materials science, electronics, nano-mechanics, and atomic physics. Currently, our research efforts can be divided into
the following general areas of study:
Nanophotonics for coherent atom-photon interactions
A powerful paradigm that has developed over the last
several decades in quantum optics is that of cavityQED, in which a high-Finesse optical cavity is used to
increase light-matter interactions to the point where
single atoms and single photons can hybridize. Such
systems have been used to create quantum gates for
processing quantum information and quantum networks for the distribution and entanglement of quantum states. The Painter group seeks to develop the
technology and explore the physics of chip-scale
nanophotonic circuits integrated with both real atoms
(in conjunction with Jeff Kimble at Caltech) and "artificial atoms" such as InAs quantum dots and NV color
centers of diamond. The light-matter interactions in
such systems are enhanced by the highly-localized
fields of nanoscale waveguides and cavities. The goal
of this work is to develop devices for performing
quantum information processing tasks, to realize
quantum-enhanced sensors of weak-classical fields
and forces, and to explore new quantum many-body
states of light and matter.
84
Optical Forces in Nanostructures
Light is usually thought of as imponderable, carrying
energy, but little momentum. Light, trapped in a
cubic-wavelength volume, however, can lead to substantial radiation pressure effects. In order to take
advantage of this, we are developing and studying
guided-wave devices integrated with or formed from
nano-mechanical structures, in which acoustic and
optical energy are co-localized for enhanced optomechanical coupling via radiation pressure. Such work
has realized nanophotonic structures in which the
pressure of even a single optical photon pulse is
strong enough to produce measurable mechanical
deformation or changes in rigidity of the structure.
Applications of these sort of devices include optically
controllable or reconfigurable optical circuits, precision sensors (see below), and light assisted templating of materials/components.
Quantum Physics of Mechanical Devices
Utilizing optical techniques, we are studying the
quantum mechanical properties of nanomechanical
structures. In particular, we are developing the tools
and techniques for quantum-limited transduction of
motion enabling the preparation and measurement of
highly non-classical states of a mechanical system, the
study of the interaction of these mechanical quantum
elements (in collaboration with the theory group of F.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
R. Colombelli, K. Srinivasan, M. Troccoli, O. Painter, C.
Gmachl, D.M. Tennant, A.M. Sergent, D.L. Sivco, A.Y.
Cho, and F. Capasso "Quantum cascade surfaceemitting photonic crystal laser," Science, v302 (5649),
pp. 1374-1377, Nov. 21, 2003
Q. Lin, O. J. Painter, and Govind P. Agrawal, "Nonlinear Optical Phenomena in Silicon Waveguides: Modeling and Applications", Opt. Express, Vol. 15(25), pp.
16604-16644, December 10, 2007
K. Srinivasan and O. Painter "Linear and nonlinear
optical spectroscopy of a strongly-coupled microdiskquantum dot system", Nature, Vol. 450, pp. 862,
December 6, 2007.
M. Eichenfield, J. Chan, R. Camacho, K. J. Vahala, and
O. Painter, "Optomechanical Crystals," Nature,
doi:10.1038/nature08524, October 19, 2009.
J. Chan, T. P. Mayer Alegre, A. H. Safavi-Naeini, J. T.
Hill, Alex Krause, S. Gröblacher, M. Aspelmeyer & O.
Painter, "Laser cooling of a nanomechanical oscillator
into its quantum ground state," Nature, v478, pg. 89–
92, October 6, 2011.
Marquardt). Recent successes in this area include the
development of lithographically-defined optomechanical crystals capable of scalable integration of
arrays of connected optical and mechanical resonators, the laser cooling of a nanomechanical resonator
into its ground-state of motion for the first time (see
Figure), and the generation of non-classical squeezed
states of light from a silicon micromechanical resonator.
Precision Measurement and Quantum-Limited
Force Sensors
Most precision sensors of force, mass, and acceleration that are used today are limited in their sensitivity
by thermal and electrical noise. We are working to
develop practical micro- and nano-scale sensors of
ultra-high-sensitivity that are limited only by the fundamental noise stemming from the quantum backaction involved in any measurement process. Current
efforts include the development of accelerometers
and gyros which utilize the large radiation pressure
coupling of light at this scale to realize optical shotnoise limited detection, providing superior bandwidth
and sensitivity to that of state-of-the-art MEMS technology.
Selected collaborations
A strong collaborative effort in the area of quantum
cavity-optomechanics exists between the experimental group of Painter and the theoretical group of
Marquardt. In the area of cavity-optomechanics the
Painter group also has a long standing collaboration
with the research group of Markus Aspelmeyer at the
University of Vienna. Painter also has a number of
collaborations dating back to his time at Caltech, in
particular with the research groups of Kerry Vahala
(photonics) and Jeff Kimble (quantum optics, cavityQED, and AMO).
Teaching and outreach
At Caltech, he has taught a wide variety of undergraduate and graduate courses, including quantum
mechanics, thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, quantum optics and electronics, modern optics
lab, microelectronics lab, and solid-state physics.
Funding
2013-2018 AvH Professorship, DARPA MESO, QuASAR, and ORCHID programs (~$1 Million/year in aggregate, 4PhDs, 3PDs), Institute for Quantum Information and Matter, through the NSF of the US and
the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
($120k/year, 1PhD) QuMPASS and Hybrid Nanophotonics MURI programs (~$370k/year, 2PhD, 1PD)
___________________________________________________________________________
85
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Oleg Pankratov
(b. 1949)
C4, Institute for Theoretical
Physics IV, Theoretical Solid
State Physics
Oleg Pankratov received his
Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics
from Moscow Institute for
Physics and Technology in 1977. After graduation, he
worked at the Institute for Semiconductor Materials
and at the Institute for applied physics in Moscow,
Russia. In 1983 he was honored with the major USSR
prize for young scientists for his theoretical work on
narrow gap semiconductors. In 1984 he moved to
Theory Department lead by V.L. Ginzburg at Lebedev
Physics Institute where he joined the solid state theory group of L.V. Keldysh. He received his Doctor of
Sciences degree (Habilitation) from Lebedev Institute
in 1988. He was invited as a visiting professor to Johannes-Kepler University, Linz, Austria in 1989 and
1990. He joined then the theory department at FritzHaber-Institute of MPG in Berlin. In 1995 he followed
invitation to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory,
USA. In 1997 he returned to Germany as a full professor at a newly founded chair for Theoretical Solid
State Physics at FAU. He built a theory group with the
focus on ab-initio theory of solids. O. Pankratov was
among the first theorists who considered the chiral
“neutrino-type” electron states in solids. These ideas
found applications in graphene and in topological
insulators - the new material classes regarded as the
“rising stars” in condensed matter physics. In Pankratov group, the first ab-initio calculations for epitaxial
graphene and the pioneering investigations of the
few-layer graphenes were performed. The work of O.
Pankratov is recognized internationally with over
2000 citations (120 publications, h-index 26) and
invitations to more than 30 International Conferences
and Schools.
Professional Career
1997-now C4-professor at FAU, Erlangen
1995-1997 Physics Department, Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory, USA
1990-1995 Theory Department, Fritz-Haber-Institute
of MPG, Berlin
1989-1990 Guest professor, Johannes-Kepler University, Linz, Austria
1984-1989 Theory department, Lebedev Physics Institute, Moscow, Russia
1978-1984 Institute for applied physics, Moscow,
Russia
1977-1978 Institute for Semiconductor Materials and
Technology, Moscow
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: C-5553-2013
Website: www.tfkp.physik.uni-erlangen.de
Supervised PhD theses: 6 (+ 5 in progress)
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 28
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Application of DFT methods
The most important field of our density functional
theory (DFT) application work is semiconductor physics. Over many years within the SFB 292 “Multicomponent Layered Systems” we were providing theoretical support to technological development of SiC – an
important semiconductor material for high power
electronics. The key to any semiconductor technology
is the doping; hence we focused on impurities and
native defects. The goal has been a prediction of the
charge states and diffusion mechanisms for various
defects - an ambitious large scale numerical problem
aimed at understanding solubility limits, diffusion
barriers, local vibration modes, defect electronic
levels etc. In parallel to SiC, we studied strongly correlated systems (oxides, surfaces etc) using GW and
LDA+U methods.
Development of DFT/many-body methods
Research in the Pankratov group
Quantum theory of solids: ab-initio calculations,
density functional methods, and graphene-type
systems
The research in Pankratov group focuses on microscopic theory of solids, including application of the
quantum ab-initio methods and the development of
such methods. In the last years, graphene and its
derivatives became important subjects of this work.
The involved theory unites the condensed matter
concepts and those of the relativistic quantum field
theory whereas understanding the practical materials
requires numerical ab-initio methods.
DFT is the most efficient tool of the quantum theory
of realistic systems yet it is constrained to the ground
state properties. This constraint can be overcome
within the time dependent DFT (TDFT) which should
be able to tackle excitations, e.g.electron-hole pairs
(excitons). Deriving the Kohn-Sham DFT equations
from the many-body theory we were able to construct a DFT analogue of the Bethe-Salpeter equation
(BSE) and developed the diagrammatic technique for
an exact “translation” of BSE in TDFT language. Another development includes testing complex functionals such as the non-local exchange. For electrons
on a quantum ring, we succeeded to observe the
Mott localization– the effect eluding description in
the “standard” LDA-DFT. Next, we are developing the
86
“density matrix functional theory” where the manybody quantum state is a functional of a density matrix. This theory is in its initial stage; it is promising
especially for time-dependent strongly correlated
systems. We contributed to the theory by proving
fundamental theorems and analyzing time-dependent
behavior of the model systems, e.g., Stuekelberg
oscillations in a two-center Hubbard model.
Graphene physics
The advent of graphene opened new vistas in SiC
research since SiC is the best substrate for epitaxial
graphene growth. Originally, the graphene-substrate
interaction was regarded as a weak perturbation. Yet
the electron mobility in graphene grown on Si-face is
strongly damped and graphene multilayers on C-face
grow in a mutually rotated (“twisted”) fashion. Theoretically, epitaxial graphene and “twisted” graphene
multilayers are much more complex objects than an
ideal carbon monolayer. We approach this challenge
combining analytical theory and numerical methods.
Using symmetry analysis we derived the modified
Dirac-Weyl spectrum of the graphene epilayer. We
predicted the Dirac cone splitting and explained the
electron mobility damping by the interface phonon
scattering.
Strikingly, understanding of the twisted graphene
bilayers requires rethinking of such basic concepts as
the Brillouin zone and the Bloch theorem.
Indeed, the lattice periodicity in commensurate
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
S. Shallcross, S. Sharma, and O. Pankratov, Emergent
momentum scale, localization, and van Hove simgularities in the graphene twist bilayer, Phys. Rev. B
87, 245403 (2013)
bilayers is a highly irregular function of the rotation
angle. Infinitely many structures with wildly different
periodicities exist within an infinitely small angle
range. This poses a question whether the lattice periodicity is relevant for electronic properties. Applying
Diophantine algebra we developed a theory of such
systems. We proved that not the lattice periodicity
but a so-called moiré periodicity dictates electronic
properties. This periodicity changes continuously with
the rotation angle ensuring a smooth dependence of
physical properties. Studying the finite graphene
flakes we were able – thanks to the computational
tool developed in our group - to calculate electronic
states in relatively large (up to 10^4 atoms) flakes in
external magnetic field. We found a beautiful electron current distribution taking a shape of a torus
around a moiré spot.
Teaching
I consider teaching as a very important duty and as an
inspiration for my research work. I am thankful for
the positive responses of the students and for the
award for excellence in teaching. Most importantly,
there have been always enough talented students
who wanted to join the group.
Funding and collaborations
O. Pankratov received a number of grants and has
been collaborating with colleagues in FAU, USA (LLNL)
and EU (Italy, Spain etc) on many projects (PI in two
SFB’s, PI in DFG research group, PI in DFG priority
program, PI in EU grant, a number of individual DFGfunded projects). These grants have been providing
funding for on average 3 PhD students 2 post-docs
and 4 diploma students over the last 15 years. The
group also hosted one DAAD and one Humboldt fellows.
O. Pankratov, S. Hensel, P. Goetzfried, and M. Bockstedte, Graphene on cubic and hexagonal SiC: A comparative theoretical study, Phys. Rev. B 86, 155432
(2012)
R. Requist and O. Pankratov. Time-dependent occupation numbers in reduced-density-matrix-functional
theory: Application to an interacting Landau-Zener
model, Phys. Rev. A 83, 052510 (2011)
A. Mattausch and O. Pankratov. Ab-initio study of
graphene on SiC, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 076802
(2007)
O. A. Pankratov. Supersymmetric inhomogeneous
semiconductor structures and the nature of a parity
anomaly in (2+1) electrodynamics, Phys. Lett. A 121,
360 (1987)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
87
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ulf Peschel
(b. 1964)
W2, Institute of Optics,
Information and Photonics
The work of Ulf Peschel focuses on experimental and
theoretical subjects of modern optics, namely on nanophotonics, nonlinear dynamics of optical fields and on
electromagnetic modeling of light-matter interaction.
He received his PhD in 1994 from the FriedrichSchiller-University of Jena, Germany, where he had
worked in the group of F. Lederer on the nonlinear
response of highly resonant optical structures as
cavities or gratings. He continued his research in Jena
first as a postdoc and later on C1 and C2 level and
finished his habilitation on localized structures in
nonlinear optics in 2001. During that time he also
dealt with photonic nanostructures and discrete systems. He performed several visits to other universities
among them the University of Glasgow, U.K. where he
stayed from 1998 until 1999 as a visiting research
fellow. In 2005 he was appointed as a W2 professor
for experimental physics at FAU. His work is well recognized internationally, with about 3700 citations to
more than 140 publications, an h-index of 32, and
more than 50 invited talks at international conferences and workshops so far. For his research on the
optical response of nanostructures, he was awarded
the Research Prize of the Free State of Thuringia
2002.
Research in the Peschel group
Nonlinear Optics and Nanophotonics (NONA)
Our research covers several areas of classical optics
and includes both experiments and simulations.
Members of the group are working on the realization
of nano-optical plasmonic circuitries and of new effective optical materials based on colloidal photonic
crystals. Different aspects of wave scattering in optical systems as loss induced structure formation and
nonlinearly driven self-organization are investigated
and extensive numerical modeling is performed to
design new structures and to illuminate the details of
light-matter interaction on the nano scale.
Professional Career
2005-now Associate professor (W2) at FAU, PI and
member of the boards of the Cluster of Excellence
EAM and of the Graduate School SAOT, PI in 3 research groups (Forschergruppe)
2003-2005 C2 at University of Jena, PI in 1 research
group (Forschergruppe)
1999-2002 C1 at University of Jena, habilitation in
2001
1998-1999 Visiting Research Fellow at the University
of Glasgow, U.K.
1994 PhD at the University of Jena (group of Falk
Lederer)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: C-3356-2013
Website: http://mpl.mpg.de/personal/upeschel/personal/
Supervised PhD theses : 6 (+ 7 in progress)
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 14
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
properties. In our group we investigate both approaches. As plasmons enable sub wavelength light
confinement we investigate new methods to transfer
light from the far field to plasmonic nanostructures.
For this purpose we developed optical antennas for
the IR wavelength range, which are connected to gap
plasmonic waveguides. We investigate subwavelength waveguiding in plasmonic circuitry components and directional couplers as well as radiative
coupling between optical antennas forming the basis
of wireless interconnects. For these experiments we
apply modern fabrication technologies as well as
detection methods, including Focused Ion Beam lithography (FIB), e-beam lithography, Scanning Near
Field Optical Microscopy (NSOM) and confocal high
N.A. scanning microscopy. For optimization of the
structures and analyzing the underlying physical processes, we simulate our components with Finite Elements (FEM) and Finite Difference Time Domain
(FDTD) methods.
Metal based nanophotonics
The strong electron-photon interaction in metals can
cause total suppression of field propagation as well as
extreme light confinement or enhancement. Therefore metals allow creating both sub wavelength optics
and effective optical materials with completely new
(a) SEM of a Yagi antenna that was illuminated with a highly
focused beam through the substrate and (b) scanned with a
near field optical microscope (c) Electric field distribution in the
plane of the antenna simulated with 3D FDTD.
88
In our group we also produce and investigate monolayers and bulk photonic crystals and combine them
with metallic layers sputtered on the dielectric crystal. Those new effective materials show new color
effects and extreme enhancement or almost complete suppression of transmission around surprisingly
sharp resonances.
Wave scattering and structure formation in
complex optical media
We investigate light propagation both in nonlinear
film waveguides and in fiber networks focusing on the
influences of gain, loss, nonlinearity and random
distortions.
Spatially inhomogenous losses can results in the formation of extremely complex and even fractal field
pattern, as we have found recently. The combination
of gain and loss in a well-balanced fashion results in
the creation of completely new optical materials. We
could for the first time realize such a so-called PT
symmetric effective material in an extended fiber
network. We found a phase transition between exponentially exploding and stable light modes for strong
gain modulation and could further show that PTsymmetric elements embedded in a conventional
material exhibit unidirectional invisibility with enhanced reflection from one and vanishing reflection
from the other side [Nature 2012].
Also nonlinear effects present at higher power levels
can result in the self-organization of light. We investi
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
A. Kriesch, S. P. Burgos, D. Ploss, H. Pfeifer, H. A. Atwater, and U. Peschel, “Functional Plasmonic
Nanocircuits with Low Insertion and Propagation
Losses,” Nano Lett. accepted DOI: 10.1021/nl402580c
S. Batz and U. Peschel, ”Diametrically Driven SelfAccelerating Pulses in a Photonic Crystal Fiber,” Phys.
Rev. Lett. 110, 193901 (2013).
A. Regensburger, C. Bersch, M.-A. Miri, G. Onishchukov, D. N. Christodoulides, and U. Peschel, “Parity–
time synthetic photonic lattices,” Nature 488 pp.167171 (2012).
gate spatial and temporal solitons in homogenous,
discrete and even in disordered media. Recently we
could show that the interaction of pulses of different
carrier frequency, which propagate under the influence of group velocity dispersion of opposite signs
results in the formation of self-accelerating solitonic
bound states.
In the presence of disorder nonlinearity has a profound impact on the statistics of extreme events, an
effect which we are currently investigating. Further
investigation will concentrate on nonlinear lightmatter interaction on the nanoscale and on the
emergence of subwavelength structures in transparent solids under strong pulsed illumination.
Selected collaborations
We collaborate worldwide as with the groups of D.
Christodoulides at University of CentraI Florida (PTmaterials), H. Atwater at Caltech (nanoplasmonic
circuitries) and M. E. Pemble at University College
Cork (photonic crystals). In Germany we work together with the groups of K. Busch at Humboldt University
(modeling of photonic crystals) and C. Silberhorn at
University of Paderborn (quantum walks). Particularly
strong collaborations exist with the University of Jena
as with groups of C. Ronning (nanowire lasers), A.
Szameit (nonlinear dynamics), and S. Nolte (laser
induced gratings). Within Erlangen we work together
with the group of G. Leuchs at the Institute of Optics
(polarisation tailored beams), G. Leugering at the
Institute of Applied Mathematics (optimization of
nanophotonic structures), W. Peukert at the Institute
of Particle Technology (experiments on second harmonic generation on particle surfaces) and B.
Schmauß at the Institute of Electrical Engineering
(fiber systems).
Funding during the past 5 years
Femtosecond laser (2013, HBFG, DFG, 335k€); Cluster
of Excellence (2007-2017, DFG, 340k€/a); Graduate
School (2006-2017, DFG, 60k€/a); International Max
Planck Research School (2006 – 2016, Max-Planck
Society, 45 k€/a); 4 running DFG-projects (in total 200
k€/a); “Predictive models for real iron oxide pigments” (2013 – 2016, company Lanxess, 70 k€/a).
A. Regensburger, C. Bersch, B. Hinrichs, G. Onishchukov, A. Schreiber, C Silberhorn, and U. Peschel, “Photon Propagation in a Discrete Fiber Network: An Interplay of Coherence and Losses,” Phys. Rev. Lett.
107, 233902 (2011).
V. H. Schultheiss, S. Batz, A. Szameit, F. Dreisow, S.
Nolte, A. Tünnermann, S. Longhi, and U. Peschel,
“Optics in Curved Space,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 143901
(2010).
___________________________________________________________________________
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_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Philip St.J. Russell
(b. 1953)
W3, Krupp von Bohlen
und Halbach Chair of Experimental Physics and
Director, Max Planck Institute for the Science of
Light
Philip Russell has held the Krupp von Bohlen und
Halbach Professor of Experimental Physics at the
University of Erlangen-Nuremberg since 2005 and is a
Director at the Max-Planck Institute for the Science of
Light (MPL), a position he has held since January 2009
when MPL was founded. His research interests cover
a wide range of topics including the behavior of light
in periodic structures, optical waveguides and nonlinear optics. He is perhaps best known for his 1991
invention of photonic crystal fibre. The work of his
Division at MPL concentrates on the many and varied
applications of photonic crystal fibre, in both fundamental research and near-term applications. Examples include novel light sources using gas-filled hollow
core fibre, optomechanical and optoacoustic effects
in nanostructured fibres, particle guidance in hollow
core fibre, supercontinuum generation in fibres made
from exotic glasses, the development of new structures for guiding light and lab-in-fibre photochemistry and sensing.
In 2000 he became Fellow of the Optical Society of
America (OSA) and received its Joseph Fraunhofer
Award/Robert M Burley Prize for the invention of
photonic crystal fibre. He is the founding chair of the
OSA Topical Meeting Series on Bragg Gratings, Photosensitivity and Poling in Glass. In 2002 he won the
Applied Optics Division Prize of the UK Institute of
Physics. In 2005 to 2006 he was an IEEE-LEOS Distinguished Lecturer and the recipient of a Royal Society/Wolfson Research Merit Award. In 2005 he was
awarded the Thomas Young Prize of the Institute of
Physics and was elected Fellow of the Royal Society
(London). In September 2005 he received the Körber
Prize for European Science at a ceremony in the
Hamburger Rathaus. In January 2013 he was awarded
the EPS Prize for Research into the Science of Light.
He was a Director-at-Large of OSA between 2007 and
2009 and is currently OSA's 2013 vice-president. He
will be President-Elect in 2014 and OSA's President in
2015. He has authored 359 Journal papers with 60
citations per paper on average (excluding selfcitations)
Research in the Russell group
The division concentrates on exploring new science in
photonic crystal fibres (PCFs). These microstructured
Professional Career
2009-now Director at Max Planck Institute for the
Science of Light, Erlangen, Germany
2005-now Professor of Experimental Physics, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany
2002-2004 Founder and Chief Technical Officer of
BlazePhotonics Ltd, based in UK
1996-2005 Professor of Physics at the University of
Bath, UK; founded the Centre for Photonics and Photonic Materials
1991-1996 Research Reader at Optoelectronics Research Centre, University of Southampton, UK
1989-1990 Reader in the Physics Department at the
University of Kent, UK
1986-1989 Lecturer in the Electronics Department
and member of the Optical Fibre Research Group at
the University of Southampton, UK
1984-1986 CNRS Visiting Researcher and Associate
Professor, University of Nice, France (group of Dan
Ostrowsky)
1983-1984 World Trade Visiting Scientist at IBM TJ
Watson Research Center, New York, USA
1981-1982 Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at the
Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg, Germany
(group of Reinhard Ulrich)
1978-1981 Hayward Junior Research Fellow, Oriel
College, Oxford, UK
1976-1979 PhD student, Department of Engineering
Science, University of Oxford, UK (supervisor: Laszlo
Solymar)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: G-5132-2012
Website: www.pcfibre.org
Supervised PhD theses : 40
Diploma, BSc., MSc.:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
strands of glass permit remarkable control of the
propagation of guided light, including introducing a in
new theme – the guidance of light, in a low-loss single
mode, in a microscopic hollow channel (HC-PCF). This
represents one of the most exciting opportunities
recent years, for it allows one to switch off the diffraction of light in empty space and in materials with
low refractive indices such as gases, vapours and
liquids. It has wide-reaching consequences in several
different fields including photochemistry, laser guidance and propulsion of particles, and intense nonlinear optics in both atomic and molecular gases. PCFs
with solid glass cores are also of considerable interest
for extending the range of experiments possible in
soliton dynamics and supercontinuum generation.
They are also being used in the new field (developed
at MPL) of all-optically controlled opto-acoustic devices, where dual-frequency laser light sources are
used to drive acoustic resonances in a small solid
glass core, resulting in nonlinear conversion to new
frequencies. Other highlights over the last two years
90
include efficient (~10%) generation of tunable deep
UV light in noble-gas filled hollow core PCF, the observation and theoretical analysis of a soliton blueshift that occurs in the presence of ionisation in noble-gas filled HC-PCF, giant opto-mechanical nonlinearities in a unique capillary fibre containing two parallel nano-membranes of glass, a new kind of optothermal particle trap, the identification and explanation of a new kind of orbital angular momentum resonance that forms in twisted PCF, a growing number
of collaborative experiments with chemists exploiting
PCF as a "lab-in-fibre" and several new results
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
M. Cubillas, S. Unterkofler, T. G. Euser, B. J. M. Etzold,
A. C. Jones, P. J. Sadler, P. Wasserscheid, and P. St.J.
Russell, "Photonic crystal fibres for chemical sensing
and photochemistry," Chemical Society Reviews
(2013); DOI: 10.1039/c3cs60128e.
N. Granzow, M. A. Schmidt, W. Chang, L. Wang, Q.
Coulombier, J. Troles, P. Toupin, I. Hartl, K. F. Lee, M.
E. Fermann, L. Wondraczek, and P. St.J. Russell, "Midinfrared supercontinuum generation in As2S3-silica
nano-spike step-index waveguide," Optics Express 21,
10969–10977 (2013).
G. K. L. Wong, M. S. Kang, H. W. Lee, F. Biancalana, C.
Conti, T. Weiss, and P. St. J. Russell, "Excitation of
orbital anguar momentum resonances in helically
twisted photonic crystal fiber," Science 337, 446–449
(2012).
O. A. Schmidt, M. K. Garbos, T. G. Euser, and P. St.J.
Russell, "Reconfigurable optothermal microparticle
trap in air-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber,"
Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 024502 (2012).
on soft-glass and silica-based hollow core photonic
bandgap fibres.
Selected collaborations
Unicamp, Brazil (Gustavo Wiederhecker, Hugo Fragnito, Carlos Lenz Cesar): optomechanics & laser tweezers; University of Oxford (Ian Walmsley): quantum
memories in Cs-filled PCF); FAU (Peter Wasserscheid,
Hans-Peter Steinrück), University of Warwick (Peter
Sadler) and University of Edinburgh (Anita Jones):
photochemistry in PCF; University of Glasgow (Miles
Padgett, Stephen Barnett): orbital angular momentum in twisted PCF; University of Leiden (Wolfgang
Loeffler, Han Woerdman): quantum optics in PCF;
University of Rennes (Johann Troles): chalcogenide
glass fibres; KAIST, Korea (Byoung Yoon Kim): random
lasers in liquid-filled PCF; University of Maryland (Curtis Menyuk) and Feng Chia University, Taiwan (WenFung Liu): Raman scattering in gas-filled PCF; PTB,
Braunschweig (Piet Schmidt): UV-transmitting PCF;
MPQ (Th. Haensch, Th. Udem) and Menlo Systems
(Ronald Holzwarth): supercontinuum fibres; Thorlabs
(Mohammed Saad): ZBLAN glass fibres; IMRA Inc.
(Martin Fermann): IR supercontinuum in chalcogenide
fibres; Heriot-Watt University (Fabio Biancalana):
soliton theory; ETH Zurich (Jonathan Holme): ion
traps using gold nanowires; University of Jena
(Markus Schmidt): photonic nanowires; Australian
National University, Canberra (Nail Akhmediev): fibre
fuse effects.
Electron micrographs of selected PCF microstructures.
M. S. Kang, A. Butsch, and P. St.J. Russell, "Reconfigurable light-driven opto-acoustic isolators in photonic
crystal fibre," Nat. Phot. 5, 549–553 (2011).
K. F. Mak, J. C. Travers, P. Hoelzer, N. Y. Joly, and P.
St.J. Russell, "Tunable vacuum-UV to visible ultrafast
pulse source based on gas-filled kagome-PCF," Optics
Express 21, 10942–10953 (2013).
P. Uebel, S. T. Bauerschmidt, M. A. Schmidt, and P.
St.J. Russell, "A gold-nanotip optical fiber for plasmon-enhanced near-field detection," Appl. Phys. Lett.
103, 021101 (2013).
A. Butsch, M. S. Kang, T. G. Euser, J. R. Koehler, S.
Rammler, R. Keding, and P. St.J. Russell, "Optomechanical nonlinearity in dual-nanoweb structure suspended inside capillary fiber," Phys. Rev. Lett. 109,
183904 (2012).
Orbital angular momentum mode in cladding of twisted PCF
(simulation).
___________________________________________________________________________
91
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hanno Sahlmann
(b. 1973)
W2, Institute for Theoretical Physics III - Quantum
Gravity
The work of Hanno Sahlmann
is concerned with the interplay of geometry and quantum theory.This includes quantum mechanics and
locality, quantum field theory on curved space-times,
General relativity and alternative theories of gravitation and the quantization of gravitational field itself.
He completed is PhD at the Max Planck Institute for
Gravitational Physics in Potsdam (Germany) in 2002,
and afterwards joined the group of A. Ashtekar at
Pennsylvania State University, USA, as a postdoctoral
fellow. In 2005, he moved to the Spinoza Institute for
Theoretical Physics, Utrecht, The Netherlands, and
then in 2008, to the Institute for Theoretical Physics
of Karlsruhe University. In 2010 he was chosen to
head an independent research group of the Max
Planck Society at the Asia-Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics, and to become an adjunct professor for
Theoretical Physics at POSTECH, Pohang (South Korea). In 2012 he accepted an offer to come to Erlangen on a W2 professorship, where he is now.
He has published around 30 articles with a total of
about 520/940 citations and an h-index of 11/14
according to Thomson-Reuter/INSPIRE. He has won a
Marie Curie individual fellowship and sucessfully cosponsored the DFG Project "Nontrivial small-scale
structure of spacetime and consequences for particle
propagation" (a postdoctoral and several PhD-level
positions, as well as additional funding). He (co)organized several international conferences. His
work was recognized by the award of an Otto Hahn
Medal of the Max Plack Society and the Physics Prize
of the Goettingen Academy of Science.
Research in the Sahlmann group
Are there atoms of space and time? Is causality just a
macroscopic concept? What happens to space-time
near the big bang? I am fascinated with such questions arising from the interplay of gravitation, geometry, and quantum theory. Therefore important
themes of my work are quantum fields propagating
on space-times containing black holes, quantum mechanics and locality, and loop quantum gravity – an
approach to unite Einstein’s theory of gravity with the
principles of quantum theory. Some strands of research are presented in more detail in the following.
Professional Career
 2012-now
W2-professor at FAU, Erlangen
 2010-2012
Head of independent Research
group of Max Planck Gesellschaft at the Asia-Pacific
Center for Theoretical Physics, adjunct professor at
POSTECH.
 2008-2010
Assistent at the Institute for Theoretical Physics of Karlsruhe University
 2005-2008
Postdoctoral fellow Spinoza Institute
for Theoretical Physics, Utrecht.
 2002-2005
Postdoctoral fellow Pennsylvania
State University
 2000-2002
PhD at Max-Planck Institute for
Gravitational Physics
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: C-7795-2013
Website:www.gravity.physik.fau.de/members/people
/sahlmann.shtml
Supervised PhD theses : 1 co-supervised, 1 in progress)
Diploma, BSc., MSc.:
2
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Black holes
Black holes with their extremely strong gravitational
fields are fascinating objects.
Due to quantum effects, their horizons appear to
have a temperature, and Einstein’s equations imply
thermodynamic relations. This connection to thermodynamics may shed light on quantum gravity, as it
implies black holes have microstates. My most recent
work in this area is on the description of black holes in
loop quantum gravity and the connection to ChernSimons theory. I have investigated the structure of
the state space for the horizon geometry, and relations to the entropic gravity scenario. The work shows
that the Chern-Simons theory that describes the horizon in the quantum theory emerges naturally by considering certain representations of the holonomy-flux
algebra. This opens up new possibilities, for example
for the description of the dynamics of the horizon,
and perhaps the derivation of Hawking radiation.
These techniques can also be used to calculate a knot
invariant, the Jones polynomial, and its generalizations for certain types of links from scratch, which is
of mathematical interest.
Quantum gravity phenomenology
Quantum gravity effects are assumed to be extremely
tiny, generically, but they could be enhanced in certain situations so as to become observable with present day technology.
On the one hand, Lorentz invariance (at least at short
distances) is the cornerstone of our understanding of
subatomic physics. At the same time, we know that
the present theory is incomplete and that quantum
92
gravity will change the picture dramatically, perhaps
including a breakdown of Lorentz invariance at very
small length scales. Observatories such as HESS or
Auger detect ultrahigh-energy particles which can
probe Planck-scale physics. In fact, certain special
forms of Lorentz invariance breaking have already
been ruled out by these observations.
Work is done in the group on models of spacetime
that postulate geometric and topological defects on
small length scales. Also, I have helped develop a
framework in which the particle propagation on a
background given by loop quantum gravity can be
studied. The goal is now to improve on these models,
derive their phenomenological consequences, and, by
comparison with observations, learn something about
the nature of space and time. One may be able to see
imprints of the small scale structure of space-time in
the spectrum of the primordial inhomogeneities,
since inflation acts as a magnification glass, by redshifting the scale of these inhomogeneities.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
The no-boundary measure in string theory: Applications to moduli stabilization, flux compactification,
and cosmic landscape.
Dong-il Hwang, Bum-Hoon Lee, Hanno Sahlmann,
Dong-han Yeom,
Class.Quant.Grav. 29 (2012) 175001,
arXiv:1203.0112 [gr-qc]
Chern-Simons expectation values and quantum horizons from LQG and the Duflo map.
Hanno Sahlmann, Thomas Thiemann,
Phys.Rev.Lett. 108 (2012) 111303,
arXiv:1109.5793 [gr-qc].
Black hole horizons from within loop quantum gravity.
Hanno Sahlmann,
Phys.Rev. D84 (2011) 044049,
arXiv:1104.4691 [gr-qc].
Energy equipartition and minimal radius in entropic
gravity.
Hanno Sahlmann,
Phys.Rev. D84 (2011) 104010,
arXiv:1102.2948 [gr-qc].
Uniqueness of diffeomorphism invariant states on
holonomy-flux algebras.
Jerzy Lewandowski, Andrzej Okolow, Hanno Sahlmann, Thomas Thiemann,
Commun.Math.Phys. 267 (2006) 703-733,
gr-qc/0504147.
___________________________________________________________________________
Dynamics of Loop Quantum Gravity
An important challenge in loop quantum gravity is to
fully understand the implementation of the dynamics
of the quantum space-time. In loop quantum gravity
the question of finding quantum states that satisfy
‘quantum Einstein equations’ is reformulated as finding states that are annihilated by the quantum Hamilton constraint. The choices that go into the definition
of this constraint, as well as its anomaly-freeness are
still under investigation. For one thing, we study representations in which the spin network states are
excitations over a fixed spatial geometry, a kind of
geometric condensate. In these new representations,
the quantization of the Hamilton constraint simplifies
considerably. We are studying the resulting effective
dynamics over the given background to obtain insights on both, physical aspects of the dynamics, and
on the implementation of the Hamilton constraint.
Another strand of work concerns the dynamics of
gravity coupled to matter fields. For certain couplings
the dynamics can actually simplify, or lead to new
insights. We are currently working on the quantization of such a system.
Selected collaborations
There is exchange and/or collaboration with many
groups worldwide, for example the Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos, Pennsylvania State University,
PA, (USA); the Institute for Theoretical Physics, Marseille University; the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Ontario, Canada; the Institute for the
Structure of Matter, Madrid; the Institute for Theoretical Physics, Warsaw University.
Closer to home, we are in regular contact with groups
in Goettingen, Paderborn and Hamburg; and in Erlangen there is lively exchange with the colleagues from
the astrophysical groups of ECAP, from the Institute
for Theoretical Physics, and from the Mathematics
Department of FAU.
Teaching
Besides the lectures of the standard theory canon, I
take part in an effort to offer a cycle of advanced
lectures consisting of quantum field theory I+II, general relativity I+II, cosmology, and quantum gravity.
Funding
Since 2012: Member EFI Project Quantum Geometry.
2009-2011: Foreign participant in Spanish research
Network "Quantum Gravity, Cosmology, and Black
Holes". 2010: Co-sponsored DFG project "Nontrivial
small scale structure of spacetime and consequences
for particle propagation
93
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Vahid Sandoghdar
(b. 1966)
W3 Alexander von Humboldt
Professor
Director of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light
Vahid Sandoghdar obtained his B.S.
in physics from the University of
California at Davis in 1987 and Ph.D. in physics from
Yale University in 1993. After a postdoctoral stay at
the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris he moved to
the University of Konstanz in Germany in 1995, where
he developed a new line of research that combined
scanning probe microscopy and laser spectroscopy to
investigate the interaction of light and matter at the
nanometer scale. In 2001 he accepted a chair at the
Laboratory of Physical Chemistry at ETH in Zurich,
Switzerland. During that time he established two
scientific networks, The Network of Optical Sciences
and Technologies at ETH (optETH) and Zurich Center
for Imaging Science and Technology (CIMST). In 2011
he became director at the newly founded MaxPlanck-Institute for the Science of Light in Erlangen
and Alexander-von-Humboldt Professor at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany, where he
founded the Optical Imaging Center Erlangen (OICE).
The main focus of Prof. Sandoghdar’s research is
nano-optics with components in optical detection and
spectroscopy of single molecules and nanoparticles,
ultrahigh resolution microscopy, and applications of
these techniques to quantum optics, solid-state physics, and biophysics. His work is well recognized internationally, with about 5000 citations.
Research in the Sandoghdar group
The research in our group aims to advance experimental and theoretical mastery of light-matter interaction at the nanometer scale. To do this, we combine concepts from quantum optics, laser spectroscopy, cryogenics, optical imaging, scanning probe technology and nanofluidics. Some of the current areas of
research are:
Nano-Quantum-Optics
Here, we are interested in fundamental optical processes at the single photon and single emitter level.
Most of our work concerns solid-state samples and
single organic molecules, but our findings are often
generalizable to other systems such as atoms, quantum dots, color centers, etc. In particular, we are
currently working on the detection of single ions in
crystals.
Professional Career
2011-now Alexander von Humboldt Professor at FAU,
Erlangen
2011-now Director at Max Planck Institute for the
Science of Light, Erlangen
2001-2011 Full Professor at Laboratorium für Physikalische Chemie, ETH Zürich
2001 Habilitation, Department of Physics, Univ. Konstanz
1996-2001 Head of the Nano-Optics group at Univ.
Konstanz (institute of Prof. J. Mlynek)
1993-1995 Postdoctoral fellow at École Normale Supérieure, Paris (adv. Prof. S. Haroche)
1989-1993 PhD student at Yale University, USA (adv.
Prof. E. A. Hinds)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: C-7390-2013
Website: http://www.mpl.mpg.de/en/sandoghdar/
Supervised PhD theses : 30
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 20
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Plasmonics
In this area, we examine optical fields in metallic
nanostructures and their interactions with the surrounding matter. In particular, we have been interested in the strong modification of the spontaneous
emission, radiation pattern, and excitation cross section of emitters in the near field of plasmonic “antennas”.
Ultrasensitive
Optical
Nanoscopy
The goal is to push the limits of spatial and temporal
resolution in optical imaging. Furthermore, we explore various contrast mechanisms for extracting
information and processing weak signals. In particular, we have developed an interferometric scheme for
detecting scattering and absorption signals from tiny
objects and single molecules even in the absence of
fluorescence.
Nano-Bio-Photonics
In this line of work, we apply our know-how to the
detection, microscopy, tracking, and manipulation of
biological nano-objects such as viruses and proteins.
We are especially interested in transport and diffusion of these particles on and through biological
membranes.
Selected collaborations
We collaborate with many biomedical groups in Erlangen. These include Prof. Marschall and Fleckenstein (Virology Inst.), Prof. Gmeiner (Med. Chem.) and
94
Prof. Kornhuber and Dr. Grömer (Psychiatric clinic). In
addition, we have participated in two collaborative
initiatives at FAU on biological membranes and synthetic biology. We have also started a new collaboration with the group of Prof. Oskar Painter.
Collaborative initiatives, networks and centers
Prof. Sandoghdar has founded the new interdisciplinary Optical Imaging Center Erlangen. The seed funding for this center is provided by the Alexander von
Humboldt professorship, Graduate School of Advanced Optical Technologies (SAOT) and the excellence cluster Engineering of Advanced Materials
(EAM), while FAU has ensured long-term funding
through three permanent scientific staff positions.
Teaching and outreach
Vahid Sandoghdar has a long and varied teaching
history. In the period of 9 years at ETH Zurich he designed and taught 7 different courses in physics, physical chemistry and biophysics. In his part-time professorship at FAU, he has taught a module on Biomedical
Imaging as a part of the MSc in Integrated Lifesciences and a course of Atomic and Molecular Spectroscopy in the Accelerated BSc physics program.
Funding
Selected funding of the past few years:
Alexander von Humboldt-Professorship (2011-2016, 5
Mio. EUR);
ERC Advanced Grant (2011-2016, 1,9 Mio. EUR),
EAM (1 Postdoc)
Sander Stiftung - with Institut für Klinische und Molekulare Virologie, Prof. Marschall (175.600 EUR; Sandoghdar group: 10.200 EUR)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
M. Celebrano, P. Kukura, A. Renn, V. Sandoghdar,
Imaging single molecules by optical Absorption, Nature Photonics (2010).
M. Krishnan, N. Mojarad, P. Kukura, V. Sandoghdar,
Geometry-induced electrostatic trapping of nanometric objects in a fluid, Nature, 467, 692 (2010).
Y. Rezus, S. Walt, R. Lettow, G. Zumofen, A. Renn, S.
Götzinger, V. Sandoghdar, Single-photon Spectroscopy of a Single Molecule, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 093601
(2012).
P. Kukura, H. Ewers, C. Müller, A. Renn, A. Helenius,
V. Sandoghdar, High-speed nanoscopic tracking of the
position and orientation of a single virus, Nature
Methods 6, 923-927 (2009).
J. Hwang, M. Pototschnig, R. Lettow, G. Zumofen, A.
Renn, S. Götzinger, V. Sandoghdar, A single-molecule
optical transistor, Nature 460, 76 (2009).
G. Wrigge, I. Gerhardt, J. Hwang, G. Zumofen, V. Sandoghdar, Efficient coupling of photons to a single
molecule and the observation of its resonance fluorescence, Nature Phys., 4, 60-66 (2008).
S. Kühn, U. Hakanson, L. Rogobete, V. Sandoghdar,
On-command enhancement of single molecule fluorescence using a gold nanoparticle as an optical nanoantenna, Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 017402 (2006).
___________________________________________________________________________
95
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Alexander Schneider
(b. 1968)
W2, chair of solid state
physics
The scientific focus of Alexander Schneider lies on the atomic scale characterization of
structural and electronic properties of surfaces, of interfaces, and of molecular
adsorbates on surfaces using low-temperature Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM), Low-energy Electron Diffraction (LEED), and recently also X-ray Photoemission Spectroscopy (XPS). Currently the major
research projects investigate metallic contacts on
graphene and the properties of (large) molecules on
oxide surfaces.
Alexander Schneider received his diploma in physics
(1993) and his PhD in 1997 from Göttingen University.
He studied the microscopy of current transport by
applying a novel Scanning Tunneling Microscopy
technique. As a postdoctoral researcher he joined the
group of Prof. M.E. Welland at Cambridge University
working on properties of metallic nanowires within
the scope of a EU-ESPRIT project. He continued his
career within the group of Prof. K. Kern, from 19992000 at the EPFL Lausanne and from 2000-2006 at the
Max-Planck-Institute for Solid State Research in
Stuttgart working mainly on atomic scale spectroscopy, atomic scale magnetism and many-electron effects at surfaces using low-temperature Scanning
Tunneling Microscopy. He was appointed professor of
experimental physics in 2006.
He has 39 publications and an h-index of 20.
Research in the Schneider group
Atomic scale structural and electronic characterization of surfaces and interfaces
Metal contacts on graphene
Of fundamental importance for the application of
graphene as a novel electronics material is the optimization of the transport characteristics of (metallic)
contacts. A metal contact to graphene needs to be
structurally stable, allow easy transport of the electrons from a three- dimensional contact into twodimensional graphene and it must not deteriorate the
properties of the graphene on a 10 nm scale. Therefore neither weak nor very strong bonding seems
advantageous.
By using the tip of an STM as a probe for electron
transport in an epitaxial graphene layer and at the
interface between graphene and a metal film we aim
to provide an experimental data basis for evaluating
Professional Career
2006-now W2-professor at FAU, Erlangen
2000-2005 group leader at the Max-Planck-Institute
for Solid State Research, Stuttgart
1999-2000 post-doctoral Researcher at the EPFL Lausanne, Switzerland
1997-1999 post-doctoral Researcher at Cambridge
University, UK
1993-1997 PhD student at Göttingen University (supervisor Prof. Dr. R.G. Ulbrich)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: C-6241-2013
Website: www.fkp.uni-erlangen.de/staff/ag-schneider.shtml
Supervised PhD theses : 1 (+ 5 co-supervision + 3 in
progress)
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 10
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
different contact configurations on the nanometer
and atomic scale.
Growth and properties of cobalt oxide thin films
Based on the research established at the Chair of
Solid State Physics on the atomic structure of thin
cobalt oxide films on an iridium substrate by Prof.
Klaus Heinz and Dr. Lutz Hammer the research effort
continues to unravel properties of these versatile and
relevant transition-metal surfaces.
The high lateral order of the films of different crystallographic orientation and stoichiometry allows the
application of Low-energy Electron Diffraction (LEED)
and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), the
significant conductivity allows studies by Scanning
Tunneling Microscopy (STM). Certain phases of the
oxide, which as a bulk crystal is a large-bandgap semiconductor, appear to be metallic. The reasons for this
metallicity, the electronic properties at the surface
and their relation to the atomic structure of the films
and the interface to the metal substrate are the topics of our current research.
Experiments are performed in our labs in Erlangen
but also in collaboration at the MaxLab synchrotron
source in Lund (E. Lundgren, U Lund).
LT-STM topography
of a CoO film where
half of the oxygen
atoms can be seen.
(4.5nm x 5.8 nm,
T=7K)
96
Catalytic properties of cobalt oxide surfaces
Cobalt oxide has recently turned out to be a novel,
highly active heterogeneous catalyst for key processes in future energy and environmental technology.
This includes e.g. low-temperature CO oxidation, the
total oxidation of volatile organic compounds, and the
reforming of hydrocarbon oxygenates for hydrogen
production. Cobaltoxide-based catalysts hold a
unique potential for replacing or reducing the demand for more precious and expensive materials (e.g.
noble metals). Our research aims at understanding
the catalytic activity of cobalt oxide on the atomic
scale using thin films as model catalysts. With our
methods we determine the adsorption properties of
small molecules (CO, H2O, CO2,…) to establish the
atomic structure of surfaces sites relevant for the
catalytic activity. This project is supported by the DFG,
project partners are Prof. Jörg Libuda, Physical Chemistry II at FAU and Prof. Günther Rupprechter Institute
of Materials Chemistry at TU Vienna.
Functional organic molecules on oxide surfaces
Organic molecular films play an important role in the
fields of molecular electronics, sensor technology,
and solar energy conversion. However, these films are
in contact with a substrate that might influence film
properties, allow self-assembly but also possibly destroy functionality. Therefore a thorough understanding of the interfaces between the substrate and the
organic film at the molecular/atomic scale is paramount. This insight is lacking with respect to oxide
substrates that are relevant for the aforementioned
areas. We investigate the interaction properties of
functional organic molecules with well-defined thin
metal-oxide films. The
aim is to understand on
the atomic scale how
organic molecules can be
anchored to oxide surfaces, how their selfassembly properties can
be steered and how
functionality can be introduced or maintained
LT-STM topography of the
in the adsorption/selfordering of cobaltphthalassembly process. This
ocyanine molecules into
resarch is funded within
linear structures on a thin
the funCOS ("fun" kursiv
cobalt oxide film.
schreiben) DFG research
(40 nm x 40 nm)
unit FOR 1887.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
Selected collaborations
C. Tröppner, T. Schmitt, M. Reuschl, L. Hammer, M.
A. Schneider, and F. Mittendorfer, J. Redinger, R.
Podloucky, M. Weinert, Incommensurate Moiré overlayer with strong local binding: CoO(111) bilayer on
Ir(100), Phys. Rev. B 86, 235407 (2012)
Major collaborations are embedded in the research
unit FOR 1887 “funCOS” established within the
framework of the Interdisciplinary Center of Interface
Controlled Processes, and in the priority programme
SPP 1459 “Graphene”. Further collaborations exist
with the Vienna Technical University and Lund University.
Th. Staudt, Y. Lykhach, L. Hammer, M. A. Schneider, V.
Matolín, J. Libuda, A route to continuous ultra-thin
cerium oxide films on Cu(1 1 1), Surface Science 603,
3382 (2009)
P. Wahl, P. Simon, L. Diekhöner, V.S. Stepanyuk, P.
Bruno, M.A. Schneider, and K.Kern, Exchange interaction between single magnetic adatoms, Phys. Rev.
Lett. 98, 056601 (2007)
L. Vitali, M. Burghardt, M. A. Schneider, Lei Liu, S. Y.
Wu, C. S. Jayanthi, and K. Kern, Phonon spectromicroscopy of carbon nanostructures with atomic resolution, Physical Rev. Lett. 93, 136103 (2004)
L. Diekhöner, M. A. Schneider, A. N. Baranov, V. S.
Stepanyuk, P. Bruno and K. Kern, Surface States of
Cobalt Nanoislands on Cu(111), Phys. Rev. Lett. 90,
236801 (2003)
Teaching and outreach
Since I am in Erlangen I contributed to the efforts of
the department to interest high-school students to
study physics by giving numerous talks in schools, at
fairs, and university events. I took a major role to
establish and organize the Bachelor and Masters
course “Materials Physics” of the Department of
Physics at FAU. I co-authored the text-book “Oberflächenphysik: Grundlagen und Methoden” (Oldenbourg, 2013).
Funding
600 k€ (DFG: SPP “Graphene”, Research Unit “funCOS”, D-A-CH project “COMCAT”)
N. Knorr, M. A. Schneider, L. Diekhöner, P. Wahl, and
K. Kern, Kondo effect of single Co adatoms on Cu surfaces, Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 096804 (2002)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
97
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ana-Suncana Smith
(b. 1975)
W2, Institute for Theoretical
Physics I
The key idea of Ana-Sunčana
Smith’s research is to use advanced tools of statistical physics and apply them to problems
in biophysics. She studied Physics in Zagreb, Croatia,
where she graduated in 2001, after an extended research visit to the Australian National University in
Canberra. She completed her PhD in the group of E.
Sackmann, in 2004, at the Technical University in
Munich, where she performed a combined experimental and theoretical investigation of a model system for cell adhesion. In September 2006, she became a research associate in the group of U. Seifert at
the University of Stuttgart, and continued working on
the physics of the cell recognition process. In October
2009 she was recruited to Erlangen as a Rising Star of
the EAM Excellence cluster, and a W1 Professor at the
Physics Department. She was tenured in 2012. During
her scientific career she has published over 20 papers,
which have resulted in over 60 invited lectures at
international conferences and seminars. In 2008, she
founded and became the Chairwomen of the PhysCell
conference series, which is today a leading meeting
place for cell biophysics in Europe. Her work received
particular recognition in 2011 when she was elected
to the Collegium of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences
and Humanities, and in 2013 when she received an
ERC Starting Grant for a project on bio-membranes.
Research in the Smith group
Physics Underlying Life Sciences
Apart from being a source of fascinating physics at
reduced dimensionality, fluid membranes and the
cytoskeleton are responsible for the structural integrity of living cells. They provide a working edifice for
the peptides and proteins whose biochemical activity
is consequently subject to a plethora of physical constraints. The strategy of choice is the so-called “bottom up” approach [1], whereby the first step is to deconvolve the complex interdependencies of local
biochemical and biophysical processes by identifying
the key interactions and their constraints, often in
collaboration with experimental partners. Once recognized, the essential elements become the foundation of simplified models. These we study by means of
statistical physics on all relevant time and length
scales from the level of chemical reactions, to the
global behavior of cells and tissues.
Professional Career
2012-now W2-professor at FAU, Erlangen / Member
of the Executive Board and project leader in EAM.
Member of the steering committee of the FAU interdisciplinary Graduate school initiative on the biophysics of membranes
2009-2012 W1-professor at FAU, Erlangen,Rising Star
of EAM
2006-2008 Research Associate at the University of
Stuttgart (with Udo Seifert)
2005-2006 Postdoctoral fellow at FAU (group of Klaus
Mecke) and a research visit to the University of Sydney (group of John Clarke)
2002-2005 PhD student at the Technical University in
Munich, Germany (supervisor E. Sackmann)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: C - 7349 - 2013
Website: http://eam.fau.de/puls/
Supervised PhD theses : 1 (+ 7 in progress)
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 3
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The fundamentals of molecular recognition
Structural freedom of molecules may drive or even
prevent molecular recognition and thus strongly influence the formation of more complex structures
such as micelles or crystalline phases. Greater insight
into these processes can be obtained from the spectroscopic measurements. However, for flexible molecules such measurements provide ensemble averaged
signals, the understanding of which necessitates theoretical modelling. In this context, we were the first
to develop a method that can successfully predict the
circular dichroism spectrum of flexible peptide [2].
Currently, we are attempting to integrate concepts
from chemistry, physics and biology to deepen our
understanding of the biomineralization process, by
investigating the effects of the flexibility of organic
molecules on their absorption properties on an inorganic surface.
Membranes: From model systems to the cellular
context
The plasma membrane is the largest cell organelle
and separates the cell from the outer world. It is the
key to the cell recognition process, which relies on
the formation of small domains of proteins. This process is controlled by the membrane elasticity and its
coupling to stochastic biochemical interactions of
proteins that diffuse through a crowded fluctuating
environment. In recent work [3], we developed a
semi-analytic model for the nucleation of adhesions
that takes into account these components in the
context of thermal noise and tested it against our
Langevin simulations and experiments. The successful
98
comparison became the foundation of a hypothesis
that the appropriate coarse-graining of the membrane undulations can be utilized to model the dynamics of molecular complexation beyond the level of
thermal fluctuations, which will be investigated within
the ERC Starting Grant.
entity and in large ensembles. Encouraged by our
recent development of a simulation scheme and determination of optimal body shapes [4], we currently
study the interplay between hydrodynamic interactions, internal elastic degrees of freedom, and driving
forces of deterministic as well as a stochastic nature.
The aims are to optimize the design of the transporter
for pay-load delivery and address questions of coherence and emergent correlations in many-swimmer
systems.
Physics of tissue development
Langevin simulation (left) and analytic shape of a
bonded membrane (right)
Self-propulsion of colloidal devices and microswimming
The motion of cells and bacteria is associated with
low Reynolds numbers requires a time-irreversible
propulsion strategy. Understanding the principles of
self-propulsion is not only important in the biological
context but also for the working of microdevices. Due
to their promise in generic payload delivery, we focus
on bead-spring transporters, on the level of a single
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
[1] Cells - a new challenge for physics? A.-S. Smith.
Nature Phys. 6, 1 (2010).
[2] Calculation of the CD Spectrum of a Peptide from
Its Conformational Phase Space: The Case of Metenkephalin and Its Unnatural Analogue. Z. Brkljača, K.
Čondić-Jurkić, A.-S. Smith, D. M. Smith. J. Chem. Theor. Comput. 8, 1694 (2012)
[3] Nucleation of ligand-receptor bond domains in
membrane adhesion. T. Bihr, U. Seifert, A.-S. Smith.
Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 258101 (2012).
[4] K. Pickl, J. Götz, K. Iglberger, J. Pande, K. Mecke,
A.-S. Smith, U. Rüde: All good things come in threes–
Three beads learn to swim with lattice Boltzmann and
a rigid body solver. J. Comp. Sci. 3, 374 (2012). Optimal shapes of artificial bead-spring micro-carriers at
low Reynolds numbers. J. Pande, A.-S. Smith.
arxiv:796977.
[5] Novel growth regime of MDCK II model tissues on
soft substrates. S. Kaliman, C. Jayachandran, F. Rehfeldt, and A.-S. Smith. Biophys. J (2013), to be published as a letter.
Studying the growth of cell colonies is an important
step in the understanding of processes involving collective cooperative behavior of cells, including tissue
development, wound healing, and cancer progression. Yet very little is known about the emergence of
long range correlations in tissues under the influence
of physical clues. The information about these cooperative actions can be obtained by analyzing the morphological changes of cells during the growth of an
aggregate. We recently performed such an in-depth
analysis on MDCK cell cultures grown on collagencoated substrates of different elasticities, and found a
new regime of growth, triggered solely by the softness of the underlying matrix [5]. Apart from further
characterizing this phase, we are now developing
theoretical models that can account for the observed
behavior.
Selected collaborations
Longstanding theory collaborators include U. Seifert
(Stuttgart; membranes), D. Smith (Zagreb; peptide
spectra), S. J. Marrink (Groningen; hydrophobic effect) and U. Rüde (FAU, Lattice Boltzmann simulations
of microswimmers). I particularly cherish experimental collaborations, the most prominent of which
are with K. Sengupta (Marseille, cell recognition), R.
Merkel (Jülich; vesicle adhesion), V. Sandoghdar (Erlangen; diffusion in membranes), F. Rehfeld (Göttingen; tissue mechanics), and D. Müller (Berlin; tissues
under osmotic stresses).
Teaching and outreach
I teach courses related to Biophysics as well as core
courses of the theoretical physics curriculum. In the
latter case, I regularly contribute to Physics Advanced,
a study program for talented students.
Funding
EAM Starting Grant (2009-2012, 400 000 EUR)
European Research Council Starting Grant (20132018, 1.5 Mio EUR);
EAM Research project (2012-2015, 290 000 EUR)
___________________________________________________________________________
99
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thomas Thiemann
(b. 1967)
W3, Institute for Theoretical Physics III – Quantum Gravity
The research of Thomas Thiemann is focussed on
Quantum Gravity which touches upon fields such as
General Relativity, Gauge Field Theory, Quantum Field
Theory, Cosmology, High Energy and Astroparticle
Physics as well as Mathematical Physics. He graduated from the RWTH Aachen, Germany in 1994 and
held postdoc positions at The Pennsylvania State
University at University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
(1993-1995) and Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, USA (1995-1997). He then became a
senior researcher (permanent position) at the Max
Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (AlbertEinstein-Institute) in Golm, Germany (1997-2009)
with intermediate interruptions as a professor at the
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics and the
University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
(2003-2006). Since 2005 he is guest professor at Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China. He became full
professor (chair) at FAU Erlangen-Nuernberg in 2009
after having declined an offer from the Technical
University of Vienna as a full professor. His total
number of citations are 3444/5851 (web of
knowledge/spires-hep), average citation number per
article is 42/60, h-index is 33/40 for his 82/102 publications. He has given more than 70 invited talks at
international meetings so far. For his research in
quantum gravity he was awarded the Vasilis Xanthopoulos International Award for Gravitational Physics in 2007, targeted at gravitational physics researchers below the age of 40. He has served on the editorial board of the journal ``Classical and Quantum
Gravity'' and (co-) organized nine international conferences. Thomas Thiemann is the coordinator of the
Emerging Field Project ``Quantum Geometry'' which
is funded by the Emerging Field Initiative of the FAU.
He is the author of a textbook on quantum gravity.
Research in the Thiemann group
Physics rests on the principles of General Relativity
(GR) and Quantum Field Theory (QFT). However,
these two principles describe rather different regimes
of the physical world: While GR is a classical, deterministic theory that has been confirmed in particular
on large scales, QFT is indeterministic and plays ist
most important role on very short scales. These two
principles must be combined when one probes very
strong gravitational fields as they occur inside black
holes or close to the big bang. A theory that synthe
sises both principles are called Quantum Gravity (QG).
Professional Career
2009-now W3-professor at FAU, Erlangen
2005-2015 Guest professor, Beijing normal University
2003-2011 Faculty at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Ontario, Canada
2003-2006 Associate professor at the University of
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
1997-2009 Permanent research staff at the Max
Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute), Golm, Germany
1995-1997 Postdoctoral fellow, Harvard University,
Boston, Massachusetts,USA
1993-1995 Postdoctoral fellow, The pennsylvania
State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
1992-1994 PhD student at Technical University Aachen (RWTH), Germany
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: D-9946-2013
Website:www.gravity.physik.fau.de/members/people/
thiemann.shtml
Supervised PhD theses : 16
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 11
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
QG is widely believed not only to play an important
role in the afore mentioned extreme astrophysical
and cosmological situations but also to dramatically
change our understanding of elementary particle
physics at very short distances (Planck scale energies).
These effects are expected to throw light on fundamental questions of cosmology such as the origin of
dark energy, and might be tested, at least in principle,
cosmological, ultra high energy astroparticle physics
or gravitational wave experiments. Accordingly, the
research team in Erlangen has strong interest in the
corresponding observational physics.
Today no generally accepted QG theory is available
but there are several Ansaetze which are currently
being developed. The research in Erlangen follows the
so called Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG) approach
which has received growing attention in the past.
While the theory is still incomplete, there are several
promising features such as a discrete Planck scale
picture and a certain built-in UV improvement of
usual QFT. Precise methods of mathematical physics
are being employed to further develop the theory.
Accordingly, the research team is in close contact
with the Mathematics Department of the FAU.
More in detail the research focuses on the following
branches:
Quantum Dynamics
Central to any QG candidate theory is the proper
implementation of the Quantum Einstein Equations
which are also known as the Wheeler-DeWitt equations. While the corresponding operators have been
100
successfully quantised, there remain quantization
ambiguities which have to be fixed in order for the
theory to gain any predictive power.
Semiclassical Limit
Any successful theory of QG must contain a regime in
which both the usual QFT description of matter and
the classical GR behavior of geometry are recovered.
Accordingly it is important to develop semiclassical
states which suitably stabilise the quantum dynamics.
Quantum Cosmology
One of the most promising possibilities to actually
measure quantum gravity effects lie in high precision
cosmology as primordial quantum gravity fluctuations
may have left their imprint in the power spectra
measured by the WMAP and PLANCK satellites. It is
therefore important to carefully extract the quantum
cosmology sector from LQG and to look for effects
which lie in the sensitivity range of those or future
experiments that measure the large scale structure of
the universe.
Quantum Black Holes
Selected collaborations
Using semiclassical tools which however neglect the
matter -- geometry interaction and the quantum
nature of the gravitational field, Bekenstein and
Hawking have argued that black holes are in fact not
black but radiate like black bodies and have a corresponding entropy. An ideal testing ground for any QG
candidate theory is therefore to give a microscopic
explanation of the Bekenstein Hawking entropy of
macroscopic black holes and to give a self-consistent
description of the Hawking effect.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
Quantization of diffeomorphism invariant theories of
connections withlocal degrees of freedom. Abhay
Ashtekar, Jerzy Lewandowski, Donald Marolf, Jose
Mourao, Thomas Thiemann. J.Math.Phys. 36 (1995)
6456-6493 gr-qc/9504018
Quantum spin dynamics (QSD). T. Thiemann.
Class.Quant.Grav. 15 (1998)
839-873 gr-qc/9606089
Gauge field theory coherent states (GCS): 1. General
properties. Thomas Thiemann. Class.Quant.Grav. 18
(2001) 2025-2064 hep th/0005233
The Phoenix project: Master constraint program for
loop quantum gravity. Thomas Thiemann.
Class.Quant.Grav. 23 (2006) 2211-2248 grqc/0305080
Uniqueness of diffeomorphism invariant states on
holonomy-flux algebras. Jerzy Lewandowski, Andrzej
Okolow, Hanno Sahlmann, Thomas Thiemann. Commun.Math.Phys. 267 (2006) 703-733 gr-qc/0504147
The team enjoys lively theory interactions with most
of the QG research centers worldwide such as the
Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos, Pennsylvania State University, PA, USA; The Institute for Theoretical Physics, Marseille University; The Perimeter
Institute for Theoretical Physics, Ontario, Canada; The
Institute for Theoretical Physics, Warsaw University;
and The Institute for Theoretical Physics, Lousiana
State University. On the experimental side, the chair
is part of the Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics
(ECAP) and keeps in contact with the cosmology
group of the excellence cluster ``Universe'' in Munich.
Within Erlangen the institute members mostly collaborate with other members from ECAP and with
members from the institutes for theoretical physics.
Teaching
An outcome of the EFP ``Quantum Geometry'' is the
implementation of a curriculum of specialized courses
for master and PhD students that are to build up the
necessary expertise in order to conduct original QG
research. This consists of QFT 1+2, GR 1+2, Cosmology
and QG and adds to the visibility of the Department
of Physics in Erlangen.
Funding
The Institute for Quantum Gravity is an integral part
of the Emerging Field Project ``Quantum Geometry''
which combines the expertises of mathematicians
and physicists in order to make progress on the
mathematical foundations of QG. The EFP has received funding for three years in the amount of
roughly EUR 1.800 000 from the Emergent Field Office
of the FAU.
___________________________________________________________________________
101
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Michael Thies
(b. 1948)
C3, Institute for Theoretical
Physics III
Michael Thies is working on
strong interaction physics and
relativistic quantum field theory. He studied in Heidelberg,
where he received his PhD in 1975 in intermediate
energy nuclear physics. After postdoc positions at
Stony Brook, Heidelberg, SIN Villigen (now PSI), he got
a long term research position at the Free University of
Amsterdam. In 1989, he returned to Germany on a C3
professorship, which F. Lenz had created under the
Fiebiger program at the Institute for Theoretical Physics III, FAU, Erlangen. He has 90 publications, 1580
citations and an h-index of 23, according to the INSPIRE-HEP data base.
Professional Career
1989-now C3-professor in theoretical physics at the
FAU, Erlangen
1982-1988 Research position at the VU and NIKHEF,
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1979-1982 Postdoctoral fellow at SIN (now PSI), Villingen, Switherland
1977-1989 Postdoctoral fellow at Heidelberg University
1975-1976 Postdoctoral fellow at SUNY, Stony Brook,
USA (group the late G.E. Brown)
1973-1975 PhD student at the University of Heidelberg (group of J. Hüfner)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID:
Website: www.gravity.physik.fau/members/people/
thies.shtml
Supervised PhD theses : 12
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 50
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Research in the Thies group
Strong interactions, relativistic quantum field
theory, and exactly solvable models
Our research encompasses a wide spectrum of questions originating in strong interaction physics, ranging
from quantum chromodynamics (QCD) to exactly
solvable, low dimensional fermionic field theories. It
is driven by the desire to understand fundamental
physics, rather than reproduce specific experimental
data. This is reflected in a strong bias towards analytic
as opposed to numerical methods.
Analytic approaches to the confinement problem
in QCD
In the past, the QCD confinement problem was at the
center of my activities, in collaboration with F. Lenz,
the former head of Theorie III. The fundamental problem to understand why quarks and gluons, the fields
appearing in the QCD Lagrangian, are not seen as free
particles in nature, is still not fully understood. We
had some partial successes and developed nonperturbative techniques, emphasizing concepts like
light cone quantization, non-Abelian gauge fixing,
center symmetry, topology (through instantons and
merons).
't Hooft, Gross-Neveu and Nambu--Jona-Lasinio models. Apart from being of interest for strong interactions, these models have found many applications in
quasi-one dimensional condensed matter systems like
superconductors, polymers or cold atomic gases.
Phase diagrams of quantum field theories at
finite temperature and chemical potential
The phase diagram of QCD at finite temperature and
density is of interest for heavy ion collisions at
Brookhaven or LHC, as well as for astrophysical questions. Since standard lattice Monte Carlo methods fail
at finite density, it is important to study the phase
diagrams of exactly solvable models. We discovered
generic solitonic crystal phases in all the models studied which had been overlooked before, like the ``chiral spiral". In the meantime, this has had some impact
on the discussion of the QCD phase diagram, with
many works devoted to identifying inhomogeneous
phases of dense matter.
Exactly solvable fermionic field theories in low
dimensions
Since 10 years, I work mostly on exactly solvable field
theoretical models, notably fermionic theories in 1+1
dimensions which can be solved in the large N limit by
semiclassical methods. Paradigms include the
Full phase diagram of the massive Gross-Neveu model as a
function of fermion mass, chemical potential and temperature.
The shaded surface separates a Fermi gas from a solitonic
crystal.
102
Solving dynamical problems in quantum field
theory
During the last 3 years, my interest has shifted towards exact solutions of time-dependent problems in
model QFTs, e.g. baryon-baryon scattering or breathers and their interactions. We use relativistic time
dependent Hartree-Fock including the Dirac sea, an
approach supposed to become exact in the large N
limit. Together with G. V. Dunne from the University
of Connecticut, we have recently found the complete,
analytical solution of this problem for an arbitrary
number and complexity of bound states or breathers
(accepted by PRL).
Selected collaborations
Teaching
I participated actively in the Erlangen-Regensburg
Graduiertenkolleg ``Strong Interaction Physics", which
ran the maximum allowed number of 9+1 years
(1991-2001). Since I came to Erlangen, I am strongly
involved in the teacher student examinations in theoretical physics for all Universities in the state of Bavaria.
Funding
The biggest project I have participated in was the
aforementioned Graduiertenkolleg, funded by the
DFG. At present, I have a 3 years DFG grant (1/2 position) for a PhD student.
During the period where F. Lenz was head of Theory
III, we had the chance to work and publish together
with a number of renowned Humboldt prize winners
which F. Lenz succeeded to attract to Erlangen, notably S. Levit (Weizmann Institute), the late L. O'Raifeartaigh (Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), E.
Moniz (MIT, now US secretary of energy), J. Negele
(MIT), M. Shifman (University of Minnesota), and K.
Yazaki (Tokyo University). Recently, I have mostly
been collaborating with G. V. Dunne (University of
Connecticut).
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
The Delta nucleus spin orbit interaction in pion nucleus scattering, with Y. Horikawa and F. Lenz, Nucl.
Phys. A 345, 386 (1980).
Hamiltonian formulation of two-dimensional gauge
theories on the light cone, with F. Lenz, S. Levit, K.
Yazaki, Ann. Phys. 208, 1 (1991).
QCD in the axial gauge representation, with F. Lenz
and H. W. L. Naus, Ann. Phys. 233, 317 (1994).
Emergence of Skyrme crystal in Gross-Neveu and 't
Hooft models at finite density, with V. Sch\"on, Phys.
Rev. D62, 096002 (2000).
From relativistic quantum fields to condensed matter
and back again: Updating the Gross-Neveu phase
diagram, J. Phys. A 39, 12707 (2006).
Inhomogeneous condensates in the thermodynamics
of the chiral NJL2 model, with G. Basar and G. V.
Dunne, Phys. Rev. D 79, 105012 (2009).
___________________________________________________________________________
103
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Michael Thoss
(b. 1966)
W2, Institute for Theoretical Physics, Theoretical
Solid State Physics, Interdisciplinary Center for Molecular Materials
Michael Thoss studied physics
at the Ludwig Maximilians University of München and
received his Ph.D. in 1998 from the Technical University of München. From 1998 to 2000 he was a FeodorLynen postdoctoral fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation at the University of California at
Berkeley, USA. He subsequently returned to München
as a research associate at the Chair of Theoretical
Chemistry and finished his Habilitation in 2005. From
2005 to 2008, he was Privatdozent at the Department
of Chemistry of the Technical University of München.
In 2006 he received the Hellman award for Theoretical Chemistry. Since 2009, he has been Professor
(W2) for Theoretical Physics at the FAU ErlangenNürnberg. His fields of research are theoretical condensed matter physics and molecular physics. The
focus of his research is the theory and simulation of
nonequilibrium processes in many-body quantum
systems. His scientific work is documented in more
than 80 publications, with a total number of about
2400 citations and h-index of 29.
Research in the Thoss group
The Thoss group carries out research in the fields of
theoretical condensed matter physics and molecular
physics. Focus of the research is the theory and simulation of nonequilibrium processes in many-body
quantum systems. Theoretical and computational
methods are being developed and applied to study
quantum dynamics and quantum transport in molecules, nanostructures, at surfaces and interfaces.
Research projects include fundamental aspects of
dynamics and transport in correlated quantum systems, such as, e.g., the role of interference, decoherence and localization, as well as applications to study
charge and energy transport processes in nanostructures relevant for nanoelectronics and photovoltaics.
Theory and simulation of charge and energy
transport in nanostructures, molecular electronics
Quantum transport processes in nanosystems have
been of great interest recently in different areas of
physics, chemistry and nanotechnology. An example,
we have investigated in detail recently, is charge and
Professional Career
2009-now W2-professor at FAU, Erlangen
2005-2008 Privatdozent at the Chair of Theoretical
Chemistry, Technical University of München
2000-2005 Research associate at the Chair of Theoretical Chemistry, Technical University of München
1998-2000 Postdoctoral fellow at the University of
California at Berkeley, USA (group of W.H. Miller)
1994-1998 PhD student at Technical University of
München (group of W. Domcke)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: C-5976-2013
Website: http://thcp.nat.uni-erlangen.de/
Supervised PhD theses: 4 (+ 5 in progress)
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 7
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
energy transport in single molecule junctions. These
systems combine the possibility to study fundamental
aspects of nonequilibrium many-body quantum physics at the nanoscale with the perspective for technological applications in nanoelectronic devices. Employing a combination of first principles electronic
structure methods and state-of-the-art transport
theory, we have analyzed transport mechanisms in
molecular junctions including electron-phonon and
electron-electron interaction, fluctuations and noise
phenomena as well as phononic energy transport. We
have devised novel schemes for molecular
nanoswitches based on proton transfer reactions and
have analyzed quantum interference and decoherence phenomena. Recently, we have started to consider molecular nanostructures that use carbon-based
materials such as graphene and carbon nanotubes in
a collaborative effort within SFB 953.
Photoinduced processes and time-dependent
phenomena in molecules, at surfaces and interfaces
The availability of ultrashort laser pulses, which have
recently reached the subfemtosecond time scale,
allows studies of ultrafast processes in atoms, molecules and condensed matter in ‘real time’. Of primary
interest in molecular systems and condensed matter
is the unraveling of electronic and nuclear motion and
their mutual correlation. Our theoretical work in this
area concentrates on the simulation and analysis of
time-dependent non-Born-Oppenheimer processes
and their role in photoinduced charge and energy
transfer processes in molecular materials. A focus of
our work in the last decade was the investigation of
photoinduced
electron
dynamics
in
dyesemiconductor systems used in dye-sensitized solar
cells. Moreover, within a new collaboration of several
groups in Erlangen, we study the process of carrier
multiplication by singlet-triplet fission in organic crys-
104
tals, which holds great promise to improve the efficiency of solar cells.
Fundamental aspects of quantum dynamics in
many-body systems
In addition to first-principles simulations of specific
systems, we study fundamental aspects of nonequilibrium quantum dynamics in many-body systems
employing generic models such as the spin-boson
model, Anderson-type impurity models as well as
other many-body models with electron-electron and
electron-phonon interaction. Processes being investigated include quantum interference effects, decoherence, localization and correlation as well as multistability phenomena.
Development of efficient numerical methods for
quantum dynamics in many-body systems
We develop efficient numerical methods with the
goal to accurately describe quantum mechanical
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
Semiclassical Description of Nonadiabatic Quantum
Dynamics, G. Stock and M. Thoss, Phys. Rev. Lett. 78,
578 (1997).
non-equilibrium processes in many-body systems.
This includes multiconfiguration wave functions
methods, density matrix schemes, semiclassical approaches as well as nonequilibrium Green’s function
methods. The combination of these dynamical approaches with electronic structure methods to characterize the systems of interest is another focus area
of our research.
Selected collaborations
The group actively participates in SFB 953, the cluster
of excellence EAM and is associated to the cluster of
excellence ‘Munich Center of Advanced Photonics’.
We collaborate with several theoretical and experimental groups in Erlangen and worldwide. Recent
examples include the groups of W. Domcke (München), P. Feulner (München), W. Jaegermann (Darmstadt), W.H. Miller (UC Berkeley), J. Neaton (LBNL
Berkeley), U. Peskin (Technion Haifa), E. Rabani (Tel
Aviv), A. Sobolewski (Warsaw), H. Wang (Las Cruces)
and in Erlangen, in particular, M. Bockstedte, T. Clark,
T. Fauster, D. Guldi, H. Weber.
Funding
Selected funding over the past few years:
BMBF (2009-2011, 1 postdoc), DFG (2010-2013, 1
postdoc), DFG SFB 953 (2012-2015, 2 PhD), GIF (20132015, 1 PhD), Humboldt postdoctoral fellowship
(2012-2013)
Quantum Dynamics of Photoinduced ElectronTransfer Reactions in Dye-Semiconductor Systems:
First-Principles Description and Application to Coumarin 343-TiO2, I. Kondov, M. Cizek, C. Benesch, H.
Wang, and M. Thoss, J. Phys. Chem. C 111, 11970
(2007)
Numerically exact quantum dynamics for indistinguishable particles: The multilayer multiconfiguration
time-dependent Hartree theory in second quantization representation, H. Wang and M. Thoss, J. Chem.
Phys. 131, 024114 (2009)
Vibrational nonequilibrium effects in the conductance
of single-molecules with multiple electronic states, R.
Härtle, C. Benesch, and M. Thoss, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102,
146801 (2009)
Experimental Evidence for Quantum Interference and
Vibrationally Induced Decoherence in Single-Molecule
Junctions, S.Ballmann, R. Härtle, P.B. Coto, M. Elbing,
M. Mayor, M.R. Bryce, M. Thoss and H.B. Weber,
Phys. Rev. Lett. 109 , 056801 (2012)
Quantum interference and decoherence in a single molecule nanojunction. (a): In the presence of quasi-degenerate
molecular energy levels, quantum interference effects can
influence the electrical transport profoundly. (b): Coupling
to vibrations provides a decoherence mechanism that is
particularly efficient for larger temperatures (T) and results
in a significantly enhanced electrical current in the resonant
transport regime at higher bias voltages [S. Ballmann, R.
Härtle, P.B. Coto, M. Elbing, M. Mayor, M.R. Bryce, M. Thoss
and H.B. Weber, Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 056801 (2012)].
Charge Transport in Pentacene−Graphene Nanojunctions, I.A. Pshenichnyuk, P.B. Coto, S. Leitherer, and
M. Thoss, J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 4, 809 (2013)
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105
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Tobias Unruh
(b. 1967)
W2, Institute of Condensed Matter – Nanomaterials Characterization
(scattering methods)
The research of Tobias Unruh
is focused on structural properties of nanoscaled organic and inorganic materials
and relaxation processes of complex systems. The
experimental methods used (SAXS, SANS, GISAXS,
GIXD) allow for in-situ studies of native samples with
time resolutions up to the microsecond range for
kinetic studies and on a time scale of subpico- to
nanoseconds (QENS, INS, MD simulation) for studies
of molecular dynamics, respectively.
Tobias Unruh joined the FAU in November 2010. He
was awarded a PhD in Electrochemistry by Saarland
University in Saarbrücken for his study of the structural properties of hydrogen intercalates of transition
metal oxides. He continued his work on structural
property relations of materials at the FriedrichSchiller-University Jena as a postdoc and scientific
assistant at the Chair of Pharmaceutical Technology.
During this time he studied dispersions of organic
colloids mainly by small-angle X-ray, neutron and light
scattering and calorimetry. After moving to the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in 2001, he designed, commissioned, and managed the user operation of the neutron time-of-flight spectrometer
TOFTOF at the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz research neutron
source FRM II in Garching. He also established a research group to study the picosecond dynamics of
molecular liquids, phospholipid membranes, and the
mesoscopic structure of colloidal dispersions at the
TOFTOF facility. For his teaching at the TUM Physics
Department he was awarded the ‘golden chalk’ a
price of the dean, the dean of curriculum and the
students for the best special lecture in summer semester 2010. Tobias Unruh habilitated in experimental physics at TUM in 2010. In Erlangen, he heads
the scattering methods division of the Center for
Nanoanalysis and Electron Microscopy. He authored
75 papers (64 since 2007).
Research in the Unruh group
Organic nanoparticles for pharmaceutical use
Lecithin stabilized triglyceride nanosuspensions are
intriguing systems and relevant for pharmaceutical
and nutritional applications. We use small angle X-ray
and neutron scattering (SAXS, SANS) to study the
mesoscopic structure of such dispersions with molecular resolution. New analytical tools for data analysis
Professional Career
2011-now chairperson of the Scientific and Technical
Advisory Panel (STAP) for chopper spectrometers of
the ESS
2011-now chairperson and elected member of the
German committee research with neutrons
2011-now member and deputy chairperson of MLZ
referee committee
2010-now W2 professor at the FAU, Erlangen
2010 Habilitation in experimental physics, TUM
2001-2010 Postdoc and staff member at FRM II
1996-2001 Postdoc and scientific assistant at the
chair of Pharmaceutical Technology, University of
Jena
1993-1997 PhD in physical chemistry at the Universität des Saarlandes
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: C-8946-2013
Website: www.nc.nat.uni-erlangen.de
Supervised PhD theses :
Diploma, BSc., MSc.:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
are developed very successfully allowing to extract
details like e.g. the structure of the monomolecular
stabilizer layer of the nanoparticles, the particle
shape and size distribution, and the distribution of
particle association from the experimental data. Even
studies of the drug distribution within drug loaded
nanosuspensions of highly complex structures become feasible using the neutron and X-ray powder
pattern
simulation
analysis (NXPPSA) for
complementary
SAXS/SANS data sets.
A simplified cut out of
a schematic representation of the structure
of such a dispersion is
visualized in the figure above. Cooperation: P. Lindner
(ILL), A. Radulescu (JCNS), H. Bunjes (Univ. Braunschweig), F. Steiniger (FSU Jena)
Relaxation in molecular liquids
The dynamics of molecular liquids cover a broad
range of timescales, ranging from the fast local relaxation of the atomic bonds to the long range diffusion
of the whole molecule. The aim of our studies is a
general understanding of the relevance and interplay
of the many different relaxation processes finally
leading to molecular diffusion in the liquid. Some of
such processes are visualized in the figure below by
trajectories of a C32H66 molecule on different time
scales as extracted from MD simulations. For comparison the intermediate scattering function determined
106
by time-of-flight neutron scattering at different instrument resolutions as labeled in the legend.
Huge progress for many different molecular liquids
could be achieved and even for rather long chain
molecules like co-enzyme Q10 a complete description
of the picosecond dynamics could be presented. Unrivaled agreement between QENS and MD simulation
could be achieved for n-alkans as e.g. C100H202
(Morhenn et al.).
ZnO nanoparticles: Formation, growth and aging
ZnO is a promising semiconductor material, which
shows interesting optical and electronic properties
and makes it a promising candidate for the incorporation into electronic devices and solar cells where they
act as an electron transfer system. We recently started to study formation, growth and aging of ZnO quantum dots in ethanolic solution by time resoled SAXS,
SANS and UV/VIS spectroscopy. The kinetics of particle growth and aging could successfully be observed
in a time range from 10 ms (synchrotron data) up to
several days. While SAXS gives detailed information
about the ZnO particle cores we could demonstrate
that the structure of the organic shell could be observed by additional SANS measurements. Cooperation: W. Peukert (FAU), A. Magerl, R. Neder, M.-S.
Appavou (JCNS, Garching).
We were able for the first time to demonstrate that
viscoelastic hydrodynamic interactions dominate the
subdiffusive regime in molecular liquids by experimentally validated MD simulations. Cooperation: R.
Böckmann (bio informatics, FAU), D. Richter (FZJ), W.
Petry (TUM), H. Meyer (ICS, Univ. Strasbourg).
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
T. Unruh, K. Westesen, P. Bösecke, P. Lindner, M. H. J.
Koch, Self-assembly of triglyceride nano-crystals in
suspension, Langmuir 18 (2002) 1796
T. Unruh, J. Neuhaus, W. Petry, The high-resolution
time-of-flight spectrometer TOFTOF, Nucl. Instr.
Methods A 580 (2007) 1414
S. Busch, C. Smuda, L.C. Pardo, T. Unruh, Molecular
Mechanism of Long-Range Diffusion in Phospholipid
Membranes Studied by Quasielastic Neutron Scattering, JACS 132 (2010) 3232
H. Morhenn, S. Busch, T. Unruh, Chain dynamics in a
hexadecane melt as seen by neutron scattering and
identified by molecular dynamics simulations, J. Phys.:
Condens. Matter 24 (2012) 375108
*
M. Schmiele, T. Schindler, T. Unruh , S. Busch, H.
Morhenn, M. Westermann, F. Steiniger, A. Radulescu,
P. Lindner, R. Schweins, P. Boesecke, Structural characterization of the phospholipid stabilizer layer at the
solid-liquid interface of dispersed triglyceride nanocrystals with small-angle x-ray and neutron scattering,
Phys. Rev. E 87 (2013) 062316
___________________________________________________________________________
Structure formation in printed films
Another recently started project focuses on in-situ
studies of the structure formation of bulk-heterojunction organic (/inorganic hybrid) solar cells. We
just finished the construction of a fully equipped humidity cell with an automated doctor blade system
and successfully conducted first high quality GISAXS
measurements at our new (2013, cf. photograph
above) highly customized SAXS instrument. Cooperation: C. Brabec (FAU).
Selected collaborations and funding
Endowed professorship of Cluster of Excellence EAM
with funding; Interdisziplinäres Zentrum für Nanostrukturierte Filme IZNF, start of construction of new
building in 2014; Center for Nanoanalysis and Electron Microscopy CENEM; heading scattering methods
devision; DFG core facility Nanocharacterization with
electrons, X-rays and scanning probes; RTG 1896;
member of IC-ICP; further cooperation with national
and international work groups at universities and
large scale facilities.
107
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Christopher van Eldik
(b. 1973)
W2, Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics
The current research interest of
Christopher van Eldik is in Experimental gamma-ray astronomy, a
young field in astroparticle physics. Van Eldik studied physics (with emphasis on experimental particle physics) at Dortmund University,
where he graduated in 2000.
During his PhD studies he was situated at DESY,
where he investigated vector meson production in
inelastic proton-nucleus interactions with the HERA-B
detector, and was co-responsible for the operation of
the HERA-B wire target at the HERA proton beam.
In 2005 he moved to MPI für Kernphysik in Heidelberg
and became member of the H.E.S.S. collaboration and
the CTA consortium. His work focused on the highenergy astrophysics of the Galactic Centre region, the
H.E.S.S. trigger and pointing systems, and on advanced gamma-ray reconstruction techniques.
In 2011, van Eldik accepted a professorship at FAU.
Besides the Galactic Centre region, he is working on
indirect detection of dark matter in the Galactic halo
with H.E.S.S. and on advanced test facilities for the
quality control of CTA mirror facets. Since 2013 he is
leading the Analysis and Reconstruction Working
Group of H.E.S.S. As of now, van Eldik is (co-)author of
more than 120 publications with about 5000 citations
and an h-index of 38.
Professional Career
2011-now W2-professor at FAU, Erlangen
2010-201 W2 substitute at FAU
2005-2011 Postdoctoral fellow at Max-Planck-Institut
für Kernphysik, Heidelberg (group of Werner Hofmann)
2004 Postdoctoral fellow at DESY, Hamburg (group of
Bernhard Schmidt)
2000-2004 PhD student at University of Dortmund
(group of Dietrich Wegener)
Academic and scientific functions
2010 Editor of Proc. Sci. (Texas 2010 Symposium on
Relativistic Astrophysics)
since 2012 Referee for The Astrophysical Journal
since 2011 Tutor for the Alexander von Humboldt
Foundation
since 2013 Referee for the Alexander von Humboldt
Foundation
since 2011 ERASMUS exchange coordinator of the
Physics Department
since 2012 Mentor within the Ariadne Women Career
program of FAU
2009-2011Member of the H.E.S.S. Run Coordination
Team
2010-2011 Elected member of the H.E.S.S. Observation Time Allocation Committee
since 2013 Head of the H.E.S.S. Analysis and Reconstruction Working Group
since 2013 Member of the H.E.S.S. Executive Board
Awards
Research in the van Eldik group
The research carried out in the group concentrates on
the analysis and interpretation of H.E.S.S. gamma-ray
data and the development of test facilities and calibration instrumentation for the forthcoming CTA
observatory. With me being convener of the H.E.S.S.
Analysis and Reconstruction Working Group, my
group is also involved in performing systematic studies on the H.E.S.S. reconstruction and analysis frameworks.
Gamma-ray astronomy with H.E.S.S.
Astrophysics: Exploring the Galactic Centre region at very high energies
Tracing the direction and energy of cosmic teraelectronvolt photons is a versatile tool to investigate the
production sites and the transport of charged cosmic
rays in our galaxy and beyond. A particularly interesting region in the Milky Way is the Galactic Centre,
which harbors many putative cosmic ray accelerators,
2007
Descartes prize of the European Union (together with the H.E.S.S. Collaboration)
2010
Bruno Rossi prize of the American Astronomical Society (together with the H.E.S.S. Collaboration)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: C-3901-2013
Website:www.ecap.nat.uni-erlangen.de/members/
vaneldik
Supervised PhD theses: 7 (+ 2 in progress)
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 6 (+ 4 in progress)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
among them the supermassive black hole Sagittarius
A*. The group uses H.E.S.S. data to study the astrophysics of the Galactic Centre both in terms of identifying and characterizing the acceleration sites and
understanding the particle transport in this region.
Particle Physics: Searches for the annihilation of
Dark Matter particles
The identification of the nature of Dark Matter is one
of the most important questions in particle physics
and cosmology to date. From indirect tracers and
108
large-scale simulations it is expected that a typical
Milky Way-like galaxy hosts a large concentration of
dark matter particles in its central part, with the density strongly peaked towards the centre. Depending
on the yet unknown properties of these particles,
their annihilation or decay into standard model particles gives rise to various gamma-ray signals from the
Galactic halo region. We use gamma-ray observations
to put constraints on the dark matter annihilation
cross section, with the goal of constraining the parameter space of the dark matter particle in e.g. supersymmetric models.
Gamma-ray astronomy with CTA
Development and commissioning of a test setup
for mirror quality tests
CTA is an internationally proposed next-generation
ground-based gamma-ray observatory to explore the
sky at photon energies of about 30 GeV-100 TeV. To
form the reflectors of the foreseen 50-100 telescopes
of different type and collection area, about 10.000
squaremeter of mirror tiles are needed. Although
light-weight, each mirror has to be of superior quality
in terms of its reflectivity and focussing properties.
Together with the Institute of Optics at the depart-
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
HERA-B Collaboration (I. Abt, …, C. van Eldik et al.),
K*0 and phi meson production in proton-nucleus
interactions at s**(1/2) = 41.6 GeV, Eur. Phys. J C50
(2007)
315
ment, the group is developing and commissioning a
novel technique to precisely measure the surface
properties of the mirror tiles. The method is extensively used for characterizing the optical properties of
prototype mirrors and is a good candidate setup for
mirror mass tests during the CTA production phase.
Design of and simulations for an optical system
for pointing calibration of the MST telescopes
Due to their size and load, ground-based gamma-ray
telescopes are subject to structural deformations
which depend on the observation direction and are
partly inelastic. This leads to a misalignment of the
telescope camera w.r.t. the optical axis of the instrument, which can be corrected for by e.g. recording of
stars in the field of view with a CCD camera during
observations. Together with Humboldt University
(Berlin) and DESY (Zeuthen) the group performs feasibility studies of using one or two CCD cameras per
telescope to guarantee a precise offline pointing of
the CTA mid-size telescopes (MSTs).
Teaching and outreach
Teaching and public outreach are important ways to
pass on to others the enthusiasm of scientists to explore new grounds. Since a couple of years I try to
carry on my enthusiasm for gamma-ray astronomy to
amateur astronomers, physicists and the interested
public in both colloquia and print (e.g. Sterne und
Weltraum, Physikjournal). My 2012 and 2013 lectures
on Experimental Physics for Engineers got highest
ranks (rank 1 and 2) among the obligatory courses
taught the Faculty of Engineering of FAU.
Funding
S. Ohm, C. van Eldik, K. Egberts, Gamma-Hadron Separation in Very-High-Energy gamma-ray astronomy
using a multivariate analysis method, Astrop. Phys. 31
(2009) 383
Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA):
Design and commissioning of a test setup for mirror
quality control
BMBF, 2011-2014, 183 kEUR
HESS Collaboration (F. Acero, …, C. van Eldik et al.),
Localizing the VHE gamma-ray source at the Galactic
Centre
Mon. Not. Royal Astron. Soc. 402 (2010) 1877
HESS Collaboration (A. Abramowski, …, C. van Eldik et
al.), Search for for a Dark Matter annihilation signal
from the Galactic Center halo with H.E.S.S., Phys. Rev.
Lett. 106 (2011) 163201
HESS Collaboration (A. Abramowski, …, C. van Eldik et
al.), Search for photon line-like signatures from Dark
Matter annihilations with H.E.S.S., Phys. Rev. Lett. 110
(2013) 041301
The CTA Consortium (M. Actis, …, C. van Eldik et al.),
Introducing the CTA concept, Astrop. Phys. 43 (2013)
___________________________________________________________________________
109
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Joachim von Zanthier
(b. 1964)
C3, Institute for Optics, Information and Photonics
The work of Joachim von Zanthier focuses on multi-photon interferences produced with nonclassical, classical or mixed light
sources. After studies at the Ludwigs-MaximilianUniversity, Munich, and the École Normale Supérieure, Paris, he received his PhD in 1995 at the University of Paris VI, France, in the group of A. Aspect
where he worked on an atomic mirror in the field of
atom optics. Returning to Germany he joined the
group of Herbert Walther at the Max-Planck-Institute
for Quantum Optics and the Ludwig-MaximiliansUniversity, Munich, as a group leader for an optical
clock, ultra high resolution spectroscopy and quantum effects with single trapped Indium ions. There his
group isolated for the first time the Indium clock
transition and measured its absolute frequency in a
collaboration with the team of Theodor Hänsch. In
2004 he accepted an offer as associate professor (C3)
at the FAU within the newly found Max-Planck Research Group. He since then established a research
program investigating phenomena from quantum
optics and quantum information science based on
multi-photon interferences from statistical independent light sources. He has published more than 60
papers including one review on optical frequencystandards and one US patent and was invited to
more than 40 talks at international conferences and
workshops so far. He is a founding member of the
Optical Imaging Center Erlangen OICE), a mentor of
the Graduate school of excellence Advanced Optical
Technologies (SAOT) and official host of the Humboldt
research awardee Girish S. Agarwal.
Research in the von Zanthier group
Experimental quantum optics and quantum
information
In our research, we extend the seminal experiment by
Hanbury Brown and Twiss and investigate higher
order spatiotemporal correlations of photons emitted
by statistical independent incoherent light sources.
Correlations among the photons appear due to indistinguishable multi-photon paths which interfere even
though the sources emit incoherently. The system is
studied in theory and experiment to explore quantum
optical phenomena and applications in quantum information science.
Professional Career
2004-now C3-professor at FAU, Erlangen Founding
member of Optical Imaging Center Erlangen, Mentor
of Graduate school of excellence Advanced Optical
Technologies (SAOT), host of Humboldt research
awardee Girish S. Agarwal
2002 Habilitation, Ludwig-Maximilians Universität
(LMU)
1996-2004 Research group leader at Max-PlanckInstitute for Quantum Optics and Ludwig-Maximilians
Universität (LMU), Munich (group of Prof. Herbert
Walther)
1995-1996 Postdoctoral fellow at the Max-PlanckInstitute for Quantum Optics, Munich (group of Prof.
Herbert Walther)
1991-1995PhD student at the Institute of Optics,
University Paris VI, France (group of Alain Aspect)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: F-6772-2013
Website: www.qoqi.physik.uni-erlangen.de
Supervised PhD theses: 9 (+ 3 in progress)
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 22 (+ 5 in progress)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Creation and characterization of entanglement
Photons emitted by statistical independent light
sources may be entangled if measured in the far field
of the sources. The non-classical correlations of the
photons are revealed by the second order spatial
correlation function displaying a contrast which violates a Bell’s inequality. Analyzing this function we
showed that the photons may be entangled even if
they do not exist in the same interval of time. Beyond
photons, the measurement of the N-th order spatial
correlation function allows also to entangle the photon emitters via state projection. This leads to entanglement of massive particles even though the particles are separated by macroscopic distances and do
not directly interact with each other. With this approach whole families of entangled states can be
produced within the same setup, e.g., all symmetric
states and all Dicke-states. The method can also be
applied to classify symmetric entangled states into
entanglement classes.
Quantum imaging with resolution beyond the
classical Abbe limit
Correlated photons can be used for a large variety of
applications, ranging from quantum cryptography,
quantum teleportation to quantum computation. A
further application is quantum imaging where spatial
photon correlations are used to image a light source
with a resolution beyond the classical Abbe limit.
Based on the measurement of the N-th order spatial
110
correlation function, we proposed a protocol allowing
to image N incoherent sources with a resolution increased by a factor of N – 1 compared to ordinary
microscopy. Experimental results with up to eight
thermal light sources confirmed the theoretical prediction. Presently we try to implement the method in
biology and engineering.
fruitfully be applied to get a better understanding of
the phenomenon of super- and subradiance, i.e., the
correlated spontaneous decay of an atomic ensemble
being in a particular entangled state. The deeper
insight into the effect allowed us recently to implement super- and subradiance with classical light
sources.
Quantum optics
Selected collaborations
Higher order spatial photon correlation functions may
also be used to study fundamental quantum optical
phenomena. For example, in case of two continuously
excited two-level atoms the spatial modulation of the
2nd order correlation function displays a position
dependent photon statistics: for positions with
G(2)(r,r) < 1 we observe antibunching in combination
with sub-Poisson photon statistics whereas for
G(2)(r,r) > 1 we have bunching combined with superPoissonian statistics. For atoms with interatomic distances d < we obtain even spatially dependent decay times of the source due to the dipole-dipole interaction between the atoms. The idea of interference of indistinguishable quantum paths can further The group has a long-standing theory collaboration
with Girish S. Agarwal, FRS, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, USA, in particular since he obtained a
Humboldt research award. Other theory collaborations include Enrique Solano and Lucas Lamata (University of Bilbao; characterization of entanglement,
quantum simulations), Pieter Kok (University of Sheffield; quantum imaging), Thierry Bastin (Liege University; creation of entanglement). We often send PhD
students for several months to work with our collaborators (e.g. at Oklahoma State Univ., Liege Univ.,
Univ. of Bilbao). In Erlangen, we have experimental
collaborations with groups from SAOT (chair of photonic technologies, chair for engineering thermodynamics) and OICE (group of Ralf Palmisano).
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
Super-resolving multi-photon interferences with
independent light sources, S. Oppel, Th. Büttner, P.
Kok, J. von Zanthier, Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 233603
(2012)
Quantum-interference-initiated superradiant and
subradiant emission from entangled atoms, R.
Wiegner, J. von Zanthier, G. S. Agarwal, Phys. Rev. A
84, 023805 (2011)
Funding
Research Scholarships of Elite Network of Bavaria (4
PhD, 2008 – 2015); Research Scholarships from Graduate School of Advanced Optical Technologies (SAOT)
(2 PhD, 2011 – 2015); DFG Research Grant Entanglement of distant atoms by projective measurements
(1 PhD, 2009 – 2013), Staedtler Foundation Research
Grant Transition from classical to quantum physic
using higher order photon correlations (2011 – 2014,
40.000 EUR).
Operational Determination of Multiqubit Entanglement Classes via Tuning of Local Operations, T. Bastin,
C. Thiel, J. von Zanthier, L. Lamata, E. Solano, G. S.
Agarwal, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 053601 (2009)
Generation of Symmetric Dicke states of Remote
Qubits with Linear Optics, C. Thiel, J. von Zanthier, T.
Bastin, E. Solano, G. S. Agarwal, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99,
193602 (2007)
Quantum Imaging with incoherent photons, C. Thiel,
T. Bastin, J. Martin, E. Solano, J. von Zanthier, G. S.
Agarwal, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 133603 (2007)
Absolute frequency measurement of the In+ clock
transition with a mode-locked laser, J. von Zanthier,
Th. Becker, M. Eichenseer, A. Yu. Nevsky, Ch. Schwedes, E. Peik, H. Walther, R. Holzwarth, J. Reichert, Th.
Udem, T. W. Hänsch, P. V. Pokasov, M. N. Skvortsov,
S. N. Bagayev, Opt. Lett. 25, 1729 (2000)
___________________________________________________________________________
Scheme of the experimental setup to measure the
spatial N-th order correlation function: N atoms
emit photons which are coincidentally recorded
by N detectors in the far field. The measurement
allows for example to resolve the atoms with a
resolution beyond the Abbe limit or to prove the
entanglement among the recorded photons. In
case of three-level atoms and polarization sensitive detection – as shown in the Figure – the
scheme allows to project the emitters in various
families of entangled ground state qubit states.
111
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Heiko Weber
(b. 1968)
C4, Chair for Applied Physics
The experimental work of Heiko
B. Weber deals with solid state
electronics. This includes fundamental
studies
of
lowtemperature quantum transport
as well as applied concepts at room temperature. The
material classes covered are widespread and include
molecules, semiconductors, metals, superconductors
and magnetic materials.
After studies in Karlsruhe and Grenoble, Heiko B.
Weber received his Dr. rer. nat. degree in 1999 at the
University of Karlsruhe, where he investigated
mesoscopic quantum transport phenomena in the
group of Hilbert von Löhneysen. He then moved to
the newly established Institute for Nanotechnology in
the Helmholtz research center in Karlsruhe, first as a
postdoc, then as a junior group leader. As one of the
first scientist there, he built up a large research effort
in molecular electronics, with pioneering experimental contributions to single-molecule contacts. He
then was invited scientist at the Zurich IBM research
laboratory, where he initiated research in Molecular
electronics. 2004 he received the Erwin-Schrödinger
award. He received a call to Aachen University, which
he declined. He moved as a full professor to Erlangen
University in 2004, where he holds the Chair for Applied Physics. He was cofounder of Erlangen’s “Interdisciplinary Center for Molecular Materials” (ICMM).
He was principal investigator in the cluster of excellence “engineering of advanced materials” 20082012, and vice speaker of the collaborative research
center “Synthetic Carbon Allotropes” (SFB 953, established 2012). He has more than 3000 citations on
54 papers, with ~57 cit./paper (h-index: 22).
Research in the Weber Group
Solid State Electronics Using Novel Materials
Epitaxial Graphene: Material and Devices
We contributed significantly to the development of
epitaxial graphene on Silicon carbide (0001) as one of
the most frequently used graphene materials (Nature
mat. 2009). With this highquality material at hand, we
could perform transport experiments, but also build
unconventional devices. As an
example, this lead to the
development of robust freely
suspended graphene mem-
Professional Career
2012-now Vice speaker of SFB 953
2004-now C4-professor at FAU, Erlangen
2004 Invited scientist at IBM Rüschlikon
2004 Erwin Schrödinger prize (Stifterverband)
1999-2004 Postdoc and junior group leader at the
Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Institute for Nanotechnology
1995-1999 Doctoral student at the University of Karlsruhe (group of Hilbert v. Löhneysen)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: D-2654-2012
Website: www.lap.physik.uni-erlangen.de
Supervised PhD theses: 12 (+ 14 in progress)
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 32
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
branes, which allow for new types of measurements
(Nature 2013). Another development was the combination of graphene and its substrate SiC, which is
itself a well performing electronic material. This enabled the innovative concept of “monolithic electronics”, with which transistors with high on/off ratio,
digital and analog circuits can be built (Nature comm.
2012). Diode operation close to THz was demonstrated.
Recently, single-molecule junctions using graphene
electrodes with nanometer spacing were established,
which will open up a new class of experiments.
Quantum Transport in Graphene
The high homogeneity of our material allows for investigation of transport phenomena in quasi-infinite
geometry. This gives access to low-energy transport
phenomena, which are obscured in most other graphene experiments by finite size effects. As a particular example, we could investigate the electronelectron interaction correction to the conductivity by
means of a careful analysis of the magnetoresistance
(see figure). This gave a parameter-free quantitative
agreement with recent theories (PRL 2012). This detailed understanding of the low-temperature corrections helped to avoid artifacts (Nature phys. 2012)
and thus paved the way for a highly refined search for
Kondo effect, one of the most genuine many-body
effects in condensed matter physics.
112
Single-Molecule Junctions
Silicon Carbide as Semiconductor
We pioneered research on single-molecule junctions,
in which a single organic molecule is covalently connected to two electrodes and the current through
these junctions is investigated. After early studies
how the molecular structure affects the transport
properties, we continued to improve the understanding of the underlying physical principles. We clarified
the importance of charge reconfiguration in electric
fields, which lead to a single-molecule diode. We
elucidated the role of vibrations, with strong theory
support from Prof. Thoss. They significantly affect the
peak shape (PRL 2011) as well as the current level
(PRL 2012) and, hence, play an all-important role in
single-molecule contacts. More recently, we addressed the question of magnetic degrees of freedom
which are purposefully built in the molecule. In particular, the spin state of a
coupled binuclear magnetic
molecule could be read out
by
analyzing
a
lowtemperature Kondo anomaly
of the electrical characteristics (Nature Nano 2013).
The research on wide bandgap semiconductors, in
particular Silicon carbide (SiC) has a long tradition in
Erlangen, including a former SFB (1990-2002). We
continue this internationally leading research field,
with Dr. Michael Krieger as the driving force. The
research focuses on defects in SiC, in particular in
device geometries. More than 200 publications, permanent membership in the steering committees of
the relevant international conferences, and substantial industrial and European funding reflects the outstanding relevance of this research area. This research has paved the way for the epitaxial graphene
material system, and in turn now utilizes graphene for
novel investigations.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected Publications
Dislocations in bilayer graphene, B. Butz. C. Dolle,F.
Niekiel, K. Weber, D. Waldmann, H.B. Weber, B. Meyer, E. Spiecker*, tbp in Nature (2013).
Switching of a coupled spin pair in a single-molecule
junction, S. Wagner, F. Kisslinger, S. Ballmann, F.
Schramm, R. Chandrasekar, T. Bodenstein, O. Fuhr, D.
Secker, K. Fink, M. Ruben, H.B. Weber*, Nature Nanotechnology 8, 575 (2013).
Tailoring the graphene/silicon carbide interface for
monolithic wafer-scale electronics, S. Hertel, D.
Waldmann, J. Jobst, A. Albert, M. Albrecht, S. Reshanov, A. Schöner, M. Krieger, H. B. Weber*, Nature
Communications 3, 957 (2012).
Bottom gated epitaxial graphene, D. Waldmann, J.
Jobst, F. Speck, T. Seyller, M. Krieger, H. B. Weber*,
Nature Materials 10, 357 (2011).
A Single-Molecule diode, M. Elbing, R. Ochs, M.
Köntopp, M. Fischer, C. v. Hänisch, F. Evers, H. B.
Weber*, M. Mayor*, PNAS 102, 8815 (2005).
Driving current through a single organic molecule,J.
Reichert, R. Ochs, D. Beckmann, H.B. Weber*, M.
Mayor, H. v. Löhneysen, Physical Review Letters 88,
176804 (2002).
Terahertz Generation and Detection
Terahertz research came to our group with Dr. Stefan
Malzer and Dr. Sascha Preu 2011, who developed the
Thz generation with n-i-p n-i-p diodes. Together, novel concepts for THz detection using transistors were
developed (Optics express 2013). Currently these
research concepts are transferred to graphene based
materials. As an example, graphene p-n nanojunctions are used to rectify THz signals. Dr. Preu recently
received a call for a junior professorship at TU Darmstadt.
Selected Collaborations
My research in Erlangen is well embedded in the very
inspiring
and
closely
interconnected
solid
state/materials science environment in Erlangen. This
includes the cluster of Excellence EAM, the Interdisciplinary Centre for Molecular Materials, and the
Sonderforschungsbereich 953.
Teaching and Outreach
We developed a new lab course in which we study
electronics as a particularly useful example for the
“arts of experiments”. We take care that all tasks can
be carried out using various approaches and we purpose fully built-in difficulties. This educates the students to carry out experiments very carefully, to recognize artifacts and to always be aware of the limitations
of
measurements.
(See
www.ep.physik.uni-erlangen.de )
Funding
Funding: ~500.000 €/year (DFG/Cluster of excellence/SFB/BMBF/BMU/GIF/EU/BFS .)
___________________________________________________________________________
113
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Graeme Whyte
(b. 1981)
W1 (tenure track), Institute
for Medical Physics and
Technology
The experimental biophysics
work of Graeme Whyte looks at
developing
techniques
for
measuring the properties of single living cells within
optofluidic systems. After his undergraduate studies,
he continued at the University of Glasgow and received his PhD in 2006, in the group of M Padgett. He
then moved to the Microdroplets group at the University of Cambridge to research Lab-on-a-Chip technologies for Biochemical applications. In 2009 he
moved to the Cavendish Laboratory at the University
of Cambridge into the group of J Guck to research
how laser-optical traps can be used to measure the
mechanical properties of living cells. In 2012 he
moved to FAU to take up a junior professorship as
part of the EAM excellence cluster. His work is well
recognised internationally with over 850 citations to
more than 25 papers and an h-index of 15.
Research in the Whyte group
Our research develops optical and microfluidic techniques to discover deeper understanding of living
biological systems. We bring together physics, engineering and biology to create systems capable of
gaining further insights into living systems than otherwise possible.
Optical Trapping
The interaction of laser light with microscopic objects
allows the possibility of confining a small object in a
defined position in 3-dimensional space. This allows
the manipulation of objects free from surface and
contact artefacts.
We study a particular type of optical trap, the dualbeam fibre trap, which is ideally suited to trapping
and manipulating living cells with little damage.
Professional Career
2012-now W1-Juniorprofessor at FAU, Erlangen
200-2012 Postdoctoral Associate at the University of
Cambridge, UK (Guck group)
2006-2009 Postdoctoral Associate at the University of
Cambridge, UK (Microdroplets group)
2003-2006 PhD student at the University of Glasgow,
UK (Padgett group)
____________________________________________
Researcher ID:A-2555-2012
Website:?
Supervised PhD theses: 2 in progress
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 2
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Mechanical Properties of cell nuclei
The nucleus of a cell, housing all the genetic information, is one of the most important structures, yet
its physical properties are little understood. We use
optical and microfluidic techniques to measure the
mechanical properties of living cells and try to understand the role of various nuclear components and
how genetic changes in them can lead to physical
changes in disease. We have been able to observe
differences in the cellular and nuclear stiffness when
we alter the production of proteins which are important in muscle and heart diseases, leading to further understanding of their role.
Single Cell Tomography
There has been a surge of interest in pushing the
limits of optical microscopy to ever smaller structures,
however most so called super-resolution techniques
only improve the resolution in the focal plane of the
microscope and leave the axial, 3rd dimension, unenhanced. We have been working on techniques to
image single live cells from multiple directions and
build up a 3D view of the cell bypassing the usual
lower resolution in the axial direction. This allows us
to visualise structures which would not normally be
seen and separate features which otherwise would be
blurred together.
Optical Stretching
The laser beams which make up an optical trap can
also be used to deform living cells in a non-contact
way. The light pulls on the surface of the cell and by
measuring the shape change it is possible to see
changes in the mechanical properties of cells.
By holding a cell in an optical trap and rotating it around, it
is possible to see the cell from all sides and build up a higher resolution image than previously possible. Shown here is
the comparison between conventional confocal imaging
(red) and the rotated reconstruction (green) of the same
cell nucleus.
114
An integrated device for monitoring time-dependent in
vitro expression from single genes in picolitre droplets, F
Courtois, LF Olguin, G Whyte, D Bratton, WTS Huck, C Abell
and F Holifelder, ChemBioChem, 9, 439 (2008)
Selected collaborations
We collaborate with a range of groups across physics
and biology in developing new techniques and applying them to relevant systems. These include H. Hermann (Heidelberg, nuclear envelope proteins), L.
Stephens (Cambridge, trapped cells in suspension), M.
Miles (Bristol, optical trapping and rotation), M. Fischlechner (Southampton, microfluidics) and J. Guck
(Dresden, optical stretching) and C. Abel (Cambridge,
microfludics). In Erlangen we have long standing collaborations with the MPL and biophysics group.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
Mechanical environment modulates biological properties of oligodendrocyte progenitors cells , A
Jagielska, A Norman, G Whyte, KJ van Vliet, J Guck,
RJM Franklin, Stem Cells and Development, 21, (2012)
Viscoelastic properties of differentiating cells are fateand function-dependent, A Ekpenyong, G Whyte, K
Chalut, F Lautenschlaeger, C Fiddler, D Olin, E Chilvers, M Beil, J Guck, PLoS ONE ,7, (2012)
Coupling Microdroplet Microreactors with Mass Spectrometry: Reading the Contents of Single Droplets
Online, LM Fidalgo, G Whyte, BT Ruotolo, JLP Benesch, F Stengel, C Abell, CV Robinson and WTS Huck,
Angewandte, 48, 3665 (2009)
Development of Quantitative Cell-Based Enzyme
Assays in Microdroplets, A Huebner, LF Olguin, D
Bratton, G Whyte, WTS Huck, JB Edel, C Abell and F
Holifelder, Anal Chem, 80 (10), 3890–3896 (2008)
___________________________________________________________________________
115
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Jörn Wilms
(b. 1969)
W2, Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics
J. Wilms' research centers on
observations and theory of
the physics of accreting black
holes and of strongly magnetized (1012 G) neutron stars. He studied physics at the
Universities of Tübingen and Colorado, Boulder. Following his PhD and habilitation in R. Staubert's X-ray
astronomy group in Tübingen, Wilms declined a Heisenberg fellowship to take on a permanent position
as a lecturer in the Department of Physics of the University of Warwick, Coventry, UK. In 2006, he received
the offer to move to FAU, where he is now a professor of astronomy at Dr. Remeis-Observatory, Bamberg, and the Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics.
Initially starting out as an X-ray and gamma-ray astronomer, in recent years Wilms' work expanded to
become more multi-wavelength and multi-messenger
oriented. In addition to observational and theoretical
work on stellar-mass black holes and neutron stars,
his group performs radio to gamma-ray observing
campaigns on supermassive black holes and contributes astronomical input to neutrino telescopes. The
X-ray group also contributes to the international development efforts for new satellites in X-ray astronomy, such as the eROSITA instrument on Spectrum-XGamma and ESA's studies for the ATHENA and LOFT
missions, and participates in laboratory astrophysics
experiments and studies of the physics of the interstellar medium.
Wilms has chaired multiple referee panels for observing time on ESA and NASA satellites. He is a member
of the BMBF and DLR review boards on ground based
astrophysics and Astroparticle Physics and on satellite
based astronomy (term 2008-2014), and a member of
the detector advisory group of the European XFEL
(from 2013). He was scientific coordinator of ITN
215212 "Black Hole Universe" (EU FP7; 2008-2013)
and member and chair of European Space Agency's
user's group for the INTEGRAL satellite (2008-2011).
Wilms has more than 150 publications with roughly
5300 citations (NASA ADS) and given 24 invited talks
within the last 3 years.
Research in the Wilms group
Research in X-Ray Astronomy
Accretion on Compact Stellar Mass Objects
Compact objects, i.e. neutron stars and black holes,
are the end stages of the evolution of the most mas-
Professional Career
2006-now W2-professor at FAU, Erlangen
2004-2006 Lecturer in Astronomy and Astrophysics,
University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
2002 Habilitation in Astronomy and Astrophysics
1999-2003 Wissenschaftlicher Assistent, IAAT
1998 Researcher, IAAT
1996-1998 PhD student, Institut für Astronomie und
Astrophysik (IAAT), University of Tübingen (X-ray
group, Prof. Dr. R. Staubert)
1996 Dipl. Phys
1990-1996 Student of Physics, University of Tübingen
and University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: C-8116-2013
Website: www.pulsar.sternwarte.uni-erlangen.de/wilms
Supervised PhD theses: 17 (+ 10 in progress)
Diploma, BSc., MSc.:
44
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
sive stars. If such a massive star was gravitationally
bound to another, lower mass star and died in a supernova explosion, mass can flow from the surviving
star onto the compact object. Because of the deep
gravitational well of the compact object, a large fraction of the rest mass energy of the material can be
released in form of radiation. As the gas reaches tem6
peratures of several 10 K, it radiates in the X-rays and
gamma-rays where it can be observed with space
based observatories. Research in the X-ray group
concentrates on the physical production mechanisms
in the very extreme conditions close to the compact
object: What is the relation between the emitted Xray spectrum and its luminosity? Can we measure
general relativistic effects in the strongly curved
space-time? What is the ionization state of the photoionized matter surrounding the compact object?
Many neutron stars have strong magnetic fields
12
(B~10 G). Transitions between Landau levels yield
observable spectral features which yield direct information on the B-field strength of these stars, an important ingredient into neutron star models. Many of
these measurements are influenced by atomic physics
uncertainties that the group addresses with laboratory measurements done in collaboration with LLNL and
CfA.
Supermassive Black Holes
The physical processes of stellar mass and supermassive (106 solar masses) black holes in Active Galactic
Nuclei (AGN) are similar, but since timescales in these
systems scale with mass, different physical processes
can be studied. What is the spin of the black hole?
What is the relationship between the angular momentum and the radio emission? About 10% of all
AGN show jets, where 10% of the accreted mass is
116
accelerated to 0.99c and ejected from the system.
What is the reason for this process? In collaboration
with the University of Würzburg and NASA-GSFC, the
group organizes multiwavelength campaigns studying
these effects using radio arrays on the southern hemisphere, as well as optical, X-ray, and gamma-ray
observations. Some jet models posit strong neutrino
emission, which is studied in collaboration with colleagues in ECAP.
New Missions in Space Based High Energy Astrophysics
What is the evolution of black holes and dark matter
in the Universe? This is the question that will be studied by the German eROSITA instrument on board
Spectrum X-Gamma, a Russian satellite to be
launched in 2015 and developed under leadership of
Max Planck Institute für extraterrestrische Physik. The
X-ray group is responsible for the initial phase of
eROSTIA data processing and will contribute to the
complex data analysis effort. The experience gained
in simulating instrument performance has led to
strong involvement in other missions, with contributions to phase A studies for IXO/ATHENA and LOFT. A
decision on further funding for these facilities, which
would be launched in 2022 and 2028, respectively, is
expected for November 2013 and March 2014.
Selected Collaborations
On data analysis and interpretation aspects the
group's closest collaborators are at NASA's Goddard
Space Flight Center (K. Pottschmidt, R. Ojha, N.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected Publications
Abdo. et al., 2009, Modulated High-Energy GammaRay Emission from the Microquasar Cygnus X-3,
Science 326, 1512
Becker, P., et al., 2012, Spectral formation in accreting
X-ray pulsars: bimodal variation of the cyclotron
energy with luminosity, Astron. Astrophys. 544, A123
Dauser, T., Wilms, J., Reynolds, C. S., Brenneman, L.
W., 2010, Broad emission lines for a negatively
spinning black hole, Month. Not. Royal Astron. Soc.
409, 1534
Laurent, P., Rodriguez, J., Wilms, J., Cadolle Bel, M.,
Pottschmidt, K., Grinberg, V., 2011, Polarized GammaRay Emission from the Galactic Black Hole Cygnus X-1,
Science 332, 438
Gehrels), MIT (M.A. Nowak, N.S. Schulz), Harvard (J.C.
Lee), UC Berkeley (J. Tomsick), Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory (G.E. Brown), Caltech (F. Fürst, F.
Harrison), University of Maryland (C.S. Reynolds), CEA
Saclay (J. Rodriguez), University of Amsterdam (S.
Markoff, P. Uttley), European Space Agency (P.
Kretschmar), IAA Tübingen (R. Staubert, D. Klochkov),
Max Planck Institut für Radioastronomie (A. Zensus,
M. Böck, E. Ros), and the Universität Würzburg (M.
Kadler, K. Mannheim). The most notable national
collaborations on future missions are with the Max
Planck Institute für extraterrestrische Physik,
Garching (K. Nandra), IAA Tübingen (A. Santangelo, C.
Tenzer), and Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam
(A. Schwope), and at the international level with IRAP
Toulouse (D. Barret), SRON Utrecht (J.-W. den
Herder), INAF Roma (M. Feroci), MSSL (UC London, S.
Zane), the University of Leicester, the University of
California, San Diego (R.E. Rothschild), Harvard University (R. Smith, J. Grindlay), and INPE Sao Jose dos
Campos (Brazil, J. Braga). The group is a member of
the eROSITA, ANTARES, KM3NeT, TANAMI, and
MAGNET consortia.
Teaching and Outreach
J. Wilms received the prize of the dean of studies for
the best lecture in physics in 2007 and 2009. He holds
a certificate on higher education teaching from the
University of Warwick (Postgraduate Degree in Higher
Education). Members of all research groups at the
Astronomical Institute are very active in ECAP's outreach activities, which include frequent guided tours
at the observatory, support for high schools, etc.,
with 1000-2000 attendees annually.
Funding
520k: Studies for ATHENA, LOFT, MIRAX, and EUSO
(DLR)
500k: Data analysis of black holes and neutron stars
(DLR and DFG funding)
238k: EU EXTRaS project (new X-ray analysis methods)
500k: EU ITN 215212 (FAU's selection, coordination
for the whole 2.5 Mio. network)
The group is a regular user of most astronomical satellites and ground based facilities. These facilities are
directly funded through government contracts. Access is via heavily oversubscribed peer review. Based
on the facility running costs and depreciation, the
total value of observing time awarded to the group is
typically around 2 Mio.€ per year.
Wilms, J., Allen, A.U., McCray, R., 2000, On the Absorption of X-Rays in the Interstellar Medium, Astrophys. J., 542, 914
___________________________________________________________________________
117
118
Adjunct Professors (apl.) of the Faculty
119
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Horst Drechsel
(b. 1951)
Apl.-professor Astronomical Institute & ECAP,
Dr. Remeis Observatory
Bamberg
Horst Drechsel is member of
the working group Stellar
Astronomy at the Astronomical Institute located at
the Remeis Observatory Bamberg. His work concentrates on the observation and analysis of close binary
stars.
He studied physics at the University of ErlangenNürnberg and received his PhD in astrophysics under
the supervision of Jürgen Rahe in 1978. As a postdoc
and research assistant at the Astronomical Institute
he worked on interaction processesof early-type close
binary systems. The analysis included photometric
and spectroscopic ground-based and space observations in the optical and UV ranges.In 1980 he was a
fellow at the IUE satellite observatory at the NASA
Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. Results on evolutionary and interaction processes of
massive OB-type close binaries achieved until 1983
were summarized in his habilitation thesis. He continued his work on early-type close binaries at the Astronomical Institute of the Erlangen University, where
he received an apl. professorship in 1990. In 1992/93
he was invited as a visiting fellow to the Joint Institute
for Laboratory Astrophysics of the University of Colorado at Boulder to participate in the O star group of
Peter Conti. His main research activities focus on
numerical light curve solutions of eclipsing binaries
with special emphasis on close hot systems, for which
radiative interaction effects caused by the mutual
irradiation of the binary components become important. More recently emphasis was also put on
complex close binaries which are members of triple or
multiple systems. In 1982 he was awarded the HeinzMaier-Leibnitz prize for Astronomy and Astrophysics
of the German Federal Ministry for Science and Education. In 1983 he received the Emmy-Noether prize
for the best habilitation of the Faculties of Sciences of
the University Erlangen. From 1982 to 1990 he was
Deputy Leader of the Eastern Hemisphere Lead Center of the International Halley Watch project. From
1994 to 2000 and from 2012 on he is member of the
Organizing Committee of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Commission 42 Close Binaries. From
1995-2000 he was Editor-in-Chief and later co-editor
of the IAU Bibliography of Close Binaries. From 1977
on he was member of the Organizing Committees of
15 international conferences mostly held in Bamberg.
Since 2008 he is member of the board of directors of
the Remeis Observatory. Actually he has more than
250 publications in refereed journals, proceedings
and books.
Professional Career
2008--now member of board of directors of Dr. Remeis Observatory Bamberg
1992--1993 Visiting Fellow at Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA), University of Colorado,
Boulder, CO, USA
1990--now apl. professor at FAU Erlangen
1983 habilitation in astronomy at Astronomical Institute of FAU
1983 Emmy-Noether prize for best habilitation of the
three faculties of sciences of FAU
1982 Heinz-Maier-Leibnitz prize for astronomy and
astrophysics of German Federal Minister of Science
and Education
1980 research stay at NASA Goddard Space Flight
Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
1977--1978 PhD studies in the group of Prof. J. Rahe
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: D-9696-2013
Website: www.sternwarte.uni-erlangen.de
Supervised PhD theses: 7
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 22
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Funding
DFG research grants: 32 man years for PhD students
(~800k€)
WAP proposals: 5 WAP projects as main coordinator
~700k€
120
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected Publications
Mass loss from UW CMa
H. Drechsel, J. Rahe, Y. Kondo, G.E. McCluskey
Astronomy & Astrophysics 83, 363 (1980)
The interacting early-type contact binary SV Centauri
H. Drechsel, J. Rahe, W. Wargau, B. Wolf
Astronomy & Astrophysics 110, 246 (1982)
Element abundances of classical novae
J. Andreä, H. Drechsel, S. Starrfield
Astronomy & Astrophysics 291, 869 (1994)
Radiation pressure effects in early-type close binaries
and implications for the solution of eclipse light
curves
H. Drechsel, S. Haas, R. Lorenz, S. Gayler
Astronomy & Astrophysics 294, 723 (1995)
HS0705+6700: a new eclipsing sdB binary
H. Drechsel, U. Heber, R. Napiwotzki, R. Ostensen, J.E. Solheim, F. Johannessen, S.L. Schuh, J. Deetjen, S.
Zola
Astronomy & Astrophysics 379, 893 (2001)
EC10246-2707: a new post-common envelope, eclipsing sdB+dM binary
O'Donoghue, S. Geier, R.G. O'Steen, J.C. Clemens, A.P.
LaCluyze, D.E. Reichart, J.B. Haislip, M.C. Nysewander,
K.M. Ivarsen
Monthly Notices Royal Astronomical Society 430, 22
(2013)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
121
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Professional Career
Wolfgang Eyrich
(b. 1949)
Apl. Professor,
Institute / ECAP
Physics
The research work of Wolfgang Eyrich covers hadron
physics, especially investigating the spin of the nucleon
and systems containing strangeness, charm and exotic matter. A large part of his activities is the development and construction of detectors for various experiments especially at the research centres CERN, Jülich
and GSI.
After his studies at Erlangen he received his PhD in
1976 in the group of A. Hofmann at the University of
Erlangen. Then he investigated excitation and decay
of giant resonances at the Karlsruhe Cyclotron which
is also the central part of his habilitation treatise in
1982. After this he focused on experiments at the
Antiproton facility LEAR at CERN in the collaborations
PS185, JETSET and PS210. In this context he and his
group were also contributing to the first detection of
antimatter hydrogen atoms. Wolfgang Eyrich is also
active in the physics program at COSY especially on
strangeness production. Since more then ten years he
has been spokesperson for the international COSYTOF collaboration. Since the beginning the group is a
member of the COMPASS experiment at CERN focusing on detector development and transversity data.
Since 2006 his group is contributing to the development of the PANDA detector at the upcoming FAIR
facility at GSI. Here the group focuses on the development of a novel type of Cherencov detector (DIRC).
The scientific work of Wolfgang Eyrich resulted in
more then 250 publications and numerous invited
talks at international conferences and workshops.
Research in the Eyrich group
Detector R&D
1990-now Apl. professor at FAU, Erlangen
1987-now Leader of a research group with 15 - 20
members at the Physical Institute of FAU
1982 Habilitation at FAU and leader of a subgroup
1976-1982 Postdoc at FAU with numerous stays at
the research centre Karlsruhe
1974-1976 PhD student in the group of Prof. A. Hofmann
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: E-1730-2013
Website: http://pi4.nat.uni-erlangen.de
Supervised PhD theses: 22 (+ 3 in progress)
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 60
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
new matters of state like glueballs and quark-gluonhybrids using antiproton-proton annihilation reactions at very high intensities. An essential part of
PANDA will be a high performance particle identification system consisting of leading edge technology
Cherenkov detectors of the DIRC type.
A decisive part of the R&D work for these detectors is
focused on the improvement of the sensors used for
the signal readout, which is the main task of our
group. The lifetime of these sensors, i.e. multi-anode
microchannel plate photomultipliers, had to be increased by far more than an order of magnitude to be
suitable for PANDA (see solid dots in the figure). This
accomplishment will also have a vital impact on future experiments.
Development of a DIRC Prototype
In collaboration with a group from Tübingen the Eyrich group developed and built a DIRC detector which
is designed for the WASA experiment at COSY and
understood as a cheap stage of development for the
DIRC detectors planned for the PANDA experiment at
FAIR. Developing and running the WASA DIRC detector especially allows to study and optimize features
for the forward DISC DIRC at PANDA. A commission-
Our research in the instrumentation region is focused
on the development of highly granulated optical detectors using different sensors as multianode photomultipliers and micro channel plates. The focus is to
optimize them especially for high counting rates, time
resolution and life time.
Detector Development
Experiment at FAIR
for
the
PANDA
Until 2018 a new accelerator facility for antiproton
and ion research (FAIR) will be built at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum in Darmstadt. One of the pillar experiments will be PANDA with the goal of searching for
Lifetime of MCP sensors: The sensors with improved
methods to protect the photocathode (red, blue and
magenta) show a significantly higher lifetime.
122
ing run with high beam rates already allowed us to
study the detector and the electronics in a realistic
scenario.
Detector development
Experiment
for
the
COMPASS
A challenging task in the COMPASS experiment was
the development of detectors for the in-beam tracking. This was solved by the Eyrich group in collaboration with HISK Bonn by scintillating fiber detectors in
combination with multianode photomultipliers. In
addition a segmented beam counter was developed
on the base of scintillating fibers. For the Drell Yan
measurement in the COMPASS II phase a Scifidetector is now under construction to measure muon
tracks even in the absorber region, which is connected with extremely high particle flux.
Investigation of Transversity with the COMPASS
Experiment
The measurements of single spin asymmetries in
semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering (SIDIS) on a
transversely polarized target are an important part of
the COMPASS physics program to investigate transverse spin distributions of the quarks inside the
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
Production of Antihydrogen
PS-210 collaboration
Phys.Lett. B 368, 251 (1996)
First measurement of the transverse spin asymmetries of the deuteron in semi-inclusive deep inelastic
scattering
COMPASS-Collaboration at CERN
Phys. Rev. Lett. 202002 (2005)
*
Influence of N -resonances on hyperon production in
the channel pp → K+Λp at 2.95, 3.20 and 3.30 GeV/ c
beam momentum
COSY-TOF Collaboration
Phys. Lett. B 688, 142 (2010)
Experimental investigation of transverse spin asymmetries in muon-p SIDIS processes: Sivers asymmetries
COMPASS Collaboration at CERN
Phys. Lett. B 717, 383 (2012)
nucleon. By measuring azimuthal asymmetries in
hadron production one can access both the Collins
fragmentation function and the Sivers distribution
function. The Eyrich group performed a large part of
the analy- sis of the measurement on deuteron and
proton targets. Clear signals for Collins and Sivers
asymmetries were extracted for the proton target
whereas for the deuterium target all asymmetries are
compatible with zero.
Collins asymmetry for the proton target at COMPASS. A
clear signal is seen for all shown variables with different
sign for positive and negative hadrons
Strangeness Production at COSY TOF
To obtain a consistent picture of the structure and
dynamics of hadrons, strangeness production in the
near threshold region is investigated by the TOF
experiment at COSY covering the full phase space of
the reaction products. For this the Eyrich group built a
special highly segmented inner detector system. Also
a large part of the analysis was performed by the
group. The Dalitz plots reveal a strong influence of N*
resonances. Measurements using a polarized beam
were performed and are analyzed in the group to
extract the proton lambda final state interaction with
high precision.
Selected Collaborations
Actually we collaborate worldwide within the international experimental collaborations COMPASS/CERN,
PANDA/FAIR, TOF/COSY and WASA/COSY and with
various theory groups. This includes especially intensive contacts of our post docs and PhD students with
collaborators of other groups working on similar
problems.
Funding
Selected funding since 2003:
BMBF: COMPASS 1.4 Mio EUR, PANDA/FAIR and COSY
1.6 Mio EUR
FZ-Jülich: COSY and PANDA/FAIR 1.6 Mio EUR
Significantly improved lifetime of micro-channel plate
PMTs
A. Lehmann, A. Britting, W. Eyrich, C. Schwarz, J.
Schwiening, F. Uhlig
Nucl. Instr. and Meth., Sect. A 718, 535 (2013)
___________________________________________________________________________
123
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Martin Hundhausen
(b. 1957)
Apl. professor, Chair for
Experimental Physics, Laser
Physics
Martin Hundhausen received in
1982 his diploma at the PhilippsUniversity Marburg (Germany) and in 1986 his PhD
from the University of Stuttgart (Germany). For his
PhD-thesis on superlattice-structures based on amorphous silicon he received the “Otto-Hahn Medaille” of
the Max-Planck-Society.
He received his habilitation in physics in 1997 at the
University of Erlangen-Nürnberg and was appointed
as “außerplanmäßiger” professor in 2005.
He was post-doctoral researcher at the Central Research Laboratories of Hitachi, Japan, for one year
during 1986/87.
He received a Deutscher Solarpreis of Eurosolar in
2004 for his contribution to the physical explanation
of photovoltaics in an educational movie of the public
TV (WDR). Martin Hundhausen has more than 80
publications in peer-reviewed journals with about
1300 citations and an h-index of 21.
Research in the Hundhausen group
Opto-Electronic Measurements for Material
Physics
Professional Career
2005 - now Apl. Professor of Physics at FAU
1997 – 2005 Privatdozent at FAU
1987 - 1997: Habilitation at FAU (Chair of Prof. Dr.
Lothar Ley)
1986 -1987 Research visit for 14 months at the Central Research Laboratories of Hitachi, Tokyo, Japan.
(Prof. Dr. Yasuhiru Shiraki)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: D-9698-2013
Website: tp2.uni-erlangen.de
Supervised PhD theses: 8
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 20
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Most recently, we push the limit of detection of (only)
monolayers of graphene on a thick SiC-substrate,
which normally has a much higher Raman - background compared to the graphene layer under investigation. For that purpose we employ the effect that
dipole radiation at the dielectric interface is emitting
with much higher intensity into the substrate than to
the opposite side. Work is under process to improve
sensitivity by a factor of ten, which will help to study
the influence of carrier concentration on the graphene Raman spectrum.
In cooperation with the Weber group, we study the
polytype conversion of SiC at elevated temperatures.
By spatially scanning the laser used for excitation of
We established measurement techniques for the
characterization of thin film semiconductors.
These techniques employ laser interference techniques in order to determine lifetime and mobility of
photogenerated carriers. In that case the electronic
conductivity is monitored to retreive the wanted
information.
Present main focus of our work is the application of
Raman spectroscopy to characterize electronic base
materials, e.g. Silicon Carbide (SiC), diamond, carbon
nanotubes, and graphene. We operate a highly resolving Triple monchromator equipped with a microscope in order to spatially record Raman spectra (Micro-Raman).
From the phonon-Raman spectra information as diameter of carbon nanotubes, thicknesses of graphene
overlayers (monolayer vs. double layer) as well as
doping and strain is retrieved in order to establish our
technique as a characterization tool. The work on
graphene is in close cooperation with the group of Th.
Seyller, now at the University of Chemnitz.
Result of a polytype mapping of a cubic SiC sample that
was annealed at 1700°C. At that temperature, cubic
Silicon carbide (3C-SiC) partially converts to hexagonal
SiC (6H-SiC). The Raman spectrum reveals the appearance of a thin 6H-SiC polytype inclusion from the characteristic folded phonon mode (FLO 6/6) in the respective Raman spectra.
124
the Raman spectrum, a mapping of stacking fault
distributions and SiC-polytype conversion can be
performed.
Potential of Photovoltaics for implementation in
future energy systems
journalismus-Preis”) and with the German solar price
by Eurosolar, the European Association for Renewable Energy. Several solar systems at the FAU were
built since 2001 in cooperation with the university
administration. We also represent the university in
workshops on sustainability organized regularly between several groups of universities in Bavaria.
We are engaged to foster the change of the energy
supply in industrial countries towards renewable
energy sources. In cooperation with the city of Erlangen and its schools, we successfully helped to implement solar energy into the educational system. Every
school in Erlangen now has a photovoltaic system
with modern measurement equipment realized by
funding of the German Ministry of Environment. Several high school seminars and works by scholars
(Facharbeit, W-Seminar) were co-superwised.
Master students in the teacher curriculum worked on
the evaluation of the potential of solar energy with
emphasis on educational focus.
We supported the work of the public televison for the
well known “Sendung mit der Maus” to produce a 30minutes special on solar cells based on the physical
background of p-n-junction. That movie is now avail
able in online shop and is used by physics teachers in
schools. The movie was awarded by the RWTHAachen University with an award for excellent journalistic work on science (“RWTH-Wissenschafts-
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
M. Hundhausen, L. Ley, and R. Carius
Carrier Recombination Times in Amorphous-Silicon
Doping Superlattices
Phys. Rev. Lett. 53, 1598 (1984).
M. Hundhausen, T. Ichiguchi, and Y. Shiraki
Magnetoresistance of multiple electron gas wires at
the AlGaAs/GaAs heterointerface
Appl. Phys. Lett. 53, 110 (1988).
U. Haken, M. Hundhausen, and L. Ley
Analysis of the moving-photocarrier-grating technique for the determination of the mobility and lifetime of photocarriers in semiconductors
Phys. Rev. B51, 10579 (1995).
Funding
Highly resolving Micro-Raman spectrometer used in the
Hundhausen group. The samples under investigation are
placed under an optical microscope that is used to focus
the laser light on the sample and to collect the scattered
light, which is directed to the triple spectrometer (T64000,
Jobin Yvon).
DFG Sonderforschungsbereich Mehrkomponentige
Schichtsysteme, DFG-Forschergruppe Siliziumcarbid.
S. Rohmfeld, M. Hundhausen, and L. Ley, N. Schulze,
and G. Pensl
Isotope-disorder-induced line broadening of phonons
in the Raman spectra of SiC
Phys. Rev. Lett. 86 , 826 (2001).
M. Hundhausen, R. Püsche, J. Röhrl, and L. Ley
Characterization of defects in silicon carbide by Raman spectroscopy
physica status solidi (b) 245 1356, (2008).
___________________________________________________________________________
125
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Norbert Lindlein
(b. 1965)
Apl.-professor, Institute
for Optics, Information
and Photonics
Norbert Lindlein received in
1992 and 1996 his diploma
and PhD each from the
Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg
(Germany). In 2002 he finished his habilitation in
physics and is a member of the Physics Faculty of the
University of Erlangen-Nürnberg since. In 2009 he was
appointed as so called “außerplanmäßiger” professor
at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg and also received there a permanent position as Akademischer
Oberrat.
He spent two months at Institut d’Optique in Orsay/Paris in 1994 and six months at the Institute of
Microtechnology in Neuchatel/Switzerland in 2000.
His research interests include the simulation and
design of optical systems, diffractive optics, microoptics and optical measurement techniques using interferometry or Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensors.
Norbert Lindlein has more than 50 publications in
peer-reviewed journals with about 600 citations and
an h-index of 15. Additionally, he is author of four
book chapters.
Professional Career
2009-now apl.-professor at FAU, Erlangen
2002-2009 Privatdozent at FAU, Erlangen
2000 Research visit for 6 months at Institute of Microtechnology in Neuchatel/Switzerland (Prof. Dr. Rene
Dändliker/Prof. Dr. Hans Peter Herzig)
1996-2002 Habilitation at FAU (Chair of Prof. Dr. Gerd
Leuchs)
1994 Research visit for 2 months at Institut d’Optique
in Orsay/Paris (Prof. Dr. Pierre Chavel)
1992-1994 PhD student at the FAU (Group of Prof. Dr.
Johannes Schwider, Chair of Prof. Dr. Gerd Leuchs)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: C-7825-2013
Website: www.optik.uni-erlangen.de/odem/
Supervised PhD theses: 7 (+ 5 in progress)
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 18
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
diffraction theory for periodic structures or the vectorial Debye integral to calculate the electric field in the
focus of a high numerical aperture optical system.
Currently, the focusing of ultrashort optical pulses
with high numerical aperture optical systems is investigated by combining ray tracing for aberration calculations, the Debye integral for propagating to the
focus and the coherent superposition of waves with
different frequencies in order to simulate a pulse.
Research in the Lindlein group
Optical Design, Microoptics and Measurement
In our group we perform research in the fields of
optical simulation and design, diffractive optical elements and optical measurement techniques using
interferometry. We are often on the border between
basic research and applied research so that we sometimes also offer knowledge transfer to companies
working in the field of optics.
Optical design and simulation
In 1990 (begin of diploma thesis of Norbert Lindlein)
we started to develop an optical design and simulation software called RAYTRACE which allows the simulation of optical systems by using ray tracing and
wave-optical methods. Originally, this program was
one of the first in the world which could simulate
holographic optical elements with arbitrary recording
waves. During the years this program became comparable to commercial optical simulation programs
whereby for us it has the big advantage of serving as
platform for developing new simulation methods
ranging from geometrical optics like ray tracing, over
scalar wave-optical methods, up to rigorous
Focusing of a 4 fs pulse (Gaussian temporal shape) by a
deep parabolic mirror forming after reflection of a radially
polarized plane wave with special radiant intensity a dipole-like wave with nearly 4 solid angle. The square of the
electric field of the pulse enveloping function is shown at
time steps 0 fs (i.e. when pulse maximum passes the focus),
5 fs, 10 fs, 15 fs, and 20 fs, whereby the distribution for
each time step is normalized separately. The small pulses
travelling horizontally to the right (i.e. along the optical axis
are so called boundary diffraction pulses which show some
interesting behaviour.
126
Diffractive optical elements
Optical measurement techniques
Together with the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light we run a direct-writing laser lithography
system and an electron beam lithography system for
writing small structures in resist. By using the laser
lithography system diffractive optical elements with
quite arbitrary encoded wave fronts are written
which serve for example as null elements in the interferometric test of optical aspherics. With the help of
the e-beam lithography system we write local subwavelength gratings which operate like artificial birefringent materials and form therefore for example
local half wave plates. By changing the local orientation of the grating vector the optical axis of the local
half wave plates can be chosen arbitrarily so that for
example an element can be generated which transforms a global linearly polarized plane wave into a
radially or azimuthally polarized plane wave or a
plane wave with even more complex polarisation
patterns.
Interferometric null tests are used to investigate aspheric surfaces or aspheric lenses. In order to do so,
diffractive optical elements (DOE) are used as null
elements and auxiliary wave fronts can be encoded
additionally into the DOE to calibrate the measurement.
Funding
5 DFG projects with together 9.5 man years for PhD
students and about 140,000 € material expenses,
several projects from other funding organizations
(BMBF, BMWA, BMWi, EC, Bayerische Forschungsstiftung) with together about 1 Mio €
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
N. Lindlein, J. Pfund, J. Schwider: Algorithm for expanding the dynamic range of a Shack-Hartmann
sensor by using a spatial light modulator array. Opt.
Eng. 40(5) (2001) 837-840.
N. Lindlein: Analysis of the disturbing diffraction orders of computer generated holograms used for testing optical aspherics. Appl. Opt. 40(16) (2001) 26982708.
N. Lindlein: Simulation of micro-optical systems including microlens arrays. J. Opt. A: Pure Appl. Opt. 4
(2002) S1-S9.
N. Lindlein, S. Quabis, U. Peschel, G. Leuchs: High
numerical aperture imaging with different polarization patterns. Opt. Express 15(9) (2007) 5827-5842.
N. Lindlein, R. Maiwald, H. Konermann, M. Sondermann, U. Peschel, G. Leuchs: A new 4 -geometry
optimized for focussing onto an atom with a dipolelike radiation pattern. Laser Physics 17(7) (2007) 927934.
N. Lindlein, G. Leuchs: Chapters Geometrical Optics
and Wave Optics. In Springer Handbook of Lasers and
nd
Optics, 2 edition, ed by F. Träger, Springer, Berlin
Heidelberg 2012, p. 35-160.
___________________________________________________________________________
127
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Jürgen Ristein
(b. 1958)
Apl. professor, Chair for Experimental Physics, Laser
Physics
Jürgen Ristein has received his
PhD in physics in 1986 at the
University of Marburg with a
work on photoluminescence and photoconductivity of
chalcogenides. In 1987 to 1989 he was engaged in
post doctoral research work at the Universities of
Marburg and Salt Lake City, covering Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) and Optically Detected
Magnetic Resonance (ODMR) on semiconductors. In
October 1989 he took a research position at the University of Erlangen where he changed his research
field to the electronic properties of semiconductor
surfaces and interfaces. He finished habilitation in
1998 with a thesis on the electronic properties of
diamond surfaces that won the Emmi-Noether-Award
of the Faculty of Sciences of the FAU. In 2005 he was
promoted to become apl. Professor of physics.
His main work at Erlangen was on wide band gap
semiconductors, specifically diamond. Work on graphene has been added during the last five years and
very recently a new focus was set on nano wire semiconductors as base material for optical and optoelectronic applications.
Professional Career
2005 - now Apl. Professor of Physics at FAU
1998 – 2005 Privatdozent at FAU
1993 - 1998: Staff member in teaching and research
at FAU
1989 -1993 Research assistant at FAU
1988 -1989 Postdoctoral fellow at the University of
Utah, USA
1987 Staff researcher at the Universitiy of Marburg
1984 -1986 PhD student at the University of Marburg
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Researcher ID: E-1742-2013
Website: www.tp2.uni-erlangen.de
Supervised PhD theses: 8
Diploma, BSc., MSc.: 14
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
unclear for more than a decade. In 2000, based on
experimental work, our group developed an electrochemical doping model that has meanwhile been
widely accepted as the explanation for the surface
conductivity of diamond [Maier 2000].
Research in the Ristein group
Surface Transfer Doping of Semiconductors
A major focus of research in the past was on the electronic properties of diamond surfaces. The work on
this topic started in the early 1990’s when CVD deposition techniques had stimulated major interest in
diamond research and plasma techniques, developed
along the same lines, allowed reproducible surface
preparation. An outstanding feature of diamond is
the (true) negative electron affinity (NEA) of its surfaces after hydrogenation that had been qualitatively
described already be Himpsel and co-workers in 1979.
In 1998 we finally succeeded to measure this unusual
property by a combination of photoelectron spectroscopy and work function measurements [CUI 1998].
This work laid the base for a lot of research on prototype devices exploiting the diamond NEA.
Surface hydrogenation does, however, not only turn
the electron affinity of diamond negative, it also induces a substantial surface conductivity. This no less
amazing property of diamond was reported by Ravi
and Landstrass in 1989. Despite intense and controversial discussion the mechanism behind it remained
Output (upper panel) and transfer (lower panel) characteristics of a Solution Gated Field Effect Transistor based
on the surface conductivity of intrinsic diamond. The
transfer characteristics show a rigid shift upon pH variation of the electrolyte. The most simple design of this
device is sketched in the insert.
128
Electrochemical Interfaces of Semiconductors
Electronic Properties of Graphene
The successful model for the diamond surface conductivity was based on a combination of surface and
semiconductor physics with electrochemical concepts
and stimulated general interest in electrochemical
interfaces of diamond in our group. Hydrogenated
surfaces of undoped diamond need in fact only to be
combined with two ohmic contacts (e.g. Au) to yield a
solution gated field effect transistor (SGFET) with a
well defined pH sensitivity (see figure above). These
most simple devices were intensely studied by a
number of research groups for sensing applications in
the upcoming years. In our research group we concentrated on the mechanisms behind these applications. Specifically, the ionic and electrochemical equilibria at the diamond-electrolyte interface turned out
to be crucial and needed to be distinguished carefully
in order to fully understand the physics of this type of
hetero junction. During the research on diamond
SGFET’s a major expertise in the interdisciplinary field
between surface science, electronics and electrochemistry could be established within our group.
Graphene is discussed as one the most promising
materials for future electronics. One method to prepare graphene sheets on top of the polar planes of
(usually hexagonal) SiC is by controlled thermal decomposition of silcon carbide. This technique was
pioneered at FAU by a research group around Thomas
Seyller and commonly yields a graphene layer on top
of a so-called buffer layer that mediates the contact
between the graphene and the substrate by partial
covalent bonding to the Si atoms of the SiC (0001)
surface. Since the dangling bond defects of the buffer
layer are situated above the Dirac energy of the graphene, they serve as donors and lead to a pronounced n-type conductivity of this so-called epitaxial
graphene. The bonding between the buffer layer and
the SiC substrate can be removed by post a hydrogenation process leading to quasi-free standing (QF)
graphene. The dangling bond defects of the substrates are then passivated by hydrogen, and intrinsic
graphene layers are expected. Amazingly, however,
QF graphene exhibits a pronounced p-type conductivity. The mechanism behind this p-type conductivity
remained unclear for years within the community.
We could resolve this riddle recently by setting-up a
polarization doping model that takes the pyroelectric
nature of the hexagonal SiC substrates correctly into
account. The model explains the p-type doping of QF
graphene on SiC (0001) substrates quantitatively and
makes predictions for other substrates a number of
which are meanwhile confirmed. [Ristein 2012]
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Selected publications
J.B. Cui, J. Ristein, and L. Ley "The electron affinity of
the bare and hydrogen covered single crystal diamond (111) surface", Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 429 (1998)
F. Maier, M. Riedel, B. Mantel, J. Ristein , and L.Ley,
"The origin of surface conductivity in diamond "
Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 3472 (2000)
Funding
P. Strobel, M. Riedel, J. Ristein and L. Ley "Surface
transfer doping of diamond", NATURE 430, 439 (2004)
Tri-national (German-Austrian-Swiss D-A-CH) focussed
DFG project ‘Synthesis of superhard materials’, EU
MC-RTN ‘Diamond Research on Interfaces for Versatile Electronics (DRIVE)’
J. Ristein "Surface transfer doping of semiconductors", Science 313, 1057 (2006)
J. Ristein, W. Zhang and L. Ley "Hydrogen-terminated
diamond electrodes: I. Charges, potentials, energies"
and “: II. Redox activity”, Phys. Rev. E 78, 041602 and
041603 (2008)
J. Ristein, S. Mammadov, and Th. Seyller “Origin of
Doping in Quasi-Free-Standing Graphene on Silicon
Carbide”, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 246104 (2012)
___________________________________________________________________________
129
Junior Research Groups
This section introduces researchers at the department who are leading their own junior research groups (at the level of "Habilitand" or
similar).
Abbreviations are used for the affiliations
ECAP: Erlangen Center for Astroparticle Physics
IOIP: Institute for Optics, Information and Photonics
130
Andrea Aiello
Michel Bockstedte
(b. 1968)
IOIP
(b. 1966)
Solid State Theory
Andrea Aiello graduated Cum Laude
in experimental physics from University of Rome “La Sapienza” in
1995. After graduation he got a Research Fellowship
from ENEA to pursue experimental research on laserassisted fabrication of bio-electronic devices. Shortly
afterwards, he began to study for his PhD and decided to cease experimental activity in favor of theoretical quantum optics. In early 2000 he achieved his PhD
at University of Rome “La Sapienza”. After a year
spent as a Researcher at ENEA and ISS in Rome, at the
end of 2001 he joined as a postdoc the quantum
optics and quantum information group directed by
Han Woerdman at Leiden University (The Netherlands). After about six years in Leiden where he was
eventually working as a Senior Researcher, in fall
2008 he moved to the former Max Planck Research
Group (now Max Planck Institute for the Science of
Light - MPL) in Erlangen (Germany), where he was
awarded with an Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship
for Experienced Researchers (duration 1.5 years).
During the summer semester 2012 he was appointed
W2 Professor (temporary replacement) at FriedrichAlexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg. Currently
he is “Akademischer Rat auf Zeit” at Institut für Optik,
Information und Photonik at the same university and,
since 2009, he is the group leader of the Optics Theory Group (OTG) in the division directed by Gerd
Leuchs at MPL. Moreover, at present time, he is pursuing his habilitation at FAU.
The OTG both investigates problems at the foundation of optics and provides theoretical support to
experimental activities in the Leuchs’ division. The
topics covered by the group span from classical optics
to quantum optics and quantum information. The
main current research areas include the spin and the
orbital angular momentum of light; cylindrically polarized beams of light and their connection with entangled cluster quantum states; measurement problems
in quantum information theory with emphasis on
informational completeness of continuous-variable
measurements; dynamical evolution of photon distinguishability and related problems; singularity-free
exact solution of Maxwell equations with arbitrary
dipole current distributions and local field enhancement.
Michel Bockstedte studied physics at
the Technische Universität München
where he wrote his diploma thesis in
condensed matter theory. Being interested in a first
principles description of solids and their surfaces he
joined the group of Prof. Dr. Scheffler at the FritzHaber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft in Berlin
for his PhD. There he met Prof. Pankratov and latter
joint his newly founded group at the FAU. Within the
DFG research unit on the doping and growth of silicon
carbide and the preceding SFB he led the defect theory project. During a post-doc with Prof. Dr. Angel
Rubio, University of the Basque Country, he began to
work on the photo-physics of point defects.
He received his habilitation end of 2006. Upon his
return to FAU continued ab initio modeling of the
photo-physics of adsorbate systems at surfaces and
defects in semiconductors. The quantitative analysis
of such complex systems requires treatment of the
many electron system at the quantum mechanical
level ranging from density functional theory to many
body perturbation theory. This is illustrated by a current project on the realization of solid state quantum
bits by vacancy-related defects in semiconductors. In
the spin state of such nano objects quantum information can be stored (written) and red-out by optical
excitation. Manipulation involves intermediate states
of a multi-configurational nature. The challenge for
theory is a quantitative treatment of many electron
correlation effects here which are addressed by a
combination of hybrid density functional theory and
configuration interaction approaches. Surface science
projects comprise the dissociative electron attachment to molecules at ice surfaces, a joint DFGproject
with the groups of Prof. U. Bovensiepen, U DuisburgEssen, and Prof. Dr. K. Morgenstern, U Bochum, as
well as the photo-physics of organic adsorbates at
metal oxide surfaces which is part of a recently
founded DFG research unit FOR-1878 "funCOS" at the
FAU Erlangen-Nuernberg. Both projects focus on the
modification of electronic or photo-physical properties of molecules upon adsorption via bonding to
specific surface sites or via substrate polarization
effects.
131
Maria Chekhova
Thomas Eberl
(b. 1963)
IOIP
(b. 1972)
ECAP
Maria Chekhova graduated from
M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State
University in 1986 with the master
degree in Physics. After 3 years, she
got her Ph.D degree from the same university for the
work ‘k-spectroscopy of Polaritons in the Vicinity of
Lattice Resonances’. Later she worked at the Lomonosov University as a researcher, focusing on quantum
optics and nonlinear spectroscopy and teaching special courses ‘Quantum Optics’ and ‘Optics of Nonclassical Light’. In 2004, she received her habilitation
degree for the thesis “Polarization and Spectral Properties of Biphotons”. This work, in particular, introduced a way for the encoding of quantum information into the polarization states of photon pairs.
She collaborated with the University of Maryland,
Baltimore County (Baltimore, USA), where she stayed
several times in 1998-2001 as a visiting professor, and
with the National Metrology Institute (Turin, Italy)
where she was awarded the Lagrange fellowship in
2009 and the Piedmont fellowship for Outstanding
Visiting Scientists in 2010. In 2007-2009 she was
awarded the Mercator guest professor fellowship of
DFG at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg and
taught a short lecture course there.
Since 2010, Maria Chekhova has a permanent position at Max-Planck Institute for the Science of Light in
Erlangen, leading the Single-Photon Technology technical development and service unit (TDSU) and also
the Quantum Radiation (QuaRad) group. Since 2012,
she is a Privat-Dozentin at the Department of Physics
of the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg. As the head
of the TDSU, she is dealing with the generation and
characterization of few-photon nonclassical states of
light, such as photon pairs entangled in frequency,
wavevector and polarization. She also leads an ambitious project on the generation of three-photon entangled states. As the QuaRad group leader, she studies the properties of bright nonclassical states of light,
primarily bright squeezed vacuum (BSV). Recent important results on this way, such as the preparation of
pure unpolarized macroscopic states of light and the
observation of macroscopic entanglement, formed a
base for the European FP7 project ‘BRISQ2’, coordinated by Maria Chekhova and involving researchers
from five countries.
Thomas Eberl has studied physics at
the Technische Universität München
(TU Munich) and wrote his diploma thesis at the Max
Planck Institute for Astrophysics. He then changed to
experimental heavy-ion physics and joined the HADES
collaboration at GSI Darmstadt. He acquired his PhD
in 2004 with a thesis on the investigation of π0 induced e+e− pairs in carbon-carbon interactions.
In 2007 he joined the group of Prof. Gisela Anton at
the newly founded Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle
Physics (ECAP) and became a member of the neutrino
telescope collaborations ANTARES and KM3NeT. A
few months later he refused a tenure-track junior
professorship for "Strange hadronic matter" at the
Excellence Cluster "Universe" at TU Munich in favor of
a permanent position at ECAP. In ANTARES he serves
as a member of the steering committee and coordinates the analysis tools working group, while he is a
member of the conference and outreach committee
in KM3NeT. At ECAP, Thomas Eberl coordinates the
neutrino astronomy research group pursuing analysis
of the ANTARES data. His research encompasses the
development and improvement of event reconstruction methods and the search for point sources and
diffuse fluxes of cosmic neutrinos. One special research focus concentrates on the analysis of radioloud Active Galactic Nuclei whose jets point in the
direction of the Earth. These objects are monitored
regularly with very long baseline radio interferometers by the TANAMI collaboration, in order to identify
interesting jet emission epochs which are then used
to search for correlated emission of neutrinos in the
ANTARES data.
Recently, Thomas Eberl has initiated a new group that
participates very actively in the feasibility study ORCA, a project within the first phase of KM3NeT. The
scientific goal here is to evaluate whether a multimegaton Cherenkov detector in the deep sea, based
on KM3NeT technology, can be used to determine the
neutrino mass hierarchy. As the recent measurement
of the neutrino mixing angle θ13 has shown, it is in
principle possible to use atmospheric neutrinos and
the matter-induced effects imprinted on their flavor
oscillation probabilities to clarify the ordering of the
neutrino mass eigenstates. The group mainly works
on the evaluation of the detector sensitivity and on
various aspects of the event reconstruction.
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Ira Jung
Alexander Kappes
(b. 1974 )
ECAP
(b. 1971)
ECAP
Ira Jung studied Physics at the
University of Heidelberg. In 1999
she wrote her Diploma thesis in
the field of high energy astroparticle physics on the
development of sophisticated image processing
methods for the analysis of high energy gamma ray
events. During her PhD (1999-2003) at the MaxPlanck institute for nuclear physics she was responsible for the mechanics of the mirror adjustment system, developed of the camera calibration and devised
software for shower analysis for the H.E.S.S. experiment. In the end of her PhD she analyzed the first
data of the Crab Nebula and the Blazar PKS 2155-304.
In 2004 she joined the Washington University in St.
Louis, MO working as a PostDoc on CdZnTe detector
development and on CdZnTe detector simulations to
evaluate the theoretical performance limitations. At
that time she obtained the best energy resolution
reported for a CdZnTe detector grown with the modified High-Pressure Bridgmen method.
Since 2007 she is a permanent staff member at the
University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. Since 2011 she is
leading a group working on galactic gamma ray
sources with the main focus on supernova remnants
(SNRs). SNRs are prime candidates for the sources of
galactic cosmic rays and the goal is to unambiguously
identify their role in the production of cosmic-ray
particles. One special research focus lies on the analysis of SNR and molecular cloud associations, which
give deep insight into the production mechanism of
high energy gamma rays in SNRs. Additionally her
group works on image processing methods to further
improve the angular resolution of Cherenkov telescopes. Ira Jung serves as “run coordinator” in the
H.E.S.S. collaboration, she is responsible for data
quality, efficiency and data taking. Additionally, she is
responsible for the commissioning of the newest and
largest telescope of the H.E.S.S. detector.
Since 2012 Ira Jung established a group participating
in the Cherenkov camera development in the FlashCam consortium, part of the CTA consortium. The
group works on calibration of the camera and the
characterisation of the readout channels.
Alexander Kappes received his doctorate from the University of Bonn in
2001 for precision measurements of
cross sections in deep-inelastic electron-proton scattering at the HERA accelerator and the first-time extraction of the parity violating proton structure function. Shortly after, he moved to astroparticle physics
and the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg where he
joined the ANTARES and KM3NeT neutrino telescope
groups. In 2006, Alexander Kappes was awarded a 3year Marie-Curie Fellowship and spent 2 years at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison working on searches
for neutrinos from gamma-ray bursts with the
IceCube neutrino telescope. In 2010, he acquired his
habilitation on high-energy astrophysics with neutrino
telescopes. From 2011-2013 he was an interim professor of physics at the Humboldt University of Berlin.
His teaching activities comprise lectures on particle
and astroparticle physics and seminars in these fields
as well as lectures on modern physics for teacher
students.
Alexander Kappes is the PI of the BMBF-funded
IceCube group at the Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics (ECAP) with his research focus on searches
for cosmic sources of high-energy neutrinos, which
provide a fundamentally new and complementary
look onto the Universe. He is also a major player in
the planning of IceCube’s low-energy extension
PINGU where he is particularly involved in reconstruction and calibration studies. The primary goal of
PINGU is to render the IceCube detector sensitive to
the neutrino mass hierarchy, a yet unresolved fundamental question in particle physics. Alexander
Kappes is chair of the IceCube publication committee
and member of the collaboration’s Executive Board.
In addition to IceCube, he is also a member of the
KM3NeT collaboration, which is currently entering the
first installation phase of the multi-km3 successor of
the ANTARES neutrino telescope in the Mediterranean Sea; he has made significant contributions to the
physics-case studies during the KM3NeT design
phase.
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133
Robert Lahmann
Christoph Marquardt
(b. 1967 )
ECAP
(b. 1976)
IOIP
Robert Lahmann received his doctorate in physics from the University of
Maryland (USA) for precision measurements of Z0 decays with the OPAL detector at the
electron positron collider LEP at CERN (Switzerland).
He continued to pursue research in particle physics as
DESY fellow at DESY-Hamburg where he investigated
the proton structure function in deep inelastic scattering processes at the electron proton collider HERA.
Before returning to fundamental research at the University of Erlangen, he developed automotive systems
at the Robert Bosch GmbH in Stuttgart. At the University of Erlangen he acquired his habilitation in the
field of astroparticle physics, his current area of research. His teaching activities span lectures on structure of matter; experimental methods in particle and
astroparticle physics; and advanced lab courses.
Robert Lahmann leads the BMBF-funded acoustics
group at the Erlangen Centre for Particle Physics
(ECAP). His prime research topic is the detection of
high-energy astrophysical neutrinos, which – once
detected – would open a new window to the understanding of fundamental questions in astrophysics,
like the sources and acceleration mechanisms of cosmic rays. He is a member of the steering committee
of the ANTARES neutrino telescope that utilizes the
well-established optical Cherenkov technique to detect high-energy neutrinos in sea water and comprises an acoustic sensor system designed and constructed by Robert Lahmann and his group. He leads the
ANTARES acoustics working group – the ECAP acoustics group being the largest subgroup – with the aim
of investigating the feasibility of acoustic neutrino
detection. With this method, ultra-high energy neutrinos are detected using the faint sound pulses that
are emitted in neutrino interactions in water. The
advantages of the acoustic method are in the technical simplicity of the acoustic sensor technology and
the long distances sound can travel through water.
Robert Lahmann is also strongly involved in the
KM3NeT project where he represents the University
of Erlangen in the Institute Board and is integrating
acoustics for calibration purposes.
Christoph Marquardt studied Physics at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany and the University of York, UK until 2002. During
his dissertation work as a scientist at the Max Planck
Research group in Erlangen he investigated different
approaches to generate and characterize continuous
variable quantum states of light. He studied the generation of squeezed light in standard and photonic
crystal fibres, investigated concepts of pulsed resonant atom-light interaction, implemented quantum
distillation protocols and looked at the quantum tomography of polarization states.
He received his Ph.D. from the University ErlangenNürnberg in 2007. In 2008 he worked as metrology
scientist at Carl Zeiss Laser Optics GmbH investigating
new technologies for deep ultraviolet laser applications and then returned to the University of ErlangenNürnberg. He is a group leader of the quantum information processing group (QIV) in the division of Prof.
Dr. Gerd Leuchs at the Max Planck Institute for the
Science of Light. Currently he is a permanent staff at
the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light. Since
2012 he is Alcatel Lucent Bell Labs guest professor at
the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, investigating
quantum limits of classical communication.
The quantum information processing group is a joint
effort between the Institute of Optics, Information
and Photonics of the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg
and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light.
It currently consists of 12 Ph.D. students and two
postdocs. The topics of the group cover a broad range
of quantum optics and quantum information experiments. The QIV group investigates sources of nonclassical light (squeezing and entanglement generated
in optical fibers and disk resonators), quantum optics
with spatio-polarization modes, optimal measurement strategies (quantum state reconstruction techniques, state discrimination, miniuml disturbance
measurements) and quantum protocols (quantum key
distribution in free space and fibre links, quantum
state distillation and filtering protocols).
134
Claus Metzner
Thilo Michel
(b. 1964)
BIOPHYSICS GROUP
(b. 1971)
ECAP
Claus Metzner studied Physics at the
University of Erlangen, where he
started to work on the quantum
theory of semiconductor nanostructures. He wrote
his Diploma thesis on transport and optical properties
in doping superlattices. In 1994, he received his PhD
on disorder effects in doping superlattices. As a postdoc, he spent two years at the University of Tokyo,
working on surface roughness induced exciton localization, density dependent intersubband spectra in
quantum wells, as well on potential fluctuations and
capacity spectra in quantum dot arrays. He then went
for more than one year to the University of California,
Santa Barbara, where he focused on many-particle
effects in quantum dot molecules, strain-induced
localization of quantum states, band-coupling effects
and coherent control of artificial quantum structures.
After acquiring his habilitation on collective intersubband excitations in disordered systems in 2001, he
gradually changed his field of interest towards Complex Systems and, in particular, theoretical Biophysics.
He became a member of the Biophysics Group at the
University of Erlangen in 2005, where he worked on
rheological properties and fluctuations of the cytoskeleton, biochemical reaction networks, individual
and collective cell migration, as well on the development of various data analysis tools in the field of cell
mechanics.
As a Privatdozent, he teaches courses on Biophysics,
Soft Matter and on Complex Systems, including topics
such as self-organization and emergence, critical
phenomena, complex networks, powerlaws, nonlinear dynamics, classical and quantum chaos, synchronization, traffic dynamics, cellular automata, neural
networks, evolutionary dynamics, game theory,
econo- and socio-physics, swarm dynamics, stigmergy, synergetics, information theory, biochemical reaction networks, systems biology, artificial life, discrete
automata, fractals, and stochastic processes..
Thilo Michel studied physics at the
University of Bonn. In 1996 he finished his diploma thesis in experimental particle physics on the development of a
Møllerpolarimeter for the GDH experiment to measure the Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn sum rule at the electron accelerator ELSA in Bonn. In 2001 he acquired his
PhD for a measurement of total photo-absorption
cross sections on carbon and the proton at the GDHexperiment. As a post-doc (2001-2002) he measured
the polarization asymmetry in η photo-production on
the proton with the same experiment.
After working in industry for 3 years, he joined in
2005 the chair of Prof. Gisela Anton to lead a working
group for investigating and improving the energyresolving X-ray pixel detector Medipix. Concurrently
to the establishment of the Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics he extended the range of research
activities towards the search for the neutrino-less
double beta decay with active pixel detectors within
the COBRA collaboration. Furthermore he developed,
together with CERN, a novel multi-energy-channel
photon-counting pixel detector for dosimetry of ionizing radiation and energy-resolved X-ray imaging. In
addition, a part of the group currently focuses on
phase-contrast and dark-field X-ray imaging which is
investigated also in collaborations with university
hospitals, the KIT and industry. A high-granularity
time-and-position resolving detector for photons in
the optical regime has been developed and is currently being investigated in collaboration with a research
group of the Max-Planck-Institute for the Science of
Light. Thilo Michel is a member of the project management committee of the Medipix collaboration at
CERN, the COBRA collaboration board, the supervisory board of the Marie Curie International Training
Network ARDENT and the scientific committee of the
conference series International Workshop on Radiations Imaging Detectors.
135
Gerhard Schröder-Turk
Harald Schwefel
(b. 1973)
Solid State Theory
(b. 1975)
IOIP
Gerd Schröder-Turk is a computational
and statistical physicist whose research interests revolve around the
role of complex spatial structure in soft matter systems. He has worked on the spontaneous formation
of ordered network-like phases based on periodic
minimal surfaces in soft matter systems, and the
implications of such complex spatial structure on
physical properties, including photonics, mechanics
and transport. Specifically, he has contributed to the
identification of the chiral photonic Gyroid crystal in
the nanostructure of wing-scales of some butterfly
species, to an understanding of the resulting chiraloptical properties and to the biomimetic design of
corresponding nanofabricated photonic materials. A
second theme of his research interests is the role of
spatial disorder, and quantification thereof. He is a
founding member of the research group "Geometry
and Physics of Spatial Random Systems", which as
one aim addresses integral geometric measures and
Minkowski functionals as structure metrics in disordered materials. He has developed a body of work on
the use of tensor-valued Minkowski functionals and
their use in various disordered systems, including
liquid and solid foams, porous materials and granular
media. He holds a PhD awarded by the Australian
National University in Canberra, and has been a
member of Prof Klaus Mecke's chair for Theoretical
Physics since 2006; he completed his habilitation
degree in July 2013.
Harald Schwefel started his studies
of physics at the Brandenburg Technical University in Cottbus. After the
completion of the Vordiplom, he joined the graduate
school program in physics at Yale University in New
Haven, CT, USA. There he worked with A. Douglas
Stone on theoretical studies of wave chaotic dielectric
resonators. In 2004, he was awarded his Ph.D. at Yale
University. After a brief post-doctoral time at Yale and
at ATR research laboratories in Kyoto (Japan) he
started as a post-doctoral fellow at the Max-PlanckResearch Group in the Group of Lijun Wang.
Since 2010, Harald Schwefel is the group leader of the
WhiGaMoR group at the Institute for Optics, Information and Photonics and at the Max Planck Institute
for the Science of Light in the Division of Prof. Gerd
Leuchs. His main interests involve ultra-high quality
crystalline whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonators. Such resonators confine light by total internal
reflection at their dielectric interface and can provide
ultra-high lifetimes combined with small modal volume. The resulting high fields inside of the resonator
are ideal for non-linear optical effects. Currently, he is
actively pursuing parametric frequency conversion in
lithium niobate WGM resonators. One specific goal is
to convert THz radiation into the optical domain.
Polarization is another aspect of his research, which
takes on a central role if crystals used for WGM resonators are birefingent.
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