Dr. Albert Schließer receives Early Career Researcher Prize in Quantum Electronics and Optics

Dr. Albert Schließer is one of the recipients of the Early Career Researchers Prize in Quantum Electronics and Optics this year. This award is given by the European Physical Society every two years to young scientists “for the highest level of excellence amongst emerging researchers”.

Albert Schließer receives the “2011 PhD Thesis Prize in the area of Fundamental Research” (together with Simon Gröblacher (University of Vienna) and Maiken H. Mikkelsen (University of California/ Santa Barbara)) for his thesis on the subject “Cavity Optomechanics and Optical Frequency Comb Generation with Silicia Whispering-Gallery-Mode Microresonators” which he carried out at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics.

Albert Schließer studied physics at the Technische Universität München and at the University of Constance. He wrote his diploma thesis at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried. In 2006 he joined the independent Max Planck Research Group Laboratory of Photonics and Quantum Measurements of Prof. Tobias Kippenberg, who accepted a call as professor at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in 2009. Dr. Schließer completed his thesis on the subject Cavity Optomechanics and Optical Frequency Comb Generation with Silicia Whispering-Gallery-Mode Microresonators at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, under the supervision of Prof. Theodor W. Hänsch, with “summa cum laude”.

Albert Schließer demonstrated in his doctoral thesis for the first time the cooling of micro-mechanical oscillators by the pressure of light. In the following experiments he succeeded in approaching the quantum mechanical ground state of micro resonators by applying this cooling procedure. Experiments of this kind could provide insights into the question at which point the motion of “large” objects is determined by the laws of quantum mechanics, as well as the role of quantum noise in coupled optical-mechanical systems.

More recently, Dr. Schließer has been engaged in the experimental realization of an approach for light switching and storage based on “optomechanically induced transparency”, an approach developed during his thesis work. He is furthermore involved in several studies exploring the applications of crystalline whispering gallery-mode resonators pursued in collaboration with the Laser Spectroscopy Division at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics.

Albert Schließer has already received the Otto Hahn Medal of the Max Planck Society in 2010. On May 24th 2011 Albert Schließer will be awarded with the prize of the EPS at the World of Photonic Congress in Munich.

Contact:

Dr. Albert Schlie?er
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
CH-1015 Lausanne
Tel: +41 21 69 35873
Mail: albert.schliesser@epfl.ch
Dr. Olivia Meyer-Streng
Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics
D-85748 Garching
Phone: +49 89 32905 213
e-mail. olivia.meyer-streng@mpq.mpg.de