Quantum Research Groups and People in Jena

Prof. Andreas Tünnermann

Andreas Tünnermann is

• director of the Fraunhofer Institute of Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF and
  
• chair for the Institute of Applied Physics at Friedrich Schiller University Jena. 

His main research interests include scientific and technical aspects associated with the tailoring of light. Research topics are the design and manufacturing of novel micro- and nano-optical photonic devices using high-end microlithography and its application for generation, amplification, steering and switching of light. In particular, his work on high power diode pumped fiber and waveguide lasers is widely recognized. Since recently he has also been dealing with challenges in the application of phenomena of quantum physics. His special interests here lie in the identification of added value in imaging, communication and computing. 

Andreas Tünnermann is member of the German Physical Society, European Physical Society and acatech, fellow of OSA and SPIE. His research activities on applied quantum electronics have been awarded with the Röntgen-Award, WLT-Award, Otto-Schott-Award, Leibinger Innovation Award, and the Gottfried-Wilhelm-Leibniz-Award. 2015 he received the ERC-Advanced Grand of the EU.

The research group for Quantum Optics is located at the Institute of Applied Physics. The group brings together expertise in nonlinear, quantum, integrated and nano-optics to develop novel fundamental concepts and applications that harness quantum principles.

One of the main topics of the group is the development of sources of tailored quantum states of light. Mainly, we are studying the generation of photon pairs by spontaneous nonlinear processes in various nonlinear photonic systems ranging from bulk crystals over different waveguide structures to nanostructured or atomically thin surfaces. We aim to fundamentally understand the nonlinear effects leading to photon-pair generation and how they depend on the material and geometry of the sources. 

Furthermore, we investigate also the application of photon pairs for quantum-enhanced imaging and spectroscopy techniques, where they can enable measurements with better signal-to-noise ratio or in hardly accessible wavelength ranges. Finally, we develop a novel platform for integrated quantum optics based on lithium niobate on insulator, that can combine quantum-state generation, manipulation and detection on one optical chip and enables applications in quantum sensing, computing, and communication.

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Principle investigator: Dr. Frank Setzpfandt

Frank Setzpandt is the research group leader of the Quantum Optics group at the Institute of Applied Physics Friedrich Schiller University Jena and a PI of the Abbe Center of Photonics. He studied Physics and did his PhD in nonlinear optics at the Institute of Applied Physics in Jena. After a PostDoc at the Nonlinear Physics Centre of the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia, he returned to Jena and is a research group leader since 2016. The research of Frank Setzpfandt combines nonlinear, integrated, nano, and quantum optics to develop novel sources of non-classical light, innovative schemes for quantum imgaging and sensing as well as integrated platforms for quantum optics.

Principle investigator: Prof. Fabian Steinlechner

Fabian Steinlechner received his PhD in 2015 from ICFO - The Institute of Photonic Sciences in Barcelona, where his research focused on quantum light sources for applications in space. His postdoctoral research at the Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information of the Austrian Academy of Sciences focused on loop-hole-free tests of non-locality, quantum communication over long distances, and quantum information processing with hyperventangled photons. In August 2018, he was appointed Fraunhofer Attract junior research group leader with his research programme "Photonic Technologies for Quantum Communication". He now leads a diverse team of scientific and technical employees with a research portfolio that spans from novel information processing modalities based on high-dimensional entanglement to near-term engineering solutions for application at system level.  With the group "Photonic Quantum Information" at the Abbe Centre for Photonics at Friedrich Schiller University Jena is investigating fundamental concepts for quantum sensing and quantum interference. With the group "Photonic Quantum Communication" at the Fraunhofer IOF Jena, and the core competences in applied optics available there, these concepts are transferred into systems for quantum communication in terrestrial networks. With the group "Active and Adaptive Optics", he is now also developing link technologies and adaptive optical systems for the implementation of these QKD systems not only on the ground but also in space.

Highly motivated candidates seeking to join an interdisciplinary team of scientist and engineers striving to continuously challenge the state of the art and thereby bring the vision of a quantum internet a step closer to reality are encouraged to submit their contact information via the website of Fraunhofer IOF Jena.

Principle investigator: Dr. Valerio Flavio Gili

Valerio Flavio Gili leads the Quantum-Enhanced Imaging Group at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF. After studying physics at University of studies of Rome "La Sapienza", he completed his PhD in the field of all-dielectric nonlinear nanophotonics at Université Paris Diderot, Paris in 2018. During his PhD, he has been a visiting scientist at The Australian National University, Canberra. From 2019 to 2023 he has been a postdoctoral fellow at the Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, where he sharpened his knowledge of quantum imaging. His current research focus lies on imaging and sensing with non-classical states of light, integrated quantum photonics, and quantum hardware development

Being located at the Institute of Applied Physics, the Nano & Quantum Optics group investigates fundamental effects of nanostructured materials and quantum photonic systems. In close collaboration between scientists in theory, technology, and experimental characterization, the research focuses in areas where nano and quantum science meet, leading to new effects, solutions, and technologies. Combined with the concentration of electromagnetic fields on the nanoscale, the quantum properties of few photon states allow realizing novel applications, which rely directly on the entanglement of these states. The applied research methods range from the design and modelling, the fabrication and characterization, all the way to functional evaluation of nano and quantum optical structures with the aim of realizing and using optical systems with added functionality.

Besides fundamental phenomena, we explore several application perspectives of Nano & Quantum Optics, e.g., innovative approaches in near-field microscopy, quantum imaging, nonlinear imaging and spectroscopic techniques for biological specimen, and photon management in solar cells.

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Principle investigator: Prof. Thomas Pertsch

Thomas Pertsch is Professor for Applied Physics and a director of the Abbe Center of Photonics at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, Germany, where he heads the Nano and Quantum Optics group at the Institute of Applied Physics. He studied electrical engineering at the Technical University Dresden, Germany and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, USA. Afterwards he worked as a researcher at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering Jena. In 2003 he received his PhD from the Friedrich Schiller University Jena. His research focusses on the generation and interaction of light in nanostructured matter, including optical metamaterials and photonic crystals as well as ultrafast dynamics and quantum photonics.

Principle investigator: Dr. Falk Eilenberger

A long time ago Falk Eilenberger studied physics at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, because he found nothing better to choose from in the town where his girlfriend studied. This makeshift choice turned out to be the best possible one, for all the wrong reasons. It led to a Diploma Degree on Spatiotemporal Photonics. He then worked on wave physics at the University of Sydney (optical waves) and Sydney’s various beaches (fluid waves). Upon returning he started to research Light Bullets for his PhD degree, which he received from the University of Jena 2014. Then followed a position as research coordinator at the Fraunhofer Institute of Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF, later being in charge of coordinating Quantum Photonics activities at Fraunhofer IOF and the university’s Institute of Applied Physics.

He is now a Junior Research Group leader for Photonics in 2D-Materials. As such, he has the pleasure of working with bright students and PostDocs that help him contribute to Quantum Photonic devices, Quantum Communication, novel materials in optics and ultrafast laser pulses. Alas, he does not get to spend much time in the lab anymore and consequentially sometimes envies his students for their first-hand journey into the realm of quantum photonics.

If you want to join him on that journey feel free to send him a text or check out his group’s website.

Principle investigator: Prof. Uwe Zeitner

Uwe Zeitner is Professor for Micro- and Nanostructure Technology at the Institute of Applied Physics of the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena and Senior Director for Opto-Mechanical Systems at the Fraunhofer IOF Jena. He studied Physics at the FSU Jena and received this PhD and Habilitation in 1999 and 2008, respectively. His field of research is the development of design and fabrication methods for micro- and nano-lithographic components and sub-systems. The related optical applications are spanning from high-performance gratings for space-borne spectroscopy to integrated optical components in LiNbO₃ and Diamond for novel quantum devices.