Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light

In a European comparison, the MPG is in second place

Geordie Williamson receives the Max Planck-Humboldt Research Award 2024, and Max Planck-Humboldt Medals go to Laura Waller and Torsten Hoefler

Neural networks enable learning of error correction strategies for computers based on quantum physics

Using a plasmonic nanosensor, it is possible to observe enzymes and how they move without a marker

The Max Planck Society, Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg and Erlangen University Hospital have signed a cooperation agreement

Whether making a medical diagnosis, searching for materials for the energy revolution, or predicting protein structures, artificial intelligence algorithms are an effective tool in many scientific fields today. But are they useful in physics, where the goal is to understand the fundamental processes of nature? Mario Krenn and Florian Marquardt are already assisted by AI at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, where they are getting a feel for what the algorithms can and cannot (yet) do.

Originally from Iran, physicist Hanieh Fattahi was attracted to Germany because it offered many more research opportunities and greater freedoms in everyday life. Of course, once she arrived, she had to come to terms with the cultural differences. Nevertheless, she has since established her own research group at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light in Erlangen, Germany, where extremely short laser pulses are used to study biological microscopy. And with her talent for motivating people, Hanieh Fattahi is also active in climate protection.

To date, medical science has shown little interest in how easily cells deform. As Jochen Guck, Director at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light in Erlangen, and his team have discovered, this attitude is unjustified. As it turns out, the mechanical properties of cells can be used to diagnose cancer and possibly also inflammation. The scientists are currently testing the method together with University Hospital Erlangen - and have already gathered useful insights into COVID-19.

Techniques that provide insights into the nanoworld continue to garner Nobel Prizes. However, none of those methods has made it possible to observe exactly how enzymes and other biomolecules function. Frank Vollmer, Leader of a Research Group at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light in Erlangen, has now changed all that – with a plasmonic nanosensor.

The ability to accommodate billions of transistors on computer chips has dramatically changed our society. Photonics also plays a major role in increasingly powerful data processing systems. While the miniaturization of electronic components has been progressing steadily for more than 40 years, the field of integrated photonics is relatively new. At the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, we have developed processes for producing optical circuits on microchips which can be used for optical data transmission and optical signal processing.

We have developed a multifocal chromatic confocal system that offers high lateral resolution and a large imaging range. The system is based on a single lens made of zinc selenide (ZnSe) material. By leveraging the chromatic dispersion of ZnSe, images can be captured in multiple planes. The system enables tomographic imaging of biological tissues in 3D with cellular resolution. It has been demonstrated to successfully image iron oxide nanoparticle phantoms as well as corneal samples. The developed technology could find applications in biomedical and industrial imaging, such as the visualization of calcifications, the digestive tract, epithelial tissue, and field-effect transistors, among others.

Modern quantum technologies are based on the concept of hybrid quantum systems, which couple different physical systems each optimized for a specific task, in order to achieve the most efficient operation of the coupled system. One important example of such a hybrid system is the coupling of light and magnetic materials, which can be used for both saving and transferring information. 

Hollow core photonic crystal fibres have long been a topic of intensive investigation at MPL. These glass structures, with a complex lattice of hollow channels running along their length, permit light to be guided with high precision in a central hollow core. A series of experiments have shown that, when filled with gas, the fibres can be used in many interesting and novel ways, for example, forming the basis of table-top sources of ultrashort femtosecond pulses running at very high repetition rates, with a spectral brightness two to five orders of magnitude greater than most synchrotrons.

Light particles (photons) normally have very little energy and momentum. Nevertheless, they can be successfully used to control the movement of various objects, from molecules to the vibrations of small mirrors or membranes. We are developing theoretical methods to show how light can be used to read oscillations of nuclei in molecules or to cool the motion of photonic crystal mirrors or membranes down to near their quantum ground state.