Oskar Painter

Quantum optics

Oskar Painters current research focus is the study of quantum mechanical characteristics of mechanical solid state structures and their interaction with light. In his research, he uses the characteristically very low radiation pressure of light to prepare and study mechanical resonators in a quantum state. Applications of this technique include the development of quantum-limited high-precision sensors and the realisation of integrated networks for quantum optical communication. Oskar Painter will work both at FAU’s Physics Department and at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, intensifying cooperation between the two institutions. At the university he will strengthen the existing research focus on optical sciences, which has also received funding from the German government’s Excellence Initiative.

Brief bio

Prof. Dr. Oskar Painter was born in 1972. Doctorate in the Laboratory of Applied Physics at California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena, USA in 2001; subsequently assistant professor (2002), associate professor (2008) and full professor (2010). Since 2011, co-director of the Kavli Nanoscience Institute at Caltech. Awards include the Caltech Graduate Student Council Mentoring Award (2005); IQEC/CLEO Pacific Rim Plenary Speaker (2011). Co-founder of Xponent Photonics, member of the Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers (IEEE), the Optical Society of America and the American Physical Society. In April 2013 he took up his position as Humboldt Professor at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg and became director at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light in Erlangen.
(no longer receiving sponsorship)

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