Call accepted

11 February 2021

Photo: private

In his dissertation, Dr. Ralf Riedinger already succeeded for the first time worldwide in producing non-classical states of macroscopic mechanical oscillators using quantum optical methods.

Dr. Ralf Riedinger has accepted the call to the W1-TT-W2 professorship on “Experimentalphysik mit dem Schwerpunkt Quantenoptik" / "Experimental Quantum Optics" at the Institute of Laser Physics. He will start his research at the Department of Physics and in the Cluster of Excellence "CUI: Advanced Imaging of Matter" on 1 May 2021.

A native of Munich, he studied in Marburg and Vienna, Austria, from 2008 to 2013, including a period abroad at the Université Joseph Fourier in Grenoble, France. From 2013 to 2018, Ralf Riedinger completed his PhD in the group of Prof. Markus Aspelmeyer at the University of Vienna. In 2018, he joined the group of Prof. Mikhail Lukin at Harvard University, USA, as postdoctoral researcher.

Ralf Riedinger works in the field of quantum optics and quantum optomechanics with a special focus on the storage of non-classical states on microchips. In his dissertation, he succeeded for the first time worldwide in producing non-classical states of macroscopic mechanical oscillators using quantum optical methods. The silicon-based mechanical memories interact directly with infrared light, a long anticipated breakthrough and key requirement for the use in long-distance quantum communication.

His research in Hamburg aims at developing new quantum networks using nanophotonic cavity QED platforms, enabling both fundamental research and practical quantum technologies. The plan is to use the silicon-vacancy centers embedded in nanophotonic diamond devices as local quantum processors and to connect multiple devices with infrared photons. With the help of this platform, it was demonstrated for the first time last year at Harvard that a network architecture can compensate for the loss of photons in the communication channel.

The W1-TT-W2 professorship was newly created to strengthen the research focus on photons and nanoscience at Universität Hamburg.