Welcome

For many decades lasers have been most extensively used to study and investigate quantum systems and processes. As such studies focused mainly on the understanding of the system under observation, lasers were commonly used for probing or detection. Going far beyond these applications, laser-matter interactions were also found to permit the efficient manipulation of quantum systems. The control scenarios do not exclusively rely on the strength of the laser-matter interaction only. A rich variety of (on the first glance often quite surprising) phenomena arises, when the coherence of the driving radiation field is taken into account.

In our research projects on Nonlinear Optics & Quantum Optics we develop and apply strong, coherent interactions between lasers and quantum systems. We focus on laser-based manipulation and control of properties and processes in the quantized media. The experiments involve a large variety of coherent light sources from the cw-regime towards ultra-short laser pulses, permitting the generation of radiation from the mid-infrared towards the extreme-ultraviolet regime. The investigations are performed in atomic or molecular gases, in cold atoms, as well as in specific solids. Our scientific goals aim at a variety of new applications for coherent interactions, e.g. to drive optical quantum memories and logic operations, to support optical frequency conversion processes, or to implement efficient techniques of coherent nonlinear spectroscopy.