5 4 Forewords Forewords FOREWORDS Photonics brings light into the world – literally and metaphorically. Photonics research plays an important role in the industrial development of solar energy, quantum computing, medical technologies and even space exploration – just to name a few. Without optical technologies, we would not have the means to meet, work, and connect virtually, this latter point becoming especially essential during the COVID-19 pandemic. Clearly, photonics has become the foundation of our modern digital society. It is a key technology today and in the future. Jena, known as Germany’s City of Light, has held an appreciation for the light sciences and technologies for a long time. The city’s high level of recognition for the subject of light is deeply embedded in the minds and lifes of its inhabitants – probably more so than in anywhere else in the world. The Friedrich Schiller University Jena maintains its commitment to light by choosing the triad LIGHT-LIFE-LIBERTY as its motto. Indeed, as part of this triad, the profile line LIGHT reflects our involvement in light and photonics research and training. Furthermore, the University holds close ties to regional industries, benefiting from their support and cooperation at many levels. Throughout our University‘s long history, the tradition of light and photonic studies owes its importance to three individuals in particular: Carl Zeiss, Otto Schott and Ernst Abbe. Ernst Abbe has always been Jena‘s most notable physicist. By establishing the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung, he guaranteed the continued existence of our University for many decades to come. From the late 19th century onwards, optics and photonics did not only attain academic recognition, but also great industrial significance. Giving credit where credit is due, Ernst Abbe was thus chosen in 2010 to be the namesake of our Abbe Center of Photonics (ACP) - the key institution of the University’s profile line LIGHT. In recent years, the profile line has been strengthened significantly, with our University very successfully acquiring largescale, collaborative research projects: the Cluster of Excellence „Balance of the Microverse“, the two Collaborative Research Centers NOA and CataLight, and the Max Planck School of Photonics. ACP scientists have contributed considerably to the success of these projects and still do. Furthermore, the university holds close ties to non-university research centers and regional industries, benefiting from their support and cooperation at many levels. The University of Jena and the ACP are located in Thuringia, Germany’s dynamically developing region of technological innovation. This region is also blessed with a rich cultural heritage and attractive natural surroundings. I cordially invite you to immerse in this booklet’s pages and discover what light means to the city of Jena, its university and its scientific community. If this message sparks your interest and curiosity, it would be our pleasure to welcome you personally in Jena, the City of Light. Prof. Dr Walter Rosenthal, January 2021 President of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena Jena’s deep historical roots in the fields of optics and photonics represent a great challenge, but also a strong stimulus to continue this century-long tradition with equal success in the future. In the past, the combination of efforts from various scientific branches was the main force that nurtured many scientific breakthroughs. Today more than ever, this conviction is shared by scientific and economic communities around the globe. This is undoubtedly true for the field of photonics, a key enabling technology also driving social change on a global scale. Since 2000, nine Nobel Prizes in physics and chemistry have been awarded to photonics scientists. In 2023, the most recent award was given to our dear friends and colleagues L’Huillier, Agostini and Krausz for their breakthrough work in the field of attosecond physics and ultrashort light pulses. This is one of the fields in which Jena also holds world-class expertise. The Abbe Center of Photonics (ACP), as part of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, clearly pursues one leitmotif of our Center’s namesake, Ernst Abbe: ground-breaking science is only possible if individuals work cooperatively to achieve a higher goal. At ACP, theoreticians and experimentalists, among them physicists, chemists, material scientists, biologists and physicians, have made remarkable headway in establishing the Center as the primary driver of the university’s profile line LIGHT within photonics and photonics-related technologies. Since the center’s founding in 2010, ACP’s members have experienced a remarkable synergetic effect by creating joint novel ideas. We have developed a strategic roadmap regarding our joint research and educational missions. Now in 2024 we have set many of these visions into reality! Our ambitions and goals are seen by viewing Jena’s academic curriculum and by society’s present and future focus in the fields of optics, photonics and quantum technologies. Our Center’s continued pursuit for academic excellence will be the stimulus for a sustaining commitment common to all ACP scientists in the years to come. It has and will continue its promise of becoming Jena’s home of multidisciplinary research and innovation. We are proud that our Center’s excellence is not limited solely to research. It is our belief that the highest standards of academic opportunities and qualification can be achieved only through a unified approach of research and education. Our teaching of young scientists has boosted the integration of the Abbe School of Photonics with the nationally pioneering Max Planck School of Photonics. Together, we have become joined into the ivy league of photonics education worldwide. We receive annually over a thousand applications globally for our Master’s degree and doctoral programs. The resulting internationalization of ASP’s teaching personnel and staff has contributed to its recognition as one of our university’s flagship faculties. We also managed to face and to encounter many difficulties associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. With fresh ideas in digitalization and modernized education tools, we are well prepared to effectively continue our educational mission. With this current 2024 edition of our booklet, we wish to provide you with a fresh summary of our Center’s collaborative efforts undertaken during the last several years. The booklet has been updated thanks to ACP’s many recent developments particularly related to breakthrough results in research as well as our newly appointed faculty. Unlike an annual report, our aim is to attain a balance between the manifestation of and reflection on our very dynamic progress. We truly hope that this booklet will provide you with a clear overview of our pursuits and future plans. Feel warmly welcome to immerse yourself in the description of our currentlyoffered courses and seminars. All of these exude our united opinion that Jena is indeed one of the best places in the world to study and do research in optics, photonics and now also quantum technologies. In the spirit of our namesake, Ernst Abbe, we would be happy to welcome you soon. ACP Board Of Directors, January 2024 Prof. Stefanie Gräfe Prof. Thomas Pertsch Prof. Jürgen Popp Prof. Christian Spielmann Prof. Andreas Tünnermann
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