Pascal Del'Haye is a German physicist specializing in integrated photonics. He is heading the Microphotonics Research Group at the

Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light The Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL) performs basic research in optical metrology, optical communication, new optical materials, plasmonics and nanophotonics and optical applications in biology and medicine. It is part of the ...

Education

Del'Haye studied

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

RWTH Aachen RWTH Aachen University (), in German ''Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen'', is a German public research university located in Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With more than 47,000 students enrolled in 144 study prog ...

and

LMU Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

. He completed his Ph.D. in 2011, with a dissertation in

photonics Photonics is a branch of optics that involves the application of generation, detection, and manipulation of light in the form of photons through emission, transmission, modulation, signal processing, switching, amplification, and sensing. E ...

at the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics under the supervision of

Theodor W. Hänsch Theodor Wolfgang Hänsch (; born 30 October 1941) is a German physicist. He received one-fourth of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physics for "contributions to the development of laser-based precision spectroscopy, including the optical frequency comb ...

and Tobias Kippenberg. He did postdoctoral work at the

National Institute of Standards and Technology The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into Outline of p ...

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

from 2011 to 2015.

Career

After his postdoc at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Del'Haye joined the National Physical Laboratory in the UK as a senior research scientist and later principal research scientist. At the National Physical Laboratory he was heading a research team on

microphotonics Microphotonics is a branch of technology that deals with directing light on a microscopic scale and is used in optical networking. Particularly, it refers to the branch of technology that deals with wafer-level integrated devices and systems that ...

and microresonator-based optical frequency combs. In 2020, Del'Haye moved to the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, where he is heading the Microphotonics Research Group. Since 2021 Del'Haye has been teaching physics at the

University of Erlangen–Nuremberg The Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (, FAU) is a Public University, public research university in the cities of Erlangen and Nuremberg in Bavaria, Germany. The name Friedrich-Alexander is derived from the university's first ...

Research

Del'Haye's research is dedicated to integrated photonics, precision

metrology Metrology is the scientific study of measurement. It establishes a common understanding of Unit of measurement, units, crucial in linking human activities. Modern metrology has its roots in the French Revolution's political motivation to stan ...

and

nonlinear optics Nonlinear optics (NLO) is the branch of optics that describes the behaviour of light in Nonlinearity, nonlinear media, that is, media in which the polarization density P responds non-linearly to the electric field E of the light. The non-linearity ...

. He made important contributions to the field of photonics, including the first demonstration of microresonator-based optical frequency combs (

Kerr frequency comb Kerr frequency combs (also known as microresonator frequency combs) are optical frequency combs which are generated from a continuous wave pump laser by the Kerr nonlinearity. This coherent conversion of the pump laser to a frequency comb takes pla ...

s). Del'Haye is also working on

quantum metrology Quantum metrology is the study of making high-resolution and highly sensitive measurements of physical parameters using quantum theory to describe the physical systems, particularly exploiting quantum entanglement and quantum Squeezed coherent s ...

, optical precision measurements and

symmetry breaking In physics, symmetry breaking is a phenomenon where a disordered but Symmetry in quantum mechanics, symmetric state collapses into an ordered, but less symmetric state. This collapse is often one of many possible Bifurcation theory, bifurcatio ...

of light states. Using symmetry breaking of counterpropagating light states, he and his team demonstrated an optical diode that can be integrated into photonic chips. His work on symmetry breaking of counterpropagating light is funded by a

European Research Council The European Research Council (ERC) is a public body for funding of scientific and technological research conducted within the European Union (EU). Established by the European Commission in 2007, the ERC is composed of an independent Scientific ...

grant.

Awards

Del'Haye's research has received worldwide recognition and numerous awards. In 2009 he received the Helmholtz Prize for the "Development of optical frequency combs on a chip". In 2013, Del'Haye received the QEOD Thesis Prize for Fundamental Aspects of the

European Physical Society The European Physical Society (EPS) is a non-profit organisation whose purpose is to promote physics and physicists in Europe through methods such as physics outreach, supporting physicists to engage in the design and implementation of European s ...

for the "Discovery and development of microresonator based frequency combs". For his contributions to optical frequency metrology, Del'Haye received the 2017 Young Scientist Award of the European Time and Frequency Forum.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Del'Haye, Pascal German experimental physicists Metrologists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Academic staff of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg National Institute of Standards and Technology people Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni RWTH Aachen University alumni