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 M ...

Education

Del'Haye studied

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its 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 which r ...

RWTH Aachen RWTH Aachen University (), also known as North Rhine-Westphalia Technical University of Aachen, Rhine-Westphalia Technical University of Aachen, Technical University of Aachen, University of Aachen, or ''Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hoch ...

and

LMU Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

. 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 form of photons through emission, transmission, modulation, signal processing, switching, amplification, and sensing. Though ...

at the

Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics The Max-Planck-Institute of Quantum Optics (abbreviation: MPQ; german: Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik) is a part of the Max Planck Society which operates 87 research facilities in Germany. The institute is located in Garching, Germany, w ...

under the supervision of

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

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 physical sci ...

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Color ...

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 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 University of Erlangen–Nuremberg (german: Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, FAU) is a Public University, public research university in the cities of Erlangen and Nuremberg in Bavaria, Germany. The name Friedrich–Alexander ...

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 units, crucial in linking human activities. Modern metrology has its roots in the French Revolution's political motivation to standardise units in Fran ...

and

nonlinear optics Nonlinear optics (NLO) is the branch of optics that describes the behaviour of light in ''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 is typica ...

. 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 pl ...

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 squeezing. This fie ...

, optical precision measurements and

symmetry breaking In physics, symmetry breaking is a phenomenon in which (infinitesimally) small fluctuations acting on a system crossing a critical point decide the system's fate, by determining which branch of a bifurcation is taken. To an outside observe ...

of light states. Using symmetry breaking of counterpropagating light states, he and his team demonstrated an optical diode that can be integrated into

photonic chip A photonic integrated circuit (PIC) or integrated optical circuit is a microchip containing two or more photonic components which form a functioning circuit. This technology detects, generates, transports, and processes light. Photonic integrated c ...

s. 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. Formally established in 1968, its membership includes the national physical so ...

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 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