Experimental quantum optics / Precision measurement
I build and study optical instruments at the quantum limit
Permanent staff scientist at the Institute for Quantum Physics, University of Hamburg. I work from tabletop quantum optics to kilometre-scale observatories: identifying where quantum correlations fail, how to recover them, and how to turn them into precision-measurement resources.
Research
We identified and experimentally demonstrated a hidden decoherence mechanism: coherent spatial-mode mixing can erase quantum enhancement far more severely than ordinary loss models predict. An 8% mode mismatch at each of two nodes erased 5.8 dB of observable squeezing; phase tuning recovered most of the correlations.
Nature CommunicationsA program exploring how quantum light generated inside a detector becomes a resource for precision measurement: beating the standard sensitivity-bandwidth limit, expanding detection bandwidth, and mitigating quantum decoherence.
Leadership across LIGO quantum noise and Einstein Telescope observatory design connects quantum metrology with detector-wide noise budgets and engineering choices.
Current rolesIndividual distinction
Awarded for outstanding scientific achievements in experimental physics.
Award announcementCollaboration recognition
As a member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, I received collaboration-level honors including the Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, the Gruber Cosmology Prize, and the Einstein Medal.
Awards in CVCurrent directions
Collaborations
I help supervise research across ten laser laboratories in Hamburg and work internationally across physics, instrumentation, and research communities.
01 / Academic
Joint work in quantum optics, precision interferometry, gravitational-wave instrumentation, and sensing.
02 / Technical
Independent technical review and consulting in quantum sensing, precision interferometry and optical systems.
03 / Research
For students and researchers interested in quantum optics, precision interferometry, and gravitational-wave instrumentation.