News of May 31, 2024

Properly exploring and controlling matter

Sebastian F. Maehrlein transfers to HZDR

On June 1, 2024, physicist Sebastian F. Maehrlein will commence his professorship in high-field terahertz physics at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR). In a joint appointment with the TU Dresden, he will head the High-Field THz-driven Phenomena group at the Institute of Radiation Physics at the HZDR.

Maehrlein is coming from the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society in Berlin, where he headed the "THz Structural Dynamics" research group. In 2022, he succeeded in soliciting an Emmy Noether junior research group from the German Research Foundation (DFG), whose funds will now be partially transferred to the HZDR.

Maehrlein's research focus is high-field terahertz physics. As such, he is an excellent addition to the HZDR team, which is advancing the future-oriented DALI project (Dresden Advanced Light Infrastructure). This high-intensity light source in the terahertz frequency range is based on electron accelerators and is coupled with laser radiation. The facility will enable a detailed look into the world of elementary quantum processes of practically any kind of matter. With DALI, scientists intend to selectively trigger microscopic processes with light in order to create excited or even previously hidden states of matter with novel properties. Quantum technologies, in particular, are considered the foundation for future applications in many areas. High-intensity terahertz radiation expands the boundaries of fundamental research on such quantum materials. "Overcoming these boundaries and thereby opening novel research fields is an exciting scientific challenge for me. I am optimistic that we at HZDR will accomplish trailblazing work over the next few years," says Maehrlein, summarizing his motivation for joining HZDR. "In addition, the DRESDEN-concept research alliance provides a network of the city's research institutions that is unparalleled in Germany. From afar, I have previously perceived this as an extremely fruitful collaboration and am now looking forward to becoming part of it."      

Further information:

Prof. Sebastian F. Maehrlein I Institute of Radiation Physics at HZDR
Email: s.maehrlein@hzdr.de