Matthias Kling, leader of the research group „Attosecond Imaging“ at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics (MPQ), was awarded with the Nernst-Haber-Bodenstein prize of the German Bunsen Society for Physical Chemistry (DBG). With this prize the society honors outstanding scientific achievements of young scientists in the area of physical chemistry. Matthias Kling was awarded for his experimental work on the control of electron and nuclear dynamics in molecules, in particular the laser-induced localization of electrons on femto- to attosecond timescales.

Reinhard Kienberger, professor of experimental physics at the Technische Universität München (TUM) and research group leader in the Laboratory for Attosecond Physics at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching has made pioneering contributions to the field of attosecond physics. With the election as an ordinary member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts (Salzburg, Austria) he belongs to a circle of scholars who work on issues most relevant to Europe. Among the roughly 1500 members of the academy there are 29 Nobel prize winners.

When an intense laser pulse interacts with an atom, it generates agitation on the micro scale. A rather likely outcome of this interaction is single ionization, where one electron is ejected from the atom. From time to time, however, two electrons can be removed from the atom, resulting in the more complex process of double ionization. In an experiment performed in the Laboratory for Attosecond Physics at the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics, an international team of researchers has now been able to observe the detailed course of this process on attosecond time scales (an attosecond is a billionth of a billionth of a second). The researchers report on their results in Nature Communications (8th May, 2012)

After a successful PhD at LAP, Dr. Adrian Wirth left the institute to work at Pfeiffer Vacuum. During his PhD in the Group of Dr. Eleftherios Goulielmakis Adrian has monitored the motion of valence electrons in Krypton ions using attosecond XUV pulses. He also took over a front role together with Mohammed Hassan in the development of the so-called ligthfield synthesizer, an apparatus that makes it possible to steer electronic motion in atoms. At Pfeiffer Vacuum he now turns as a basic technology research scientist and technical professional for important global customers to more applied research as the development of turbomolecular vacuum pumps for the fundamental research but also for industrial applications in the semiconductor, industry as well as analytic market. In particular he will develop the next generation of turbomolecular pumps, which involves performing simulations, calculations and the testing of prototypes within an interdisciplinary research and development team. "The global customer contact as well as the interaction with Pfeiffer`s new locations abroad is another exciting and new component of my work, to which I'm looking forward!", said Adrian. We wish him a successfull start in his new job.

Sergei Trushin is one of the highlighted authors 2011 of the “New Journal of Physics (NJP)” magazine. With his article Redshift of few-cycle infrared pulses in the filamentation regime published last year in NJP, Sergei has been selected by the editors for inclusion in the exclusive 'Highlights of 2011' collection. His article was chosen on the basis of referee endorsement, impact and broad appeal to collectively showcase the quality and diversity of NJP's broad coverage last year. Here you can see the full list of selected article highlights and download the full brochure. Link:

The newly built LEX Photonics centre at Coulombwall gets its inner equipment. A team of external workers and LAP-scientists have positioned the first heavy tables for the laser systems in the two big halls of the building. At the end of March the ATLAS laser will be moved completely from MPQ to LEX Photonics. Parts for the other light source PFS-pro, which will be newly developed at LEX Photonics, will follow soon. PFS-pro will be an upscaled version of the PFS system, which will remain at MPQ, to high repetition rates. LEX Photonics is run by the Faculty of Physics of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University. It will host the next generation of high intensity laser systems.

Continue research – yes or no? That was the question Andreas Henig asked himself after his PhD at the International Max-Planck Research School of Advanced Photon Science (IMPRS-APS) and the time as a postdoc at the Munich-Centre for Advanced Photonics (MAP). Making a decision was not easy. In this interview Andreas tells us why he decided to become a consultant at Siemens and what he does there.