Femtosecond-laser workstation

• Subject Area: Optics, Quantum Optics and Physics of Atoms, Molecules and Plasmas
• Term: Funded in 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 556196547

We apply for a femtosecond laser workstation for micro- and nanostructuring of optical elements, consisting of a femtosecond laser system with high pulse power and other components such as high-precision nanopositioners, microscope lenses, measurement technology for single photon emitters, an optical table for vibration isolation and other peripheral devices. The femtosecond laser workstation will be operated in a suitable clean room at Technische Hochschule Nürnberg, together with a nanolithography system applied for in parallel, which is used for the direct 3D printing of micro- and nano-optics. The planned research work will focus on the production and process technology for optical micro- and nanostructures for systems used in optical quantum technologies. These are enabling technologies for transferring the results of basic quantum research into future industrial applications and systems. As part of the program to strengthen interdisciplinary teaching and research capacities in the field of quantum sciences and quantum technologies, a new research professorship was established at TH Nürnberg, which Prof. Andreas Stute holds as one of the main users of the requested equipment. Other main users of the requested equipment and researchers in the “Optical Quantum Technologies” project are Prof. Bernd Braun and Prof. Rainer Engelbrecht with their respective working groups and institutes. The requested equipment is also available to other researchers at TH Nürnberg. The research work of Prof. Engelbrecht focuses on refractive index modifications written into the volume of transparent materials and optical fibers using fs lasers, for example fiber Bragg gratings for fiber lasers at almost any wavelength for addressing optical quantum states in ions. Prof. Bernd Braun's working group is dedicated to femtosecond laser processing of diamond and silicon carbide. This ranges from micro-material processing of the surface, e.g. in the form of SIL lenses, to fs writing of waveguides embedded in the material. Prof. Stute's research group is investigating the deterministic generation of spin qubits such as color centers in diamond and silicon carbide and defects in III-V semiconductors using a femtosecond laser in combination with micro-optics printed on the crystal. This large-scale equipment will strengthen the research activities the Technische Hochschule Nürnberg in a sustainable and strategically coordinated manner with the university management, promoting the cooperation across faculty boundaries and will foster technological innovation through future research projects together with industrial partners.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Femtosekundenlaser-Workstation
• Instrumentation Group: 5700 Festkörper-Laser
• Applicant Institution: Technische Hochschule Nürnberg Georg Simon Ohm
• Leader: Professor Dr.-Ing. Rainer Engelbrecht