Michael Fleischhauer Named 2025 Herbert Walther Award Recipient

14 November 2024

Michael Fleischhauer Named 2025 Herbert Walther Award Recipient

Optica and DPG honor visionary scientist, educator and community leader.

WASHINGTON - Light and matter interact at the deeply microscopic scale as a dance of photons and atoms. The two at times become so entwined that neither can be seen to exist separately, but rather a new entity emerges, a polariton. When a collection of atoms and photons are described in terms of polaritons and other quantum chimeras, entirely new possibilities become clear, many of which are now foundational to today's most promising quantum technologies. Michael Fleishhauer has spent decades revealing this picture and more.

In recognition of his pioneering work, Optica, Advancing Optics and Photonics Worldwide, and the Deutsche Physikalische Gesell­schaft (DPG) have named Michael Fleischhauer, Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität (RPTU) Kaiserslautern-Landau, Germany, the recipient of the 2025 Herbert Walther Award.

He is honored for key contributions in nonlinear quantum optics as well as photonic and atomic quantum technologies - in particular for the development of a toolbox to coherently control multi-level atoms with light, including the concept of dark state polaritons and Rydberg dipole blockade physics.

"Michael Fleischhauer's visionary theoretical work has been instrumental in shaping the field of quantum optics," said Gerd Leuchs, Optica 2024 President. "His distinguished research, with surprising results early on and throughout his career, his current leadership in the international scientific community, and his strong commitment to educating and mentoring the next generation are highly commendable."

Fleischhauer is a professor of theoretical physics at the RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau. His research includes theoretical quantum optics; coherent processes in atoms and other quantum systems; quantum properties of nonlinear optical processes; quantum information processing with photons and ensembles; matter-wave optics and many-body physics with darkstate polaritons. He served as a research associate at the University of New Mexico, USA and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany before joining the faculty of the University of Kaiserslautern, Germany which is now RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau.

He has led a number of influential international collaborations, is a dedicated mentor, and has served the community through his work on the editorial boards, advisory boards, and international conference committees. A pioneer in the field, Fleischhauer's work has had a profound impact across a range of fields from quantum networking and quantum information science to on-chip optical interconnects for advanced classical computing, and even sensing and metrology.

This award commemorates Max Planck Institute of Quantum Physics Professor Herbert Walther's groundbreaking innovations in quantum optics and atomic physics and other wide-ranging contributions to the scientific community. The Herbert Walther Award recognizes distinguished contributions in quantum optics and atomic physics as well as leadership in the international scientific community.

About DPG
The Deutsche Physikalische Gesell­schaft e. V. (DPG), headquartered near Bonn, is the oldest national society and largest physical society in the world. As a non-profit organization with 62,000 members, DPG promotes the transfer of knowledge within the scientific community through conferences, events and publications, and aims to open a window to physics for anyone who is curious to learn more. The physics society as well aims to encourage junior scientists and promote equal opportunities in science.

About Optica

Optica, Advancing Optics and Photonics Worldwide, is the society dedicated to promoting the generation, application, archiving and dissemination of knowledge in the field. Founded in 1916, it is the leading organization for scientists, engineers, business professionals, students and others interested in the science of light. Optica's renowned publications, meetings, online resources and in-person activities fuel discoveries, shape real-life applications and accelerate scientific, technical and educational achievement. Discover more at: Optica.org

Media Contact

[email protected]