The Munich-Centre for Advanced Photonics (MAP)

Photons, photon sources and photon-based techniques are expected to be the key elements of technology in the 21^st century. This revolution has largely taken place since photons have already replaced electrons in many important areas such as short-time measurements, precision metrology and especially high-speed information links. In the quest to improve our technological capabilities and our understanding of basic scientific knowledge, advanced photonics will most likely be the key enabling technology through coherent light sources, laser-based particle sources or new ways of achieving high spatial and temporal resolution and control.

At the Munich-Centre for Advanced Photonics (MAP) new coherent light sources and secondary light-driven particle sources with unprecedented properties will be developed. The improvements are: higher intensities, sub-femtosecond control of the electromagnetic field in few-cycle light pulses, higher frequency accuracy, higher photon energy, etc. MAP scientists have already pioneered these developments in the past, resulting in, for example, controlled generation of frequency combs or synthesis of octave-spanning light waves. They have made seminal contributions to precision optical frequency and attosecond metrology, cavity quantum electrodynamics, novel concepts for quantum information processing and computing, manipulation of cold atoms or molecules in free space or Bose-Einstein condensates, and they developed techniques for time-resolved molecular spectroscopy. While the ultimate time resolution with classical electronics is in the picosecond range, the use of intense light pulses enables a “streak camera” with 100-attosecond resolution. Phase control of the light field as well as a drastic increase of the field amplitude are achieved by using new amplification techniques such as chirped-pulse amplification or optical parametric amplification in nonlinear crystals.

The newly available light sources open the door to interdisciplinary concepts and experiments in physics, chemistry, biology and medicine. Topics of major interest range from observation of the Unruh radiation, through acceleration of charged particles with strong forces beyond the reach of existing technologies to exploration of the ultimate speed and size limits of electronic devices and to overcoming them with fundamentally new hard- and software using molecular electronics and quantum information processing. Detailed study of quantum phenomena will also lead to a deeper understanding of the boundaries of classical and quantum physics. A further focus will be determination of protein structures with atomic resolution, understanding of their function and possible microscopic manipulation or the potential to improve cancer diagnostics and therapies. By virtue of the established leadership in many of the areas mentioned, the mission of the Centre is to create a unique infrastructure in photonics and a powerful network of interdisciplinary know-how and collaborations.