MBI Staff Member – Personal info
Prof. Dr. Thomas Elsaesser
thomas.elsaesser(at)mbi-berlin.de
+49 30 6392 1403
C: Nonlinear Processes in Condensed Matter
Building C, 3.8
Position
Principal Investigator, ERC Advanced Grant BIOVIB
Director emeritus, Max-Born-Institut für Nichtlineare Optik
und Kurzzeitspektroskopie im Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V.
Professor emeritus for Experimental Physics at the
Humboldt Universität zu Berlin
Research
Ultrafast phenomena in condensed matter, in particular molecular liquids, polyatomic molecules, organic and inorganic solids and nanostructures:
- Generation and application of ultrashort pulses in a wide spectral range (THz to hard x-ray),
- Nonequilibrium dynamics of elementary excitations in solids, coherent charge transport,
- Ultrafast vibrational processes in hydrogen bonds and other molecular systems,
- Ultrafast x-ray diffraction.
Curriculum vitae
| since 2019 | Principal Investigator, ERC Advanced Grant BIOVIB |
1994-2022 | C4/W3-S-Professor for Experimental Physics at the Humboldt University |
| 1993-2022 | Director at the Max-Born-Institute |
| 1991 | Habilitation in Physics at the Technical University of Munich |
| 1990 | Postdoctoral research at AT&T Bell Laboratories, Holmdel, NJ, USA |
| 1986-1993 | Research associate (Akademischer Rat and Oberrat) at the Physics Dept. E11 |
| 1982-1986 | PhD work at the Physics Department E11 of the Technical University of Munich (Prof. W. Kaiser). Thesis on 'Picosecond infrared spectroscopy of molecules and semiconductors' |
| 1982 | Diplom in Physics, Technical University of Munich |
| 1979 | Vordiplom in Physics, University of Heidelberg |
| 1957 | born in Tübingen, Germany |
Honors and awards
| 2022 | Ahmed Zewail Award for Ultrafast Science and Technology (American Chemical Society) |
| 2022 | Visiting Professor SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA |
| 2019 | ERC Advanced Grant BIOVIB |
| 2019 | Chercheur invité international at Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris (Physics Dept.) |
| 2017 | Professeur invité at Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris (Physics Dept.) |
| 2017 | Outstanding Referee American Physical Society |
| 2017 | Guest Editor, Chemical Reviews (American Chemical Society): Ultrafast Processes in Chemistry |
| 2016 | Ellis R. Lippincott Award (Optical Society, Coblentz Society, Society for Applied Spectroscopy) |
| 2015 | TRVS Lifetime Achievement Award (Int. Conference on Time-Resolved Vibrational Spectroscopy) |
| 2012 | Professeur invité at Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris (Physics Dept.) |
| 2012 | Julius Springer Prize for Applied Physics |
| 2012 | George Fisher Baker Lectureship Symposium on Water, Cornell University, USA |
| 2011 | Fellow of the American Physical Society |
| 2010 | Innovation Prize Berlin Brandenburg for femtosecond x-ray plasma source, Institute for Scientific Instruments GmbH, Berlin-Adlershof, and MBI |
| 2010 | Regular Member Berlin Brandenburg Academy of Sciences |
| 2009 | ERC Advanced Grant ULTRADYNE |
| 2009 | Morino Lecturer for Chemical Physics (Morino Foundation, Japan) |
| 2009 | Fellow of the Optical Society of America |
| 2006 | Lecturer, Frontiers in Chemical Research, Texas A&M University |
| 2006 | Karl Friedrich Bonhoeffer Lecture, MPI f. Biophysikalische Chemie, Göttingen |
| 2004 | Professeur invité at Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris (Chemistry Dept.) |
| 2003 | Lecturer, Swiss Graduate Schools in Chemistry, Convention intercantonale romande |
| 1995 | Otto-Klung-Prize in Physics (Otto Klung Foundation) |
| 1991 | Rudolf-Kaiser-Prize (Stifterverband/Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft) |
| 1986 | Prize for the best PhD thesis in physics (Bund der Freunde TU Munich) |
Professional Affiliations
- Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft
- American Physical Society
- Gesellschaft Deutscher Naturforscher und Ärzte (GDNÄ)
Professional Service
- Member, Board of Trustees, Max-Planck-Institute for Quantum Optics, Garching
- Chair of the International Advisory Committee, Conference on Time-Resolved Vibrational Spectroscopy (TRVS)
- Associate Editor, Science Advances (AAAS)
- Associate Editor, Structural Dynamics (AIP)
- Member, Editorial Board Chemical Physics Letters
- Chair, TELOTA Steering Group, Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences
- Secretary of the Mathematics and Science Class, Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences (2018-2024)
- Member Standing Committee for the Evaluation of Max Planck Centers, Max Planck Society (2021-2023)
- Member, FXE Proposal Review Panel, European XFEL (2017-2023)
- Member, Scientific Policy Committee SLAC, Menlo Park (2017-2022)
- Elected Member, Management Board GDNÄ (2015-2022)
- Member, LCLS Proposal Review Panel for Hard Condensed Matter (2015-2021)
- Chair, Prize Committee Ellis R Lippincott Award, OSA (2016-2018)
- Member, Editorial Board, The Journal of Chemical Physics, AIP (2015-2017)
- Divisional Associate Editor, Physical Review Letters (2009-2015)
- Member, Editorial Board New Journal of Physics (2009-2014)
- Member, Editorial Board Chemical Physics (2001-2014)
- Conference Chair, International Conference on Ultrafast Structural Dynamics 2012, Berlin
- Organizer, 6th International Conference on Coherent Multidimensional Spectroscopy (CMDS 2012), Berlin
- Vertrauensdozent of the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes (2007-2013)
- Member, Editorial Board Applied Physics A (1996-2011)
- Member, Steering Committee, ESF Network DYNA: Ultrafast structural dynamics in physics,
- chemistry, biology and materials science (2005-2010)
- Member, Scientific Advisory Board PULSE, Stanford, USA (2008-2009)
- Director at large, Optical Society of America (2007-2009)
- Member, Scientific Advisory Board ELBE (free electron laser, FZ Rossendorf, 2004-2009)
- Coordinator, DFG Topical Research Program 1134 'Ultrafast x-ray diffraction' (2002-2008)
- Member, Scientific Advisory Board BESSY (2004-2008)
- Member, Beamtime Committee BESSY (2005-2008)
- Member, Facility Access Panel, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot, UK (2003-2008)
- Member, Apparateausschuss Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, 2001-2006)
- Member of numerous program and advisory committees of international conferences
- General Chair, Ultrafast Phenomena XII, Charleston 2000
- Program Chair, Ultrafast Phenomena XI, Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1998
- Organizer, HCIS-10, Nonequilibrium Carrier Dynamics in Semiconductors, Berlin 1997
- Member, Steering Committee, ESF Network ULTRA: Femtochemistry and Femtobiology (2000-2003)
- Member, Committee Ellis R. Lippincott Award (Optical Society of America, 2002-2004)
- Member, Committee Gustav-Hertz-Prize (Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft, 1997-2002)
- Topical Editor Ultrafast Phenomena, Journal of the Optical Society of America B, 1995-2000
- Chairman of Sektion D, Leibniz-Gemeinschaft, 1998-1999
- Member, Quantum Electronics Division, European Physical Society, 1995-1998
More than 500 publications in refereed journals and books, 6 patents, more than 400 invited talks at conferences, colloquia, and seminars.
MBI Publications
- Structural discrimination of phosphate contact ion pairs in water by femtosecond 2D-IR spectroscopy The 22nd International Conference on Ultrafast Phenomena 2020 OSA Publishing (2020) doi.org/10.1364/UP.2020.M4B.9
- Nonlinear terahertz response of solvated electrons in liquid water The 22nd International Conference on Ultrafast Phenomena 2020 OSA Publishing (2020) doi.org/10.1364/UP.2020.Th4A.4
- Impact of RNA melting on hydrating water structure mapped by femtosecond 2D-IR spectroscopy The 22nd International Conference on Ultrafast Phenomena 2020 OSA Publishing (2020) doi.org/10.1364/UP.2020.M2A.1
- Multi-millijoule, few-cycle 5 μm OPCPA at 1 kHz repetition rate Optics Letters 45 (2020) 5998-6001
- Field-induced tunneling ionization and terahertz-driven electron dynamics in liquid water Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters 11 (2020) 7717–7722
- Spatial distribution of electric-field enhancement across the gap of terahertz bow-tie antennas Optics Express 28 (2020) 24389-24398
- Frequency upshift of the transverse optical phonon resonance in GaAs by femtosecond electron-hole excitation Physical Review Letters 125 (2020) 027401/1-5
- 2.05 μm chirped pulse amplification system at a 1 kHz repetition rate—2.4 ps pulses with 17 GW peak power Optics Letters 45 (2020) 3836-3839
- Spectral meta-moments reveal hidden signatures of vortex pulses Ultrafast Phenomena XXI 205 EPJ Web of Conferences (2019) 01005/1-3
- Terahertz driven amplification of coherent optical phonons in GaAs coupled to metallic dog-bone resonators Ultrafast Phenomena XXI 205 EPJ Web of Conferences (2019) 05007/1-3