Research

Laser-enhanced electron microscopy

Transmission electron microscopes can reveal the structure of matter on the atomic scale and elucidate the molecular underpinnings of life. However, the existing toolbox of electron control is very limited, preventing electron microscopy from reaching its full potential. We use lasers to shape electron wave functions in time and space, and apply these capabilities to reinvent electron microscopy.

Probing physical vacuum with strong laser fields

Unlike classical electrodynamics, in quantum physics photons can interact and scatter off one another even in vacuum. This tiny effect, predicted theoretically in 1935, is yet to be directly measured in the lab. In this experiment, we set out to find out just how much photons interact with each other. Detecting this fundamental property of the physical vacuum will test a cornerstone prediction of quantum electrodynamics, and will provide constraints for physics beyond the Standard Model.