Andreas Tünnermann

Andreas Tünnermann was born in Ahnsen, Germany, on June 10th, 1963. He received the diploma and Ph.D. degrees in physics from the University of Hannover in 1988 and 1992, respectively. His Ph.D. work was focused on nonlinear processes with emphasis on the interaction of high intensity laser sources with matter for the generation of short wavelengths lasers.

In 1997 he received the habilitation and venialegendi in experimental physics for his work on ultrastable light sources for interferometric gravitational wave detectors. He was head of the department of development at the Laser Zentrum Hannover from 1992 to 1997.

In the beginning of 1998 he joined the Friedrich-Schiller-University in Jena, Germany as a Professor and Director of the Institute of Applied Physics. 2001 he launched the company Guided Color Technologies GmbH.

In 2003 he became the Director of the Fraunhofer Institute of Applied Optics and Precision Engineering in Jena.

Andreas Tünnermann is currently leading one of the most creative and productive research groups in modern optics and photonics world-wide. Research topics are the design and manufacturing of novel passive and active photonic devices and its application for generation, amplification, steering and switching of light – with a strong foundation in laser physics. Especially his work on high power continuous and pulsed fiber lasers operating in the visible and near infrared spectral range is highly appreciated by the laser community. Outstanding developments in photonic crystal fiber design performed in his laboratories made it possible to overcome restrictions due to nonlinear pulse distortions in the amplification fiber and revealed the full potential of rare-earth-doped fibers as a power-scalable solid-state laser concept even in the ultrashort pulse regime.

The blend of experience and knowledge manifests itself in a work that has attracted and continues to attract considerable attention as proven by more than 400 peer-reviewed publications in renown international journals (e.g. Nature Physics, Nature Photonics, Physical Review Letters, Optics Letters, Applied Optics, Applied Physics A+B and Optics Express), and more than 120 invited talks at most important national and international conferences, including plenary talks and tutorials.

Andreas Tünnermann has been distinguished with several prizes and awards along his professional career. He received the most important German award in science and technology, provided by the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize.

Most recently, he has awarded as a fellow of the Optical Society of America.